#friends on the west coast of the uk (particularly south west) i hope you are doing well and staying safe

[djarinova]

my wifi is gone and data is being lousy because of the storm so i apologise if i miss any notifications today!!! i shall be back as soon as i can tehehe

[honeylikewords]

Oh. My. God. So i started learning Gaelic on Duolingo (pray for me). And i just got slapped in the face by my friend who was like, imagine David teaching you Gaelic while you teach him English. Imagine Highlander AU! David who has a farm going and loves those really pretty highland cows who have lovely eyelashes, and makes his own butter and wears a kilt 👀💯👌 and David and his lady love sit on a hillside and tell stories about forest fey and say pretty words of love in both languages 💞💓

Pt.2 And then theyre both excited to be learning together and she points at a potato and shes like "buntàta!" And David looks at her all rosey cheeked like, yes little bear thats a potato im so proud of you, youre doing so well 💞💓

Aww! I’m so glad you’re learning a new language! Languages can always be hard, but I have confidence that you’ll do well! Plus, it’s a great way to spend your time and keep your brain flexible (especially now, during quarantine)! Do let me know how it’s going as you head along on your linguistic journey!

And this is a really sweet idea! I love people using their own unique languages and backgrounds to build their relationship!

But I think there’s been a little bit of confusion; David is Irish, not Scottish, and Gaelic traditionally refers to the Scottish language. Kilts are typically associated with the Scottish (though the Irish do have them!), Highland cows are Scottish, and “the Highlands” (and, thus, the title of “Highlander”) refer to the Scottish Highlands. 

Scotland and Ireland are actually two separate areas, with Ireland being a separate island slightly to the west and south of Scotland! 

Pilgrimage takes place in Ireland (though I can’t quite recall which exact area the movie is set in, it says that the movie was filmed largely on the West Coast of Ireland, such as Galway and Mayo, which seems to me to be rather distant from Scotland), so I assume the characters depicted are Irish (though, since David is kind of mysterious in his origin in the film, it’s perfectly reasonable to suggest he could come from somewhere else!).

While the two languages do have a lot of overlap and come from similar roots as Goidelic languages, they are considered to be rather distinct! Since you reference “buntàta”, I’m guessing you’re referring to Scottish Gaelic!

I will admit that from what I have read, “Gaelic” can refer to both languages, at times, since they have some transfer between one another, and many outsiders (myself included!) can have difficulty tracing what came from where, who holds claim to what, et cetera, and because “Gaelic” also refers to the overall of anything that is descended from the Gaels. There’s a lot of discussion about which terms mean what and who gets referred to as what, so I’ll leave that specificity to people who actually are Irish, Scottish, or have studied the topic more intensively than I.

But I will say that what I know from my time in the UK (and being in Scotland) is that the Scottish and Irish people do have completely distinct cultures, very, VERY much do not enjoy being conflated as one identity, and are very protective of being seen as separate, unique peoples. 

So while I do agree that the Highlands are very romantic (I’ve been, and it’s lovely!), and David would do well in such an area, for the sake of keeping David distinctly Irish, maybe we can rework some of these ideas for romanticizing the Irish countryside and Irish languages!

He could definitely have a lovely farm in Ireland, and I imagine he loves cows! Cows and horses, specifically, because he’s a big fan of the larger animals that he can steer around and herd, likely with a nice, big dog by his side. I think he farms sheep, cows, horses, a few chickens, but no pigs (he can’t stand pigs, not even to eat, excepting a few rare occasions when he’ll accept a slab of smoked bacon at market), and loves to take care of his herds and flocks as best as he can.

He’s quite good at making butter because of his upper arm strength and patience, so he can just sit there for hours, working the cream and the churn, just utterly silent. Someone who didn’t know him might find it offputting or creepy, the way he can just zone out and churn for hours in complete silence, but his beloved knows that, yep, that’s just him relaxing! He’s probably thinking about his favorite cow, or what he’s going to eat for dinner, or about how nice it’ll be to cuddle tonight when he gets back to bed and is able to rest with his lovely one.

I like to think that the days he takes “off” (in quotes because, really, you can’t take a real holiday from a farm, since those animals need feeding and watering and walking and milking, and there are always daily chores) are Sundays and church holidays, but, every now and then, he can be convinced to get all his chores done early in the morning, leaving a day for him and his sweet one to do anything they like, whether that’s going into town (very rare, since David isn’t very fond of town) or just having a stroll together through the hills, through the fields, off in their own little world.

David likes when she talks as they walk, letting her just chatter and following the drift and flow of her thoughts, streaming like a pleasant, bubbling river that carries them both along. They walk arm in arm, and every now and then, David will stop and point at something-- a bird, a stone, a tree, a wandering deer-- and raise an eyebrow at his sweetheart, which she knows is his wordless probing to ask her to tell him the name of the object in Irish Gaeilge. 

