Road Trip!

Brand: Skittledog

Pieces: 1000
Size:  49cm x 68.5cm

Product Code: -

Another (busy) weekend, another puzzle...

Today I have decided to put up this cool travel one which I purchased one day in Melbourne. I loved the mapped out design, and the references to North American scenery and landmarks. It reminded me so much of a Contiki tour I once took there, and was a big factor when it came to me purchasing this puzzle over others I saw there. 

I really enjoy doing map-style puzzles - I have such a fascination with geography and travel and love to see these kinds of puzzles come together...

Do you enjoy puzzles of a similar nature?

New Zealand And South Pacific Islands Map

Brand: Hinkler Puzzlebilities

Pieces: 500
Size:  73.6cm x 58.4cm

Product Code: -

I'm back! After 10 days campervanning around the South Island of New Zealand- from Christchurch to Queenstown- I am now back on Australian soil. We arrived back last night and although I loved our little family holiday, I am also so glad to be back in the comfort of the familiar.

While I was away, I bought one puzzle of an illustrated New Zealand map (not the one above- this is one I completed a long time ago and put up specially for this post) and I'm excited to begin it. I didn't see any dedicated puzzle shops in my travels (I don't even know if they exist in New Zealand) but I found the one I bought in a souvenir store. I also saw a few New Zealand puzzle designs that I have not previously seen from Cavalini and Co and so I'm not sure if they're just exclusive to NZ or can be purchased elsewhere. I didn't buy any cos the price was high and my husband wasn't too keen on me buying more than one puzzle but it was still interesting to note. 

I'm going to leave it here- I have a lot of unpacking and washing to do now! I'll need a holiday after my holiday!

Melbourne Map

Brand: Hardie Grant Explore

Pieces: 500
Size: 51cm x 51cm

Product Code: -

I'm back in the state this weekend so I am able to post as normal. 

And I have exciting news!

When individual competition tickets first became available for the Victorian State Jigsaw Puzzle Competition (held in Melbourne) I missed my chance to secure tickets and ended up on the waitlist. I didn't think anything would come of it but during the week an opening came up and I was able to buy ONE ticket! 

So now I have to practise speed-puzzling 500 piece puzzles in preparation for the event. 

It's being held on my husband's birthday which is a bummer but he was OK with me doing it, considering I've been travelling everywhere with him in his marathon and running interest pursuits. Now I need to crack down and start practising!

Today I have put up an image of a 500 piece puzzle of Melbourne- since that's where the event will be held. This puzzle disappointingly wasn't of the best quality, but I still liked the image, and was able to recognise most of the landmarks (with our city of Geelong being only about an hour's drive from there). 

The Australia Edition

Brand: Journey Of Something

Pieces: 1000
Size: 70cm x 50cm
Product Code:  -

Since Covid-19 took over the world, there has been a huge influx of puzzle brands coming onto the market so people can while away their 'stay at home' time with activities such as puzzle assembly. So many companies sold out of their designs with this unprecedented demand, and a whole new audience grew. 

Because of this, a lot of regular puzzlers had trouble locating designs from their favourite brands, and it meant having to either do ones already in their collection which had been put off for others (I'm guilty of this) and also trying new brands (also guilty). 

One of the new brands I decided to try was not necessarily new- Journey Of Something has been around for quite a few years already- but it was new to me (in that, I hadn't purchased from them before. I had always admired their artist-based designs but couldn't justify the cost. Even though they are only a small business, their prices seemed way too expensive compared to the usual $30 or so I usually spend as maximum. For your reference, their puzzles cost over $50 each for a 1000 piece puzzle. But when they had a sale, I decided to take the plunge and just buy some. Their Australian-owned and I thought I'd do my bit to support local.

I'm glad I did.

The designs are expensive (as I said) but that said, I know they have to cover the costs of manufacture, copyright for artists, shipping, promotion, etc, and still make some money at the end of it. All of the designs are carefully curated and beautiful. The pieces come in a fabric bag inside the box, whose lid lifts up and is held with ribbon. Presentation is perfect. 

I chose the above puzzle and two others, and thought I'd put up this one first because Australia Day (a public holiday which has become very controversial over the last few years- 'aka Invasion Day') is this Tuesday and I needed something Australian themed to display. 

