Walk – Page 15 – Neil Baldwin's blog : Warning contains walking, technology, photography, holidays.

Thursday in Tokyo

A mixed bag is planned today, we got the train to Akihabara to take another look at radio city, buy we were a bit early, so we jumped back on the train to Meguro where we want to have a look at a nature park in the science and nature institute. At Akihabara there was a crowded smoking area where the sign said “This is a smoking shelter and should not be used of other purposes”, another sign said manners station I wander what trains pass through there.

The park was easy to find using the local maps by the road that we have find so useful. The park is a very tranquil place in such a busy city. They allow only 300 people in at at time, it has been pretty untouched for many decades. We kept or eyes and ears open for bird life and to got good views of a brown eared bulbul, a flock of great tits, a brown for which we have yet to ID, and we heard some bird making a racket but could not get any view of it.

Back at the station it was coffee time do we popped into a Starbucks at the entrance to shopping centre, where the carols were blaring out over the sound system. Helen had a doughnut and I had a cinnamon roll but with marron glace in it, which was lovely. The japanese get through a lot of sweet chestnut goods. Helen deserted me in search of a manners station, while I blogged and finished my coffee. However Helen came back unfulfilled yet optimistic that the pachinko parlour next door allowed smoking so I could gamble away a few ball bearings whilst Helen fed her habit.

Pachinko is the Japanese equivalent of the fruit machine gambling is forbidden in Japan so they circumvent the law by selling you ball bearings which you pour into the machine which is like the old pinball machines. I could not figure out what to do so I asked the attendant who tried to explain but then just gave me a breaker of balls which he poured into the machine and said service. Whilst Helen was smoking he loaded up another machine for her. I struggled to under stand the game, there was a thing you twisted which adjusted the speed at which the balls were launched into the playing area, points seemed to be awarded for different holes and pressing one of the three buttons cleared the score or possibly banked the winnings who knows whether we won anything. Next stop was Shinjuku.

The manic crossing was not manic it was mid week and the fun happens at the weekend. I passed a second hand camera shop and spotted a 35mm f2 lens for the bargain price of £180 which is about one third the price of a new one here, and it turns out £50 cheaper than second hand in the UK. We wandered around the district taking in the sights it is a bit like the area around Piccadilly circus. Next on the list was to visit the HQ of Soka Gakkai we said to a friend who is a follower we would drop by and pick up some literature. They were very welcoming and after some confusion at reception we were sent up to meet someone who spoke English and who furnished us with what we came for, including time stamped visitors cards. We needed a sit down so we find the nearest green space which was just next to the national stadium and in front of the memorial picture gallery the building is unusual architecture. We tested for a while then walked past the stadium to the national garden to see what that was all about. It is a big stadium you could get glimpses of it through the entrance gays. We reached a station and stopped for a coffee.

The national garden closes at 4 o’clock so we had to walk around the edge of the park. We were aiming for a metro station to catch a tube to Jimbucho the book selling area, we wanted to try to get a Black Jack manga comic for a friend. After walking into two soft porn shops which looked like they sold manga a kind gentleman in a bookshop pointed us in the direction of a manga shop on the second floor of a nearby building, we would have never found it ourselves. It was not a long walk back to the hotel so we decided to walk back and drop into a good establishment on the way. We ended up at the place we are at on our first night. We both had fried tofu in a broth with noodles, which really hit the mark. A friendly man struck up a conversation with us and gave us some recommendations for choosing for our last day.

Kamakura on sea

The seaside at Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan

Yesterday we bought tickets to Kamakura which is a popular sea side resort just out side Tokyo not only is it by the sea but also has lots of shrines. It is very popular at weekends we are hoping that it won’t be mid week in the autumn. We left the hotel fairly early, 08:45, and launched ourselves into the weekday rush hour, at Tokyo station we asked where we should get the train, it turned out to be the Narita express train but in the other direction on a local slower train. The train was packed when we got on but after two stops we got a seat and settled in for the ride which would take 57 minutes. On the way we travelled for quite some time the number of parallel rail tracks was at times 12. We never seemed to to be in the country side despite arriving at Yokohama which is the second largest city in Japan.

Most Japanese commuters either have their nose in a book or their mobile phone, if they are not asleep, on the train to Kamakura we were sat opposite a guy with two iPhone fives and a standard Japanese flip out phone. We passed through a lot of suburbs mainly apartment buildings, but some houses too, many of them had metal framed parking facilities where the cars are parked automatically. You just drive the car in a slot at the bottom and the building does the rest moving the car to a free slot somewhere.