She’ll pause and chew her lip, looking at where his large finger is pointing, and take a moment before giving her answer-- éan, cloch, crann, or fia, for example-- and if she has answered correctly, he’ll give her one of his sweet, shy smiles, the ones that crinkle his eyes and hide his lips behind his beard, cheeks rounded up, eyes reflecting just a light glitter of happiness. If he’s in an especially good mood or she’s answered a particularly obscure question, he might bend down and kiss her temple, beard tickling her face as he nuzzles into her hair.

David likes to help her climb up the hillside, since so many can be so dreadfully steep, and it’s so cute to see her try to scrabble her way up the side of the hill and then need to hold onto him for support. Once they’re both safely at the top, David will sit himself down in the tall grass, guiding her to sit on his sturdy lap and gaze out over the countryside, all verdant and sprawling. The wind will whistle through the trees and past their ears, and David might find himself humming along, his voice low and rumbling in his chest and carrying into her back as she leans against him. 

He holds her hand and waits, resting his chin on her shoulder, keeping her held warm and cozy against his large form. He doesn’t always know what he’s waiting for, but he waits, regardless, and something lovely always shows itself, reveals in response to his patience. 

Sometimes, it’s a sudden burst of sunshine-- the clouds parting overhead, showering glowing light down on the shimmering green hills and fields-- or a flock of birds tittering out in the fields, or her, his love, turning around in his lap and burying her face in the crook of his neck, or gazing into his eyes and playfully rubbing her nose against the lumpy, broken bridge of his, hovering her warm lips over his to ever-so-sweetly tease him into leaning forward and giving her a kiss, hungry and impatient, in contrast to his usual self-control.

Once in a while, they’ll bring along a basket of food, often much larger than what would normally be brought on a picnic due to David’s ravenous appetite, and a book for her to read aloud, perched on David’s knee as he chews on a  sandwich and listens intently. 

He likes for her to read fairytales or stories from the countryside, but doesn’t mind, the occasional turn of something dramatic; he’s let her read him ghost stories or tales of woe, though he sometimes gets bored of the dull and dreary tone and waits for an especially tense moment of the story and scares her by grabbing her waist abruptly and going “boo!” in her ear in that deep voice of his, making her shriek and flap around in his lap (which, of course, leads him to letting out a rough, heavy laugh and squeezing her close, kissing her cheeks in apology). 

But when she reads stories of princesses and noble knights, or maidens fair and lovely, he looks at her with adoring eyes and knows that the holds his own little princess on his lap, and that he’d slay any dragon, swim any sea, trick any fae to be able to come home to her every single day.

He’s always proud of her, always.

I love this idea and I do hope you send in more adorable things like this! 

[jamesandanna12]

Vancouver (British Columbia) to Bend (Oregon) - 28 Sept - 12 Oct 2017

There was nothing in the area where our hotel was... It was a struggle to even find a bite to eat. We found a shop and had some sandwiches for supper. We knew we were staying out of town but since the hotel prices in Vancouver were very high, we weren't able to be too picky. 

Having prearranged our appointment with Honda Vancouver, we were a bit shocked to discover the next morning that the shop was 30km away.  In fact it was downtown, just two blocks from the main tourist area of the city.  So our plan to rest from the bikes was not to happen.  We dropped the bikes at the shop after a stressy hour of riding and were told to return in two hours.

 We had coffee and saw some of the tourist sights - it is a scenic city.

The waterfront was lovely. 

Walking around we passed several markets - great for people watching. 

It was a beautiful sunny day - perfect for watching the world go by!

We liked watching the little water taxis 😉

This was definitely our favourite view of the city so far. 

The Honda folks did a great job and were fascinated by our trip. After saying our goodbyes, we dropped the bikes back to the hotel and returned downtown to meet Lubna.

We took the train to downtown - definitely a more relaxed way of getting around! 😉

The waterfront was very modern. 

There were several cruise ships in town. 

We had time to spare before meeting Lubna so we walked and walked 😊

We met Lubna and she showed us around some nice sights. She was a great tour guide! 😉

Lubna took us to her favourite restaurant. It was hopping!! Incredibly busy place! The restaurant was vegan - we've never actually been to one.... The food was fantastic!  And the desserts were to die for!! 

We had a lovely evening with Lubna. It was great to see her after so long. She and Anna got on like house and fire - clearly two troublesome ones! 😜😉

The three of us walked around some more after dinner - Vancouver at night is equally beautiful! 

Lubna - thank you for meeting us! We're both waving at you 😀👋👋😀

The following day was a Sunday.  Just like many people in Vancouver, we spent the day walking the city and in particular Stanley Park, the beautiful public park in the middle of Vancouver harbour.  We greatly enjoyed exploring - it is a very impressive and modern city.

We walked in the park for about 24km that Sunday! 😉 Great city! We really enjoyed it! After walking around some more, we went back to our hotel and packed for the following morning so we would be ready to set off early.

Our plan after leaving Vancouver was to hug the west coast of both Canada and the US as we rode south towards California.  Our first stop was Vancouver Island - a 2 hour ferry journey west of Vancouver itself.  

