Heron at home and abroad

Time for a move

2010-08-11T08:41:00.001+01:00

I've finally moved this blog over to a new home, under my main web hosting. The new address is:

http://blog.heron-photography.co.uk

VNF West - Foto van de maand

2010-07-13T23:00:00.007+01:00

I was back at the fotoclub today for the first time since February, taking with me a selection of photos from India (that I'd intended to show last month) and a selection from Texel. Most of the meeting was dedicated to the selection of photos for an exhibition which will be held at De Papaver (the nature centre in Delft) next month, but there was just enough time left at the end for a couple of us to show some photos unrelated to the exhibition. In the end, one of my Texel photos, of fighting black headed gulls, was chosen as the club's photo of the month.

Ackerdijkse Plassen

2010-07-10T19:01:00.000+01:00

Back to the Ackerdijkse Plassen this morning with Arie, this time for a guided walk, inside the part of the reserve which is not normally open to the public. The guide was very informative, and it was interesting to see and hear about the different types of habitat within such a small area. Given the heat, it was particularly nice walking through the woods.

We didn't see so many birds to photograph - some cormorants, at a distance, and a buzzard flying by were the main highlights.

We stopped a couple times at bird hides, which at least gave us a few insect shots, and we also were inspected by the herd of cows who are allowed to graze the land, and were very curious about us.

Delft - Maassluis - Delft

2010-07-03T19:57:00.001+01:00

Today's walk was the longest yet until the Vierdaagse itself - 39.1km. The route took me through the Vlietlanden to Schipluiden, Vlaardingen and Maassluis, mostly walking along the waterside. A good route, and the early part to Vlaardingen and back would make a nice Sunday walk, with a bit of bird spotting thrown in.

I ended up taking an unexpected break about 20km into the walk, when I came across a man collapsed on the side of the path. He was being assisted by another woman, who had called an ambulance, so I stayed to keep an eye on him whilst she tried to bring in the paramedics, who were stuck on the wrong side of a hump backed bridge. In the meantime, a police man arrived on a motor cycle. After some questioning, and the aid of the Breathalyzer, it appeared that the man was not seriously ill, but seriously drunk.

Ackerdijkse Plassen (2)

2010-06-30T20:27:00.000+01:00

Something a little more ethereal.

Ackerdijkse Plassen

2010-06-29T21:30:00.000+01:00

I went for a bike ride this evening around the Ackerdijkse Plassen in the hoping of finding some birds to photograph. Unfortunately, two of the three bird hides were closed, and the remaining observation post didn't have anything much to offer. I did however have some fun trying to photograph a distant bird of prey (buzzard?), some swifts/swallows (about as successful as you'd expect, given how small, and well, swift, they are), and a couple snoozing grebes. In the end, though, the best photo was of a frog, when I was on my way back.

The ride wasn't quite as tranquil as I'd hoped, as there was an almost constant stream of (racing) bikes zooming by. My grebe photographing experience was a little ruined by the backdrop of a couple arguing, and bizarrely one cyclist swore at me for 'not leaving the birds alone'. Given that the bird in question was a passing cormorant, I didn't really see his point.

Texel - Avocets

2010-06-28T20:33:00.000+01:00

Zandvoort aan Zee to Katwijk

2010-06-20T19:30:00.004+01:00

This weekend's walk was in the opposite direction from last week's, south along the coast from Zandvoort aan Zee to Katwijk, with a small detour through the Nordwijkerhout along the way. Unfortunately, having taken the Garmin along with me and recorded the route, I managed to wipe it out in my relief at reaching Katwijk at the end. Fortunately not before I knew how far I'd walked - 25km. As you can see, it was a typical grey, rainy day.

Choral Evensong - 19th June 2010

2010-06-19T20:00:00.006+01:00

The last choral evensong before the summer break, just a shame about the football supporters and their annoying orange honking things during the prayers. Needless to say, thanks to the World Cup, we were a couple singers down.

Introit: Lord, For Thy Tender Mercy's Sake, Farrant/Hilton
Responses: Oxley
Psalm: 150, Stanford
Canticles: Collegium Sancti Johannis Cantabrigiense, Howells
Anthem: O Thou the Central Orb, Wood

Texel

2010-06-13T19:25:00.001+01:00

This weekend I visited the island of Texel, off the north coast of The Netherlands, with Arie and Jules. I still have quite some work to process all the photos (approx 1300), but here a couple taster shots of a kestrel (torenfalk). We also saw plenty of godwits (grutto), avocets (kluut), sandwich terns (stern), common terns (visdief), gulls and oystercatchers (scholekster).

(I took these shots with the 300mm lens that Arie rented for the weekend, plus a 1.4x teleconverter. Handheld, and quite heavily cropped)

PatentRun 2010

2010-06-09T19:00:00.001+01:00

So, I had been planning to take part in this year's PatentRun, and at one point I'd even had ambitious plans of improving on my time from last year. But it wasn't to be. Instead, I took along the camera and photographed the event, getting soaking wet in the process.

Scheveningen to Noordwijk

2010-06-06T19:00:00.007+01:00

After a few weeks hiatus, I resumed my training for the Nijmegen Vierdaagse today with a walk through the dunes from Scheveningen to Noordwijk, about 20.5km.

The weather wasn't ideal - muggy and overcast, and about halfway into the walk, very rainy. For the sake of experimentation (and because I hadn't charged up my GPS watch) I only used the iPhone (with the MapMyRun app) to record the route... very effective, but it also drained the battery very fast, so I stopped recording at Katwijk. By the time I arrived in Noordwijk and wanted to look up the bus information, the battery was completely dead. Not the smartest idea, thus.

<p>&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyrun.com/walk///454127583280761818"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;iMapMyRun: Jun 6, 2010 4:00 PM&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br/&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyrun.com/find-walk//"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Find more Walks in , &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>

Choral Evensong - 5th June 2010

2010-06-05T21:58:00.025+01:00

My first choral evensong for ages... and it wasn't really the most impressive. I contributed to the overall effect by tripping over the words in the middle of the second reading, and forgetting that victuals are pronounced 'vittels' until a millisecond after I read it. Idiot.

Introit: Oculi omnium, Charles Wood
Responses: Ebdon
Psalm 121, Walford Davies
Canticles: Moore's 3rd service
Anthem: Here, O my Lord, Whitlock

The official photographer was along for the ride, to take some publicity shots for the choir.

Crazy Cat

2010-05-29T22:07:00.000+01:00

Nothing like putting your friends to work when they visit.... either as official cat photographer of the evening,

... or preparing dinner (and trying to keep Rupert out of it)

Poker night

2010-05-27T23:00:00.000+01:00

I got together with some of my old colleagues this evening for a game of poker, something that we manage to organize once or twice a year.

Needless to say, I lost, as usual. My excuse is that I was distracted by the Dutch playing cards... which have the letter H for king, V for Queen, and B for the Jack. Most disconcerting!

Vancouver Sun Run - 10K

2010-05-09T21:00:00.060+01:00

So, the name gives it away... I was planning to run 10K today. Instead, since the training hasn't exactly been going to plan, I decided to walk the event instead and consider it training for the 4daagse. And since Mum is out here with me, I dragged her along too for the ride!

The truth of the matter is that despite I always tell everyone that I'm visiting Vancouver, my Grandmother lives in a neighbouring city rather than Vancouver itself, and we very rarely make it downtown. So, it was actually quite good fun to go into Vancouver, first on Saturday to pick up our start numbers, and then again today for the race itself.

We were lucky to have fantastic weather, resulting in an amazing turnout of 51,417 participants. Not for nothing is this billed as Canada's largest 10K. As walkers, we started in the last group, and didn't manage to get over the starting line until about 10.30. As the official race start was at 9am, we had a lot of hanging around.

The route took us past the cathedral, and to the tip of Stanley Park, home to the Vancouver Aquarium, which is one of the places we always used to visit when I was a kid, and then primarily along main streets around the edge of town, finishing up at the ice hockey stadium. I couldn't help but think that if I ever decide to run a marathon, it would be pretty cool to do it in Vancouver. It's a city that can't help looking good, with the water and the backdrop of snow covered mountains.

Vierdaagse Training Progress:
Total distance: 79.9km / 49.9mi
Longest walk: 25km / 15.6mi

I'm still looking for my first sponsor for the Vierdaagse! You can sponsor me here: http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/natashahadfield

Nijmegen Vierdaagse - Asthma UK

2010-05-04T22:42:00.000+01:00

Today is World Asthma Day and therefore the perfect moment to unveil my (not very momentous) plans. I've decided to use the opportunity of taking part in the Nijmegen Vierdaagse to try and raise some money and awareness for asthma research, via the charity Asthma UK.

Some of you know, probably a lot of you don't, that I have asthma myself. Most people won't have seen me use my inhaler, because I hate using it in public. My colleagues may have seen me sneak out of a meeting for a quick break, but you probably wouldn't have known that that was the reason why. Asthma does interfere with my life on a daily basis. On a good day, it's nothing more than remembering to stop and take my medications, even though I may be running late for work, or exhausted after a long week and a Friday night choir practice. On other days, I could spend the evening on the coach struggling to breath, and putting my running plans (and everything else) on hold. And then, after a disrupted night's sleep, having to get up for work again in the morning.

But on the scale of asthma, I'm one of the lucky ones. A bad day means I'm struggling, but it doesn't put me in hospital. Asthma might slow me down sometimes, but for others it can limit even the most basic physical activity.

And that's why I want to fundraise. Not for the people like me, but for those who can't gain control over the condition with the medications currently available, and who battle constantly, not only the disease itself, but from the side effects of the drugs they need to take. Deeper understanding of asthma could transform their lives.

So, anyone that wants to offer support, you can do it in the following ways:

leave a comment on the post so I know you read it :-)
ask me how the training's going, and I'll be glad to bore you about it!
take a look at Amy Anaruk's compilation of peoples' stories at A record of breathlessness
and best of all, donate something to the cause via my fundraising page

Rupert

2010-05-03T18:57:00.000+01:00

It's official, he's had the wire removed from his jaw today, and my big bundle of stripey misbehaviour has been signed off as fully recovered. So, now that the ordeal is over, some photos of the whole experience:

Day after the accident: just home from the vet's after an overnight stay. You can't see it, but he has a wire fitted around his jaw.

Two days later, after another overnight stay, this time to have a feeding tube inserted. As a result, he had to wear the annoying collar.

For a week, feeding involves mixing up formula, and giving it through the tube. After a couple days when he started to become interested in food again, I was able to feed him fancy moussey stuff off a spoon. Either way, it was all messy.

Finally feeling like playing again, despite the annoying collar. By this point he was desperately chasing after the kittens in the hope of a cuddle, but they were terrified of the collar, and ran away faster.