Helen had a fag while I figured out where to go and what to do. There were some rickshaws outside the station but Helen made it clear we would not be trying them out. The obvious thing to do was to jump on the local electric train to Hase stain then walk the hiking route back via the shrines, including a giant Buddha. At the station we picked up a map and walked down to Yuigahama beach where I picked up a shell which was different to the ones you see in Europe, then it started to rain so we jumped into a Hawaii themed coffee ship for coffee and a freshly made doughnut. By the time we had finished the rain had stopped but it looked like we might get some showers layer too.

Shinto shrine Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan

Shrine one was the Hase-dera 200yen paid for work the Suica cards, intetesting shrine seemed to be from Shinto from the decoration. There were warning signs about the class of the red kites, I spotted red and black ones. Next major one was the Buddhist shrine with the giant Buddha. I paid the 20 yen to go inside which was a bit of a squeeze and you had to watch you head, being taller than most people found here I had to be especially careful. Next we hit the hiking trail through the woods which was interesting we heard lots of birds but failed to identify anything new. The trail took about an hour and was very steep at times but the step were well maintained, almost everyone we passed greeted us with a konnichiwa. Eventually we hit a metal road and then the shrines started again first was a water one where you could wad money intake hope of making making from it. We ate our grapes we had with us while a brief shower passed through.

Back in a town at the end of the trail, we went through a tunnel the other side was a Starbucks, so we stopped for coffee and lunch all the sandwiches had meat in them so it was cinnamon buns all round, there is nothing like cake for lunch. Interestingly some one was employed to find tables for you which was nice but we had already endured half the queue only to be sat down so I could then join the queue again!

100 Yen shop Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan

We headed into town and had a wander down a shopping street, we came across a 100 yen shop we bought some more head phones and Helen got a portable ashtray on a key ring. Even in Japan their is a market for pound shops. We had a look at a general grocers which had every type of vegetable and fish you could imagine, mostly dead but quite a lot still living.

Back at the station we caught a train back to Tokyo station. The trains all have seats running down the sides facing in, except in green class (first class in Japan) where they face the length of the train. Most commuters spend their time in the seats half asleep, at first I thought it was because they work or study hard, but it turns out that the heaters in the carriages are under all the seats and they get very warm. Even Helen nearly fell asleep.

As we got into Tokyo proper we could not figure out where we were on the map, turns out we were on the wrong train, so we jumped off at Shinjuku and fessed up at the ticket office, whilst Helen tried to sneak out via the ticket barrier, I talked to the station employee who did a calculation on his calculator then waved us both through. It turns out we could get on our local line from Shinjuku which is the station where they employ people to squash the commuters in but much to my disappointment and Helen’s relief our train did not need any of that malarkey.

Shrine temple at Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan

Back at the home station we looked for something local to eat, after looking around we saw a nice looking place trouble is the menu had no pictures and was in Japanese, a guy inside was beckoning us in so we asked if they did vegetarian food he said yes so we gave it a punt. We sat down and the waiter suggested he recommend what we eat, so we explained I eat fish and Helen did not and let them get on with it. The place had maps of France on the wall and bottles of wine so Fugu fish was probably not on the menu. When the food came I asked where we could get Black Jack comics (for Mr Pearce), and we got him to write it down, turns out we are close by.

When the food arrived, a green salad was followed by a sort of potato salad with egg in it which had a hint of Japanese spice about it. Helen commented that it was the best food she had eaten all week and we had only had the starter. Next came raw fish for me it had a sort of soy sauce with possibly vinegar and was a bit spicy, it went down a treat, and not something I would have chosen myself. The place is called Zappa should you be passing it is an excellent place to eat. Next stop back to the hotel for another early night after a long day on out feet, and with so much to do in on the next two days.

Ueno park, Taito and Asakusa

Woke up at a reasonable hour this morning thankfully the rain had been replaced by sun with the clearest blue skies and depending on which forecast you believe no more rain till the weekend when we will be long gone.

We started at the usual station and with precision we changed trains at Akihabara then for off at Nishi-Nippori the headed down the side stress of Yanka talking in the shrines and cemeteries in the area. The shrines are scattered amongst the local houses and often it is not clear whether you could enter the shrine but the gates are always open, which makes them very welcoming. They are very calm places. The area appears to be a well to do area judging by the cars on the garages. The weather was gorgeous not a cloud in the sky, only a light coat was needed, it was so clear at one loint helen spotted mount Fuji in the distance with its snow capped top.

We were following a walk in the guide book which took in most of the sights in the area and would lead us to Ueno park, but like all the guide books the map did not have much detail, so we had to follow our noses a bit. At the exit of the cemetery area we find a coffee shop called Kabaya-coffee.com. I had scrambled eggs on toast and a nutty coffee, Helen had a latte and vegetable sandwich. She said she had never been so pleased to see some ice berg lettuce.

