Tag Archives: travel

Shark-wrestling

This morning, Rose, Tilly and I took a very pleasant if somewhat bracing walk along the beach near Weybourne in Norfolk.

Tilly was very brave…

A bit further along, we saw a dead fish, and our thoughts naturally turned to keeping Tilly away from it. 🙂 When we got closer, however, we realised that it actually might be a small shark… and was rather pretty. (As dead fish go.)

Then we noticed… it wasn’t dead… it was still breathing… Just.

It had been a bit mauled by something, but wasn’t in too bad a state… but it was a long way up the beach. So I picked it up, waded into the sea to boot-depth and threw it back into the waves, where I like to think it swam away. It certainly didn’t float away!

It was probably less than two feet long, but it was a wonderful feeling to hold it and feel it breathing, and let’s face it, it’s not every day I wrestle live sharks before coffee time…

My brother, on being sent the picture, identified it as a catshark. They don’t grow to much more than about three feet long, so I feel it’s unlikely to come back and terrorise the beaches of North Norfolk as a result of my actions.

Possibly-related posts:

Pigeonhole

At the Drop Redoubt fortifications on Dover Western Heights

Possibly-related posts:

Viticulture

I’m used to labels on bottles of wine telling me that I should expect a ‘hint of blackcurrant’ or ‘subtle aromas’.

But in Portugal recently I had a (very drinkable) wine from a vineyard whose marketing department had, perhaps, become a little over-excited.

It’s nice to know there are still jobs out there for people with Literature degrees, isn’t it?

Possibly-related posts:

Once more unto the beach

Holkham Beach in Norfolk is an amazing place. It’s just vast.

Yesterday, the car park was packed, and the path from it to the beach a queue of people and dogs, yet when we got there and walked for just a few minutes, it looked like this:

2015-04-04_12-52-50-105-600

A few more, and it looked like this:

2015-04-04_12-13-01-18-600

(Yes, that’s Tilly – you can click for a bigger version.)

Looking away from the sea, you get this:

2015-04-04_12-08-15-11-600

And I’m fond of that, admittedly less exciting, view, because it features in the memorable closing sequence of my favourite movie.

Tilly absolutely adored it, and seemed to keep running, flat out, for about an hour and a half.

2015-04-04_12-21-49-60-600

2015-04-04_12-33-07-86-600

2015-04-04_12-34-25-92-600

2015-04-04_12-21-34-53-600

All in all, a most enjoyable stroll.

2015-04-04_12-45-11-103-600

Possibly-related posts:

Well, that was a surprise…

If you saw my photos from yesterday, you’ll understand why we were surprised to wake up this morning to this:

2015-03-26_07-26-11-06-600

and this:

2015-03-26_07-36-52-19-600

Very pretty, though:

2015-03-26_07-30-04-07-600

By the afternoon, the weather had returned to something closer to what we expected:

2015-03-26_15-19-48-02-600

Photos often don’t, however, tell you anything about the wind, which was, at times, somewhat dramatic!

2015-03-26_15-28-51-11-600

All peaceful now, though.

2015-03-26_07-56-10-42-600

Possibly-related posts:

Mysterious Trees III

20140920-16403718-600

Possibly-related posts:

Good times ready to roll

The smell of fresh Nikwax

For me, there is nothing quite so evocative of happy adventures to come as the sight and smell of freshly-Nikwaxed walking boots.

Possibly-related posts:

Going underground

Thanks to Tom Standage for pointing me at this fabulous collection of fake signs people have put up on the London Underground.

Some examples:

tumblr_mbn8rnpC5G1qaju5u

tumblr_mbn8qud8911qaju5u

Possibly-related posts:

Pram fans

I had to take a picture of these steps in Chicago’s Union Station recently.

20130902-16423424

If you’ve seen The Untouchables, you’ll know why. The ‘pram scene’ is a brilliant piece of cinema; you can see it here, though this clip is missing the long build-up which is part of what makes the original so effective.

Of course, it is itself an homage to the scene in Battleship Potemkin at the Odessa steps, but I didn’t know until today that it too had inspired a later cinematic tribute.

Possibly-related posts:

Packing a punch

One thing I haven’t generally had to pack when going for walks in the countryside – until I went to Montana – is bear repellent.

20130904-211728320

These are standard issue in that part of the world – you can buy them everywhere.

To an Englishman, an aerosol seems more appropriate for dealing with a small insect than a charging grizzly, but since the usual alternative advice is to lie down and play dead in this situation (which may cause the grizzly to ignore you), I can see why these are popular travel accessories.

Possibly-related posts:

From Falls to Autumn

Well, one quick transatlantic flight, and I’ve lost even more degrees of centigrade than I have hours of sleep!

For my more geeky readers, I can report that I return with a Scottevest Transformer jacket, and a Google Chromecast.

But the highlight of the trip was definitely the hikes we did in Yellowstone and in Glacier National Park. I leave you with my favourite picture from the Yellowstone Grand Canyon.

20130908-214419152

(Click for a larger version.)

Possibly-related posts:

Beauty and the beasts

We’re in Montana, and it’s beautiful.

20130904-212513334

No, I mean really beautiful.

Shadow Lake, Glacier National Park, Montana

We made some friends amongst the natives.

20130904-203245285

20130904-202959281

20130904-204355296

20130904-234603475

20130905-002152517

The humans are friendly too. All in all, a lovely spot.

20130905-005841541

More pictures are sure to follow soon…

Possibly-related posts:

Feeds

RSS  RSS feed

Categories

November 2024
M T W T F S S
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
252627282930  

© Copyright Quentin Stafford-Fraser