Riding to the ferry terminal was less hassle than we expected given how bad the traffic is in Vancouver! There was already a big queue but we were channelled into another lane 👍

We took our valuables with us and left the bikes beside a dozen others.  

The boat journey was lovely! 

The ferry journey was straightforward and before we knew it, we were riding into the small coastal town of Parksville in the centre of the island.  Here we found a very nice and friendly motel and a delightful sleepy seaside town.  We decided to stay for a couple of days and to use it as a base for exploring more of the island. The motel always had about half a dozen friendly bunnies around 😊

 We were happy to have table and chairs in our room - we were able to have a nice supper of Domino's pizza and a few glasses of Malbec! 😉

The coast was very beautiful and we really enjoyed the beach!

We also did a nice day trip across the island to the small town of Tofino on the rugged Pacific Coast.  We had a fabulous ride across the central mountain range before reaching Tofino.  

We parked our bikes and did a lovely coastal trek.  Whilst failing to see the hoped-for whales offshore, we were greeted by wonderful scenery.  Those whales are elusive! 😉

It was a beautiful day. The scenery was gorgeous! We left Tofino and stopped for an incredibly delicious strawberry crumble and coffee! 

From Parksville, we rode south to Victoria, the capital city of Vancouver Island.  Here we were pleasantly surprised to find a scenic, modern, tourist-friendly walking city.  We preferred Victoria to Vancouver (its more prestigious neighbour). 

One thing we really wanted to do whilst in Victoria was a day-long whale-watching boat trip.  Those whales couldn't avoid us forever. ............. Or could they?

We arrived at the little port and waited for the tour group to form. It was very picturesque! 

We finally set off. We were on a fast boat!! It was freezing and the wind was very strong - my hair was double the volume 😂 (and so was James's!) 😂 

Before too long we started seeing resident orcas!!!

Then we started seeing humpbacks!!! Finally!! They're not that elusive after all!! 😍 It was a lovely sight!! There were many whales playing 😀

The weather was getting progressively worse with torrential rain... Everyone hid inside the boat until there was a shout "WHALES!!!" - everyone rushed to the outer deck and in the pouring rain we saw several FULL BREACHES!!!!! Unbelievable!! 😍😍 

Everything happened too quickly to capture a photo but this stock image is what we saw 😍

After that incredible encounter everyone was ecstatic! The crew told us that this hardly ever happens! We were very lucky!!! 😊

On our way back to shore there was still plenty to look at, including sealions. 

We had an amazing day on the water!! Seeing orcas and  humpback whales in their full glory was something very special! Amongst stunning scenery, photographs cannot really do justice to what a memorable day we had 😍😀😍

Back on solid ground we walked around for hours.

To leave Victoria the next day, we took another ferry for the 2 hour crossing from Canada to the USA (to Port Angeles in Washington State).  

We were delighted to meet another overland motorcyclist on the ferry (Mark from the UK) and to discover that we had mutual travel friends in London.  It's a small world! 😁

Bikes secured, we went to the top deck. 

We had a very pleasant Sunday morning crossing, enjoying the views, drinking coffee and chatting. 

Before we knew it were riding into the spectacular Olympic National Park in Washington.  

We rode into the Park along the worringly-named Hurricane Ridge.  Happily we reached the 2,000m highpoint without too much wind.  Our only dodgy moment being when an elk sprinted across the road about 1m in front of my (James) bike.  As I couldn't possibly avoid him, I like to think he was clever enough to avoid me!

After exiting Olympic National Park, we rode to our motel in the small coastal town of Bremerton.  Our motel was occupied by some seriously questionable people - a variety of businesses were being run from the rooms!!  We even saw an envelope full of $100 bills outside a room next to ours! However we stayed as we had a plan for the following day. Bremerton is connected to Seattle by a commuter ferry - this was our plan to visit Seattle without riding the bikes into one of the worst traffic cities in the US. 

In the morning we had a brisk 50 minute walk to the ferry terminal and then were treated to a delightful ferry journey to Seattle. We were the only two non-commuters. 

The views of the Seattle skyline were great. 

After we got off the ferry, we walked in beautiful sunshine and very pleasant temperature.

It was nice to see the tourist places such as the Pike Place market.

The city was a great mixture of ultra modern and old and traditional.

Lunch was seafood pho in a little low-key Vietnamese restaurant. Yummy! 

We walked around a nice Sculpture Park afterwards - the red piece was the nicest one! 😉

There was plenty to look at everywhere. Seattle, like any number of big American or Canadian cities, has a significant amount of social problems. Many homeless, drunks and people on drugs on pretty much every street corner is not something we like seeing but thankfully, walking around felt safe enough. 

Our last stop on our tour of Seattle was an obligatory visit to the Starbucks Reserve Roastery or The Mothership as Anna calls it 😉

After a relaxing coffee or two we headed back to the ferry enjoying a nice sunset. 

Back on the ferry, we watched all the vehicles getting on board.  The sunset was gorgeous!

