24 Nov 2013 » Autumn
29 Sep 2013 » Yet More photos
A spider's web, one foggy morning.
The lights of Greystones.
14 Sep 2013 » Carlingford
25 Aug 2013 » Wicklow Head Seals
We saw Seals off Wicklow Head at dusk. We were chuffed as we'd seen more seals there at the same time of day and year last year.
13 Jul 2013 » Skellig Michael
We took advantage of a long stretch of uncommonly good weather to drive down to Kerry and take the boat over to Skellig Michael. For many hundreds of years, it was the Christian church's western-most and remotest outpost. Now, its a massive puffin colony. Its still a remarkably remote spot. Despite what seemed like at least a week of good weather - we were told that our day was the first time the boats had gone out in a week. On a bad day - and most days in Kerry are bad - an observer on the mainland can't see the rock. And it is a rock, rising directly from the Sea. The Monks landed at the base of a cliff, climbed up to the top, and set up a church. They lacked mortar, so all the walls are dry stane. They built 100s of stone steps down to the sea - tricky paths in the best of weather. The weather comes in right off the Atlantic. Its nearly impossible to imagine living there year-round.
06 Jun 2013 » Iceland Waterfall tour.
We were in Iceland for a couple weeks. We rented a dodgy old Vauxhall Astra (online reviews discussed the trials and tribulations of an exhaust falling off, but that didn't happen to us), and drove around the island. We camped, which worked out well. We saw tons of wildlife, geology, and scenery. We ate fantastic doughnuts. Nowhere in the world does better doughnuts.
We arrived in Reykjavík, and wandered around the city. One thing I noticed was that the city didn't look like it had been hit by the crash as much as Dublin or Madrid. We saw Harpa Concert Hall, the Cathedral and the National Museum. Its not a normal European capital with grand buildings. It felt much more like a fishing port with a side business, which I guess it is.
First stops were the Blue Lagoon and Þingvellir National Park. The Blue Lagoon is perhaps the best flight stopover idea invented. Its a thermal spa not far from Keflavik airport, the water is aqua blue and warm and lovely. We didn't spend much time at Þingvellir, but its fantastic to look at the North American and Eurasian plates coming apart.
Camping worked out really well. Tons of places to camp, cheap camp sites. We had worried that it would be too cold to camp, but it was nice and mild. The big problem was the sun heating up the tent in the morning.
We headed up to Húsavík in a fantastic drive past miles of snowy mountains. We jumped out of the car to peer at a museum in Reykholt about a saga author. We then went to see Hraunfossar and Barnafoss. Hraunfossar is a series of waterfalls which fall into the river from it's bank. At Deildartunguhver water bubbles furiously out of the ground at 97 degrees C and it stinks of sulphur. We visited one of the northernmost Indian takeaways in the world in Akureyri. Oddly, Akureyri also has branches of investment banks - possibly its their punishment spot.
There's tons of bird life. Golden Plovers were a feature of each campsite and we were being woken up by drumming Snipe. There's an abundance of Waders, Geese and Eiders.
Húsavík is a fantastic place only about 25 miles away from the Arctic Circle. We went to the whale museum which was very interesting and then went whale watching in the afternoon. This was a major highlight of the holiday. We went out in traditional wooden boats and saw thousands of puffins and 5 or 6 humpback whales. They are absolutely huge, and can be up to 33m long with a heart the size of a VW. Whales feed in Iceland in the summer and breed in the south towards Panama. Whales are extremely intriguing with some species never having been seen in the wild.
We headed down to Lake Mývatn via Goðafoss. Lake Mývatn is quite a touristy spot, but well worth it. Walked up Hverfell - a massive volcano crater. We went for a walk in Höfði nature park, and saw red-necked phalaropes!! Around Skútustaðir, we saw pseudo craters, horned grebes, whooper swans, arctic terns and many others. We wandered around Hverir mud pots - bubbling mud, steam, fumaroles and very colourful ground. We saw the geothermal power plant at Kofla and walked around the crater at the top of the hill - massive hole, and firmly frozen at the bottom. We swam in the hot pools while looking out of the lake. We didn't go to sleep until midnight - when it was still light.
We hung around Mývatn for as long as we could, but in the end we had to get moving. The weather had been better in the north than the south, but we wanted to get around the island before having to go home. We pressed on, stopping at Dettifoss on the way. Europe's most powerful waterfall is indescribable.
East Iceland is very wild. We saw reindeer by the road. At this point, the only road around the Island is paved with gravel. We spent one evening crawling along at 30mph waiting for the sun to set. However, it was a wonderfully scenic drive, with the sun setting on snowy mountains. We spent one night in a free campsite in Breidalsvik, which is very much the end of the world. We pressed on around the fjords into south Iceland and Skaftafell National Park. Here the landscape has been blasted by volcano and glacier - we drove for miles across glacier and volcano runoff, clouds above us, never seeing a soul. All in all, fantastic stuff. The one tourist spot was the black basalt columns of Svartifoss.