Tube and collar finally removed, he went straight after his favourite toy. Very relieved to see he can still carry things around in his mouth, despite the missing teeth.

Nearly 6 weeks after the accident, the final visit to the vet's today to get the wire removed. As you can see, he is restored to health, and also to his bad habits! After a day without eating because of the anaesthesia, he's getting into everything try to find more food.

Venlo Bloesemtocht

2010-05-02T19:00:00.000+01:00

Second training walk today, this time in the town of Venlo, in the province of Limburg and on the German border. I had a hard time finding the starting point of the walk (the price you pay for writing down the wrong street name, and not simply printing out the map), which ended up adding almost 5km to the total walking distance. Getting directions wasn't helped by the fact that I sometimes had a hard time following the Limburgs accent.

It wasn't a great day to be outside, and as a result I got drenched in a couple of heavy rain showers. Despite that, it was a pleasant walk, which had the novelty of crossing the border and taking me into Germany (meaning that suddenly everyone I came across greeted me with 'Guten Tag' instead of 'Goede Dag').

As with last week's walk, everyone I spoke to along the way was very impressed that I'd traveled from Delft to come to their corner of The Netherlands. The organizers were so pleased to have someone travel from so far, that they gave me a special memento of the day, and also very kindly gave me a lift back to the train station at the end of the day.

This week's walk certainly felt easier than last week's, helped in part, I imagine, by the fact that it was less hot. At the end my feet were less sore, and I was pleased to find that I'd also kept up a faster pace. Still a long way to go before I'm walking 40km, but things are going in the right direction.

Choral Evensong - 1st May 2010

2010-05-01T19:00:00.000+01:00

Introit: Ave Maria, Stravinsky
Responses: Neary
Office Hymn: Sermone blande Angelus, Pt. II
Psalm: 119 vv. 33-48
Canticles: Short Service, Morley
Anthem: O how amiable are Thy dwellings, Vaughan Williams

Oostvaardersplassen - April 2010

2010-04-30T19:38:00.000+01:00

Since today was a public holiday (Queen's Day or Koninginnedag), I went with Arie to the Oostvaardersplassen. Unfortunately the weather was very dull, and there was too little light for decent photography. Still, we had a nice walk around, and enjoyed watching the wild horses from one of the hides.

Waterland Wandelmarathon Volendam - 23K

2010-04-25T20:47:00.000+01:00

Amongst all the emails that I received whilst I was away, was one from the organizers of the Nijmegen Vierdaagse, telling me that I have managed to get a place in this year's event. For those not in the know, this means that come July, I need to be ready to walk 40km, 4 days in a row. Time then to start training more seriously.

In order to spice up the training, particularly on the longer runs, I've decided to take part in some organized walking events, of which there are quite a number each weekend, scattered around the country.

Today took me up to the town of Volendam for the first one, the Waterland Wandelmarathon. Volendam is in the province of North Holland, on the shore of the IJsselmeer (former Zuiderzee), which meant that I took the train up through the bulb growing area this morning whilst they are at their best.

The walk started out with a long trek through the polders, taking in a couple small villages, before following the dyke alongside the IJsselmeer for 6km to Edam and then back to Volendam. As I started at about 10.30, I think most of the walkers on my route had already left. In any case, whilst there were always one or two other walkers in sight, the route was never crowded. Only once we reached the final kilometres and the harbour in Volendam did it get incredibly crowded, due to the huge numbers of tourists visiting the town. By that time my feet were pretty sore, and I wasn't too impressed at all the people who kept coming between me and the finish!

All in all a good walk, though one that's left me slightly terrified of the final 40km distance!

India (16) - Home again

2010-04-21T17:32:00.000+01:00

After all the build up, a very uneventful flight, in which I somehow managed to get one of the prime seats. Arrived in Amsterdam this morning, to deliciously cold air and a sunny sky. By 9 o'clock or so I was home and reunited with Rupert, Zephyr and Rasha, who looked very pleased to see me. Rupert looks fantastic, and it's hard to believe he's the same cat who was wearing a nose tube and lampshade not so long ago.

India (15) - Coming home? Or not?

2010-04-21T16:55:00.009+01:00

Despite the fact that we had nothing planned today, we were all up early, fretting about the flight situation and the fact that we were likely to be stuck here for the next 10 days. As soon as 9 o'clock struck, we were back on the phone to KLM, trying about 4 numbers before we finally managed to get to speak to someone. At the end of the conversation we weren't any further along - they'd call us back later with some information (we never did hear anything back from them).

We could have had our city tour, but with minds only on the flights, we hung out in the hotel room instead, glued to BBC World and busy with our photos and blogs. Since we didn't want to venture too far whilst we were waiting for KLM's call, lunch was the hotel's buffet, a tasty and extravagant affair. Just how extravagant, we realized when we got the bill at the end!

After lunch, a surprising and very welcome call from our local agent. Apparently he'd spent the morning at the KLM offices, 40km out of the city, and managed to persuade them to put us on the list for tonight's flight. If the flight was going, we'd be on it. We began a little tentative packing, but didn't want to commit ourselves til we heard back from him. At 6 he called again - the flight was running and he'd pick us up around 9.30. To be doubly sure, we rang KLM and they confirmed.... we're on our way home.

Checked out of the airport at 9, with some amount of shock at the bill we'd manage to run up in just 24 hours - internet usage, laundering enough clothes for a 10 day extension to our trip, phone calls to KLM and of course the buffet all added up!

The airport was in total chaos. Queues of people lined up outside the terminal, trying just to get in the building. Without being able to show proof of a ticket, you weren't allowed in. So the first stop was the ticket office, to get an updated copy of our ticket. Our agent fought through the clamour of people trying to get the representative's attention, and had a long, and slightly worrying looking discussion with him. Then we were beckoned into the ticket office itself, whilst the KLM rep checked the computer. The result - nothing but our original booking. He checked the flight list - no mention of our names. Our agent shouted, the rep shouted back... the reality was, we were getting nowhere.

If I'd been on my own at that point, I think it wouldn't have been long before I'd have given up and left the airport, but our agent was made of sterner stuff, and having promised us that we'd be on the flight, was determined not to let us down. Somehow he managed to persuade the security agents to let us into the building, despite not having a ticket for the night's flight, and once inside he proceeded to do battle with every KLM representative he could lay his hands on. The net result, after an hour or so, we got our names put onto the wait list. After that, it was just a question of sitting down in a corner, and waiting until 12.30am when the main check in closed. One by one we watched other people from the list being called over, the question was, just how many free seats would there be. Eventually our agent came over and handed us the departure cards to fill in. The first moment where I really thought there was a chance we were leaving. Another 10 minutes and a lot of discussions, and we were beckoned over for check in! We'd done it, 5 minutes and a lot of typing later, and we were clutching on to boarding passes like our life depended on them.

The main hurdle over, we took our leave of our extremely diligent travel agent. Only thanks to his efforts were we able to leave just a single day behind our scheduled departure date (and yes, I do feel rather guilty about all the other people there who have already been stuck for longer), rather than being stranded for the 10 days KLM promised us.

Eventually, after getting passports, boarding passes and hand baggage tags stamped multiple times by immigration and security, we left India at 3am. A fantastic holiday, and one that fortunately wasn't as marred as it could have been by an unwanted extension.

India (14) - Bandhavgarh to Delhi

2010-04-19T21:00:00.019+01:00

Waiting, waiting and more waiting has been the theme for the last couple of days.

We finally left the resort for Amaria train station just before it got dark last night. I thought I was getting used to Indian traffic, but our first non-city ride at night proved otherwise. The cars and trucks don't have rear lights, the cycles have no lights, so as we drove along the windy roads, cyclists kept looming out of the darkness at the last moment.

Once at the station we had a wait of over an hour. A little bit tedious, but I kept myself occupied counting the trucks on all the freight trains that went by (Dad has taught me well). End result - all coal, all 58/59 trucks. Arie also gave a group of young lads a tiger slideshow on his laptop. It was obviously well received, and when the boys moved off we kept catching the word 'tiger' in their fast Hindi conversation.

Once the train arrived we had to run down the platform with our bags to try and identify our carriage. A hasty goodbye to Major, our hardworking driver of the last fortnight, and we were off. Then the challenge of trying to identify our places (all in different sections), when every section was curtained off and half the occupants were already sleeping (the train has been running for 2/3 days already, apparently).

The train was not too uncomfortable, and the air-conditioning was very welcome after we'd done without for the past couple days. But the ride was long. Awake at 6am, there were still 8 hours to go until arrival.. in the end it was another 10 hours, as we made a couple unexplained long (1hr) stops along the way.

The original plan for the afternoon was a city tour of Delhi, followed by the transfer to the airport. However, as the agent meeting us straightaway confirmed that our flight was cancelled, we asked to find a hotel first and cancel the tour. A good plan, as it started raining on the drive. This time, not the budget hotel we started out at, but a flashier place with internet and a swimming pool.

In the room we promptly got the internet working and started scanning flight options to Madrid, Rome, Athens. Lisbon and anywhere else we could think of that wouldn't be affected by volcano ash. The results weren't promising. A couple cheap options flying with Uzbekistan Airlines through Tashkent which would have still left us stranded in Athens (no good train links there), or a couple exorbitantly priced options through Dubai and Jordan. Arie managed to get on the phone with KLM only to be told that they could fit us in on the 30th April.. a 10 day wait. That pretty much dampened our spirits, so we went for dinner in the hotel (expensive, but very good) and drowned our sorrows in a couple bottles of beer (Arie, Marcel) and a double gin and tonic (for me!) before going to bed.

India (13) - Bandhavgarh to Delhi

2010-04-18T21:00:00.004+01:00

A long and rather boring day. After another hot and stuffy night, I was out wandering around the resort looking for birds to photograph by 7.30. I didn't turn up much new, although I did get a pond heron.

We had expected to be leaving the resort in the early afternoon to catch the train, but on discussion with Major mid morning it turned out that we didn't have to go until 6.30. What a waste of a day, had we known, we'd have organized another tiger safari. After yesterday's disappointing all-western dinner, we were relieved that lunch was back to the full-Indian buffet. A big improvement. Since we won't get dinner before boarding the train, which we're on for 17 hours, only arriving in Delhi early tomorrow afternoon, we were relieved to get a proper lunch. Looks like we'll be subsisting on crisps and nuts between now and then.

The afternoon, like the morning, we spent hanging around and reading the books on offer. And, of course, discussing the Iceland volcano situation. After checking the our booking on the KLM site this morning, we are none the wiser what will happen with our flight, and expect that we will be stuck in Delhi for a few days. At this point, I think we are all ready to go home...

India (12) - Bandhavgarh

2010-04-17T21:00:00.012+01:00

After a hot and muggy night, of tossing and turning and getting tangled in the mosquito nets, we were up at 5 o' clock this morning for our second safari. Leaving at 5.30, it was blissfully cool for the first couple of hours.

