With the Indian Summer drawing to a close, Allegra and I opted to strap on our hiking boots / flip-flops, walk out the back door, and head for the summit of Twin Peaks. One of those little to-dos that has been on my list since I arrived, we could have not have chosen a better day to do it – music from the Bluegrass festival floating up through the trees and the golden light flirting with us through the trees of Mt Sutro Open Space Preserve … a place that you can actually mountain bike inside the city limits!
Sutro Tower basks in the sunshine (for once)The view down to downtownSutro catches the last of the rays
The view from the Dipsea trail down to the oceanAllegra keeping up a good paceThe trees aglow in the sunlightNew shoes!Fetching colour schemes… and alas another farewell to Abe!
A third hike to Alamere Falls, and still worth it. A lovely little hop from the city, and you find yourself walking along the coast with views as far as the city and Point Reyes. Naturally, the jewel in the crown are the falls that cascade down to the beach; the weather has been a bit dry of late so they were not quite as plump as they have been – but still a nice treat from a busy week.
No filter or editing at all, honest.Pleasing organisation. Todd on the left, Jos in the middle, and Allegra on the right.Allegra gives Jos a friendly scratch on the back of the head.The drive home.
Point Reyes has the strange ability to make me feel like I am ‘home’ – there is something deeply primal about it, and in a vaguely spiritual way reminds me of the East Angle coast, Wales and Scotland. It’s a little gem of solitude, just an hour north of the city, and here are a few portraits of it while it’s in a mildly grumpy mood.
No holiday back to the UK would be complete without some nice walks through some mud, on the way to some well-earned pints and packets of crisps. It’s one thing I really do miss in the USA; the hiking here is amazing, obviously, but it lacks the wander-off-on-you-own freedom of just sauntering across the fields in search of a destination. Here, it’s strap the backpack on and prepare for a couple of days in stunning, un-touched wilderness.
Anyway, we had some great little hikes off on the south coast, and around Cambridge – just what the doctor ordered.
Mum catches up on our annual Boxing Day hike … to the pub!Now to the South Coast: Various stiles and other gate mechanisms a continious source of geeky amusement for me and the family.Looking out down the coastVery windy!Mum makes the climbDad and I in conversationCorfe Castle off in the distance, where we were staying for a couple of days.Obligatory wallsTo Anglesey Abbey – one of the local stately homes… and I was fascinated with this: it seems to fade in colour.Interesting textures on some of the Winter Garden treesFading to yellowReflections of winter
Americans take their weekends very seriously – far more so than us lazy Europeans, who have lengthy holidays allotted to us. One of the local get-aways is to Russian River, an hour or two north of the Bay and nestled in some of the finest hills (and vineyards) in the country. Lauryn and I opted, for our first weekend away, to find a guest house in the charming town of Guerneville. A town that later revealed itself as the destination for outdoorsy gay community of San Francisco; the Rainbow Cattle Company bar name should have given it away! (www.queersteer.com)
Still, a nice weekend away from the city, spent hiking, drinking and eating good food. I shall no doubt be back.
View across the hills to the Korbel wine plantations (ironically, the codename for my final project at Dell – you can’t escape!)Said hills. Very purdy.Depth of field … I am not finding myself playing with my SLR as much these days … but it is fun when I do.Signs of FallThe sun, cascading through the treesDawn. Ish.
I had a last-minute invite from Maartin & Marieke to join them with their brother Kees in a cabin up in the woods. Just the job to escape the city. A great day of hiking, more than a few beers and hilarious laughter, and the next day a solo ride into the wilderness, somewhere in the hills behind Abe’s family home.
Flotsam & JetsamA walk in the woodsThe NederlandersUp in them thar hills
Mum & Dad, having completed their main tour from San Diego back up to San Francisco, now have a couple of weeks with me in the Bay Area. We took the opportunity of having good weather to cross the Golden Gate and spend the weekend in Marin. Day 1: antique shopping in Petaluma, and Day 2: a fantastic walk in the sun, retracing our steps to Alamere Falls. After the manufactured saccharine charms of SoCal, I think it was a breath of fresh air.
Dad navigates the streets of San Francisco, to the accompaniment of the Bullett theme tuneCrossing the bridge never gets old – it's stunning.Objects in the rear view mirror may appear closer than they areHold onto your hats!Dad, clearly enjoying the MustangWhat a team.We retraced the steps we made in the summer hike to Alamera Falls, back in JulyEven though 99% of people make the detour to the beach, the rangers seem to ignore this fact, and mark it unmaintained.View out to Point Reyes – very much need to go there some time soon.Dad negotiates the frankly slightly scary cliff down to the beachUnconventional team photoDon't go chasing waterfallsDad and I, standing above the cliffsOne more for good measureThe trip back … and you are reminded that you are in Marin – the wackiest collection of individuals this side of, well, San FranciscoSunset StripThe breathtaking return through the tunnel back to the city
Sadly, last month we received that Granny, Catherine John, had passed away. A central figure in our family, her influence permeates through her children, her grand children and now their own families. Her creativity, humour, voracious appetite for news and love for her family, will be greatly missed.
In contrast to previous trips back home, visiting friends, spending time with family or attending weddings, this was a more sombre affair. Still, it was a fabulous opportunity to meet with family members that I have not seen in years, and marvel at the rate of growth of the youngsters, many now with their own dreams and aspirations.