Closer to Reykjavík, we started seeing signs of civilization again. As we came close enough to Reykjavík, bus loads of tourists appeared. Popular spots included Geysir, Seljalandsfoss and Gullfoss.
All in all, a fantastic drive, at the edge of Europe. More photos
24 Apr 2013 » Arizona and Utah.
I was in California for work a few months ago, and we flew from there to Las Vegas. Then we drove to Salt Lake City, visiting three national parks on the way.
Las Vegas We got out of Las Vegas as fast as we could, being somewhat crippled by only being able to make right turns. We got a look at the place from the air and boggled at the slot machines in the arrivals hall, and figured that was enough sin for us.
Hoover Dam. We stopped by the Dam and peered over the edge. Its a very impressive concrete plug with miles of weirdly suspended power lines. Naming a depression-era Keynesian employment scheme after Hoover is a bit like naming Tony Blair as middle east peace envoy. Now, of course, the dam provides the power for the millions of air-con units and miles of neon in Las Vegas. The dam has flags and eagles and angels and a monument to the builders. And Nevada has two senators arguing against the US government spending money to create jobs. Nowhere is history's sense of humour more evident than in the USA. Anyway, we saw a Turkey vulture over the dam.
Grand Canyon We spent three days in a tent on the side of the Grand Canyon. It is nearly impossible to describe. We hiked down into the canyon, we walked along the edge, we saw a California condor, we disturbed deer, we watched the sun set, we sprinted along a road to be there for sunrise, and we were very sad to go in the end. A spot to return to.
Quick aside: One of the things that is great about the USA is that food is good and cheap. We ate at the Grand canyon lodge each morning, and they did a massive and tasty breakfast for a very reasonable rate. Another aside: folks in the states (like everyone else) export their terrible beer and hang onto the good stuff. All across the South-West, I found myself drinking local, excellent, beer.
We drove from the Grand Canyon to Zion. Due to road closures and a urge to stay on the right side of the Arizona highway patrol, this took all day. On the radio there was: a right wing radio host so controversial he had been banned from Britain, a preacher preaching on a point of theology so complex and fiddly that we couldn't tell if he was a Mormon or not and both sorts of music. The heat pounded down - there were mirages on the road. The Indian reservation was a grim sight. We carefully avoided: a town (called Virgin!) which passed a by-law insisting that all residents own guns and a town infamous for being the last stand of the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints, complete with polygamy. We did find this sculpture next to the Powell dam.
We see why the USA is the land of the road trip - fuel is cheap, roads are good, distances are massive, speed enforcement is lax. Its the only place we've been where owning a Harley or a massive pickup truck makes sense. However, when we rolled into Zion, we were pretty sick of driving.
Zion National Park is a place we hadn't heard much about until we started researching for this trip. That is a real pity, as its as glorious a national park as America has anywhere. We walked around the bottom of the park, looked up at the hanging gardens, saw more deer and had a good time. We went up Angels Landing, along with half of the population of Utah.
This deer came right at us
Around the park
hanging gardens.
Desert Bighorn sheep
Angels' Landing
I did think, both on Angels landing and in the Grand canyon, that the national park service is a bit too cautious. Angels landing has a major advantage over every Scottish scramble - the rock is dry most of the year. I did see a lot of people clinging to the chains for dear life rather than trying to stay balanced.
Bryce Canyon was the final park. It contains thousands of wind and water created spires called Hoodoos. The man who the canyon is named after was the first Mormon settler in the area. Asked what he thought of the rocks, he replied "Its a hell of a place to lose a cow". We got there right on sunset, and could not believe our eyes.
Salt Lake City. We rolled into Salt Lake at the end of our trip. We had budgeted a day in the city to soak up any delays. We ate at the Copper Onion, which was the best bit. They have an excellent stroganoff. A stroganoff so tasty that I wished that flights from Europe stopped in SLC so I could go there more often. We also went to the Mormon Temple, since that is the only thing to do in Salt Lake City. The Temple is very pretty and the grounds are full of flowers. We didn't go in, not being one of them. I probably would have refused to give them money to wander around and have a gander, but its free.
This man is one of the founders of a major world religion, and not, as I thought, a pirate.
Mormons are a sensible, serious group.
I do think that the temple builders have a certain amount of envy for the Vatican. And I do think that the Mormon faith is, at best, weird. We headed for home, with Laura throwing a tray at a TSA officer on the way.
07 Apr 2013 » Stockholm, Youtube, snow, oh my.
We were off to Sweden for Easter. Cold air, good cake, good coffee and fantastic museums. We wandered around the waterfront and went on the tour of Drottningholm palace. The medieval museum was a real find - thanks to my parents.
We also had some excellent yet casual food. Laura is saying nice things about fish eggs. Stockholm. No one ever talks about it, yet its a lovely lovely city well worth a long weekend. More photos.
In other news, I took some videos from the top of a mountain in Patagonia:
We've also been walking in the snow in Ireland.
And some photos from the bike:
We're off again - I'm in the states for two weeks for work, Laura is coming along, and then we have a week long road trip through the southwest USA. Looking forward to it!
