Our UK winter holiday - Dec/Jan 2014/15

Dear 'Aunt' Mary and 'Uncle' Bernard, with Dad. Close friends as long as I can remember. We all went to Quarry Bank Cotton factory - now a museum. Well worth a visit.

Prof Brian Bradshaw (93 here), my prof at Art School, with his wife Madeleine and Rita. He produced an impressive output of amazing paintings: not quite Fauve, but colourful, almost Expressionistic, mostly landscapes - definitely his own style.

Dad and Rita in Stamford.

Shoe shops galore. Impossible to walk past.

Outside Austin and Sally's house: Sally, Rita, Gunny, Evie, Dad, Keith, Austin.

Rita's first experience of falling snow.

Holding each other up on the very icy pavements.

Cool hiking around Grantham fields.

Tobogganing on the grounds of Blenheim Palace; surprised at the speeds we reached even on a gentle slope.

London somewhere near the palace.

Piccadilly Circus - only empty as it had just rained.

Wonderful sculpture in Trafalgar Square.

Trafalgar Square.

We walked along the Thames.

Rita, Roy and Yvonne - in Winchester.

Further pics of Fish River Hike

Decades ago this old Vespa got washed into the canyon by floods. It's had a paint job since I was here last.

Some interesting geology.

We did see a few birds on this trip, they came really close.

Taking advantage of a bit of shade after lunch.

Nearly at the end of the hike.

The Canyon Roadhouse. And yes, it is a real fire in the car behind; it gets really chilly at night in these parts.

Namibia; lots of open spaces and no traffic.

Fish River Hike - Namibia

The Fish River Hike, Namibia - 85 kilometers through wonderful scenic canyon. 8 of us casually walked for 6 days camping on the sand.

A typical spot for a campsite. Most of us didn't use tents, there are very few insects. It was very comfortable.

Saw a couple of these Klipspringers near a hot spring, which was hidden in grass and rocks.

Friend Yvette, a biologist, spent lots of time examining the flora,

All 8 of us: Mac, Sylvia, Dave (me), Yvette (sitting), Aussie Annette, John, Annette and Mike Thompson.

Although the water had stopped flowing by the time we started, it was still perfectly drinkable and here's John cooling down. Temperatures usually got to around 45° so we'd rest a bit after lunch. We certainly didn't want to rush the hike, it was so nice just being there.

The rings indicate each day's evaporation. So I reckon the water stopped running 22 days before this photo was taken. Sometimes the water is 2/3 metres deep after heavy rains but I've not seen that.

After the hike. A Quiver Tree: Aloe dichotoma.

The journey is also part of the holiday so we drove about a bit.

Some Namaqualand flower displays as we got back into South Africa.

Sterkfontein Dam

First day: lovely weather. Thomas and me in my double kayak.

Clouds came early on our second evening.

Thomas insisted we make a fire and even though the wood around was wet, he made a very decent fire.

We were with friend John, ahead of us here. Our last day was long and against the wind. The waves picked up half-way back; so much so, we couldn't stop for lunch.

4x4 trip in Wolkberg

This is the road - 4x4 only.  

Nice place to camp

Didn't quite make it. Had to saw off a branch stub to get through. 

Wolkberg mountains.

I like this shot - almost like a wide-angle lens view.

Lovely camping.

Sunrise.

Tent view not long after sunrise.

Tutankamon exhibition

Amazing exhibition. Everything is a copy. This is how they first found the tomb.

It's only a model, but absolutely perfect. It looks like real gold and perfect detail.