Varied sightings on the safari, but no tigers. We did hear the characteristic monkey alarm calls, but they didn't lead us to a tiger. Instead, a far rarer sighting, that of the sloth bear (Bahlu in Hindi, and I think Baloo in the Jungle Book). We didn't manage to get any good photos of the bear, as it was running full tilt away from us, but still it was exciting to see.

We also saw a large number of sambar deer, spotted deer, wild boar and monkeys, and stopped for quite a few birds, including a crested serpent eagle, ibis, storks and Indian rollers. The last are beautifully coloured, especially in flight.

Back at the resort, the temperature had risen sky high, so we took things easy. Walking around to photograph the many birds, including a cattle egret colony of about 30 birds, and some colourful song birds.

In the afternoon we had our second safari of the day. This began very quietly, with very little sign of any wildlife, not even birds. Finally, one of the naturalists heard an alarm call and we headed over in that direction. Before too long we came across two jeeps stopped in the road, and a tigress walking across between them. She jumped up on some rocks about 10-15 yards away from us, and proceeded to wash herself thoroughly. By the time the show was over and she'd fallen asleep, there were 20 jeeps lined up, though we undoubtedly had the best spot. Certainly a great way to finish our last tiger safari.

Back at the lodge, dinner was a huge disappointment. When the waiter lifted the lid off the chapati container, it was filled not with chapati, but slices of bread. The rest of the selection followed the theme - not a single Indian dish amongst them. This ended up being the first meal in India where I didn't eat Indian food, and I really missed it. After dinner we were shown a documentary about the park. Interesting, but I for one could hardly keep my eyes open, and was relieved when it was over and we could go to bed.

India (11) - Kajuraho to Bandavgarh

2010-04-16T21:00:00.001+01:00

An uncomfortable car ride this morning - 5 hours over some very bumpy roads. So rough, in fact, that most of the cars were driving along the sandy verge at it was easier going on the car and passengers. We finally arrived at our latest, and last, resort at the Bandagvarh Nature Reserve.

The resort is lovely and quiet - in fact, there was only one other guest present at dinner, and is situated in the middle of the forest. The accommodation is fairly basic, but more than satisfactory. The only downside is the rather unpleasant smell of kippers in our cabin, which seems to be caused by a dead bird in the water in front of the extractor fan. Turning the fan of reduced the smell, but lead to a sweltering night.

We had originally expected to spend the afternoon at the resort, as our first tiger safari wasn't booked until tomorrow. There is a limit of 45 jeeps in the main zone of the park at any one time, and as luck would have it, there was a cancellation, and we were able to fill in that place.

And lucky we certainly were, because we hadn't been driving too long before our driver suddenly accelerated and joined a group of about 8 jeeps and a couple elephants all huddled around a tiger sighting. Two cubs, of about 11 months old, sitting in the middle of the road.

When the cubs moved on, we moved further up the road to an open grassy area, and were rewarded for our wait after 10 minutes or so when first the cub's mother appeared, and then all three of her cubs followed. We had an amazing view of them playing together, and licking and rubbing against each other, just like Rupert, Rasha and Zephyr do. Truly an wonderful experience. The photos didn't turn out as well as I would have liked - the light was fading, and my shutter speed was a little slow to really catch the action.

It wasn't only jeeps watching the show, we also saw a couple elephants loaded up with photographers. Hiring an elephant for the day appeared to be very expensive, and whilst you have the advantage of being able to go offroad, the elephants did seem to get quite distracted by eating, rather than following the tigers at times.

By the time the show was over, all the jeeps had to head back to the park entrance at high speed to get there before closing time, leaving us all covered in dust. Along the way, we had another tiger sighting, this time a young adult male, the elder brother of the cubs. As he wasn't doing much other than sleeping, we didn't hang around too long.

Once back, we had just enough time to shower off all the dirt before dinner. The food is definitely the best buffet food we've had so far - all Indian food, and spicier than what we've been given in other hotels along the way.

India (10) - Kajuraho

2010-04-15T21:00:00.021+01:00

We started early this morning, as our guide for the morning was scheduled to pick us up at 7.30am. Before we came here, none of us had heard of Khajuraho, and even after spending 24 hours here, we still can't get the name straight in our heads. Having read the description in the tour guide, which described the highlight as being 'temples containing erotic sculptures', we weren't really sure what to expect.

As it turns out, far from being hidden away in the middle of nowhere as I'd expected, the temples are to be found in the middle of town, in the middle of a large and well maintained park. They were created about 1100 years ago, by the Jains, and as well as the erotic sculptures for which they are famed, they feature scenes of daily life and battle.

The temples themselves are awe-inspiring, with incredible architecture. Unfortunately, not all sculptures have survived the ravages of time and the Moghul invasion, but a remarkable number are intact, and the level of detail is amazing. Also hard to imagine that when the temples were rediscovered by the British (on yet another hunting trip), they were surrounded by jungle, not a town.

We spent a couple hours at the temples, whilst the guide showed us various sculptures of interest, and explained the architecture. After a short visit to another site with a few smaller temples, and also an active Jain temple (that we couldn't enter), we were flagging from the heat, and returned to the hotel.

We had a lazy afternoon back at the hotel, snoozing, photo editing and updating the blog. Luckily the hotel's internet connection, which had been broken when construction work cut through the cable, was restored, but it worked only long for Arie to upload one blog post, and for me to check my email. The blog backlog is therefore growing.

In the evening we went to the cultural centre to watch a folk dancing show, showing dances from a number of regions in India. My view was hampered somewhat by the ceremonial candlestick, but I managed to get a few photos nonetheless. We finished the day with dinner on a rooftop terrace, in a restaurant named 'La Terraza', 'specializing in Italian, Indian, Chinese, Japanese and Korean food'. I still haven't lost my desire to eat Indian food, and this was freshly prepared (we waited a long time!) and good.

India (9) - Orchha to Kajuraho

2010-04-14T21:00:00.001+01:00

Today our photography has rather a different focus - primarily people. We had a late start to the day, as Major wasn't coming to collect us until 9.30. We realized afterwards that we could have had a wander around Orchha village beforehand, but as it was, it was nice to have a bit of a lie-in and a relaxed breakfast.

We had 170km to travel to the town of Khajuraho, which as on previous days was split into two parts. I have to admit that when we stopped at Alipura to see 'a nice palace', I didn't feel too enthusiastic about walking around in the midday sun. As it happened, though, the palace was low-key, the main features being some paintings and the view over the village. Our guide, from the palace (which is now a hotel/restaurant) also took us around the village, where we had fun photographing the children. Getting the kids to pose was not so difficult, getting them to look natural, and not to leap in front of each other in desperate attempts to be in the picture, was!

After a short stop in the restaurant, for a small snack of pakora, samosas and french fries we continued our journey along the rapidly deteriorating road. Not only a single track road, but one so full of potholes that we were weaving all over the place. Come to think of it, we do that anyway, since Indian driving includes frequent overtaking on whichever side of the roads takes your fancy.

Despite the state of the road, we were making good progress until we hit a road closure. First a small warning wall built across the road, which we drove around, followed by a more definitive wall a kilometre or two further along. Defeated, we had to turn back and take detour.

We arrived in Khajuraho in the early afternoon and were looking forward to cooling off and relaxing a little. Major had a suggestion for us - to take a bicycle ride up to a village 5km away. Despite the heat, and the fact that after our bird sanctuary tour we'd sworn off bicycle riding for a while, we decided to go for it, and it turned out to be a good decision. This time I was luckily enough that they found me a ladies' bike, albeit one built for giants, or more likely, the Dutch. According to Bilal, our guide, all his clients are Dutch. It figures, who else would be crazy enough to go cycling in over 40 C?

The trip took us along bumpy gravel roads, with frequent stops to see the work of the local villagers - digging wells, making bricks, etc. We ended up spending quite some time touring the village, and again photographing the villagers, particularly the children, who loved seeing their images on the back of the camera screen.

Finally back at the hotel round 6pm, we wasted little time in heading for the swimming pool to cool off before doing some photo/blog work. Dinner was a big improvement over the last couple nights, having turned down the extortionate 630 rupee buffet option, in favour of the cheaper and tastier a la carte menu.

India (8) - Agra to Orchha

2010-04-13T21:00:00.019+01:00

There's been a recurring theme to the last few days, and it was repeated today - forts! Spectacular as they are, they are beginning to blend a little into one, and when we sat down at the end of today, we had a hard time remembering anything at all about the first fort of the day. Truly, we are becoming a little forted-out.

Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself. We left Agra this morning for the 240km drive down to Orchha where we'd be spending the night. The morning took us as far as Gwalior, a city named after the holy man Gwalipa. We picked up the guide for our (yes, you guessed it) fort tour at a hotel, and took advantage of the 5 minute delay to pick up the hotel's free wi-fi from the car... just long enough to download the emails, and most importantly blog comments.

Gwalior is quite a large city, and therefore yet again a driving eye-opener. The bonus traffic item this time was a train line which runs through the middle of the narrow streets. The line was originally set up by one maharaja or another to take him out to his hunting lodge, but is now heavily used by the locals. We were luckily enough to see the train coming through, an interesting experience, as all the traffic had to shuffle to one side, to let the train through. There was a level crossing, but it didn't actually cover the train tracks!

The fort itself was at the top of a 'very zigzagfully' road, and housed not only the palace, but a school and a couple temples. It was interesting enough, with the highlights being the green/yellow/blue decorations on the outside walls, and two octagonal chambers in the basements, one was the queens' (all 8 of them) 'swinging room' (and later, the hanging room, when the fort was used as a prison), and the other was the queens' bathing room.

On the way back down the hill from the fort, we stopped to take a closer look at the statues carved into the rocks. They look a little like Buddha's but are actually Jain statues. Unfortunately many of the statues had been defaced (by the moghuls, if I have it correctly), although some were restored by the British (or Britishers, as told by the guide).

Lunch was taken in the same hotel where we met the guide. The food itself was rather uninspiring, again a buffet with too much emphasis on the western, but we made good use of the wi-fi and updated our blogs whilst eating. Granny would have been horrified at our manners!

Ever since Agra or thereabouts, the roads have been plastered with advertisements for both schools and tutors. Some with some quite inventive study topics, such as the physics tutor offering lessons in 'thermodynamics and strongth of materials'. I've been surprised to see so many children, even in the poorer areas wearing immaculate (very English looking) school uniforms. Our guide this morning explained that the public schools not only offer free tuition, but also provide books, bags and uniforms to the children.

