September 11th.
Famous for many things:
1297 - Scotsman William Wallace defeated the English forces of Sir Hugh de Cressingham at the Battle of Stirling Bridge.
1609 - Explorer Henry Hudson sailed into New York harbor and discovered Manhattan Island and the Hudson River.
1910 - In Hollywood, the first commercially successful electric bus line opened.
1974 - "Little House On The Prairie" made its television debut.
2001 - World Trade Centre attacks.
And the birthdays of:
D.H. Lawrence 1885
Ferdinand Marcos (Philippines) 1917
Mickey Hart (Grateful Dead) 1943
Phil May (The Pretty Things) 1944
and the lovely Cathy Middleton 19??
Happy birthday Cathy.
11 September 2009
09 September 2009
Trailing the Otter
The last time we went away together for any length of time (on a non work related trip) was almost two years ago. It was brilliant therefore to get away last week to do the Otter Trail with some friends. This is a five day, 45 km walk along a secluded bit of the south coast and South Africa's most popular trail which needs to be booked a year in advance.
It was a 1600+ km, 18 hour drive through the night to get there - and back again, but it was well worth it.
The scenery is spectacular and rugged.
And good for sunsets.
Also pretty good for long exposure, moonlit night time shots.
You stay in basic huts right next to the beech, but have to carry everything else with you (food, sleeping bag etc). Each night we cooked outside round a fire.
It might only be 45 km but the going is often tough - especially with big rucksacks.
The trail is noted for many things but one of the most daunting is a river crossing on day four. When we did this walk eight years ago one of our group had major problems here.
We crossed at low tide but still needed to swim about 100m. Trouble was that low tide was at 08:00 and it's a four hour walk from the hut. This meant we were up at 03:15 and had to walk 2 1/2 hours in the dark to get there.
Day three huts are on the right in the pic below and also required a river crossing to get to them.
We saw wales, dolphins, shed loads of birds, buck, some big insects
and a scorpion!
Oh, and we even saw an otter!
Cathy felled a small tree with her bare teeth and then wrang the sap out so we could use it for cooking later that evening!
After the walk we took a day to do a mountain bike trail and then drove back - on our wedding anniversary.
When we left we were having a fire each night to keep warm. We get back to find the day time temperatures are over 30 deg. I guess spring must have arrived!
P n' C
It was a 1600+ km, 18 hour drive through the night to get there - and back again, but it was well worth it.
The scenery is spectacular and rugged.
And good for sunsets.
Also pretty good for long exposure, moonlit night time shots.
You stay in basic huts right next to the beech, but have to carry everything else with you (food, sleeping bag etc). Each night we cooked outside round a fire.
It might only be 45 km but the going is often tough - especially with big rucksacks.
The trail is noted for many things but one of the most daunting is a river crossing on day four. When we did this walk eight years ago one of our group had major problems here.
We crossed at low tide but still needed to swim about 100m. Trouble was that low tide was at 08:00 and it's a four hour walk from the hut. This meant we were up at 03:15 and had to walk 2 1/2 hours in the dark to get there.
Day three huts are on the right in the pic below and also required a river crossing to get to them.
We saw wales, dolphins, shed loads of birds, buck, some big insects
and a scorpion!
Oh, and we even saw an otter!Cathy felled a small tree with her bare teeth and then wrang the sap out so we could use it for cooking later that evening!
After the walk we took a day to do a mountain bike trail and then drove back - on our wedding anniversary.
When we left we were having a fire each night to keep warm. We get back to find the day time temperatures are over 30 deg. I guess spring must have arrived!
P n' C
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