30 April 2010

Day 120: 
Since I was still feeling poorly due to a bad cough (and lots of mucus), I decided to walk into uni rather than ride my bike. With the rain overnight came creatures that usually aren't seen so much when the sun is shining, including this little (well, rather large) fella having a mooch 'round on the pavement that was still damp. I very nearly trod on this one and several others on my walk in.

29 April 2010

Day 119:
With unsettled weather moving into the area, rainbows are always a possibility given the right conditions. Today, Plymouth was treated to a HUGE double rainbow that spread across the city. My lens simply was not wide enough to begin to capture the whole thing. Now, If only there was a pot of gold at the end of this (double) rainbow... one would have to go diving in the deep blue see to retrieve it!

28 April 2010

Day 118:
It was finally time to say goodbye to the fish that Ann and I rescued last April from my experimental tanks in the CT room. Before taking them back to Salcombe, I had to try and grab a few quick photos of my 'children', including the crinkled one! Once we got out to Salcombe and into the water, release was imminent. I stuck my mask on and my snorkel in my mouth to watch them swim one by one out of the plastic bag. Unfortunately the viz was TERRIBLE and the poor little creatures didn't really know what to do with themselves. So, they hung around us for a few minutes, even letting me touch them with my hands, but we had to get to work and turned away from our little friends. I hope they continue to survive out in that great big sea....

27 April 2010

Day 117:
With clear skies and nearly a full moon over Plymouth, it was a beautiful evening to watch the moon rise over the city. I feel to lucky to have the view that I do....

26 April 2010

Day 116:
Another photo not taken on this particular day, but a good one nonetheless...  :-)  After a few showers later in the week, the blue bells were looking particularly stunning in the grass covered in raindrops! Spring is AWESOME here!

25 April 2010

Day 115:
Well, I know it doesn't look like much, but I did spend several hours today cleaning the roof terrace, getting it (and the BBQ) ready for SUMMER!!!  I still need to sort a few things out such a outdoor plants and some lights (the ones I currently have are pretty much knackered after 2 years), but at least it has been swept clean, the moss removed, the table and chairs wiped clean and the plants reorganised.  Now all we need is a summer to actually happen this year!

24 April 2010

Day 114:
After walking several sections of the SW Coast Path over the last 3 years, I finally made it to one of the official starting points of the trail in Minehead, which is celebrated by this wonderful sculpture! It took just over 2 hours to drive up to Porlock Weir on the Somerset coast where Nicolas and I parked the car before catching the bus over to Minehead. This was so we could leisurely walk back to the car without having to rush back as we weren't limited by bus schedules and the like. What took about 22 minutes or so to get to Minehead by bus, took the better part of 8 hours for us to go the 9.5 miles back to the car. Of course, we had a few stops along the way and there were many photos taken. We chose the 'Alternative Rugged Coast Path' over the inland path, which turned out to be a great choice. Wow... what wonderful valleys on Exmoor filled with gorse in flower!

23 April 2010

Day 113:
Well, after nearly 5 years, Martin Canty (aka Wee Man) had his Viva Voce and passed. He can finally call himself Dr Canty, which is a bit scary cos then he'll be able to answer "yes" to the question, "Is there a doctor in the house?".  Watch out ladies!

22 April 2010

Day 112:
Although I spent nearly the entire day inside on the 40th anniversary of Earth Day (so very sad about that especially on such a lovely day), I was told about some really cool textile graffiti in the city centre. A local artist going by the name of Mrs Smith made covers for the all of the posts demarking the time on the sun dial in the city centre. They were all different and were complete with a cushion on the top. It was so lovely to see something new and different in Plymouth and I really hope that it's a sign of good things to come.

21 April 2010

Day 111:
This photo was actually taken on this day. It is at the eastern end of Victoria Park and the Prunus (cherry/apple) trees were simply amazing! It looked like snow in the air as the petals drifted slowly to the gound...

20 April 2010

Day 110:
Here's yet another photo of the walking spring tour. I'm not sure what type of tree this is, but it too was covered in beautiful white blossoms that looked fantastic in the early morning sun...

19 April 2010

Day 109:
Again, this photo wasn't taken on this day, but instead a few days later when I did spring walking tour into uni one morning. Just around the corner from me (near enough), there is small park that a lot of people use to walk their dogs. Fortunately it isn't covered in dog shit, but instead it is covered in the flower petals of the cherry trees... It is so very beautiful in spring in the UK as so many people take pride in their gardens and parks.

