Category Archives: Stranger

Hebden Bridge Handmade Parade 2013

Saturday 22nd June 2013, 12.50pm (day 667)

Handmade Parade, 22/6/13

It was on this weekend last year that the summer in Hebden Bridge took a decided turn for the worse. The evening of 22/6/12 saw the first of two floods hit the town centre, an event which appeared on this blog only the following morning. The 2012 Handmade Parade did take place, albeit a week later than originally scheduled and produced this picture — that event becoming a kind of gesture of defiance in the face of the damage the town had suffered (though if it was a plea for mercy it was not answered; there was still 9th July to come, but more on that in two weeks’ time). The 2013 Parade could run as planned and became an anniversary celebration, the town still getting together in an amazing burst of creativity that impresses me each year, though I’ll never be part of it; I like photographing it too much.

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Stallholder, Hebden Bridge market

Wednesday 19th June 2013, 9.00am (day 664)

Hebden Bridge market, 19/6/13

Seven days in a row at home now — I mean without leaving at all, even for work — and no nights away planned until well into July. This is unusual for me. I need to look around, reconnect.

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Watching Norway v Italy, Oslo Gardemoen airport

Tuesday 11th June 2013, 6.30pm (day 656)

Norway v Italy, 11/6/13

Gosh, here I am in an airport, that hasn’t happened much this year has it (sarcasm warning). Sat out a half-hour flight delay at Oslo airport (which doesn’t seem to be particularly near Oslo) by watching others watching Norway v Italy in the UEFA Under-21 championship: final score 1-1, if you’re interested. Slightly strange light on the guys in the middle but I like the shot anyway, it was taken very candidly and quickly so you never quite know how they’re going to turn out.

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Early morning, Abu Dhabi airport

Monday 27th May 2013, 1.05am (day 641)

Abu Dhabi airport, 27/5/13

The title of this post is used with a mild sense of irony. Because of the role this airport wants to play — a bridge between Europe and East Asia/Australia as well as a destination in its own right — many of the flights seem to land and leave here between midnight and 3am, to fit in with flight schedules to and from countries that have stricter controls on when planes can come in and out. As a result, Abu Dhabi airport was as busy at 1am as anywhere I’ve ever been. I didn’t deliberately get a shot of these two, but was taking something of the decorative pillar in the center of Terminal 1 — as many other people were doing to pass the time — as she turned around. Cropping did the rest, it’s a bit out-of-focus but never mind, I quite like this shot.

And so, thanks to a three-hour stopover, another country, the United Arab Emirates, technically makes it onto the blog, though I don’t consider I visited the place. However, I think this shot is a little more representative than the dull one, technically of Singapore, that I got on the stopover during my flight out just over four months ago. This shot also becomes the earliest on any of the 641 days so far, and one of only four taken before 6am.

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Getting the boat back home

Thursday 23rd May 2013, 2.10pm (day 637)

Child on boat, 23/5/13

The boat that took us to the village trip a couple of days ago also serves as a kind of bus service between the two villages on the island of Wayasewa, this little girl was amusing herself while waiting for it to depart this afternoon. My last full day in Fiji, and only three more left in the Southern Hemisphere before I head for home.

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Beach volleyball

Monday 20th May 2013, 1.55pm (day 634)

Beach volleyball, 20/5/13

Is there any point trying to convince any of you that I have actually been working while here on the Yasawas? Going through academic papers and taking notes for my book? No? Didn’t think so.

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A glass of wine at sunset

Sunday 19th May 2013, 5.35pm (day 633)

Wine at sunset, 19/5/13

Almost all the sunsets on Fiji have been good, but seeing as I have a backlog of posts to work through I can pick the best depiction of one and not worry about repetition. Sometimes one is just in the right place at the right time to get a particular shot.

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The ‘Bula’ party

Saturday 18th May 2013, 10.55am (day 632)

Bula party, 18/5/13

‘Bula’ means ‘Welcome’ or ‘Hello’ and you hear it a lot in Fiji – because they are very nice and welcoming people. Each 11am, when the Yasawa Flyer turns up at the resort, the staff gather on the beach to greet the new arrivals. It’s the major event of the morning.

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Approaching the Yasawas

Thursday 16th May 2013, 10.00am (day 630)

Approaching the Yasawas, 16/5/13

The Yasawa islands stretch in a more-or-less straight line into the Pacific ocean from a point somewhere to the north-west of the main Fijian islands, and are probably former volcanoes. They are also to be my home (and the home of this Californian girl, and everyone else who was on the Yasawa Flyer catamaran out of Port Denarau marina early this morning) for the next few days. The word ‘Paradise’ is often overused, but in this case I think it’s entirely appropriate. This is a good time.

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Fire show, Smuggler’s Cove Hotel, Nadi

Wednesday 15th May 2013, 8.00pm (day 629)

Nadi fire show, 15/5/13

So here I am on Fiji, another country to add to the blog, and here’s the show put on by rather fit Polynesian men for the benefit of the tourists. Nadi is just near the main airport, strictly a transit point, the main event begins tomorrow. And as you can see, I do appear to be online in Paradise, so you should still get some fairly regular updates.

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