In the afternoon we continued on to Orchha along a road which was being repaired. Short stretches of fresh tarmac, alternated with rather longer stretches of bone jarring gravel. Finally arriving in Orchha we were hot and tired and ready for the hotel. Alas, Major had other plans for us, and took us up to the fort for a visit. I was quite pleased to hear that this visit would be guideless, but of course it didn't work out that way. Before we knew it we'd been accosted by a guide and availed of his services. He was keen, appeared to be knowledgeable, but was totally incomprehensible!

Having purchased our tickets, we confusingly left the fort and headed to the other side of town to visit the Laxmi temple, which was arguably more interesting than the fort itself, as it was decorated with fantastic paintings. Back again at the fort, some more paintings, and the typical meeting halls and palaces. No idea how many wives this chappy had - none of us could understand the guide.

The highlight was a walk around the top of the fort, giving a good view over the town and surrounding countryside as the sun was setting. Finally, onto our hotel, and a much needed dip in the pool, before the mosquitoes drove us out. Dinner, yet another buffet, was expensive (two/three times restaurant prices) and again a let-down, especially the rather bizarre deep-fried paneer which was served chinese style. Not a good combination!

apologies for the small number of photos - taken a whi;le to get working internet, and what we have now is painfully slow

India (7) - Agra

2010-04-12T21:00:00.027+01:00

We left our palatial residence in Bharatpur this morning, for the short ride onwards to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal. Along the way I practiced some car photography, trying to increase my collection of 'people on scooters' photos. This one is a clear winner, with the most folk we've seen on a single scooter... not only the 4 that you see, but also a baby on the mother's lap!

Halfway to Agra, we stopped to visit the palace 'Fatehpur Sikri'. We didn't know anything about the palace beforehand, and we were all impressed by the size and detail in the buildings. To reach the palace we had a choice of electric bus or tuk tuk. Eager to try another form of transport, we of course chose for the tuk tuk, quite a squash for the three of us in the back, though we've seen larger groups of people in them.

Fatehpur Sikri was build by the third Moghul emperor, to house himself, his three wives (one Hindu, one Musilim and one Christian) and his 500 odd concubines. Each of the three wives had their own palaces, which were not only different in scale but also 'different different' in architecture. Each of the palaces ornamentation contained symbols of the three religions, though confusingly, not necessarily corresponding to the wife in residence.

After we arrived in Agra, we had a brief stop at the hotel, before heading out for some lunch. After a couple days of uninspiring hotel buffet, we really enjoyed eating something with a little spice in it... not to mention the garlic naans, which have pretty much become compulsory with every restaurant meal.

In the afternoon we had guided tours of the Red Fort, and then of course the main reason to visit Agra, the Taj Mahal. After Fatehpur Sikri the red fort was a bit of a disappointment. Some interesting architecture, but the most attractive bits were behind railings and neither easy to view or photograph (especially for little people!)

On to the highlight, the Taj Mahal, which was unbelievably busy. No chance of getting a photograph of the Taj without people in it, but then we knew that before we arrived. On the plus side, the majority of the visitors were Indian, wearing traditional Indian dress, which is far more photogenic than Westerners in jeans and khakis. I also used it as an opportunity to try and focus on people photography, something I don't find particularly easy. Some were straight shots, others hip shots.

It was quickly clear that the best view of the Taj Mahal is also the one you see in every photograph. Up close, the building loses some of its charm, as the symmetry is lost. We also entered inside the mausoleum, but there wasn't much to see. My overriding impression was of the crush of sweaty people, and the smell of feet...

The guide had hoped to take us for a demonstration of marble inlaying, but we cried off on the grounds of exhaustion, and returned to the hotel to download our photos before dinner.

At the time of writing it's been exactly one week since we landed in Delhi, so we're halfway through our trip. Up until now we've managed to avoid our home 'cultures' pretty well - no Irish pubs spotted yet (surely a record!), and also no other Dutchies!

My companions' posts for the day: Arie & Marcel.

Tried to post this last night, but after an hour or so of fighting with the exorbitantly priced hotel internet (300 rupees for one hour - that's more than the price of a main course in a restaurant), we gave up. Luckily managed to pick up an internet connection along the way today...

India (6) - Bharatpur and Keoladeo National Park

2010-04-11T15:59:00.001+01:00

This morning we visited the Keoladeo nature reserve. The original schedule included a rickshaw ride, but we decided that we preferred to travel with a little more independence, all the better for photography, and rented 3 bikes. After some consideration we also hired a guide, which turned out to be a great decision, as he pointed out plenty of birds to us that we surely would have missed.

It was fun to be by bike, but definitely a challenge. Not only because of the 40 degree heat, but also because, like conference t-shirts, the bikes came in one size only - men's extra large! Fortunately I was just about able to get on and off, and pedal, though at time it was a bit precarious, particularly when I forgot about the crossbar.

This isn't the best time to visit the park as all the migratory birds have left for their next destinations. Still, there is plenty of resident wildlife, and we saw quite a broad variety, including Rhesus monkey, jackal, a couple types of owl, herons, egrets, storks and cranes. The park also has quite a python population, but we didn't see any. Or at least, i saw a snake making a speedy exit, but I've no idea if it was a python or not.

We spent about 3 hours in the park, and were totally exhausted on our return to the hotel. The first task we had was to try and upload our blog entries from yesterday, which turned out to be a challenge. This hotel is certainly the most impressive looking, and has the nicest rooms and pool, but it has two things stopping it from being the all-round favourite on the trip so far - the disappointing food (no real improvement there today, nearly everything at lunch was western food) and the lack of wi-fi. After a lot of fiddling around by one of the staff members (a continuation from about 1hr spent last night), we finally managed to achieve both internet connection on their pc, and get the usb working so that we could copy over our epic works from the laptop.

After lunch we recharged our batteries... I managed all of 13 pages of my new book before falling asleep. Later, after some photo editing, we had a refreshing swim in the pool - dusk was falling, the pool was lit, and we were kept company by bats and birds flitting around us and drinking from the pool.

Tomorrow marks the halfway point of our trip, and we'll be heading off in the morning for Agra and the Taj Mahal.

Links to my fellow travellers' posts of the day: Arie (1), Arie (2), Marcel.

India (5) - Jaipur to Bharatpur

2010-04-10T21:00:00.009+01:00

We left the hustle and bustle of Jaipur this morning, to head for Bharatpur and the nearby Koladeo national park. After the first long journey we had, this ride was a bit of a let down, as we travelled the whole way along a dual carriageway. That being said, no dual carriageway as we know them at home. The cars may have been driving 100km/h, but there were still camel carts, scooters carrying 3 or 4 people (the ladies always sitting side-saddle), and vans with people hanging off the back of them. There were also a fair few occasions where we had oncoming traffic on our side of the central reservation... all part of the course here.

Along the way we stopped at a very colourful temple. Like others we have seen, the decoration is only on the outside, with a very simple interior... the only adornments being about 80 strip lights on the ceiling. After a short stop to take photographs of the temple, and a camel which happened to be stopped too, we continued on our way.

Bharatpur is a small town, which I guess no-one would visit if it weren't for the renowned Koladeo park - apparently the best bird park in India, and formerly a favourite hunting spot of the maharajas. Our hotel is therefore a bit of a surprise. Two huge buildings, each worthy of a maharaja and all his friends. Since we had nothing planned for the afternoon, we decided to relax in our deliciously airconditioned room, did some reading and had a bit of a snooze. This is the first night where I actually have a real bed, rather than a camp-bed. Looking forward to it!

Before taking a pre-prandial swim, we took some photos of the hotel in the fading afternoon light, and the more adventurous/daft of us (ie. me), took a paddle in the ornamental water display to try and get a good reflection shot. Unfortunately, it didn't really come off, thanks to the ripples I created. After finishing with photography, we all took a dip, in the official swimming pool this time. Very refreshing after the heat of the day.

Dinner and lunch are buffet-style. The food was pleasant enough, but a little disappointing... Indian dishes, but with very little spicing, clearly dumbed-down for sensitive tourist taste buds. For most of the meal, we were the only guests in the dining room, meaning that we were the sole focus of attention for all the waiters in the vicinity. A little overwhelming. Service here is very good, but usually a little overeager.

India (4) - Jaipur

2010-04-09T19:45:00.001+01:00

After a quick, and rather uninspiring breakfast, we were picked up at 8am to visit the Amber Fort. Whilst we were in the car, our guide for the day explained to us about the elephant ride at the fort, and told us that we had to make a choice of elephant type - young and quick, middle-aged and average speed, or older and slower. Like with curry spicing in restaurants, we went for the safe bet, and chose medium! In the event, it turned out to be almost irrelevant, as the elephants follow one another up the hill to the fort, and rarely have the opportunity to overtake each other.

Each elephant can take two people, so we split up - Marcel and I on the first elephant, and Arie on the second. Of course we tried to take photos of each other, but sitting sideways, encumbered by photo backpacks and swaying around made it a challenge.

The fort itself is huge, and it took us a few hours to look around it. The guide was very informative, but a little hard to understand, so much of the information about the fort, the maharaja and his 33 wives (12 official, 21 unofficial!) passed me by.

As a bonus, we had a wildlife photography opportunity at the end - bats in the underground tunnel between the Amber and Tiger forts. With very little ambient light it was hard it was hard to focus, so the end results weren't too great (Marcel's are better).

After the fort we stopped briefly to photograph the water palace, so named because it is in the middle of a lake. There weren't too many viewpoints available, and we were quickly distracted by a young boy who wanted to show us his magic tricks - very impressively done.

The next stop was a co-operative handicrafts centre, where we were given demonstrations in block printing and carpet making. The visit really highlighted the contrast between our expectations (everything must be washing machine and tumble dryer safe) and the daily lives of those working in the factory, like the hard labour of the carpet washers below.

It also housed a large textiles shop, where I modeled a sari. Quite comfortable, though I doubt I could ever figure out how to put one on myself. After a lunch break, we visited another textiles shop (with yet another sari modeling session), where Marcel found some scarves. Something to watch out for on his blog, when he does his next model photo shoot.

We were all beginning to flag a little by this point, but our day wasn't over yet. We had a stop at the observatory, where we were shown a number of sun dials and other confusing but impressive looking astronomical and astrological implements.

Then for the almost final stop - the City Palace, with a textile museum, which was quiet interesting, though frankly the content was of less interest to us by this point than the air conditioning! Before we dropped, one final stop, this time at a jewelry shop, which we passed through as quickly as politesse allowed, before returning to the hotel.

Finished for the day, Marcel and I decided to relax with an ayurverdic massage featuring a full body massage followed by a 'let's drip hot oil on your forehead' experience. Extremely relaxing, and I nearly fell asleep. Rounded off the day with a late dinner - palak (saag) paneer, one of my favourites.

Tomorrow we're off to Bharatpur, some 4 hours drive away, where we'll visit the Keoladeo bird reserve.