From there the theme continued as we headed towards Ueno park. We saw more shrines down the back streets and came across an antiques or bric a brac shop where I purchased a holiday souvenir two small Sakii cups in a wooden box. We skipped the zoo they are the anywhere in the world. Just as you go into the park the first thing you see is a very large area of water similar to a reed bed but made of plants with big leaves and I imagine large flowers. We ticked off a few Japanese birds including an interesting duck, and thrush. We still haven’t figured out the screaming birds that stick around these trees with yellow fruit which the locals collect the seeds off. Earlier in the day we saw a great tit.

In Ueno park there are lots of museums we choose the museum of western art , which is a great collection. Strange you say to go all that way and look at western art, our excuse is that it is in Japan so probably the only chance to ever see it. Out side the science and nature museum is a big plastic whale. We stopped for coffee on the edge of Asakusa district, I had what looked like custard tart but turned out to be pumpkin tart but tasted like custard tart with a hint of pumpkin.

Asakusa is an interesting place, lots of artisan shops quite a few knife shops the prices seemed quite high but you pay your money you take your choice as they say. As you get towards the magnificent shrine it gets quite touristic, with lots of trinket shops and food shops. The shrine it self is quiet extensive and the temples are on much larger scale to the ones we had seen earlier in the day.

The Tokyo Sky Tree from Asakusa, Taito, Tokyo, Japan

Next mission was get back to Tokyo station for some good before heading back to the hotel. We were right next to a metro station so the obvious choice was to take our first underground journey. First we had to buy a ticket using a list in English but a map in Japanese, Helen figured it out straight away and we soon had two 190 yen tickets. We went from the end of the line to Ginza then change to take another train one stop to Tokyo station. The metro is much slower than the trains we were used to, but we were soon at our destination. Next mission was get out of the underground to the station and into the train station, as it is a maze of platforms and perhaps the tube company would rather keep you on the tube than deposit you with the train company.

We found the station and headed for a JR East office to book tickets for tomorrows excursion to the seaside town with yet more shrines, can you see the theme developing. Next we headed for the food place we had used yesterday, and found an establishment that suited both of us. We both had a noodle dish Helen’s was with mushrooms and vegetables and mine was with mixed seafood, they came with a bowl of what looked like stock with eggs stirred in strange taste but not unpleasant. We then had trouble find the right platform and when we did we got off at the wrong end of our local station, so had a longer than necessary walk home which was not welcome after being out on our feet for over eight hours, but all in all we had had a great day, and we had seen Mount Fuji.

Raining hello kitty and Kishu inu

Late start again, I think it is the jet lag, in the middle of the night we wake up then fall asleep only to wake up at 09:00 feeling tired. That would be late evening at home, so our body is saying time for bed but we need to get up. Helen insisted on some fruit and veg in our diet so last night we bought a couple of bananas at one pound each for breakfast, as well as a small jar of instant coffee.

We headed off at about 10:30 the plan to go to a kite museum, and then play it by ear from there. When we got to the station it was a bit more challenging, we could not figure out which way to go turn put we were true trying to navigate with two different maps one for the Metro and the other for JR East train company. We spotted that we could get to the electronics district from the station so we jumped on the train and got off at Akihabara, which is the Tottenham court road of Tokyo, but multiplied up about 100 times, shop after shop with separate floors devoted to different kit, computers, cameras, peripherals, tablets, phones etc etc. We choose one store and did all the floors officers were reasonable bit not out and out bargains the main thing was the choice. We popped thorough a short of bazaar shop which had lots of small stories selling specialist products, plugs, chips, radios, transformers, wires etc etc. Helen soon got bored, but did make a purchase of some more headphones for the flight back. We spotted a coffee shop for a rest and a fag break for Helen then headed back to the station to find the more museum, it had started to rain.

We figured out the train to a station near the kite museum, but spent some time walking in heavy rain try to find the museum, which is located on the fifth floor of a building which had a restaurant on the ground floor which was owned by the guy who put together the collection. The museum is full of kites with little explanation but there was kit collectables from all over the world, and it only cost 200 yen to get in. Whilst in the warmth of the museum we consulted the guide book the nearest attraction was the Tokyo stock exchange, where for free you could have a look around the exchange and the museum. We arrived dripping wet from the rain we were the only people without an umbrella. We passed through security with even though we set off the metal detectors. The museum was small and explained the history of the exchange. We passed through the actual exchange observation deck, then Helen spotted a coffee room with a smoking area a coffee to have a fag, I had a coffee from the vending machines which offered a wide choice .

