Weekend at the sea side

We spent the weekend at East Bourne with Colleen and Steve. Right next to Brighton, the town is similar but quainter and quieter. The weather was glorious.

Highlights

• Leisurely walks along the promenade in the evening sun
• Delicious cheese cake at a 1790's bakery (very quaint indeed and the cheese cake was heavenly)
• Italian ice cream
• Watching the full moon rise from the sea
• Contemplating the beautiful view of the sea from our hotel room - and listening to the lap of the waves during the night
• Exploring the white cliffs at Beachie Head on Sunday
• Watching thousands of birds flying in to roost under the old pier
• Spending time with Coll and Steve - we'll miss them big time

Ally and Colleen have been friends now for over 15 years




Roosting birds

As evening came, 1000's of European starlings started to gather at spots accross the town. From there, they then made their way in mass to congregate on the roof of an old building on the pier. At 7:30 pm sharp, in one enormous flock, they dived up into the air and then plunged down in a whirling, spiralling torrent to take up their roost for the night underneath the pier. We were on the pier at the time (having been told off this nightly pilgrimmage) so got to see it close hand. Managed to duck most of the inevitable missiles from the sky.


The view from our hotel


Lazing by the Beachie Head Cliffs






Mood shots

Trip to Gothenberg

Just got back from a two day planning session in Gothenberg. Weird planning for 2006 when I won't be here at Volvo. But it's good to have things all organised and in place for the guy who is taking over. Great seeing Caroline (as always!) and we had some good fun meals together as a group in the evenings. Here we are at Smaka which is one of my favourite restaurants in Sweden.



This is the lovely view from the office where we held our two day planning session. There was even a "pleasure room" next door with jacuzzi and all sorts of other delights - but no time to use it. Didn't get to enjoy the view the first day either - had a big storm move through and the window was belted with wind and rain.

Hiding behind the camera

I love this little camera so much. It's helping me to notice the world around me and capture special moments and beauty.

Trip to the Canadian Rockies

Hiking in the Canadian Rockies has always been on my life list so I was particularly excited, after a 6 hour drive through spectacular muntain passes and shimmering emerald lakes, to arrive in Banff National Park, one of the oldest and most famous parks nestled right in the middle of the Rockies.

Within minutes of entering the park we had seen ospreys nesting and a gorgeous black bear galloping along the road. We spent 4 nights in Banff where we did an awesome hike (Edith Pass), visited several lakes (Lake Louise, Vermillion Lake, Morraine Lake) and the Columbian Icefields. Then two nights in Jasper where unfortunately the warm, clear weather turned on us, but not before we'd had close up views of elk right in our camp site.

Thanks to Mike and Trish for this amazing experience - all in all, a trip to remember for a life time.

Californian Grouse

Photographed this little chap in Mike and Trish's garden in Vernon. Spent two very happy afternooons exploring the creeks and lakes in Vernon. I saw a total of 25 new species of bird during our time in Canada. Very excited. Lifts my life list up to 640.

Zip lining through the Forest

Another major highlight of our Canada trip. We drove up into the mountain forests and climbed wooden staircases into the canopy of a 90 foot high tree. Then, attached to a cable, we zip lined at heady speeds down and along a river canyon to another tree over 900 feet away. A total adrenaline rush - and beautiful views too of the forest canopy. In total, we zipped 4 times between 5 different trees. This was our first experience of zip lining. Mike and Trish had done it in Mexico on their last trip and it was thanks to them that we tried it out. Would highly recommend it!

Exploring Whistler

We spent our last couple of days in Whistler, a 6 hour drive from Vernon. We drove up with Trish and Mike and Keira travelled up by bus from Vancouver to join us. Whistler is North America's premier skiing destination in the winter and will host the winter olympics in 2010. It also happens to be the courting ground of Mike and Trish during their first few years together (when it was a whole lot less developed.) It has now become an extremely yuppie spot with multi million dollar condos overlooking the ski slopes. A very scenic place with snow capped mountains, beautiful forests and lakes and lots of outdoor summer activities like biking, white river rafting and zipping.



On Saturday, it rained quite a bit but that wasn't going to scare us from exploring. We put our rain gear to the test and visited some of the local forests and stopped by the Lost Lake. I love the shot above of me in Silhouette, taken by Ally, at the lost lake. In the second shot, the girls are standing on a rather wobbly and high suspension bridge.

In summer, biking is the primary sport around Whistler. Mountain bikers hurl themselves down the ski slopes at crazy speeds, with extra ramps along the way to spice up the experience. The famous Whistler 24 hour bike race was being held while we were there. Bikers speed around a large course over and over for 24 hours non stop - from 11 am to 11 am right through the cold night - the ultimate endurance bike event. I've never seen such muddy, bedraggled creatures as those that sped past us in the muddy conditions, and the night hadn't even started yet. Some people are serious masochists!!

Columbia Icefields

One of the highlights of Rockies was our trip up into this glacier by specially adapted "glacier buses".

The adventure started with the "sheerest descent in North America" (according to our petite female driver) straight down the almost verticle slope of a Moraine and then a chug up the ice on powerful "snow wheels".

The glacier is enormous, covering close to 400 square kilomters. It was a weird feeling getting out of the bus onto the glacier knowing that there were hundreds of feet of ice below us.

The water running off glaciers is the purest you can get - 75% of the world's fresh water originates from this source. Legend has it that drinking it can decrease your age by up to 20 years, so of course we all gulped greedily from the stream!

The Laughter of Old Friends

I love this photo. Taken at Helen's wedding, it shows mum with friends who have been so since before I was born. That's 35 years of friendship. Very special indeed. Reminds me of a poem I was sent the other day. In fact mum, I think it was you who sent it.

A friend is someone we turn to
When our spirits need a lift
A friend is someone we treasure
For our friendship is a gift.
A friend is someone who fills our lives
With beauty, joy, and grace
And makes the world we live in
A better and happier place.

Cory Pass and Edith Path hike

Mike led us on this gruelling but absolutely spectacular hike through thick pine forests to a wind swept, barren alpine path that climbed over a snow sprinkled ridge and back down into forests culminating in a gorgeous lake view.

Ally was a stalwart and slogged her way up the steep climbs like a trooper. Unfortunately, I had a streaming cold that broke in the middle of the hike so wasn't too strong on the way down.

This was one of the most scenic hikes I've ever done - long will it remain in our memories.

Trish unfortuntely was still on crutches due to her poor foot so was unable to make it but fortuntely she had done the hike before so was able to relate to all our stories when we returned to base.