Arie's posts of the day: India. Paleizen tocht in Jaipur. India. Jaipur (2)
Marcel's post of the day: Jaipur

India (3) - Ranthambhore to Jaipur

2010-04-08T18:21:00.000+01:00

After breakfast, and the obligatory comment in the visitors book, we spent a little while in the gardens of the lodge photographing the birdlife, before being picked up by our driver for the journey to Jaipur.

The journey took about 4 hours, and gave us a close up view into both Indian life, and Indian driving! The more you experience the roads, the more you see the patterns through the chaos. Roads are shared by pedestrians, cyclists, scooters and trucks as well as cattle, camels, wild boar and dogs. Oh, yes, and the occasional car. Somehow, through an intricate dance choreographed by car horns, everyone makes their way through the streets, passing within inches of each other, and rarely stopping.

Nearing Jaipur, we were taken to visit a temple, dedicated to the monkey god. Needless to say, there were monkeys everywhere. We kept ourselves busy photographing the architecture (which was grand, but had clearly seen better days), the monkeys, and also the children who were playing the pool.

Arriving in Jaipur, we were completely overwhelmed by the city, and the new scale of traffic we experienced. We tried to photograph the stalls on the side of the road, but were invariably thwarted by passing scooters and rickshaws.

After lunch in the Peacock Restaurant, we were taken to our hotel, and shown around by the rather obsequious hotel manager, who told us 'everything about the hotel, including when it was built, and when it was not'. We have an impressive room, with separate sitting area (with my roll-in bed) and a balcony.

After a sunset visit to the Tiger Fort, at the top of the hills, and near the Amber Fort which we are to visit tomorrow, we returned back to town, and had fun taking photos in the dark of the crazy Jaipur traffic.

We finished the day with dinner in the rooftop restaurant at the hotel, accompanied by folk music and dancing, performed by 4 teenagers. The (girl) dancers were impressive, the (boy) musicians, rather less so.

India (2) - Ranthambhore

2010-04-07T17:22:00.001+01:00

392 square kilometres and 38 tigers. Needless to say, we didn't manage to meet up with the tigers! We had an early start this morning, waking up at 5.30, after a warm and muggy night. For all that we didn't find any tigers, it was very refreshing to sit in the jeep in the refreshing cool breeze.

We started with photography over tea and biscuits this morning, waiting for the safari jeep to collect us. And though we didn't pick up any tiger shots, we did see plenty of wildlife on our safari, including peacocks, black faced lemurs, deer and a couple mongooses (mongeese?). Unfortunately we had to share the jeep with another 12 tourists, which made things a little awkward for photography at times.

We returned back to the hotel around 9.30 to find breakfast laid out for us - some tasty stuff, though I couldn't tell you what most of it was! It did include aloo parathas, masala omelette, the ubiquitous toast, porridge and rather bizarrely, chips. A bit of mango pickle on the side spiced things up nicely!

For the rest, a lazy morning looking at our photos and snoozing, followed by a dip in the pool before lunch.

In the afternoon, another tiger safari, with a different guide and a new set of passengers. We didn't set out with high expectations as the tigers are most active in the mornings. By this point the temperature had increased markedly compared with the morning.

As this morning, we saw plenty of lemurs and deer, but no signs of tigers. We followed the same track as the morning for the first part, and when we stopped for a small break we had an unexpected sighting of about 7 crocodiles! We'd stopped at the same point this morning, and no sign of them then. That said, they were well camoflaged, so perhaps we just missed them.

We continued up along a different trail up into the hills. Although there wasn't too much wildlife to be seen there, it was much cooler, and far more comfortable. We stopped at the top of the hill where there were a couple jeeps lined up, and then suddenly after a frenzied conversation between the drivers, all the jeeps jumped into motion. A tiger! We hung on for dear life, whilst the driver drove us up to the edge of the ravine. We looked down, and there was the tiger, sitting in the grass at the bottom of the ravine. Far away, but there!

After watching the tiger for a while we were running out of time, and had to drive fast as we could back to the hotels. It was a very bumpy ride, particularly for poor Arie who was at the back of the jeep. We had a couple brief stops for a few more lemurs and a displaying peacock, and then back for another cool off in the pool before dinner.

Tomorrow we're off to Jaipur, where we'll be having an elephant ride to the Amber fort.

India (1) - Delhi to Ranthambhore

2010-04-06T18:20:00.001+01:00

After all the stress of the last couple weeks, and the uncertainty whether Rupert would be well enough for me to travel, I was very relieved to meet up with Marcel and Arie at Schiphol yesterday morning, after staying up all night to write an assignment for my Infectious Diseases course. After stocking up on a few last minute essentials, our flight left on time, and we arrived into Delhi an hour ahead of schedule. Unfortunately, we were so early that our gate was still occupied, and we had to wait an hour before we could disembark.

Having expected to be hit by a wave of heat and noise in the airport, it was quite a relief and a surprise to find ourselves in a modern and not too busy hall. Immigration and baggage claim went fairly quickly, and we found our driver very easily. By this point it was already midnight, so we were taken straight to our hotel, through the overwhelming Delhi traffic. Our room looked over a mosque, and there was a (wedding?) party taking place in the street. Fortunately for us, we were able to appreciate the view, but weren't disturbed by any noise.

This morning brought our first Indian breakfast, a mixture of spicy snacks, and very British toast with jam. After taking a few more photos of daily life on the street below, we were collected and taken to the train station.

If we thought the roads had been busy last night, we saw a whole new scale of traffic this morning. The train ride to Sawai Madhopur took us 5 hours, with views on small villages and fields. We saw some birdlife, including about 50 white egrets, some cranes and what appeared to be a flying peacock. At our destination we were met again by our driver, who had driven the 300km down to meet us. We drove the 20 minutes to our jungle lodge, the Pug Mark, which is named, like all the other lodges we saw in the area, after the tigers which we are hoping to find.

After a relaxing couple drinks in the garden, we had our first Indian meal - paneer with peas, potatoes with green pepper and a dal makhani. We also risked the desert, a yellow liquid with strange floating bits (which turned out to be paneer also). Slightly strange, probably not to be repeated!

After enjoying the stars, time to head off to bed, as we have an early start in the morning for our first tiger safari.

Choral Evensong - 20th March 2010

2010-03-20T21:24:00.001+01:00

Introit: Turn Thy Face, Attwood
Responses: Ebdon
Office hymn: Audi benigne conditor
Psalm: 27
Canticles: Noble in B minor
Anthem: Solus ad Victimam, Leighton

When we sang the Magnificat I realised just how much more relaxing it is when I don't do the reading! I've got used to doing readings to the point that the nerves don't hit until we start to sing the Gloria of the Magnificat, at which point I can feel everything go into overdrive!

Choral Evensong - 20th February 2010

2010-02-20T21:48:00.000+01:00

Introit: Turn thy face from my sins, Attwood
Responses: Morley
Psalm 130, 131
Canticles: First Evening Service, Batten
Anthem Wash me throughly, S.S. Wesley
Antiphon In pace in idipsum, Bouzignac

About which it should be said that Morley (or the editor) clearly wasn't too fond of 2nd altos.

Choral Evensong - 6th February 2010

2010-02-06T21:43:00.000+01:00

Introit: Never weather-beaten sail, Wood
Responses: R. Seal
Office Hymn: Rebus creatis nil egens
Psalm: 6
Canticles: Gibbons First Service
Anthem: O Lord, the Maker of al thing, Joubert

Antarctica Photos - Sneak Preview

2010-01-20T19:47:00.000+01:00

So, I've got a long way to go before I make a proper selection of the best photos of the trip. But, since a number of people wanted to see something, I've made a very quick, very rough selection and put them up on my website. They're not necessarily either my favourites or the best photos from the trip, but I thought I'd share them now anyway, just to give a better idea of the different things we saw.

http://www.heron-photography.co.uk/gallery/antarctica-preview/index.html

Choral Evensong - 16th January 2010

2010-01-16T21:27:00.017+01:00

So, our first choral evensong of 2010, and my one year anniversary with the Nicholas Chorale.

As is becoming a pattern, I read one of the lessons... and managed to completely mispronounce the word "saith" about 5 times. Which wouldn't be so embarrassing if it hadn't been for the fact that I sung it any number of times when practising the anthem. I also lost my place for one heartstopping fraction of a section. Reading lessons remains ridiculously scary!

Introit: O Almighty and everlasting God, Barcrofte
Responses: Statham
Office Hymn: Hostes Herodius impie
Psalms: 8 and 20
Canticles: Sumsion in G (and I've been singing them in my head ever since!)
Anthem: From the rising of the sun, Ouseley (which has also occasionally been popping into my head to give Sumsion a break)

Upcoming travel plans

2010-01-11T20:00:00.000+01:00

One of the most important things you should do when you get back from holiday, is start planning the next trip... So, here are my travel plans so far for 2010.

At the end of March, I'm going to Bavaria with a couple friends, for a photo workshop focusing on bears, wolves and lynx.

Then I have my next big trip - to India, in search of birds, tigers and the Taj Mahal. And, of course, curry.

After that, I'm off to Canada to celebrate my Grandmother's 103rd birthday with her. Once I return, I think I'll just lay low for a little while and recover... or maybe not!

Taking the plunge

2010-01-07T21:40:00.000+01:00

Probably the craziest thing I've done in a long while was taking the plunge, and going for a dip in the ocean at Deception Island, on the Antarctica Pensinsula. There is actually a precedent for this, as parts of the beach are heated by volcanic activity. That said, it only really works if a) the tide is right, or b) you dig a pit in the sand where it's hot. Seeing as we met neither of these conditions, it was absolutely freezing.

6 of us dared to take the plunge in the end. We undressed on a patch of snow (to keep our clothes clean... in retrospect, I wonder why we bothered), and then ran done the beach and into the water, where we stayed just long enough to prove the point, before hobbling out again on our poor frozen feet.

Seen through the fisheye

2010-01-07T20:58:00.000+01:00

Arie very kindly lend me his fisheye lens for my trip. Here are some of the results.

Antarctica Trip Log

2010-01-05T23:25:00.000+01:00

For anyone interested, here are a couple links (with photos) to the trip log of Joe McDonald, one of the trip leaders:

Antarctic Landscapes

2010-01-05T23:22:00.000+01:00

Half Moon Island

Erera Channel

Neko Harbour

Looking forward to 2010

2010-01-01T13:29:00.000+01:00

So, now the question is, what do I have planned for 2010? Well, amongst other things:

Taking the RSCM Silver Award
Trying to run a half marathon, and/or trying to run a sub-30 minute 5K. Actually, from where I'm standing right now, just getting running again would be a good start!
Completing the Nijmegen Vierdaagse (4 x 40km march)
My first Level 3 Open University course, in Infectious Diseases

And, of course, somewhere within all of this, I need to fit in some travelling, to destinations as yet unknown!