One week is not a huge amount of time, but it was enough to complete a solid round of decompression and tea drinking in Cambridge, run up to the Derbyshire hills to get some hiking in, and across to Wales for the service.
Cambridge
I wanted to spend as much time as possible with the folks, Ele and Dave, and of course Benjamin as possible. So, predictably perhaps, most of my photos feature the star of the show!
Benjamin is king of the worldObviously a candidate for a modelling competitionHe is still in the early stages of learning to talk, so his powerful pointing finger is key in his ability to communicate. I was deeply impressed with how much information he could convey through the sign language he as been taught, though.Taking Benjamin on the guided bus out to St. Ives for the first time. What fun! (the bus even had wifi!)Butter would not melt in his mouth …Clotted cream, on the other hand, very much would.Marvelling at the physics-defying helium balloon that we had found for him.He was emphatic in wanting me to sit down next to him. The step somewhat suited his leg length more than mine, however.A view of The Fens; windmill, cyclist, and a flat landscape. The guided bus really shifts though – 60mph along those concrete tracksTaking Benjamin out for the day at the parkWorking out how to use the slide feet firstSlightly less sure about spinning around and aroundEven less sure about the height of the slide … but getting more confident every day!On Skype back to Taiwan – do they have to try to be this cute?Benjamin gives me a snuggle for good measure.
Wales
The ceremony was very moving, tied together with a thoughtful speech from my cousin Hannah, who managed to speak for all of us on the day.
Taking it all in – we all had our own stories… and evidence was everywhere that she was not too far awayDespite the sad day, it was still fantastic to see familyMessing around on the grassFamily members catch upThe local rugby club did a great job of hosting drinks after the event.Making a run for it!Picture updates of the next addition!Mums look proud
Derbyshire
With construction on the house on-going, we managed to grab a couple of days up north, staying at The Cavendish Hotel in Baslow. Retracing some of my early mountain biking steps, we hiked along the ridges overlooking the valleys, and spent the next day sauntering over to Chatsworth before being stunned by an impromptu Red Arrows display while packing the car up. Derbyshire always delivers the goods.
Our hotel in Derbyshire, near Chatsworth was great, although it was all we could do not to continually quote Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan's 'The Trip'DEAD SLOW. HOOTExit signA walk through the hills I think was what we neededViews across the peaks were not spectacular, but a good reward for the climb (and even better preparation for a pint at the pub).BouquetAs we were just getting back to the house, we were amazed to see The Red Arrows fly by overhead. We were treated to a fifteen-minute display – their first day since they sadly lost a pilot – for the crowds down at the country fair at Chatsworth house. Granny would have loved it.
Taiwan’s natural environment is a wonderland for outdoor sports; I have long said that it could be an Asian version of New Zealand. Some sports, such as cycling and hiking, already have a strong foothold, but the scale and breadth of the natural resources on offer here mean many more activities are possible.
River tracing (or river trekking) has been on the rise in Taiwan in the last few years. Similar to canyoning combines hiking, climbing and some swimming, negotiating obstacles and often working in a team. A host of friends have been recently, so I was delighted when one of Yuyin’s friends invited us to go.
There are several outfits offering outdoor activities in Wulai, but White Squall Adventure School is run for the benefit of improving the lot of less advantaged kids, so while the price was a little higher than the other places we thought it would be worth it. The company’s owner, Rock, is a true salt-of-the-earth type, and I really enjoyed spending the day with him.
I was imagining climbing up a very small stream, perhaps through trees, negotiating rocks and roots while making our way up the hill. Actually, we navigated our way up the river feeding into Wulai; a river I have ridden or driven beside many times and as a result even better to have a chance to splash around in.
Rock’s approach was to allow the group to discuss, try out, fail, retry and eventually succeed. This is in stark contrast to the typical teaching techniques in Taiwan that preach a digital correct / incorrect approach that yields accuracy, but does little in the way to foster team work or creativity. It was a wonderful day working as a team, looking out for each other, keeping eye-contact and slowly making our way to the end of the river. I would recommend it to any group of friends or colleagues.
Summer 2011 FashionSuited and BootedThe rascal Rock sprays us with water as we get into the van that took us to the trail head. I guess there is no turning back now!Two waterproof cameras packed – really useful at a time like this.Reservoir DogsTeam buildingNegotiating the first obstacle was a bit of a challenge, but nothing compared to those that came later in the day. A good chance to test our teamwork though!Rock guides towards the next section, and asks for our inputShades of greyGary's trousers fill with water, and we all erupt in laughterFlowLooking up at the next obstacle, we were told we needed to enter under the fall from the left side, and exit to the right – a challenge!Getting serious nowSuccess!The guys consider their next moveWorking as a team to get across this fast flowing sectionSaved!ReflectionsHappy!An 8m drop into the water below was not easy!Just about all of us dared jump in – quite a mental challenge!Pulling some team members up the rocksTeam photoThe sun begins to set on a gorgeous dayFoot prints (incidentally I was told not to wear my Vibram five finger toe things – not grippy enough – instead we had sort of dish cloths attached to our feet)The best thing about the day was the amount of team work, and care we all took over others.Finally at the end!Being dumped back in the van for the ride home – but no spray this time!Looking back at what we all achievedFOOD!