We bought some souvenirs from the reception then left. It was raining stop we consulted the guide book an decided the next destination should be the communication museum in the NTT offices, it was shut on Mondays like many of the museums, so we went to the Tokyo station. At the station we figured out the best way to experience Japanese food. They have food halls which serve all shoes of different specialties we went to an soba noodles restaurant and had a lovely bowl of noodles in a broth came with tempura prawns. We decided that on future nights we would head out to a similar place to eat, lots of choice an they are used to foreigners. When we had finished eating Helen noticed some people smoking so asked for an ashtray, she was disappointed to find we had been sat in the no smoking area, foiled yet again!

As we had eaten well and it was early evening we went to a large building with shops and bars for a look round and a beer heading back to the hotel. Turns out to be a building full of posh shops selling stuff we neither like r could afford, so we want back to the station to get the train back. We jumped on a rapid train which did not stop at our station of choice, se we got off two stops later and crossed the platform onto the more local train for another stop then got off at our station, or so we thought. We are sure we got the name right but it was not the station a quick lookout the map outside and we figured there was only a five minute walk to the hotel. We went through another interesting district with more food establishments, it seems there is no shortage of restaurants in Japan. We stopped off at the seven eleven for some breakfast bits then retired to our room with the hope of getting u a bit earlier and a bit less tired.

Yoyogi park, and the Meiji shrine

Entrance to Meiji Shrine, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan

After the marathon time spent awake yesterday we slept pretty well, and did not finally wake up till 09:30. We have decided that we will skip breakfast at the hotel as it is 2,300 yen each. We stopped of at the lobby of the seven eleven next door for Helen’s first fag of the day,then headed down to the nearest station to try out our Tokyo Oyster cards. The station was confusing until we spotted the English signs. From Suodobashi station we caught a train to Shinjuku where we found a nearby Starbucks some breakfast, then we got back on the trains to go to Harajuku station. Shinjuku station is the one famous for employing people to squash commuters onto the trains during rush hours, it was quite crowded and it was only a Sunday, I wonder what it is like on a week day?

The train was an over ground so we had the opportunity to see the world go by. We passed lots of water one area seemed to have boats for hire, we passed a fishing place where there were lots of fishermen on methods jetties with fishing rods, apparently quite popular I remember seeing it on a documentary about cap once on TV. We guessed correctly which station to get off at, and soon found the park entrance, there were lots of people walking down the wide tree lined avenues we followed the crowds and eventually came to the main shrine area. People come to the shrine to get married so there are as lot of people in traditional dress especially ladies and children. There seemed to be a harvest festival gong on as there were many displays of produce some on the form of large boats worth sails made off leeks. I didn’t know where to point my camera there was too many things to photograph.

We did a leisurely loop around the rest of the park, we were on the look out for the rockers that the park is also famous for. We spotted for a coffee then headed out to find them. We had a stroke of luck my Kindle is a 3G version and can access data worldwide, so we found a picture of the rockers and showed it to an official, who pointed us in the right direction. The rockers were strutting those stuff at the entrance to the park, which is separate to the shrine park. We walked round the park and did some people watching. It seems the Tokyians know how to make use of the green spaces, there was not just lounging around, the rule was that you had to be doing something either cultural or physical. We saw people with Frisbees, hula hoops, shuttle cocks, basketballs, soccer balls, tambourines, then there was the was the cultural ones singing, dancing, reciting, playing etc. There were also some street performers, one on a cylinder and board was very good as he flicked bowls on tithe head of the girl balancing on his head. There was an fenced off area that seemed to be full of dogs and their owners I thing the area was where you are allowed to let your dog off its lead.

Dancers in Yoyogi Park, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan

Next stop was to be a the oriental bazaar near by which Helen had spotted in the guide book. Lots of Japanese ware in a nice shop that was well spaced out, unlike the western shops which are squeeze in as much as you can. Helen bought some gifts. Then we headed back to the hotel because we needed a east before going out for something to eat. The trims were quite busy people were on the move, the Japanese queue on the platform nears marks then was politely for the disembark before getting on themselves.

After a rest and freshen up, we ventured out again to find something to eat. We could not make our minds up where to eat. Many restaurants have photo’s or plastic models of the food they sell but neither are very appetising, add to that neither of us eat meat and Helen does not eat fish either it makes the whole thing a bit of a challenge. We ended up at the Tokyo dome we we found a Spanish restaurant, I managed to stay slightly Japanese with the Japanese crab pasta, and Helen got another tick on the list of countries where she has eaten a Margarita pizza. Before going back to the hotel we had a look round the attractions at the dome, and stumbled across another unusual Japanese tradition, there was an area with posts of fairy lights including a long tunnel, and all around were late teenagers, mainly girls all dressed up in Anime style clothing, photo graphing each other. Some of the camera and kit was very serious I saw a 50mm f1.2 canon lens they retail at £1,200 many of them had flashes and reflectors.

