Let’s permit Scotland to offer up its combination of mountain and seascape one more time before we have to head home. The Beauly Firth is the far end of the Moray Firth; this shot is looking inland, to the Highlands beyond. And yes, somewhere over there it is raining.
A trip out to the furthest south-western extremity of the British Isles (assuming we treat Ireland as separate) — namely the Isles of Scilly, a hundred or so lumps of granite stuck thirty miles off Land’s End, of which five are inhabited. The ‘capital’, Hugh Town, is located on St Mary’s island, and built on a narrow isthmus, which is apparent here thanks to the houses having blue sea behind them as well as in front, which is why I chose this picture — that, and the profusion of coloured things (buoys?) in the sea.
That’s one of the harder-to-reach County Tops bagged as well. There were lots of photos from the day I could have chosen to give an impression of this distant part of my country, but see the other blog for more.
Back to Oxford, so I can perform an aspect of my job that still does bring pleasure, and sit in a library for at least two days. The walk to my accommodation took place partly along this stream, a branch of the Thames. Perhaps I did this shot, in spirit, on Saturday, but I’m doing it again. Note the heron hanging around inconspicuously in the centre, hoping that the prey won’t notice it.
We spent the day on the island of Árrain Mhór, which in Gaelic just means ‘Big Island’. And it is fairly big, maintaining a permanent population of a few hundred, enough to justify a regular ferry service from the mainland, anyway. And here is the 3.30pm boat back to Ireland, coming in reasonably on schedule.
Hardly a great photo technically, and converted to black and white as much to conceal deficiencies as any other reason. But it does suggest that when there is a boat in the Canal Street lock in Manchester city centre, this is often the most interesting thing to see on the walk into work. It’s nice that this old transport system is still used: not everything useful has to be hyper-efficient.
A day out on the Leeds-Liverpool Canal, which takes a roundabout route between those two cities so is here pictured near Skipton — place #350 to be depicted over the lifetime of the blog. Old Master Pete, the boatman, waves as he takes the family past a herd of cows who seem to have the right idea about how to deal with the day’s heat.
Misty weather discouraged a walk up anywhere high, but a nine-mile stroll along the Rochdale Canal to Todmorden and back at least stretched the legs today. While not really visible on this shot, this boat did have the remnants of a ‘For Sale’ sign painted on the side; I guess by now it’s probably quite a bargain, if you’re prepared to do the salvage work.
I will remain in Vietnam until Wednesday night but I have to work from this point on, so today, Monday, was the last of my three-day weekend of tourism. Shipping visitors out from Saigon and into the Mekong Delta is a major industry which I was happy to buy into for a day; in case you think there is something ‘authentic’ about this shot let me observe that the four people in the front of this boat are all Europeans of various types. Nevertheless this doesn’t reduce the attractiveness of the place, with its water the colour of milky tea and a general level of peacefulness here on the northern edge of the county of Ben Tre, 90 minutes’ drive south of the big city. Yes, I like Vietnam… highly recommended.
Another nice visual illustration of a) physics and b) that it was far too nice a day to be sat in an office. I like also the little ‘V’ to the right which, if you look closely, seems to be caused by a swan, maybe mimicking that bigger metal brother. I bet its wake won’t end up spreading across the whole width of the lake though: which the boat’s did manage.
At 69ºN, the world’s northernmost city provides boats, sea, birds, snow…. all that jazz. My last day in Tromsø. Hopefully, not the last of all, though as of yet I do not know when I will be back…
Being 42 