We had a nice day in Seattle. We had our last views of the city from the ferry - beautiful!

We were happy to leave our dodgy motel the following morning.  We would ride to the town of Astoria on the border between Washington and Oregon states.  The final 50km into Astoria was particularly memorable as we hugged the shore of the mighty Columbia river before riding the 6km bridge into Astoria.  Wonderful views! 

We spent the evening wandering around Astoria, marvelling at the huge river and landmark bridge.

The town was nice without being anything special.

We did however stumble upon the Douglas Fir - a 624 year old tree that was 115 inches in diameter.

Back in our motel we enjoyed a gorgeous sunset followed by a Chinese takeaway 😉

We woke up earlier than planned - there was some construction going on in our motel. So we had breakfast and sat in the garden enjoying the views of the river and the ships.

On leaving Astoria our sat navs stopped working - any excuse for a photo with the fantastic bridge.

After departing Astoria, our ride took us along the Pacific Coast highway to the town of Newport.  From the start the coastal views were great.

However we had an unexpected bonus 30km before arrival in Newport.  We pulled off the road onto a clifftop parking area to take a few photos.....

And to our delight, immediately offshore we saw numerous humpback whales feeding/playing/hanging out! 😁  At some stages, the whales were no more than 100m from us 😍  This went on for a couple of hours.  Before long a crowd had gathered.  It really was a beautiful thing to see.  One local told us that in 52 years living on the Oregon coast, he had never seen a display like this.  We felt very lucky!!! 

After reluctantly dragging ourselves away from the whales, we checked into our unexpectedly lovely motel.  We discovered that Newport has a spectacular 5km long Pacific beach and was a very pleasant town.  We decided to stay for a few days, both to walk the beach and to ride back up the coast to see if we could rediscover the whales.  

The beach was truly beautiful!

We found an amazing local restaurant - it was a long walk to it but we were rewarded with great views!

Mo's was an incredibly busy local place famous for its seafood chowder. It was indeed amazing!!!

We loved walking the beach and stopping for a quiet beer afterwards.  We did it several days in a row 😁

Our return trip to see the whales wasn't quite as successful.  We still saw a few humpbacks, but further offshore.  The sea was rougher on our return visit making the whales more reluctant to come close to the shore.  

We went for our last walk down the beach - the colours were wonderful.

After 3 or 4 days, it was time to leave Newport.  We liked the town a lot.  Our next stop was to be the town of Bend, across the Cascade mountains in central Oregon.  We had two reasons for going there.  Firstly the ride across the Cascades was reputedly a beautiful one, and the mountains surrounding Bend were famous motorcycle routes. 

Our second reason to go to Bend was to visit a small specialist motorcycle luggage business called Giant Loop.  Giant Loop manufactures some of the best adventure motorcycle luggage/bags in the world.  Its bags were the centrepiece of the luggage system on both of our bikes.  We wanted to drop in and meet the clever folks who had made the bags upon which we relied so much. We knew that Giant Loop was owned and run by an adventure motorcycling enthusiast called Harold Cecil.  Harold is closely connected to Rally Raid, the UK engineering company that had prepped our bikes for the trip, and was Rally Raid's US distributor.  We just wanted to say hello and thanks.

The ride started off SPECTACULARLY! And it continued to be so! Amazing riding!!

Our Sunday ride then went across the Cascades  mountains -  indeed very beautiful! We did however see significant wildfire damage in the mountains.  Before we had even arrived in Bend, we knew we would like it - the countryside was motorcycle heaven.  

We checked into our motel and, as usual, immediately set off to explore the town on foot.  

We found Bend to be a really lovely, outdoorsy, artsy town - full of nice cafes and restaurants with a riverside walk through the centre.  A lovely place!

There was great coffee in the Looney Bean! 😉

Halloween was imminent and this house should definitely get the prize! 😋

The next morning, we hopped on the bikes and rode the few kms to Giant Loop's building.  We walked in the door unannounced, and immediately bumped into Harold.  He was so friendly and welcoming - we liked him a lot.  After taking the obligatory photos of us and the bikes for his Facebook page, we spent a very enjoyable couple of hours talking bikes and travel.  

As we were leaving, Harold told us of the local adventure motorcyclist group who hold an informal gathering every Weds evening in a local craft brewery.  We decided to extend our stay in Bend to attend.   We had a fabulous evening with Harold and some very friendly people.  They gave us lots of travel tips for our trip south - very helpful.  Unfortunately they also warned us of an imminent spell of cold weather, and said that the high mountain passes over the Cascades could easily become closed with snow.

Given that the nights in Bend were already sub-zero, we really didn't want it to get any colder.  The weather warnings made up our mind.  Reluctantly we would leave Bend the next morning, and ride back across the Cascades to the Pacific Coast where the weather was warmer.  

Our time in central Oregon was much too short.  The entire state is simply one huge outdoor playground.  We hope to return some day.  