Back toward the hotel we tried to go to a Belgium beer establishment we had spotted yesterday, but alas the place was shut, so we went back and had a beer at the hotel. We managed to stay up until 21:00 the jet lag is wearing off.

Flight VS900 to Tokyo Narita

The day has finally arrived we are off to Tokyo for a week. Didn’t have the best night sleep in anticipation of the exciting week to come. Got up at about 06:30 and spend a leisurely time having breakfast and finishing off the packing. We are allowed two 23kg bags in Premium Economy we both managed one bag each both less than 14Kg’s. Butlers taxi was five minutes early and we were soon on our way, strangely we stopped for diesel at Watford on the way. The weather was foggy but Heathrow was bathed in sunshine. While Helen was having her last fag before Japan I busied myself taking videos of my self. The plan is to create a video montage of very short (most less than a second) clips of video of our trip. The results should be really good I got the idea from another video on YouTube where a guy had done a tour of Europe, most of the frames consist of the person centre picture but the wide angle lens of the GoPro takes in a large area of background and the surrounding view.

Checking in was a breeze there were no queues at the bag drop, security took some time but the queues kept moving, there is not priority boarding like there is at London Luton. One through security you enter a shopper paradise with many ways found to part you from your money. Looking in Dixons it was a crying shame that white canon lens worth over a thousand pounds were there to be picked up and fondled, no lens cap on either end, there was smudges all over the lens! Note to self I wonder what happens to the lens when the shops close etc is it possible to pick up a bargain?

Helen grabbed a glass of wine to calm her already calm nerves, whilst I purchased a pillow for the flight. I found a memory foam one for £14 we’ll see how well it works. Our flight was soon called at gate 20 so we wandered on down. There were no queues at the gate and we were soon sat down in the lounge waiting for boarding. Complimentary magazines and newspapers were supplied. We were only sat for about 5 minutes when we were called to board.

The seats in premium are very spacious with plenty of leg room even when the person in front has their seat reclined. We got ourselves comfortable whilst the ground crew delayed our departure shift cargo around in the hold. We had the pleasure of the preflight drink, followed by the safety briefing. Soon we were taxiing out to the runway and taking off, heading out over Clacton in Essex, then across south Scandinavia, then a long stretch over Russia, before reaching the Pacific and then Japan.

We had a choice of dozens of choices of films, TV program’s and music to chose from the in flight entertainment system all provided on demand. I fancied Dark Knight Rising which we missed when it was on at the cinema, but first it was time for pre-dinner drinks then a veggie Thai curry. Suitably refreshed and after turning down a night cap and coffee we tried to get some sleep. Not before going to he loo. On her return Helen managed to catch her head phones plug as she sat down and snapped it clean off in the socket, luckily she was able to extract the end of the plug otherwise it would have been silent movies only for the rest of the flight.

I felt surprising tired at 00:00 Tokyo time, perhaps my body clock had shifted in anticipation. I suspect not you will have to watch the blog for and update. As it happens we have been preparing for the flight by getting up at 05:00 and going to bet at 07:30 for the past week. My theory is that idle can shift our sleep even a few hours then the 9 hours time difference will be just a little bit easier to adjust to. If it does it’ll let you know, and the. Right a best selling self help book on the subject. As after all I will be an expert after one flight!

I take my hat off to anyone who can sleep on and aeroplane even the people in Upper Class who get a bed. You can recline and shut your eyes but sleep is something that just escapes me. Having said that I did spend a lot of time relaxing with my eyes closed. Does that count as sleep? Some time in the middle of the night we were handed a hot pastry with mature cheddar in it but it tasted of nothing to me, I had read somewhere that you lose your sense of taste on a long flight, I had! An hour or so later a jug of water and glasses was bought into the cabin. At around 07:00 Tokyo time the sun started to rise and a fantastic landscape could be seen below.

We were in a very cold part of the world, the land scape was plains, pine covered mountains, with the odd frozen lake and rivers. We were over a place in Russia just over a corner of China. The city was called Khabarovsk, it must be cold it is north of Vladivostok. Every so often we would pass over signs of human habitation, fields covered in snow, roads, pipelines, I think I even saw a skiing resort with one oft and three runs down. The sky had that classic white land, rising to the blue sky through yellow and pink.

At about 07:30 someone wandered through the cabin in a dressing gown, with his tooth brush! He was a row in front of us and a few seats over he must have got changed into his lounge wear sometime in the night, I would guess he is a seasoned traveller. Soon it was time breakfast was to be served, I could smell the frying of bacon and eggs. Not really I believe they just microwave or bake to get the prepare pared breakfasts hot. We were in for a treat some sort of scrambled egg mushrooms and tomato dish for us.

