Brief Hiatus

A couple of weeks ago I headed off to the other end of the planet (Cape Town) for a quick trip for Kate (and Dayne's, but she's in the UK) birthday as well as a sunshine recharge before winter bedded itself down in England.  All well and good, the flight was terrible (I really hate flying, not from fear, but from the discomfort point of view).  It was absolutely lovely to be back and to see all those wonderful familiar faces whom I miss so much.

I stayed with Tony in Fish Hoek.  We had a braai joined by so many wonderful friends and family and I caught up on all the news I'd missed out on in the last 10 months. A couple of good friends couldn't make it and there was so much to do that I didn't get to see them.  Next time!

We're a fairly savvy and security conscious bunch of people down South but it still didn't stop burglars breaking into Tony's house on Monday afternoon and making off with mostly my stuff - laptop, UK phone, UK keys, UK bank cards.  Tony lost a couple of work gadgets and his deodorant! Damn, I'm still annoyed!  But, moving on.
 
That's the main reason I haven't done any blog posts recently.  I first had to get a new laptop (OK, I'm not too sad about that).  I finally sorted out my UK phone and discovered that you can get a dual sim phone - how clever is that?  But, I did lose a lot of photographs and data, so I'm having to do a bit of catch up with things.  I took a lot of photographs while I was there so I will get to blogging a bit later in the week. 

It's been back to full on Autumn with the beautiful colours as well as the clocks going back over the weekend.  It's not terribly cold yet, but it won't be long.  Please come back in a couple of days.  I've missed you.

Portsmouth 17 September 2016

Anticipating a quiet weekend I was so surprised to get an email from my friend Lee from Cape Town who was in Portsmouth on a quick family visit, asking if I was busy! I'm never too busy for my friends so before you could say "how are you", I had booked a train ticket and made arrangements to meet up.  This is a new part of the country to me so I was only too happy to get up at the crack of dawn to catch the 8.28 train (it was Saturday - that's early!).  With two train changes in the 2 hour journey, there wasn't much opportunity to nap.

I've met some great people since arriving here but old friends are the best!  We had so much to catch up on that Colin decided he would drop us off at the Gunwharf Quays and leave us to it.

We had lunch and a bottle of wine - neither of us had to drive so no problem there.  Then we took a walk around the Quays talking, talking, talking.  Lovely.  The Quays are the site of the Spinnaker Tower - one of the highest structures in the UK at 170 metres.  Did you know that in high winds it can flex up to 6 inches?  Disconcerting that.

There was quite a few nautical themed statues and artworks around this busy centre as well as a LOT of high fashion shops so a bit of shopping happened.

Colin, having had a lovely quiet afternoon, collected us and we headed back to the highest house in Portchester with the best view.  I need to work out how to do night shots with my camera but I quite like the effect here.

This one is a bit better.  How's that view?

Now was time for champagne - that's a long standing tradition with Lee.  As sparkling as this lovely chandelier.

Sunday turned up sunny and relatively warm so we headed out to do some sightseeing in the old part of Portsmouth.

1450 - and in really good shape.

A very well behaved espalier tree.

If you're dead, you're okay here.

Portsmouth is, surprisingly, an island city and it's history has been significantly impacted by it's proximity to the sea, London and France.  It's been a major naval city for centuries hosting the fleets, amongst others,  involved in the French Invasion of 1545, the embarkation point for the D Day landings during WWII, and the whole of the fleet headed for the Falklands.  HMS Bounty set sail for Tahiti under the command of Captain Bligh from Portsmouth in 1787.

The city's history can be traced back to Roman times and in the late 3rd century AD the Romans built a fort in Portchester which remains the most perfectly preserved fort north of the Alps. In the 5th century the fort was used as a Saxon stronghold against Viking raids and in the 12th century a castle was built in within the walls.  Historically a busy spot but quite peaceful now.

It always makes me smile to see really old graffiti - human nature hasn't really changed, has it? Just the materials and contemporary artists can only hope that their artworks exist anywhere near as long as this.

This post box was probably erected during the reign of George V, so between 1910 and 1936.

All too soon it was time to head home for lunch and then the 14.40 to Winchester wasn't waiting for anyone.  The HMS's Victory, Warrior and Alliance will have to wait for another visit.

What a lovely weekend it was - thanks Colin and Lee.

Virginia Water 3.9.2016

Virginia Water, at the top of Windsor Great Park has been on my radar for a year.  The Ramblers walk there regularly during the week, but that counts me out. So today I negotiated the traffic around Windsor and found my way there.  The weather wasn't particularly good but you can't let that stop you on this little island otherwise you will stay home an awful lot of the time.

I started from Blacknest Gate and headed across the lake, dam, big pond, reservoir? Not sure what to call this body of water.  It's man made, created in 1753.  A grand ambition. Though there was a huge storm in 1768 which destroyed the pondhead and drained the lake. It was rebuilt by in 1781 and again in 1784 but the rebuild in 1790 created the dimensions seen today.

Crossing the Five Arch Bridge I headed towards the beautiful Valley Gardens.

I know this Park has been used by hunters for centuries, but I'm pretty sure this isn't what they looked like.

Turns out this colourful gentleman belongs to Sikh Relief, an aid organisation who were holding an event in the gardens today.  This event was in aid of Nepal disaster relief and they do amazing work, definitely a case of putting their money where their mouths are. They were also handing out delicious cupcakes to passers by. Note to other charities - cupcakes enhance attention and listening abilities (tongue firmly embedded in cupcake cheek).

During WWII, the lake was drained as it's distinctive shape reflecting in the moonlight could be used by enemy pilots for night guidance.

Moving away from the water I headed up into the Valley Gardens and towards the Plunket Memorial

with it's spectacular view down to the water.  Such a peaceful place.

A brief respite then moving on past a giant redwood along the Canadian Avenue.

And coming to a giant totem pole!  This was a gift from the people of British Columbia to the Queen in 1958.  It's 100 feet high and carved from a 600 year old, single log of western red cedar.

Some more teenage swans and ducks

More than half way round, definitely time for tea and cake. It was good.

I think this is not the best time of the year for the Cascade Waterfall - it was completely underwhelming!  I suppose it is the end of summer and perhaps in a month or so there will have been some rain.  Apparently the autumn colours here are some of the best in the UK, I'll have to come back and check them out.

Here's a taste of those colours.  Berries starting to appear everywhere.

Another surprise - ruins!  A 200 year old set of Roman ruins imported (that's a polite way of putting it) by George III from the ancient Roman city of Leptis Magna on the North African coast near Tripoli, Libya in 1818.  Prescient perhaps considering what's happening in that part of the world at the moment.  There used to be statues but the Victorians vandalised them and they were removed for safekeeping. So safe in fact that some have never been seen again.

By this stage I was almost all the way round the lake and had a really good view of the Five Arches Bridge, so that was my walk.

I haven't done much walking over the summer and my feet were taking some strain. Time to head home and put them up.  Just a couple of flowers for you because they are so pretty.