Oud en Nieuw

2010-01-01T00:05:00.000+01:00

People always told me that the Dutch set off fireworks at New Year's. Until last year, when I spent my first New Year's here, I didn't really appreciate what they meant.

You see, in England, when people let off fireworks at New Year's there's maybe one or two fireworks set off somewhere in the distance, and that's it. On Bonfire Night, there are organized displays, or people set off fireworks in their garden. But the whole process is surrounded by caution, has a build up of graphic TV adverts showing what can go wrong, and, well, everyone keeps their distance.

Here, it's a totally different experience. First of all, there's the pre-New Year's build up. Everyday, a few more bangs during the day. By New Year's Eve, there's someone letting off bangs all through the day. And then at midnight. Well, the world goes crackers.

Setting off fireworks here means people standing in the middle of the street, lighting 2000 euros worth of fireworks, and standing about a foot away from them. It's loud. Like Concorde flying overhead, loud. And, it's pretty spectacular!

Looking back on 2009

2009-12-31T23:30:00.000+01:00

That 2009 would be an eventful year was already obvious in January, when Jen became the youngest ever recipient of the T. S. Eliot prize.

5 days later, I turned my own life upside down, by taking in 3 cats - Rupert, Zephyr and Rasha-Ba. The house hasn't been quite the same since.

At the start of the year I joined a new choir in Amsterdam. 12 months later, I'm still happy with my choice, though missing the contact with my friends from my old choirs in The Hague and Bowdon, neither of which I've been in touch often enough with.

I also finally got round do something I've been thinking about for a few years - starting the RSCM Voice for Life program. I'm still very proud of my little bronze medal!

With the encouragement of friends Emmy and Emily, I took up running again. I managed to clock up 124km and completed two 5K events, a 6K, a 10K and, biggest achievement of all, the 16K Damloop.

On the studying front, I kept myself more than busy (too busy, in all honesty) with two Open University courses, in Human Biology and Biological Psychology. The Human Biology course finished with an exam, the Biological Psychology course with a rather bizarre experiment involving chocolate digestive biscuits.

In terms of milestones, I was shocked to realise that 2009 marked 15 years since I left school and 10 since I graduated from university with my Masters degree. (This also rather alarmingly means almost 10 years in gainful employment. I think this means I'm supposed to be grown up now. But I'm not entirely convinced!)

It was also my first full year of house ownership, and I've traveled less this year than any other year recently. By my reckoning I made:

4 trips to the UK (London for the TS Eliot, two birthday visits, and a week long trip to York with the choir)
a trip to Slovakia, for a landscape photography course
a trip to Canada, to see family and to photograph wolves
a trip to Prague with Auntie Janet
and of course, the biggie, the trip to The Falklands, South Georgia and Antarctica, with a (very) brief stop in Argentina

Cape Petrels

2009-12-16T20:51:00.000+01:00

Accompanied by albatrosses and giant petrels, the cape petrels were to be found flying alongside the ship for most of our travels.

Back Home

2009-12-11T17:22:00.000+01:00

So, we disembarked from the boat at 8 yesterday morning, and 3 flights later, I've made it back home, where the cats are very pleased to see me! I still have plenty of photo editing work to go, but here are a few photographs that I put in our trip slideshow as a taster:

Falklands Thrush, Falkland Islands

Stone on Beach, Falkland Islands

Adelie Penguin, Antarctic Peninsula

Gentoo Penguin, Antarctic Peninsula

Chinstrap Penguin Chase, Antarctic Peninsula

King Penguin, South Georgia

Antarctica

2009-12-04T02:07:00.000+01:00

So, after a couple days trying to find a way through the pack ice, we
arrived at the Antarctic Peninsula around midday, and made our first
landing this afternoon, at a place called Brown Bluff, on the tip of the
Peninsula.

We've seen so many beautiful things today - giant icebergs, Adelie and
Gentoo penguins porpoising and cruising on icebergs, and we were blessed
with fantastic weather. My first experiences of the continent of
Antarctica have truly lived up to my expectations. Tonight we are going
to sail back around the tip of the Peninsula and down the west side, and
we hope to make two landings tomorrow, weather and ice permitting.

At sea

2009-11-22T21:25:00.001+01:00

We left the Falklands two days ago, and are due to arrive in South
Georgia sometime tomorrow. This morning we crossed the Antarctic
Convergence, and are now in Antarctic waters. The seas are relatively
calm, which is to say that everything needs to be pinned down, and that
quite a few passengers are still battling sea sickness. Still,
apparently, it could be a lot rougher!
During the last couple of days, we have had lectures on
histograms and digital exposure, Photoshop, Lightroom, sea birds in
general, and albatrosses in particular. Darrell Gulin also showed a
selection of photographs he'd taken during our stay in the Falklands
(slightly depressing, when I see all the photos I could have taken!), along with photographs he's made on previous trips
to South Georgia and the Antarctic Peninsula. Plenty to whet the
appetite!
This afternoon we had a briefing about South Georgia, particularly the
regulations in place to protect wildlife. Afterwards we all congregated
in the lounge to be vacuumed - everything that goes on shore with us,
camera bags, dry bags, rainwear, hats etc must be vacuumed to remove any
traces of seeds which we might have brought with us from the Falklands.
As expected, my bags and clothing needed an extra good vacuum because of
my tendency to photograph from ground level.

The Falklands

2009-11-21T11:46:00.000+01:00

We boarded the ship on Monday afternoon and set sail at about 6pm for the
Falkland Islands. My cabin mate and I woke up during the night to find that
our cabin door had flung itself open as the ship rocked violently from side to
side. As might be expected in such conditions, about half the passengers were
sea sick, but fortunately I wasn't one of them. Since we have a good few days
of rough sailing ahead, I plan to continue with the sea sickness tablets and
keep my fingers crossed.

We arrived in the Falklands during the night on Tuesday, and woke to find that
the ship was rocking gently, nothing like the violent side to side movements
we'd experienced previously. The pattern for the next couple of days was to be
6.30am breakfast, and zodiac landings beginning at around 8am. All in all we
made 5 landings on 4 different islands.

The first landing, on New Island, took us to a colony where we found rockhopper
penguins, black browed albatrosses and king (blue eyed) cormorants. The latter
are striking birds with blue eyes and yellow crest that looks a bit like an
outlandish eyebrow. From a photographic point of view, the colony proved a
challenge, as the lighting was quite harsh when we arrived, and the birds were
intermingled, making good composition difficult.

In the afternoon we landed on the opposite side of the island at Coffin
Harbour, where we were welcomed by the Chater family who were on hand to greet
us, and selling nature books, calendars and stamps. I took the opportunity to
buy myself a field guide. The harbour is attractive, and contains a rusty
shipwreck, perfect for some abstract work. Although there was an option to
walk to another colony, I spent the afternoon in and around the cove,
concentrating my efforts on a night heron, the stunning long tailed meadowlark
and the kelp geese.

On our second day in the Falklands we visited another settlement at West Point.
The main attraction here were another shipwreck and amongst others, caracaras,
turkey vultures, meadowlarks, tussock birds and Falklands thrush. We were also
invited up to the settlement for an impressive tea, featuring a full spread of
cakes (11 varieties), biscuits and scones. The seas were quite rough that
morning, and the zodiac trip back to ship was a great experience, made all the
more exciting by the fact that we were accompanied by dolphins!

After lunch we visited the attractively named Carcass Island, where we saw our
first gentoo penguins. I spent an hour or so on the beach with the gentoos,
before deciding that it was a little busy for my taste, and heading back to the
beach where we landed the zodiacs to see what I could find there. I kept
myself busy with an oystercatcher and some abstract shots of stones on the
beach. At this point in the trip it appears that I've already gained a
reputation for getting down and dirty, lying on my belly in the grass and on
the sand. I suspect that once we reach South Georgia I'm not going to make
myself too popular this way, as I'm most likely to end up covered in penguin
poo.

Our final day in the Falklands dawned rather foggy, and we waited anxiously for
the return of the reconnaissance party to see if a landing would be possible.
Fortunately we were given the go ahead and we all lined up on deck to travel
out to the beach at The Neck, on Saunders Island. This was to have been our
last change to see rockhopper and magellenic penguins, as well as the black
browed albatrosses, however, due to the high wind, we weren't able to go out to
these colonies. As we landed it was beginning to rain, but we continued in the
hope that the weather would improve. I spent a little time photographing the
dolphin gulls, which have a beautiful deep red bill and legs, and then headed
up to the gentoos. By this point the rain was turning into sleet, which
combined with the high wind made photography almost impossible. I took a
couple photographs of my first king penguin sighting, and then decided to call
it a day. According to the original schedule, there was still an hour until
the first scheduled zodiac back to ship, and three hours until the last zodiac
was planned. When I neared the beach, though, I saw a long line of people, and
a zodiac heading shipwards. By 10am, we were all back on ship, and the extra
time before lunch was filled with a lecture and a debrief session.

By this point in the trip, I'm beginning to settle into ship life and am
beginning to get to know people. I've already managed to pick up some tips
from people, both in the field, and back on board at the computer. That is
certainly a real advantage to travelling with a group of fellow photo
enthusiasts.

We've now set sail for South Georgia, a trip which will take about two and a
half days. During our time at sea, the tour leaders will be giving some
lectures, and we have time to do some work processing our images. The ship
also has a library on board (to which I have already donated the two books I
bought at Schiphol, and had read by the time I arrived), so there is also
reading material available.

Getting ready for the off

2009-11-16T12:11:00.002+01:00

There's a flurry of bags arriving in the lobby of the hotel, ready for loading onto the ship. I'm going to go on a tour of the Tierra del Fuego National Park before we board ship this afternoon. The tour leaders have the fun job of standing guard over all the bags until we leave!

Southern-most city in the world

2009-11-15T21:16:00.000+01:00

My bags and I have now arrived safely in Ushuaia, the southern-most city in the world. Despite having the smallest amount of luggage of the group I checked in with, I was the only one got stung for excess baggage charges. Still, at 96 pesos (about 30USD) it wasn't enough to really complain about, and the good news is that no-one questioned the weight of my camera bag.

I've met up with a number of members of the tour group now, including one of the leaders who I met on my trip to Spitsbergen, 4 or 5 years ago.

I've taken a small wander around town, enjoying the fresh air and now I've come back to the hotel to take advantage of the last little while of internet connectivity before heading off to sea tomorrow.

It's Spring in Buenos Aires

2009-11-14T17:30:00.002+01:00

25 hours after I left home yesterday, and after a two hour delay in Paris, my flight touched down in Buenos Aires, and for the first time, I put my feet on South American soil.