Breakfast was cleared and the staff encouraged us to get ready for landing. Helen and I had managed to trash completely the floor area around our two seats. Once off the plane immigration, luggage collection and customs was a breeze. The airport seemed deserted and there was hardly a queue at immigration, where we had our passports checked and scanned and it photo and finger prints taken. We arrived at the luggage carousel and our bags were more or less waiting. Then we were waved through customs. We sought out a place to buy a Narita Express ticket into Tokyo Station. A kind man pointed out to us that our best bet was to buy a combined return ticket which included a preloaded money card for the metro. It was to be the first test of using a credit card and it was a breeze, we had to sign rather than use a pin. It cost 11,000 yen for the whole lot that’s less than £100 so £25 each way each and we had two cards with 2,000 yen of metro credit on each.

The train left at 10:15 and took about one hour to get to Tokyo station. It was really great to be in a different landscape which we had a good view of from the large train window. At the station I made my first cash purchase, a lighter for Helen, the we found the exit and the very well organised taxi rank. We had prepared a google translation of “please take us to Hotel Niwa” and it worked a treat he driver instantly figured where wanted to go. The ride cos us £10 a bargain.

We were too early to check in so we left our bags and went for a walk towards Chiyoda park where the imperial palace is. It is a lovely park and we both agreed we should return for second look. The sun was shining and there was a bit of a chill in the air. We got back to the Hotel at 14:30 our room was not ready but they put us in one that was not, Helen promptly fell a sleep while I typed up this blog entry.

Busy weekend

Helen was away at the weekend and I am off to Belfast this morning so you will be treated to a blog post of my busy weekend. I dropped Helen off at the train station of Friday evening then settled in for an evening in front of the TV, followed by going to bed early, as I had plans.

I was up at a reasonable time grabbed some breakfast and a strong coffee and headed out to the woods at Ashridge, the rut had started so I might be able to get some pictures. The weather was perfect for photography a clear atmosphere and a few whit fluffy clouds against a deep blue sky. I parked up in a car park which is close to a large open field where the stags tend to congregate and do their strutting about.

Walking through the woods I spotted the odd deer and a couple of stags, but they are hard to get pictures of in the shaded woods. 100th of a second at ISO 800 is about all you can hope for, still the new 40D I’d slightly better at high ISO’s than the old 20D. I did a circuit of the field and took a few landscape shots of the trees which were just starting to turn autumnal. The deer were gathering but there was not a lot of action, and I had other things planned.

On the way back through Tring I called in at R’s but I got know answer, so I went home and had some lunch then headed over to Wendover for a haircut, which was more eventful than usual when the guy having his haircut in the chair next to me had his ear snipped with the scissors. He got a free haircut and I thanked my luck stars I was not their 5minutes earlier is I might have been in that seat. I grabbed a paper and went home.

I gave R another call and got hold of him, and popped round for a coffee, it was good to catch up. Then I was back to the woods to have another crack at the rut. I was not disappointed. Two stags were on the rise in the field and occasionally challenges came from the edge of the field, which drew the stags down closer to where I had positioned myself and within lens shot. At one point I saw charging and crashes as their antlers clashed. I left at about 17:30 clearly sunset is the best time of day.

I grabbed an M&S curry on the way through Tring then went home to watch Hard Candy on Netflix, which although got good reviews was rubbish, I lasted 30 minutes in. Again I had a fairly early night as I was going to give the deers another chance in the morning. There was not much action in the morning at 08:30, but it was nice to be out in the woods when it is quiet, on such a nice morning. Next it was back to the house to make Tumbet for a quick Sunday evening meal, you can make it ready to put in the oven for later. This time I used new potatoes which I boiled and skinned red peppers for a jar, which made it easier to prepare and tasted great.

I was due to pick Helen up at 1600 from Didcot so as the weather was again great I headed out early to Little Wittenham to get some pictures around the river Thames. I grabbed my 10-22mm lens and polarising filter, it was to be one of those days. Over and around Little Wittenham there is some thing called Earth Trust, which I must find out some more about, it looks like they have been planting trees and putting up walks and generally doing stuff for nature conservation.

Helen’s train was on time and the Tumbet was great we watched the film Tyranosaur, which although very hard hitting was very well made, a great story and well acted. That’s what I call making the most of a weekend.

Surf’s up in Polzeath Bay

We thought as it was the last day we thought we would make the most of the time left. We would body board in the morning and go for a walk in the after noon. There were 4 volunteers, T&C, Helen and I, the plan was to go down to Polzeath see what the waves were like then decide.

