Terracotta Army - October 2016

The Terracotta Army visited Jo'burg recently. Fabulous reproductions done so well every piece looks like an original. 

 

The first Emperor of China - Qin Shi Huang.

More than 8,000 terracotta soldiers were found 2,200 years after being stationed in military formation to guard the Emperor's afterlife.

 

Various combinations of head moulds, body moulds and unique detail additions (face, armour) it looks like each soldier is unique.

40,000 weapons have also been excavated. The emperor's tomb has yet to be looked into due to chemical evidence of high levels of mercury present.

How they suspect they were coloured originally.

Life-size, with Rita.

One room was full of men of various ranks, well more than a hundred, as well as horses and chariots, all life size. Each one a masterpiece of reproduction.

The room was very dark, but it gave an impression of what hundreds of these all together must feel like.

Female and male.

Almost fully grown.

Canoeing the Wilge river

A few days on the river; camping wherever. Thomas was out here on holiday from Germany and was keen to do a trip. Despite a bit of a drought we had plenty of water.

 

Weather was good. Thomas and I both sat in my double sit-on kayak.

John joined us too.

The best campsite - loads of flat ground, lots of dry driftwood.

Nothing like a nice campfire.

We stopped for lunch one day to find the bank very soft - we sank half a metre, nearly lost shoes, hence the use of logs to get back in the boats.

An update on my new black chicks. Looks like a male and a female.

2016 - July - Our UK trip

Strawberry picking near Grantham.

Walking along the canal with Rita, Keith and Dad. Lovely day, lovely walk. 

Nice to see a bit of wild-life.

Along the coast of Hunstanton.

Hunstanton's lovely aquarium

Jedborgh Abbey.

The hills of Scotland

Edinburgh castle.

Took a trip to see dolphins off the coast of Scotland. We did see a couple but too far and fast for a photo, but still a nice experience.

Roman ruins at Chesters, on Hadrian's Wall - : "the most complete Roman cavalry fort in Britain."

Still at Chesters. I went on a school outing to Chesters and Housesteads as a kid.

Picking blackberries with Rita and Dad. The first of the season - still seems unusually early this year.

London for a day. On the Eye. Last time we were here the Eye was closed for renovations - it was Winter. So this time we couldn't miss it. Surprisingly well run despite the thousands of people going on it.

The Old Cheshire Cheese. Oldest pub in London, just off Fleet Street. We were walking around, almost aimlessly, when I recognized the buildings almost by instinct, and we were not 20 metres from the little alleyway to the pub. Of course we had a drink there.

Inside The Old Cheshire Cheese.

Walking on the downs with stepmother Yvonne, Roy and Rita.

Fabulous new hotel in Blyth. We couldn't find a B&B room in the area so we opted for this place - it had only been open for a week. Great meals.

. . . and a lovely view from our room.

Somewhere with Dad and Rita

Dad and I took a long country walk. Most of it was along dirt tracks on the edges of farmer's fields. Was just over 5 k.

Brother Austin, Sally and Rita - still chilly on a summer's evening.

Hiking in the Drakensberg May 2016

First day: hike up and camp in the cave.

This cave is not visible from the footpath but has been used by those who know for decades. It has a nice flat floor and can sleep more than a dozen quite comfortably.

Day 2: the mist came down.

Day 2 was very wet. The normal trickle of fresh water wasn't running so here I am on my way back to the car for more water-bottles so we could stock up from the main stream on the very top. It was nice walking with no backpack.

Day 3: clearing up. The view from the cave early morning.

Day 3 on top. Lovely clouds; quite windy but not too bad.

 

Me in the cave

We did see a bit of wildlife. On our hike we saw a Klipspringer, they don't hang about.

 

Last day, day 4: morning view. 

Day 4: clear all day. Some people on the footpath show the scale of these rocks. We stayed here as long as we could, so that we got back to the car by sunset, and then the town's campsite for the night.