18 April 2010

Day 108:
After everyone arose from their slumber, it was decided that a pub lunch/Sunday roast was just what the doctor ordered after the previous nights shenanigans.  Rie suggested we go to Colnbrook village which is quite near Heathrow (directly west). Since there were no planes flying due to the volcanic ash cloud drifting over the UK from Iceland, sitting outside listening to the bird song in the sunshine was absolutely wonderful and something that probably hasn't happened in that village since Heathrow was built.


For more info about Colnbrook, check out their website: http://www.colnbrook.com/

17 April 2010

Day 107:
Ah, Rie's flat-warming party... lots of lovely people turned up for the evening, including Graeme with a armful of homemade wine, which he had everyone drinking by the end of the night. He is showing off some of his wares in this photo... a nice apple wine. I must say though, as lovely as it was, it comes nowhere near the delightfulness of his homemade blackberry wine... that stuff is the shizzle!

16 April 2010

Day 106:
Yesterday was Rie's 21/22 birthday, but she wasn't having her celebration until the 17th when she combined a birthday party with a flat-warming party. I took the train up on the Friday (16th) and passed through some lovely English countryside (as always on that particular rail line). Somewhere in Wiltshire, shortly after leaving one the stations, this wonderful chalk horse comes into view. It is one of the 7 chalk horses in Wiltshire alone.


For more info about the chalk horses of Wiltshire, check out: http://www.wiltshirewhitehorses.org.uk/.

15 April 2010

Day 105:
Although not taken on this day, this is a photo of the sunset from our last night in Brittany. Although it wasn't as dramatic as a few days before, it was still wonderful light filling the sky with pale pinks and blues. I already missed that beach and had only been back home for a day.

14 April 2010

Day 104:
Before leaving the Bon Vent Centre, the students asked if I would take a group shot of all of them. Inspired by the previous evenings events, I took a couple of normal, smiling shots, but then asked them to pull their best funny face.  This is what we ended up with!  :-)

13 April 2010

Day 103:
On the final night in France, all of the staff went down to the beach to catch the sunset as all of the others on previous days had been AMAZING! However, this particular sunset was a little less stellar and so people started to get a bit slap happy. We decided that taking a group photo would be a good idea... one that was normal and one that a bit like, "pull the best face you can!". This was our second attempt as the first attempt involved James flying through the air not once, but twice, and still missed being in the photo.

12 April 2010

Day 102:
LOL... yes, Maria played a bit of a prank on Tricky (the technician who came with our group). As the Bon Vent Centre is normally used by young school kids, there were laminated signs that had the French words/phrases for the 5 senses. After one of them fell down from being tacked up on the wall, Maria had the idea to take the one for the sense of touch (Le Toucher) and stick it on Tricky's back. He wasn't aware that this sign was on his back for hours and even took a walk with it still attached to his back. Since we aren't native French speakers, the idea of him being a 'toucher' was quite hysterical!

11 April 2010

Day 101:
After another long, and less warm day in the field, a bunch of us headed down to the beach just down from the Bon Vent centre to catch the sunset. What I also seemed to catch was a bunch of nutters jumping for joy in the soft sand!

10 April 2010

Day 100:
After an overnight ferry crossing (across the English Channel), we found ourselves in Doussen (Santec), France for the first day of the 1st year undergraduate field course (BIOL 1101). Once we finally got settled into our rooms and field gear out and sorted, we grabbed our packed lunches (yes, the famous French baguette) and headed down to the mouth of the estuary. James (above), on the of PhD student demonstrators, is showing the love of the baguette (ham and cheese on dry bread), but I'm not so sure that he still had the same smile by the end of the week...

9 April 2010

Day 99:
As I was so busy getting ready to head to Roscoff today and even busier still once getting to the ferry terminal, I didn't really have time (or the inclination) to take out the camera.  :-(  I know, sad indeed, but some days are just like that.  Instead, I'll treat to you to a photo taken on a different day.  :-) Although this photo was taken last year, I finally got around to working with it right before leaving for Roscoff, in hopes that some of my photos might show up on the Purely West Cornwall website, however, since contacting the person in charge, I still haven't heard anything back from them. Perhaps I should give them a nudge cos surely they can't say that this photo is bad!  :-)  Oh, BTW... it was taken at Porthmeor Beach in St. Ives last summer.  Such a glorious end to a wonderful day hiking the SW Coast Path!

8 April 2010

Day 98:
Since everything in England is old, you come across some very interesting signs, such as the one above placed on the outside of an old toll house. This is along the Yealm River in Noss Mayo and these were the fares to get across the river to Newton Ferrers on the ferry, upon which you can bring your pony, corn and potatoes. What the fares translate into, or even how they are calculated, I have no idea. It's just one of the many charms of living in an oldy-worldy place!