BBC weather predicted calm seas so we were not expecting much, but when we got there the waves seemed big enough for beginners so we went to one of the trailers to get some gear, we all needed boards (£3 per hour) and two of us wetsuits (£3 per hour) so £12 and hour for two hours entertainment seemed good value. We were soon suited and booted and ready to take on the Atlantic waves.

Getting in was the first hurdle, but we were at the end of the summer, so the sea was warmed, and we had wet suits on, so the thermal shock did not live up to our fears. In fact it was not cold at all, I would not describe it as cosy but not unpleasant. We worked our way out to where the waves were breaking and a couple of other boarders were hanging out and waited for our first wave. It turns out that there is a knack to catching a wave, for the best results, pick a big one and then try to catch it just as it breaks, that way you have a steep edge to get moving on. Next make sure the nose of the board stays above the water otherwise expect to become a submarine!

We were glad to get out of our wetsuits and into dry clothes, over time it does make you cold and it is very tiring fighting the waves and walking back out into the surf. I would definitely do it again perhaps even try a surf board. We headed back to the hut for some well earned lunch.

Some of us dragged ourselves off the sofas to go for a walk from a book called “Shortish walks in Cornwall”. We picked on a stretch of coast we had yet to see. We parked up as the book described in a small layby near Treligga, but not after visiting the village whilst looking for th layby from the book description.

The walk started by heading towards the sea in both directions, lower in altitude and in a northerly direction. There was an option to visit a mall beach down some wooden steps then some cut into the rocks, I was the only one to take up that option, I was after some snaps of the lovely beach with large rocks from the cliffs scattered around. There were also a couple of deep caves.

From the beach it was back up the steep steps up to the coastal path, which once we had found it followed the top of the cliff for a couple of miles, then the path descended into a valley, at which point there was a sign suggesting a permissive path heading in land, we came to regret not taking the easier route. At the bottom of the valley the path headed in land up the valley, we saw some interesting plants including lots of wild mint.

After a few hundred yards of slow ascent the path veered right and we then had a very long slog up a hill to get out of the valley if it had been any steeper it would had steps in it. At the top of the valley we walked through a dairy farm where the cows were all waiting to be milked. We walked through the farm and up their drive to the road then it was a short walk back to the layby. It had been quite a tough walk especially after a morning in the sea.

That evening we went down to the pub in Port Gaverne I had the Mussels starter which was tasty and well cooked but a bit short on mussels, followed by the grilled sole which was excellent. A couple of pints of Sharps Doombar washed it all down nicely.

A walk on Marsden Moor

Helen and I spent the weekend at my brothers up north. We left in good time on Friday after work and had a good journey up the M1 and arrived early evening. Kev and Ron had made a chickpea curry and home made naan, which was lovely accompanied by a couple of glasses of wine.

We were up early with the kids the next day, a walk was planned on Marsden Moor. The weather outside was grey but the BBC and the Met office promised that it would brighten up later in the morning. We put together a pack lunch then headed out all in one car and parked up at the NT Visitors centre near the railway station in Marsden. After trouble finding 50p for the map vending machine we had map in hand and a planned 4 mile circular route taking in the famous moor.

According to Wikipedia :

The Marsden Moor Estate is a large expanse of moorland situated in the Pennines, between the conurbations of West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester in the north of England. It is named after the adjacent small town of Marsden, and is owned and administered by the National Trust to whom it was conveyed in 1955 by the Radcliffe family in lieu of death duties.

Caterpillar on Dock Leaf on Marsden Moor

The estate covers some 2,429 ha (5,685 acres) of unenclosed common moorland and almost surrounds Marsden. It forms the most northerly section of the Peak District National Park. The landscape is made up of valleys, peaks and crags and has long been modified by man. The fact that Marsden forms the eastern gateway to the important Standedge crossing of the moors has resulted in the presence of transport related archaeological remains dating from pre-Roman times to the great engineering structures of the canal and railway ages. The moors have also been used as a water catchment area since the Victorian era, and several reservoirs are present, along with their associated catchwaters.

The landscape supports large numbers of moorland birds such as the Golden Plover, Red Grouse, Curlew and Twite. The estate is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest, forms part of an Special Protection Area and is a candidate Special Area of Conservation.

The estate is managed from a base in the old goods yard, adjacent to Marsden railway station, and the old goods shed has been converted into a public exhibition, entitled Welcome to Marsden, which gives an overview of the estate and its history.