[robertmcangusgroup]

The Daily Thistle

The Daily Thistle – News From Scotland

Thursday 26th October 2017

"Madainn Mhath” …Fellow Scot, I hope the day brings joy to you…. Had my eyes checked yesterday for those who have asked.. all OK.. Vistaláser did an amazing job on my eyes and the aftercare is fantastic, every time I go they run checks, ask me how I am, what did I think of the service, so with that good news, this morning’s walk was done with a happy heart, the ability to see without glasses is such a pleasure, and the fact that I had surgery performed only one week after discovering I had cataracts was a plus.. we walked up the hill to the hermitage this morning and I stood and watched the International Space Station cross the heavens, I waved, they couldn��t see me, but seeing them was such a pleasure.. Back to the house, food for Bella and Coffee for me….

ST ANDREWS STUDENTS CELEBRATE RAISIN MONDAY…. Students have taken part in the traditional Raisin Monday shaving foam fight at the University of St Andrew's in Fife. The tradition also sees first years, referred to as juniors, give a bag or raisins and bottle of alcohol to their "senior "academic parent" in the year above. The foam fight, on Lower College lawn, follows Gaudie night, five weeks earlier, where seniors take their juniors for a night out to introduce them to their friends.

DUMFRIES AND GALLOWAY FUNERAL PLAN SCAM WARNING ISSUED…. A funeral plan sales scam has been targeting people in south west Scotland. Police in Dumfries and Galloway said that hoax callers had claimed to represent the local council. PC Clark Logie said that although the cover story might change, the intent was to get bank details or payment for a service which would not be delivered. He advised the public not to deal with cold callers and to contact reputable firms if they required a product. "Never give out personal or banking details to cold callers, irrespective of how they contact you, whether they attend at your door, contact you by telephone or by email," he added.

ROCKET FIRED FROM SCOTTISH ISLE DESTROYED IN SPACE…. A rocket fired into space from a Scottish island was detected and destroyed by warships, according the Dutch Ministry of Defence. The Terrier Oriole rocket was launched from Benbecula in the Western Isles during Nato exercise Formidable Shield. It was detected by new radar equipment on the Dutch warship HNLMS De Ruyter. The frigate's crew alerted a US Navy warship which fired a missile to intercept and destroy the rocket above the Earth's atmosphere. The Terrier Oriole rocket was used to represent a ballistic missile. The event, which took place during the US-led war games earlier this month, was the first time Nato allies had trained together using the new radar system. Fourteen ships, 10 aircraft and about 3,300 personnel from the UK, US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain were involved in the exercise. Focused on the Hebrides Range, an area of sea used for missile tests, it tested Nato's capability to defend its members from ballistic missile threats. Sites in Uist in the Western Isles and on Hirta, the main island in the St Kilda archipelago, which lies about 40 miles (64km) west of North Uist, form parts of the range.

STUDY ON LIGHT THERAPY FOR PREVENTING ALZHEIMER'S…. A prevention strategy for Alzheimer's using light to stimulate brainwaves is being investigated by scientists. Strathclyde University's 14-month study will assess whether the build-up of the protein beta-amyloid can be halted in a range of areas of the brain. Alzheimer's is said to be caused when this protein accumulates in the brain. Previous research has suggested using light to manipulate the activity of neurons can reduce the protein in some regions of the brain. This study will attempt to find out if the method can be used to do this across many brain regions at the same time. Dr Shuzo Sakata, who is leading the study, said: "We are hopeful that this research can contribute to a new strategy for stopping Alzheimer's developing, particularly in people who, owing to family history or genetic issues, are seen to be at high risk of the disease." About 500,000 people in the UK have Alzheimer's but currently there are no effective treatments or a cure. The pre-clinical research will focus on a brain area which communicates with many other areas and is among those most affected by Alzheimer's. The research has received a grant of £50,000 from Alzheimer's Research UK. Dr Carol Routledge, the charity's director of research, said: "Dementia is one of our greatest medical challenges, but research has the power to improve our understanding of the condition and deliver effective new treatments."

UEFA FINES CELTIC OVER FAN'S ATTEMPTED ASSAULT OF PARIS ST-GERMAIN PLAYER…. Uefa has fined Celtic £8,900 (10,000 euros) after a supporter ran on to the pitch in their Champions League game last month against Paris St-Germain and tried to kick striker Kylian Mbappe. John Hatton admitted to the attempted assault at Glasgow Sheriff Court. It is the 12th time in six years that Uefa's disciplinary body has punished Celtic regarding their fans' behaviour. In July, Celtic were fined £20,600 after an "illicit banner" was displayed during their game against Linfield. Twenty-one-year-old Hatton, from Belfast, jumped over a metal railing and aimed a kick at Mbappe after Edinson Cavani had scored the French team's third goal in a 5-0 win. He was banned from every football ground in the UK by Sheriff Sukwinder Gill. Uefa's control, ethics and disciplinary body also fined Paris St-Germain £4,450 (5,000 euros) for damage to seats at the match on 12 September.