This is my third visit to the southern hemisphere, but the first time that the shift in seasons has been truly evident. After all, when you visit Africa, you expect it to be hot and sunny, no matter whether it's winter or summer. This time, however, I left the leaves hanging on to the trees by a mere thread, and arrived to find everything in bloom again! There may have been torrential rain in Buenos Aires yesterday, but there is no sign of that today.

So, I went for a wander around town,

... admired the flowers ...

... spotted some trains for Dad ...

... found a whole bunch of palm trees ...

... watched a tango demonstration ...

... managed to order myself an ice cream (lemon and chocolate mousse) ...

... watched the local wildlife, hard at work ...

... visited the cemetary,

and then went back to the hotel at 5.30 for a short nap, and didn't wake up until 2am.

Chilling out in Charles de Gaulle

2009-11-13T21:34:00.002+01:00

I was surprised when I arrived in Paris just how little I recognized of the airport. And then I remembered that last time I transited through here, I was met at the gate and personally escorted through across the airport, given priority through all the security controls and driven to the aircraft in a Mercedes. Ah, the joys of traveling first class.

Unfortunately, the airmile bank is now empty.

It's Christmas at Schiphol!

2009-11-13T17:00:00.002+01:00

OK, so I admit it. There have been plenty of occasions in the past when I've been a bit Scrooge like about Schiphol's Christmas decorations, primarily because they tend to appear in the middle of autumn, when I'm least expecting them, first thing on a Monday morning. Today, I was actually quite cheered by them.

Considering the ridiculously long queue at security (which I was able to bypass thanks to my trusty privium card), the departure lounge was amazingly quiet. I found myself a nice peaceful spot at the Chocolate Cafe and curled up on a (chocolate brown) sofa with a book. Yes, I admit it, my no book policy lasted only as long as it took me to get my camera bag past the eagle eye of the check in assistant (who actually hardly gave the bag a second glance).

I spotted this strange thing on the way out of the cafe. You squeeze the bulbs and get a whiff of whatever is in the jars. I think it was supposed to be a pleasurable experience, but honestly, I wasn't convinced.

Final Countdown

2009-11-13T13:52:00.000+01:00

For the last fortnight, I've been counting the days until my trip - every day a new picture.

Something warm to wear whilst I'm away

2009-11-11T22:04:00.004+01:00

I finished the scarf I started on the weekend. But as a lesson, next time I should remember that it's better to stop before you run out of yarn. I'm quite pleased with the two tone effect, but it's a shame about the slightly holey bits, especially the scruffy end where I tried to rectify my running out of yarn mistake.

Choral Evensong - 7th November 2009

2009-11-07T22:13:00.001+01:00

My last choral evensong before the holiday - when I return it will be time for Christmas music! It was nice to have mum in the congregation, perfectly visible from afar in her bright pink coat.

Introit: Come my way, my truth, my life Harris
Responses: Nardone
Office Hymn: Lucis Creator
Psalm: 138
Canticles: Moore 3rd service
Anthem: Expectans expectavi, Wood

Cables

2009-11-06T11:30:00.003+01:00

Mum has come to visit for the weekend, and one of our first jobs this afternoon, as part of Antarctic preparation was to visit the knitting shop to buy yarn for my Antarctic project (Boogie Vest). Of course, we couldn't leave the shop without Mum picking up something too - the makings of a couple scarves.

On the train up to Amsterdam for choir practice we took out the needles and the trusty instruction book, and learnt how to make cables, which fortunately turned out to be easier than I had anticipated. Along the way, Mum picked up a mistake I was making, which also explained the odd effects I'd noticed in my practice pieces the last couple nights. It just goes to show that if you haven't done something in a while, it's maybe good to double check the instructions again!

How to dress for the Antarctic

2009-11-03T20:58:00.003+01:00

just add thermal underwear and sunglasses!

Knitting is fun...

2009-11-02T20:41:00.005+01:00

... especially if you're a kitten.

Way back when, round about this time of year, Jen, Dad and I took a trip up to Churchill, Manitoba to see the polar bears. We travelled from Toronto - spending 3 days on the train. On the way, Jen taught me how to knit, patiently putting down her own knitting (a hat for Dad) every time I dropped a stitch. My plan had been to make a scarf to wear whilst we were in Churchill, but I didn't actually manage to finish it until we were back in Winnipeg.

Anyhow, after that I started a sweater, and actually made some decent progress with it, until a certain point when I got confused, put it to one side in the hope that someone could tell me how to fix it, and forgot about it.

Now that I'm about to head off to Antarctica, I'm contemplating having a go at a new knitting project. Nothing too complicated (famous last words) but something to get my teeth into on the "at sea" (and hopefully not seasick) days. First of all, though, I thought I should take out the knitting needles again and see if I could actually remember how.

After a few false starts, I finally managed to cast on, only to discover that Rasha had chewed the yarn right through. Another attempt, and I manage to create a few rows of stockinette stitch, before giving it to Rasha to kill.

Moi aussi!

2009-10-29T23:27:00.002+01:00

Miaowez vous francais?

2009-10-29T22:58:00.002+01:00

New bad habits

2009-10-29T20:38:00.004+01:00

The good news is that the new "Rupert-proof" bin is proving to be a success. After 5 days, I haven't yet found it upturned, or the floor scattered with rubbish. Frustrated in his bin-raiding habits, though, Rupert does seem to be taking out his frustrations by raiding the cupboard shelves for chocolate biscuits, stock cubes, baking powder and anything else that looks like it might make a mess! Now let's hope that he doesn't teach the kittens how to use the pedal...

He's long expressed an interest in the fridge, and unfortunately this week he's also discovered that it's actually not as a big a leap as he'd thought. The net result - if I don't watch out, he jumps in the fridge like a flash when I open it! (See how in the short time it took me to take the photo, the little rascal had already jumped in and tried to make off with the end of a piece of cheese?)

If you've got 'em, flaunt 'em

2009-10-26T21:49:00.006+01:00

Back in May 2007, Jen, Janet and I spent a few days horseriding in Ashcroft. Looking through my Lightroom catalogue, I just happened upon the photos, and noticed that I had something of a cowboy boot obsession going on.

Choral Evensong - The Hague and Haarlem - 25th October 2009

2009-10-25T19:48:00.005+01:00

I'm just home from a joint choral evensong in The Hague, sung by the choirs of The Hague and Haarlem. Although I'm not technically a member of either choir, I have associations with both, so I also had the opportunity to join them for the service.

For me it was quite a nostalgic service. Not only to be singing back in The Hague, where I was a member of the choir for 3 years, but also in the choice of music, since the responses, anthem and canticles were all pieces which I learnt in my first summer with Bowdon Choir, and are firmly entrenched in my memories of my first cathedral trips with the choir.

Introit: God be in my head, Nicholson
Responses: Ayleward
Psalm: 34, Lloyd
Canticles: Purcell in G minor
Anthem: Hail Gladdening Light, Wood

VNF West - Foto van de maand

2009-10-13T22:30:00.000+01:00

This evening's meeting had the theme "vreemd gaan", which covered everything that was abstract, experimental, non-nature or just a little crazy.

I took along some photos from my trip to Slovakia in May, and managed to find something to fit each one of those categories.

I was very pleased at how well the photos were received, and even more pleased by the fact that one of them (the first "Just plain crazy" shot) was voted photo of the month.

Abstract - Hrebienok Waterfall (see here, and here)

Just plain crazy!

Not Nature - Spiš Hrad

Experimental - HDR

The next challenge is to find something to enter for the annual competition in December.

Choral Evensong - 3 October 2009

2009-10-03T20:00:00.001+01:00

Introit: O Lord, the Maker of all Thing, Mundy
Reponses: Radcliffe
Office Hymn: Lucis Creator
Psalm 143
Canticles: Gibbons short service
Anthem: O Thou, the central orb, Wood

Dwarf Courgettes and Stunted Sweetcorn

2009-09-30T20:11:00.005+01:00

Looks quite promising from the outside

but rather disappointing on the inside

Courgettes were looking very good to start with, but never grew very large, and most of them rotted.

Dam tot Damloop by night

2009-09-19T23:59:00.010+01:00

When I arrived in Amsterdam this afternoon for Choral Evensong, I somehow expected to already see signs of the evening's run. Actually, everything looked remarkably normal, aside from the big signs, which had been there last night, warning of the event.

By the time evensong was over, though, it was a different story. The whole station area was filled with people wearing matching Dam tot Dam t-shirts (a prerequisite for running this evening), and there were umpteen trucks, ready and waiting to take our clothes to the end point in Zaandam.

I'd been wondering how I was going to fill the time between the end of the service, round 6pm, and my start time, of 7.45pm. As it happened, a member of our sister choir, the Capella Nicolai, who I've known for sometime on Facebook, but never met in the flesh, was also running, so we met up and hung around together, and then found my other running friend Emmy.

Organizing such an event, with 25,000 participants, must have been quite a challenge. The first runners set off at 6pm, and by the time we started, nearly 2 hours later, many of the runners had already reached the Finish, 16km away. We were organized into starting groups of 2000 runners, according to our predicted finish times, and herded into starting pens. Josie and Emmy were starting in the group before me, so we split up, and hoped we would be able to find each other again in Zaandam at the other end. Finally, 10 minutes after the official start time my group was lead to the starting line by a marching band, we hung around another minute or two watching the clock, and then we were off!

Shortly after the start we entered the IJTunnel, a 1682m tunnel under the river IJ. When we entered the tunnel, to the sound of drum bands, it was still daylight, by the time I exited, it was already dark. The first stretch of the race was along the highway and was rather dull. After a few kilometres, though, the route veered off through a succession of small villages, the streets lined with people and lit with candles and torches. In addition to the official drink stations, many of the children along the route were also offering beakers of water, and holding out their hands to us as we passed.

Having woken up with the beginnings of a cold this morning, I wasn't sure if I should run or not. Of course, pride won out, and I was determined to at least attempt the run, even if I didn't manage to complete the course, or come in within the time limit. All in all, then, it wasn't really surprising that after the first couple kilometres I could feel my lungs tightening up. Despite the fact that I ran the rest of the race with frequent Ventolin stops, and an eye on the location of each First Aider, I managed to continue, but never truly believed that I was going to complete the race. After all, even on a good day, I knew that the time limit was going to be tight for me. At 10km I checked the clock, and realised that if I just kept going at that pace I should be able to make it. Coming up to the 13km I spotted the dreaded car with the clock on its roof and swore at it. I was sure at that point that I was still inside the limit, but that dratted car just kept pacing me, and I was sure it was going to pull me out of the race nonetheless. Finally, it pulled off the road and lay in wait for the unlucky runners behind me.

With only a few kilometres to go, Zaandam was almost in sight. As I slowed to a walk for another hit of Ventolin, I realized that the only way that I was going to keep going was to keep on running, as my left knee buckled beneath me. Two policemen came up beside me on bicycles and observed my rather unimpressive wheezing, limping figure. "Are you going to make it?" they asked. "You bet" I gasped, and they pedaled off into the distance.