From the car park we headed up Marsden high street, then through a park where there was a memorial to the poet Samuel Laycock who was born and lived in Marsden. Once out of the park we headed up a steep path towards the moor. After a hard slog we were glad to be out on the moor and away from the dog poo you find on foot paths near towns. The sun was shining but there was a strong wind luckily from the south so the not unpleasant. The kids were soon whining about being hungry so we found a few rocks on which to eat our sandwiches.

Up the moor are quite a few channels which serve as water courses transferring water between the local reservoirs, we played Pooh stocks with one where a bridge went over. We soon got to the zenith of the walk and started our descent, and had great views over the valley and reservoir there in. We were soon back in the town and stopped off for supplies for pizza topping later.

We got back to the house late after noon and after a cup of tea went for a swim, where I was able to test out the new GoPro Hero2 video camera, and perform well it did.

For dinner we had home made pizza followed by an excellent sticky toffee pudding. This was followed by a Wii session and then bed.

The next day we were up early again, and headed home after a coffee and a smoothie video, which involved a carpet race round the kitchen.

Traffic on the way home was light.

Three buses to Holkham nudist beach

After a hot night we were up and ready for breakfast at 08:10, I had scrambled eggs and mushroom had Helen had beans and hash browns, the toast was lovely made from home made bread. We gathered our stuff and walked down the road to the Stiffkey bus stop to get the bus to Burnham Deepdale, only to find the next bus was not for another fifty minutes! What should we do? We decide to get the bus going the other way and have a coffee at the Cley NWT cafe. On the way to Cley we realised that we would not have enough time for a coffee so we got off at Cley village stores, and waited for the bus going the way we wanted.

After a five minute wait we were on the right bus going to our chosen destination, we wanted to walk from Burnham Deepdale to Wells next to sea about 10 miles. We passed though Burnham Market on the way which had a craft fair going on around the village green, it looked interesting but the place was heaving and it was only 10. When we got off the bus we realised how hot the day was, the weather man had promised 30 degrees. As we headed out along the sea wall we both began to realise that the whole walk may not be managed. When you get close Burnham Overy Staithe you hit a kind of false summit, the sea wall heads back on it self, which was very disheartening to Helen and a few expletives were heard.

At the quay of Burnham Overy Staithe there is a chandlers/general store which sold cold drinks, it was very welcome. Inside it seemed to be air conditioned, we lingered deciding what drink to purchase. We sat on a railway sleeper in the shade outside, a woman was trying to find some where to tie up her small terrier Helen offered to hold on to the lead but the offer was turned down on the basis that the dog would probably go for us so could we warn passersby not to get too close! While the lady was a way the dog snarled a lot at the passing people.

The quay is a popular spot as there is a free car park and you can cross a shallow creek and then get out to a lovely cut off beach, seems every man and his dog was heading out there, it looked like a scene from war of the worlds when everyone leaves town in a mass exodus. We contemplated getting the bus to Holkham but in the end continued on our walk. After another couple of miles we were in the sand dunes, next stop was a paddle in the sea. It is surprising how cooling a paddle is, I think the cold temperature on your feet combined with the stiff sea breeze, just hits the spot.

Holkham beach is vast, and we were walking at the sea edge for over an hour. We can across some some very trusting Sanderlings and Ringed Plovers. At one point we stopped and sat down to have some lunch we had purchased some cheese and onion pasties the day before. Our choice of spots was not interesting, we were at the far edge of the nudist area, and every so often a nude man would make circuit strutting his stuff. Helen &I have have some experience of nudists beaches, not as nudists you understand, we just have this uncanny knack of coming across them when out of walks. Male couples tend to gather at the fringes of them and the Holkham one was no different. We walked on and slowly the nudists dissolved away and clothed beach users took over. The beach was tough on bare feet so we decided to head inland to the pine forest to continue the walk in the shade.

On one side of the forest there was a lovely breeze which combined with the shade of the trees was bearable but as we got deeper in to the forest the breeze went and the heat took over. We were starting to discuss the ice creams we were going to order when we got to the Wells ice cream shop. When we got to the ice cream the queue was massive so we walked on to the town along the sea wall, when we got there we had just about had enough. I popped in to a shop while Helen checked out the bus times. The buses seemed to be running late, but we made good use of the time downing two 7 Ups and two bottles of water between us.

Eventually the bus came 40 minutes late it turns out there was a bad accident around Holkham and the traffic was being sent round the Holkham estate. We purchased our tickets and requested being dropped off at the Red Lion in Stiffkey, one of the services offered by the coast hoppers is that you can be dropped off anywhere safe on their route. After 10 minutes in a very hot bus we were dropped off outside the pub. We rested a while before a shower and then went down to the bar, Helen had veggie lasagne and I had wild mushroom and pea risotto, both dishes got the thumbs up. For desert we had another drink, then retired to our room well replete.