On that note I will say that I hope you have enjoyed the news from Scotland today,

Our look at Scotland today is of the students at St Andrew’s having fun…….

A Sincere Thank You for your company and Thank You for your likes and comments I love them and always try to reply, so please keep them coming, it's always good fun, As is my custom, I will go and get myself another mug of "Colombian" Coffee and wish you a safe Thursday 26th October 2017 from my home on the southern coast of Spain, where the blue waters of the Alboran Sea washes the coast of Africa and Europe and the smell of the night blooming Jasmine and Honeysuckle fills the air…and a crazy old guy and his dog Bella go out for a walk at 4:00 am…on the streets of Estepona…

All good stuff....But remember it’s a dangerous world we live in

Be safe out there…

Robert McAngus

[paultys]

It’s been nearly five months since I left St Helena, and it is time to draw this story and my blog to a close. Leaving St Helena has undoubtedly been the hardest long term thing I have ever had to do. Still now, I have days where my heart aches like I have lost a loved one. Moving back to the UK has proved difficult to say the least, although when I paint a picture of things to myself, never mind others, I can’t help feeling I sound like a spoilt brat such is the relatively mild nature of my hardships compared with many in the world.

Since my last entry, Bev has found a job, working as a Science teaching in a local school, this is only temporary however but at least it enabled us to all move back together and reunite our family. In August we came to move empty our storage container in North Wales and move all of our stuff down to the South West. When we left three years ago the majority of our belongings, clothes, furniture, and personal things were put into storage for the duration. We hired two large transit vans and made the long drive to North Wales. With great sadness however, we discovered that due to a leak, the majority of our belongings were ruined, found to be riddled with mould and fit only for throwing away. We couldn’t  take anything straight to a refuse site and had to proceed in bringing all of our stuff back to the South West for sorting and disposing of. It was heartbreaking, clothes and furniture I could deal with, but throwing away photos and the boy’s first school work and paintings was particularly tough. The mould was so bad in places that it made me ill, a theme that would continue for weeks.

It seems, since not having experienced a UK autumn for several years that I have no immune system and I have contracted bug after bug falling ill over and over again, this in itself has been somewhat miserable.

I then discovered that my credit rating was somehow through the floor and that I had a county court judgement against me. For those who don’t know, in the UK the county court is often used for cases of debt, where bills or fines have not been paid. After a couple of weeks of agonising I discover that the culprit was Npower, who, whilst I was out of the country took me to court, and in my absence found me guilty of not paying a bill, that they had never even issued, oh and they didn’t even bother to tell me I was going to court!!! After some seriously long phone calls, the judgement was rescinded, and the battle for compensation has ensued!!

At the end of August, with Bev about to start work, and the boys going back to school we decided a family break was in order and we spent three lovely nights in North Devon in the coastal town of Woolacombe. It was just perfect and exactly what I needed to draw my thoughts away from St Helena. Oliver had surfing lessons and we all enjoyed four days of glorious sunshine, walking, beaches fun and a few beers.

The beautiful North Devon Coast.

Oliver’s surfing lessons were a highlight.

Not to be outdone Charlie had a go a wave boarding.

There has been lots of fun, of course, the National Fireworks championships are held every year in Plymouth which was quite a treat, and my job has begun to throw up some highlights as I’ve got to grips with things.

But time and time again my thoughts wander back to St Helena. Over September I finally got back to my photography as I set about editing the photos from my good friend’s, Lisa and Johan’s, wedding. This was really difficult, seeing some of the people we have grown to love and whom we miss greatly in my photos was hard going, it’s still too soon just look back with fond memories and the pain is very real.

On St Helena, we saw our friends not just daily but often several times a day, every day. Back in the UK, our friends are spread about so far and wide, and people live such busy lives that meeting up is difficult and sporadic.

Yes, thats me with a kestrel on my head!

Oliver and I enjoyed some father-son time and learnt to fly falcons for my birthday.

We have begun to form some sort of routine, the boys have found themselves a football club, and have had coaching in school. Charlie has embraced everything from the choir and recorder to the schools xfactor competition, which of course he won!  Oliver has been away for two nights on a school camp and has become enthralled with the Second World War which he is studying in school.

Our first venture onto Dartmoor.

I, however, have been thoroughly upset with myself as the stress and upset of the move and adjustments to the pace of life, have pushed me back towards the intolerant shouting father I was before I left for St Helena, and in my first few months there. When I greet the boys from school, all too often is it accompanied with my moaning and nagging about the things they have forgotten or the mud on their newly washed school uniform. My expectations of Charlie I know are too high, he is only six, and I know he will not be thinking about getting the washing dry when he is playing football with his friends. Yet when I see him with mud all over his trousers and I contemplate the three days it took to get his uniform dry at the end of last week it fills me with rage. I’m so desperate to not fall into a hole and return to the days when I would really did rather the children were not in my life. I have come to love and appreciate them so much more in the past two years and the recent months in particular, that I cry to think that I can once again be so cross with them.