7 April 2010

Day 97:
LOL... I've come across some funny signs in my life, but I don't ever recall seeing a caution sign for toads! This was on a telephone pole heading out of Croyde. Who knows, maybe they DO have a lot of toads there?!?! Unfortunately, Claudia and I head no evidence of their croaking...

6 April 2010

Day 96: 
Unfortunately, today I had to return to work after some lovely walks during the long weekend. Rather than having my head into what I should have been thinking about, I found myself daydreaming of the dunes and the beach from the walk that Claudia and I did on Sunday at Baggy Point. This is Croyde Beach with a wonderful sand dune system separating it from the village. Although the wind was still brisk at this time of day, the colours were simply amazing!

5 April 2010

Day 95:
Today was a Bank Holiday Monday, so it was another very quiet day at uni with only 3 of us in working, but after taking care of all of the necessary things at uni, I left early to head outside as the sun had come out and I was jonesing for more vitamin D. I decided to stay somewhere more local so that I could do as much walking as possible considering I wouldn't get on the trail until 3pm. I chose to complete the part of the SW coast path near The Warren and Noss Mayo. The SW Coast Path had a very different character along this stretch due to it being made into a carriage way in the 1800's for Lord Revelstoke to impress his guests. As you can in in this photo, it almost looks like a proper road and it stretches for 9 miles in much the same manner, but I only walked a ~4 mile stretch of it from The Warren down into Noss Mayo.


For more info about Lord Revelstoke, check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Baring,_1st_Baron_Revelstoke.  I didn't realise that the city in British Columbia had been renamed in his honour since he saved the Canadian Pacific Railway from bankruptcy. So, not only have I now been to where he lived, but also to the city he saved.

4 April 2010

Day 94:
With the promise of sunshine, Claudia and I headed out to the North Devon Coast near Croyde & Woolacombe to walk the SW Coast Path for Baggy Point (where I am stood in the photo) for some fine sea views, bracing sea air and sunshine for a 5 mile walk. It was a wonderful day out watching seabirds practising their acrobatic flying manoeuvres, bumble bees trying to burrow in the grass trying to escape the wind and lambs in the green fields while stocking up on some much needed vitamin D. It felt soooo good to lay in the sunshine, despite the chilly 30mph wind.

3 April 2010

Day 93:
The weather outside today was terrible as the sky was filled with dark grey clouds overhead all day and the rain wouldn't stop pouring down. Not a very inspiring day to be outside, or really even move from my computer chair for that matter. I finally was able to tackle a project that I had long since put off which included post-processing some photos from last year of days spent out in south and west Cornwall in hopes of some of them getting put on a site for Purely West Cornwall (bit of a tourist site/fan page on Facebook).


Although this photo was not taken today (shame, cos that's where I would have liked to have been), it is one of the many photos that I spent time on fixing the colours, cropping and whatnot to make it special. But I tell you what, after sitting in front of the computer all day looking at photos of beautiful blues skies, seas, sunsets, surfers, flowers, ponies and other wildlife, I was jonesing to get outside!!

2 April 2010

Day 92:
Today was a bank holiday (Good Friday) and I was supposed to spend the entire day at work trying to get some stuff done since it was a lot quieter with so many people away on holiday. Unfortunately (?), I woke up and the sun was shining, which made going in and knowing that I was going to have to spend time in the CT (constant temperature) room VERY, VERY difficult. However, I did manage that task and after about 2 hours there while the sun was still shining, I decided to cut and run. By the time I finally got things sorted to leave and made it outside, the rain had returned. I still decided to head home. Not too long after getting home, the sun came out again. I had to get outside. So, I headed to Plym Bridge Woods just to the NE of Plymouth. I'd heard about this place many, many times, but had never made it there so today I rectified that. There appears to many trails leading away from the parking area and I was unsure which to take. I chose to head up river where I eventually came to Cann Quarry. In desperate need of a pee, I ducked behind a rock to take care of my business, but my rustling in the leaves sent this pair of Mandarin ducks to the pond. I had never seen Mandarin ducks before and was amazed at the sheer beauty of the male. They are not native to the UK, but instead are part of a feral population that has arisen from escaped ducks. I love this photo as both the male and female are in view, but the emphasis is on the male. What a great time watching these birds glide silently across the pond. Oh, and a bizarre fact... apparently, they nest and lay their eggs in holes in trees.

1 April 2010

Day 91:
Well, this one almost seems like a repeat of the photo from Monday, but it was no April Fool's that on Thursday morning there was nothing but blue skies to welcome us to April!  See what I mean about the striking colours (shades of pink against blue). Now if only you could see the amazing green grass as well!