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Europe-Germany-Cologne I have been to Cologne so many times with work and always in January, Not the best time to visit as can be quite cold to say the least. Here is one of those Postcards that has a movable image. Hard to see here. |
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| The Post office I normally visit had no choice of stamps. Just definitives. But at Cologne Airport I was able to get a small choice. |
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Pacific Ocean-Bismarck Archipelago-Rabaul This is showing the famous Mount Rabaul and the Tavurur Volcano . Rabaul was the capital of East New Britain province. It was mostly destroyed by falling ash from the volcanic eruption in 1994. The capital was moved to Kokopo 20 km away. There is not much to see here now , but worth coming for the view . |
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| There is still a small centre in Rabaul and inside one of the shopping centres is a small post office. I had given up on this card as it has taken nearly 6 months to get here. But better late then never. Nice clear cancelation. They had no choice in stamps at this post office. |
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Europe-England-London This is the Houses of Parliament in London. Since 1512 the Palace has been the seat of the two houses called "The Lords " and "The Commons". You can also see Big Ben.On this occasion in London I visited the House of Lords and had dinner there and got a tour of the The House of Lords . It was amazing , but no photos allowed in that area. |
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| The main Philatelic office at the Post Office near Trafalgar square is where I get my stamps in London. However it is due to close end of this month , December 2018. I asked for a Regional stamp and this is one of the stamps for England. Hence my reason for having this card listed under England. |
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Europe-United Kingdom-England-London I got this card during my visit to the Postal Museum in London. It is a two part location. The first part is the museum which is disappointing. It had very little in Philatelic displays. The second part of the visit was to the nearby underground postal railway. That was a treat and loved it. This card is showing a sorting machine at Mount Pleasant office in 1937. I love the yellow coats. |
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| This was the one of the stamp options that I could purchase at the Postal museum I was surprised to find no Post Office Philatelic Counter. So just labels. Here you can see it says on the label The Postal Museum. I did mail this in a special box , but no special cancellation. I am less than impressed. |
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Europe-United Kingdom-England-London This card is from the London Transport museum. This is the first printed version of Harry Beck's now world famous Underground map. 1933. The museum itself is very interesting with Buses, Underground transport and Trams all relating to London . |
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| Unless you go to a large Post Office , United Kingdom Post Offices do not sell special stamps. This is peel and stick stamp I purchased as you can see on the label from the Postal Museum. |
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| The road entering Artsakh from Armenia |
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| At Border with Armenia |
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| Main Post Office in Stepanakert |
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| At the Post Office |
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| Philatelic Display |
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| At the monument, "We are the Mountains " |
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| Downtown Stepanakert, capital of Artsakh |
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| Post office in Shushi |
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| The entry to the Post Office in Shushi, was not in good condition and no sign. |
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Asia-Republic of Artsakh-Shushi This is the Cathedral of Christ the Holy Savion in Shushi . About 45 minutes from Stepanakert . Not much else to see here. But the last part of Artsakh to be taken from Azerbaijan during the war. |
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| I have to say the Post office here I would never have found. It was my guide and driver who knew where the Post office was. At the top of a broken building with no sign. The Post Office itself, could have done with a little love. Will post photos at some stage here. |
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Asia-Republic of Artsakh-Gandzasar This is the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. This is the seat for The Bishop of Artsakh. It is well worth a visit and there is an excellent museum there. |
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| This card has a mix of stamps , the two on the left are the Republic of Artsakh and the one on the left is Nagorno Karabakh stamp. I posted this in Shushi . |
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Asia-Republic of Artsakh-Stepanakert This is the most famous tourist site, it is just on the start of the capital. It was built in 1967 and is called " We are the Mountains ". |
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| These stamps are the most recent issue from Republic of Artsakh. The Post Office in the capital is very helpful and they have a philatelic display . However they may did not have a full selection in stock. |
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Asia-Republic of Artsakh-Stepanakert This is the capital of Artsakh, Formally known as Nagorno Karabakh. You get here via Armenia and you need a visa that you can get in Armenia at the "Embassy " there. Here is a postcard s showing the central area. |
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| These stamps show the new name of Artsakh. The Post Office still sells a mix of these and Nagorno Karabakh stamps. The Post is sent out via Armenia . |
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Asia-Armenia-Yerevan This Postcard shows the famous French singer Charles Aznavour . His parents are from Armenia. So here they consider him a Famous Armenian. |
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| I was in Yerevan on the day that this sheep was issued. I have to say that the Philatelic Shop was busy all day with customers lining up to buy these stamps. I have to say I think it is a beautiful issue. |
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Asia-Armenia-Yerevan This is my second time back to Armenia and it is a delightful Country to visit. On this occasion I only visited Yerevan the capital. This card shows the central square with Government buildings . The Post office is in the building on the right. |
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| I am very pleased to have a card from Yerevan. As last time it never made it back. This card shows the symbol of the Armenian genocide . |
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| Overview of Ljubljana |
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| This is me ready to board the ship to Tokelau . Early departure about 6am. |
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| One of the islands from the ship. |
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| Passenger and Cargo ship. Goes about every 2 weeks or so. Over 24 hours to the islands from Samoa |
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| Local Children |
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| Family who I had lunch with on the Sunday |
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| This building is the main administration building on Nukunonu . The middle floor includes the Post office and Immigration. They share the same office. The Post office is in fact just one desk. But the same staff do Immigration and the Post office. The top floor is the only Hotel where I stayed. |
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| Inside of Post office and Immigration office. |
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| The wonderful Postmaster who opened the Post office on the Saturday night at 10pm for me.. That is service. |
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| A video of part of the Catholic service on the Sunday in Nukunonu Tokelau |
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Pacific Ocean-Tokelau-Nukunonu Without a doubt the most difficult Island for me to get to. On my first attempt a few years ago , the ship left a few days before my arrival even though it was organised. This time, I arrived to find I needed extra paper work, like a Police clearance and a Medical report. Also no permit had been issued, as you need these to visit each island. Luckily I was planning on being in the Pacific region for 4 weeks so was able to book a trip one month later and wait for all the paperwork to get sorted. As is common, the ship left a day later then planned . But all was well and managed to say one night in Nukunonu witch even has a hotel. Arrived on a Saturday and was able to look around the island. It is quite small and you can walk from one end to the other in a 2 hours or less. It is really down to the heat. The people were very friendly and on Sunday was able to have lunch with a local family prior to the ship going back to Samoa . |
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| There are no postcards to be found in Nukunonu so I brought this card with me. As I arrived on a Saturday and departed Sunday the Post office as such would not be open . However I found out that the immigration officer on Nukunonu is also the Postmaster. So it was arranged and the Post office was opened for me at 10 pm on the Saturday night , so I could mail the postcards. Very helpful. You will note that the postmark has no date. This is the real cancellation which is on the island. Philatelic mail gets cancelled in New Zealand and those cancellations have a date. Tokelau is a dependent territory of New Zealand. |