Extremely good quality and very pretty. I loved the landmarks, illustrations, and overall design of this Australian map. If you get the chance, check out their website and see what goodies catch your eye. 

World Map

Brand: Hinkler Puzzlebilities
Pieces: 500
Size: 91.4cm x 60.9cm
Product Code:  HB22-FEB16-08

With all the turmoil going on around the world at the moment, I thought I might put up a puzzle of the world map today, just to remind people that no matter what's happening thousands of kilometres away, we're all still living on the same planet. 

The last few weeks have seen so many unfortunate events- there have been natural disasters like the devastating earthquakes in Mexico, Hurricane Irma in Texas, and the imminent eruption of a volcano in Bali. There were also a few earthquakes in New Zealand but I don't think there were any casualties this time round. 

There has also been a lot of political unrest around the world, with the murder of hundreds of Muslims in Burma (which has sadly been under-reported in the media) and, of course, the tensions between North Korea and the rest of the world. In Australia, the government has posted out a ballot, asking people to vote on whether same-sex marriage should be legalised- there are staunch supporters for both sides, but hopefully commonsense will prevail, discrimination (in this case at least) will be stamped out and everyone will have the opportunity to marry the person that they love, regardless of their gender. 

Now, I've gotten through my little rant so I can talk about the above puzzle! 

The pieces in this puzzle were quite large (although that is mentioned on the box) and made from a thin, relatively low-quality cardboard. If you have a good grasp of geography, then the bright design will be simple to complete.

This would make a good educational resource for someone learning about world maps, as it provides an adequate amount of basic information. 

Australia

Brand: Hinkler Puzzlebilities
Pieces: 500
Size: 73.6cm x 58.4cm
Product Code:  HB22-FEB16-08

On Thursday (January 26) it was Australia Day- our national celebration day. It's a public holiday usually dedicated to barbecued sausages, lots of drinking, listening to Triple J's Hottest 100, and celebrating what makes Australia great.

In recent years, however, there has been growing controversy over the suitability of the day, particularly for some Indigenous Australians. They, and many others who agree with them, have renamed the day Invasion Day, and are striving to change the date so that they too can celebrate their home country without thinking about the genocide that was involved in Australia's 'discovery'. A date suggestion has been May 8 ('Maaaattttttee') as 'mate' is a well-known Aussie colloquialism. 

Personally, I'm not fussed if they change the date or not, as long as we still have the chance to celebrate this amazing country. Of course, it would be better if more people felt comfortable with the date, but, as usual, there will always be someone who wants to complain...

Okay, enough social commentary...

If you haven't already figured it out from what I have written, there is a reason I have posted up this puzzle- Australia Day! 

This puzzle actually took longer for me to do than I expected. The pieces are huge, yet some of them feature very small text (town names, rivers, etc), in order to fit it all on. If the pieces had been any smaller, the puzzle would have been impossible to do! I also realised through doing this puzzle that my knowledge of Australian geography is not as great as I thought it was. I had to Google search a few town names just to work out which state they were in! That said, this would make a great educational tool for people wanting to learn about Australian geography. The map features topographical information as well as a handy key. It also covers a little bit of neighbouring countries Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. The quality of the pieces isn't terribly great- thin cardboard- but that's to be expected from a relatively low-budget puzzle. 

This is a good, cheap puzzle that has strong educational values. 

A handy key at the bottom of the map provides plenty of information

The puzzle pieces are quite large

World In Words

Brand: Ravensburger
Pieces: 500
Size: 49cm x 36cm
Product Code: 143634

This is a cool take on the usual world map design, with text used to 'illustrate' each of the countries. The colours used are bright and cheerful and stand out nicely in front of the beige background. 

If you're familiar with where most places in the world are (or at least have some idea of, approximately, where they are near) then this puzzle shouldn't be too much of a challenge, and you probably won't need to use the box as a reference very much. If geography is not your forte, I suggest checking the box lid every now and then, but you shouldn't have too much trouble. 

Once you find similar colours and can piece together the names of the countries, the puzzle comes together pretty quickly.

This puzzle is fun, educational, and would look great framed on a wall.

Below is a close-up of Europe, and surrounding countries, just to show how each of the countries are 'represented' in the design.