As we fall into the swing of things it will get easier I’m sure, and I know deep down my relationship with the boys is better than it ever was, I love them with all my heart, and appreciate the joys they bring to my life. When I reflect on the month I spent without them I know all too well the pain it caused to not have them around. And bit by bit things do settle and improve. My work has had some progress as I and the team settle into my role and what the new team structure is about, and how we all fit together.

Me, professionally wrestling a spotted eagle ray for an ultrasound to confirm her pregancy! All in a days work.

  Bev has found returning to full time teaching in the UK to be incredibly hard. Teaching is in something of a crisis in the UK, teachers are leaving in droves as the balance between teaching and paperwork falls all too far on side of the paperwork. Targets and observations, pressures and no time to teach, take their toll. 6 nights a week Bev’s spends planning and marking, it is draining for her, and all of us. Finish school, sort out the boys, do homework with them, tidy the house or cook dinner and then, when the boys are in bed and we should be sat relaxing, Bev is tied to her work, often till 10pm before going to bed to start it all again the next day. This article in the Times explains exactly how Bev, and so many teachers are feeling in the UK. https://www.tes.com/us/news/breaking-views/i-cannot-be-both-a-good-mother-and-a-good-teacher

Removing St Helena from our thoughts has become more difficult in recent weeks as we have edged towards a momentous day in the history of the Island, the commencement of commercial flights. Saturday, the 14th October 2017 will forever be a part of St Helena history as the first, SA Airlink flight with paying customers touched down. As part of the infrastructure to this, Mantis, a South African based boutique hotel and eco-retreat firm have built the Islands newest hotel. For my part, I had the privilege of selling my photos to the hotel which are now proudly on display in the hotel’s bedrooms, lounges and lobby’s. I am enormously proud that my work has been valued and honoured in such a way. I have become good friends with the builds project manager and his wonderful wife, and they are both thrilled with the impact my photos have had to the hotel. It is a truly amazing feeling to know that the first of St Helena’s airline tourists may be sleeping with one of my photos above their heads. Without doubt, this is my greatest photography achievement and a wonderful honour to know I have left something of myself behind on the Island for others to enjoy.

It is five months since I left St Helena and it is now time to draw my blog to a close. I went to St Helena not knowing what I would do or discover. I would not, in a million years have been able to guess at the extraordinarily wonderful experience we have had, the skills I have learnt, the people I have met and the friends I have made.

St Helena is and always will be a part of me now, although my life, for the time being, will move forward in the UK, a part of me will always be left behind on my Island home.

As for my blog, since August 2014 my blog has been read over 160,000 times. It has been seen in 175 countries of the World, my photographs through the blog, the facebook page and various media outlets I am confident have been seen millions of times by people around the World. I have had the most touching comments from people who have been travelling to St Helena, who once lived or worked on the Island, and for those whose memories I have re-kindled. It has been a privilege to write for you all and I hope I have touched a few people on the way. For now, I bid you farewell, but perhaps, one day I will turn this into a book, and who knows it might be available in an Airport just a few thousand miles away!

      A Hard Stexit – My Final Blog Entry It’s been nearly five months since I left St Helena, and it is time to draw this story and my blog to a close.

[eclectictrek]

SWCP 2017 Day 1 Porthtowan to Portreath

As the Wheal Turns

I really didn’t plan on hiking again this year. It felt a little selfish to use so much of my vacation time without Kat. On top of that, I’d roped myself into chairing ArmadilloCon (the Austin SF convention) again, and it seemed risky to be out for so much of May when the Programming work would be hot. Yes, I’d agreed to set up the schedule for the program, as well, which is probably the most time-consuming job on the Con. And then there were the demands of my actual job…

Late winter, however, I started to get antsy. If I only hiked every other year, I’d be 70 by the time I finished. Would my knees hold up? I set out a timeline for the convention work, and decided that if I could get the participant survey sent out before hiking, the results would be back by the time I returned, and I’d have June to actually put together the schedule. (Didn’t work out quite like that.) So I talked to Kat, booked my tickets, and invited my friend and former boss Rob to join me.

Late afternoon of May 10th I was back in Newquay, checking into the Great Western hotel near the rail station. Not Best Western, mind you (although I stayed in a Best Western hotel in Pangbourne while hiking the Thames Path). Great Western as in the historic and now restored railroad – no coincidence that it was near the station. I had dinner at an Indian restaurant next door that had caught my eye last year as I walked into the town last year. I’d kept on walking that time, and had two of the best dinners of that hike at the Harbour, but the Harbour was several miles out of my way, and considerably more expensive.

Didn’t sleep well, woke up early and gave up on getting back to sleep. This was on top of a night with only 5 hours sleep before flying – too much to do and then an early drive to the airport – and maybe 3 hours sleep on the flight. I was pretty tired. Didn’t look like too bad a walk at a little over 12 miles, so I was waiting by the bus stop out front by 10:38.

At 10:41, my bus drove right by.

OK, it’s a request stop. I swear I made eye contact with the driver and waved at him; I must have lacked sufficient enthusiasm. What does it take, interpretive dance? Fuming, I hoofed it down the street towards the rail station, thinking there might be a taxi waiting, but the trains are few and far between and not worth a taxi’s time to wait. However, there was a sign nearby for a taxi service, and up a flight of stairs I found the dispatcher, who called a cab for me. Not too, long a wait, and a much more pleasant conversation with the driver than likely on a bus. He had moved to Cornwall from Leicester, and told me about their football team which had been at the bottom of the Premier League since moving up to that level. Then the bones of Richard III were found under a parking lot in Leicester, and the Miracle of Richard led the team to the championship. I think there was a star player acquired along about then, too… The driver had been to Spain to see his team in the Champions League recently. We also discussed Brexit; he had very mixed feelings and had voted Stay, but felt that the immigration situation was unsustainable. I think that’s a much more defensible position in the UK with its NHS and other social benefits than in the US.

Anyhow, I was in Perranporth a little after 11, in time to wave enthusiastically at the departing bus. Well, I waved at least one finger. Stopped at Boots to buy some Compeeds plasters and other foot supplies, better than what I’ve found in the States. After a couple of blocks to get back to where I had left off last year, I was soon climbing along a road up to the clifftop and a large sundial in a park by the trail. From there I could get a glimpse of an arch in the rocks standing next to the cliff. I had considered walking along the beach for a better view of that formation before starting the trail, but with the late start I had decided not to, hoping the view from above would be as good. It wasn’t.

The day was dreary but not actually raining. The temperature was great, around 60, but then Texas had been unusually cool in late April / early May, so I wasn’t quite as desperate for relief. Very soon I was walking a classic SWCP clifftop, with some shear drops near the trail. The landscape is pocked with abandoned mineshafts; those close to the trail are protected with tents of steel bars, “bat castles” to keep people from falling in but allow the bats access. Looking down one cliff, I saw a gaping shaft in a terrace below, and remarkable azure water beyond. Wildflowers were not as profuse in this stretch as some places, but there were plenty of thrifts (Sea pink), particularly coating every fieldstone wall. Rounding Cligga Head, I could just see the Bawden Rocks aka “Man and his man” in the distance offshore. They ended up being long-term landmarks for the day.

The trail along here followed the fence line of a little-used airport. There were a few ruins of recent mines, not nearly as interesting as the centuries-old engine houses a little further on. Approaching Trevaunance Cove and St. Agnes, I had a view down and across a tidal shelf of broken rock with a nice beach at the southwestern end. Then the trail dived down a steep descent and turned inland to cross the stream flowing down to Trevallas Porth. I stepped aside from the trail to take a video of the stream, the heart of the Blue Hills Tin Streams historic mining complex, where I got my first close look at this industrial archeology. I walked around one engine house and by several chimney stacks, then stopped to change my socks. If I’d had more time, I could have seen the nearby (small) working tin mine, more of a visitor attraction than a profitable mine. The trail climbed back up the far side of the valley before descending again to the back of Trevanaunce Cove. St. Agnes spills nearly to the coast here, and I stopped for lunch at the Driftwood Spars, getting a remarkably large filet of fish with chips. The center of St. Agnes is a short walk inland from here, but I stayed to the trail. From somewhere around here I counted seven separate stone chimneys, each presumably the site of a mining engine house.

From here the trail climbed back to a cliff top and stayed there for several miles, west to St. Agnes Head, then south to Porthtowan, with one descent at Chapel Porth. But before that came the highlight of the day for me, the Wheal Coates engine house. There’s something about this example dating from the 1870s that makes it the poster child for the whole category, some cleanness of line approaching geometric ideals. The trail splits into several parallel branches with lots of choices, permitting choices of angles for photography. I took a route that went right by it, allowing me to look at the shaft down into the earth immediately in front of it, and to look up into the shell of the structure, and see the arched windows one above the other on the far side. (See also my Prisma version of the scene at the top of the post.) The Cornish mines are significant to the history of the Industrial Revolution because some of the very first commercial steam engines were used here, for pumping water out of mines, or for lifting ore and slag.

The descent at Chapel Porth included a visit to a popular beach café, featuring their famous “Iced Hedgehog”. I had fond memories of Cornish ice cream from the last trip, and had to try this. It’s an ice cream cone coated in clotted cream, and then rolled in hazelnuts.  Delicious!

Then climb back up to the clifftop and stay there until the small community of Porthtowan tucked into another valley; down there and right back up. The next valley was intriguingly known as Sally’s Bottom, then the trail climbs back up and again follows the perimeter of a former RAF base (and, for a while chemical weapons facility) at Nancekuke, then down again to Portreath. One last valley, Hayle Ulla, caught me by surprise.The final stretch descending to the town followed a road above some picturesque landscaped homes. I snapped a few pictures of a magpie among these gardens, and another of an interesting folly. At the bottom, I found the Portreath Arms (my destination for the night) easily, and had a beef stew in brioche for dinner.