Finally we entered the town, with an unpleasant uphill section, and then through the shopping streets of Zaandam, still lined with crowds despite the late hour. On and on I plodded, each time I rounded a corner expecting to see the finish line ahead of me. Thanks to the big sign reminding us of the cameras, I remembered to look up and wave before putting my head down for the last section. Eventually, I crossed the finish line, at 2:02, 2 minutes over the official limit. After collecting my medal, book and drink, I limped up the road, and found Emmy waiting for me.

Race over, the only thing that remained was to find our bags, and then get ourselves to the train station. This turned out to be a less easy task than we expected, and in the end, I think we covered about another 5km walking round in circles. Eventually, at 11.30 we arrived at a very crowded Zaandam station, and looking at the queues for the ticket machines, were quite smug with our forward planning at having bought our train tickets home earlier. Alas, when we pulled the tickets out the pockets of our running trousers, we realised that after being subjected to 2 hours worth of sweat, the tickets were worthless.

Choral Evensong - 19 September 2009

2009-09-19T19:57:00.000+01:00

Notable for being the first time that I have done one of the readings. Scary stuff, my knees were knocking together... but the reading, and the rest of the service went well.

Introit: View me Lord, Lloyd
Preces and Responses: Ayleward
Office Hymn: Lucis Creator
Psalm 119, v v 17-32
Canticles: Batten 1st verse service
Anthem: My soul, there is a country, Parry

Prinsjesdag

2009-09-15T19:51:00.005+01:00

I took a long lunch break today and visited the centre of The Hague with two colleagues, Arie and Marcel. The occasion was Prinsjesdag - the opening of the new season of the Dutch parliament.

Along with numerous others, we waited along the side of the street for the procession to come through, with the high point being the Royal Family in their golden carriage. Thanks to all the crowds, though, photography was a challenge (particularly for someone of my stature), so not many procession photos for me.

During the wait we had a fine time observing the members of the Navy, as they were given dextrose tablets to keep them on their feet (we still saw a couple who had to be replaced as the standing became too much for them) and had their caps and jackets straightened by their superiors.

Rotterdam Halve Marathon - 10K

2009-09-13T23:00:00.000+01:00

As warm up for next week's 16K Damloop, Emmy and I decided to run the 10K in Rotterdam today. Joined by fellow runner, Emily, and photographer/pack carrier/cook for the day, Loek, we braved the cold, drizzle and wind as we ran along the Maas river and back.

Emmy and Emily both finished under an hour. My attempt was rather less convincing, at 1:10 being 4 minutes slower than my previous 10K a year ago (and 32nd from last!). I was left feeling that the 16K ought to be possible, but it certainly isn't going to be very comfortable, especially if the blisters I now have don't heal before Saturday.

After the race, it was back to Loek and Emily's for a fantastic 6-course dinner, and some relaxation in front of a real live television (hey, it has novelty value for me, if for no-one else!) with their cats.

Choral Evensong - 5th September 2009

2009-09-05T20:23:00.000+01:00

The first service with our new organ scholar!

Introit: How beautiful are the feet, Stainer
Responses: Sumsion
Office Hymn: Lucis Creator
Psalm: 19
Canticles: Sumsion in A
Anthem: The Lord is my shephard, S.S. Wesley

Fish Pie and Vogeltjes

2009-09-04T23:00:00.002+01:00

Tonight I visited a choir friend in Amsterdam to photograph his very colourful tropical birds. After my photography session, he fed me a lovely fish pie and chocolate mousse, before I headed off to choir practice.

But I forgot...

2009-08-31T21:00:00.000+01:00

... to mention the most exciting thing about my training run last night. I saw an owl and a bat along the way! Also a police dog being trained.

Training

2009-08-30T21:54:00.003+01:00

It's only 3 weeks now until the 16K run from Amsterdam to Zaandam, and I must admit that I'm feeling a little dubious whether I'm going to make it. After a month with no running, thanks to travelling and general exhaustion, I've managed to get going again, but my pace has pretty much ground to a halt.

Despite legs which felt like lead from the very first step this evening, though, I did manage to go out for an 11K run - auspicious for two reasons - the first, this is the longest distance I have ever run (by 1 km!) . Ever, in my whole life, that is. The second, is that thanks to the embarrassingly low speed I managed to sustain, it took me the grand total of 1h 30 mins. Which is a full 25 minutes longer than I have ever run before. Unfortunately, if I don't manage to speed up at least a little bit before the Damloop, they will pull me off the course before I ever manage to complete the 16km.

Shelves

2009-08-30T18:42:00.004+01:00

Almost a year to the day since I moved into the house, and I finally got round to putting up some shelves in the attic this weekend. The biggest challenge was getting the shelves home from the Gamma - not to be recommended without a car, on a hot sunny afternoon. For the rest, the job went smoothly, apart from some difficulties with a small bulge in the wall, right where I wanted to screw in the bottom of one of the rails. After a couple calls to Dad for reassurance, it all worked out in the end.

Choral Evensong - 30th August 2009

2009-08-30T17:00:00.001+01:00

Back with many of my ECS friends today, this time supplying an extra voice for Choral Evensong at the Anglican church in Haarlem. It was also a second chance for me to sing the alto solo in the Daniel Purcell Mag & Nunc, which I'm glad to say went better than my previous attempt at York.

Introit: Alleluia, Boyce
Reponses: Tomkins
Psalm: 15
Canticles: Daniel Purcell in E minor
Anthem: Ave Maria, Parsons

Playing with Lightroom

2009-08-25T18:00:00.002+01:00

I've had a little fun playing with the adjustments brush in Lightroom (when I should have been writing an essay about aphasias, but never mind).

Choral Evensong - 23rd August 2009 - Bavokerk

2009-08-23T22:00:00.004+01:00

Together with members of the Anglican Singers, we sang evensong today at the Bavokerk in Haarlem. I've only sung there once before, in June 2007, on the day I arrived back home from a visit to Canada and the USA, and the jetlag meant that I didn't really take much in.

This time I was equipped with camera and tripod, and managed to find a bit of time between the rehearsal and the service to take some photos of the church.

Introit: Give almes of thy goods, Tye
Responses: Rose
Psalms: 114 & 115
Canticles: Noble in B minor
Anthem: And I saw a new heaven, Bainton
Anthem: Litany to the Holy Spirit, Hurford

Choral Evensong - 22nd August 2009

2009-08-22T19:00:00.001+01:00

Less than a week back from York, and I have yet another busy weekend singing. Today was our first service of the new season at the Nicolaaskerk, and tomorrow I'm singing again with the ECS in the Bavokerk in Haarlem.

Introit: O for a closer walk with God, Stanford
Responses: Oxley
Office Hymn: Lucis Creator
Psalm: 27
Canticles: Wood in Eb, number 2
Anthem: Evening Hymn, Balfour Gardiner

Vegetable Madness

2009-08-18T20:25:00.006+01:00

During my week in York, my vegetables have been growing wild. I came back to find that the rucola and the courgettes were practically taking over the garden. The fennel is growing onwards and upwards (I should really admit defeat and pull it up now) and the new beans I planted are taking off.

Even the corn looks like it's progressing, despite the fact that checking in my vegetable growing bible (Carol Klein's Grow your own veg), I discovered that really corn should be planted in a square of at least 4 x 4 plants (not the paltry two survivors that I have) if they are going to successfully fruit. Ah, well, we'll see.

Reading on, I have also discovered how to sex the courgette flowers. Not a subject I had previously given much though, but it turns out to be ridiculously easy - flowers with a courgette on the end are female (photo on left), the others are male (photo on right).

Finally, because I know Arie has been waiting for it all week, here is my first ever carrot! Perhaps I could have left it in the ground a little longer, but despite (or perhaps because of) it's small size, it was very tasty indeed! I think I'll wait a little while longer before I pull up the other two.

The grapes are also progressing nicely, by the way.

Choral Evensong - 16th August 2009, York Minster

2009-08-16T20:25:00.002+01:00

Always with choir trips, it's time for the last evensong before you know it. As ever, the crowds were busy photographing us the whole way through the rehearsal, and Martin even had the dubious honour of having his photo taken with a group of Japanese tourists. About 10 times.

After the service we packed everything and thought about going home. Which is to say, most of us reconvened in the pub for a well earned drink. I decided to delay my travel home, and stayed on for dinner, before finally catching a train at 9pm.

Responses: Rose
Psalm: 100
Canticles: Brewer in D
Anthem: Let saints on earth, Caesar.

Choral Mattins - 16th August 2009, York Minster

2009-08-16T12:00:00.003+01:00

After the Eucharist we had just about enough time to have a cup of coffee in the Chapter House with the members of the congregation before putting our surplices back on, adding our hoods, which we'd left in the North Aisle earlier, and processing into the quire for Mattins.

Before lunch, we took the traditional choir photo on the steps of the Minster. Not an easy task, given the number of tourists who wanted to either be in the picture, or photograph us also.

Responses: Rose
Venite
Psalm: 106 v.1-10
Canticles: Stanford in Bb
Anthem: Hear my Prayer, Batten

Choral Eucharist - 16th August 2009, York Minster

2009-08-16T11:00:00.002+01:00

Before you know it, it's Sunday and the week is almost over. With 3 services, Sundays in cathedrals are always exhausting, particularly as the only good advice to follow in the Eucharist is "expect the unexpected", what with fancy processions and the like. The music, thankfully, was familiar, and the service went well, despite some inventive routes taken as we recessed.

Mass: The prince of peace, Lloyd Webber
Motet: I give to you a new commandment, Nardone

Choral Evensong - 15th August 2009 - York Minster

2009-08-15T20:24:00.004+01:00

The penultimate day of any choir trip can be considered as the day before the madness begins. Sunday is always a busy day, with two or three services, not to mention the fact that you have to pack up and leave.

At today's service I had my own loyal fan club present - Mum and Auntie Jane, who took the opportunity to explore the Treasurer's House during the day, whilst Dad and Uncle Tim took themselves off to look at trains (off course!).

After the service, the Dean hosted a drink in the Chapter House for us, as a thank you for singing during the last week. We were very pleased to be encouraged to come to the Minster and sing again in the future. Always a good sign! We also had the opportunity to listen to a little (very little, as we were leaving) bit of an organ recital by Dr. Francis Jackson, yet another well known York ex-chorister & organist, who is now in his nineties (and looking pretty sprightly when we saw him coming to rehearse the other day).

Responses: Grayston Ives
Psalm: 132
Canticles: Daniel Purcell in E minor
Anthem: Ave Maria, Parsons

Oh yes, and I sang one of the solo parts in the Danny Purcell. I made a bit of a crap job of it though, thanks to nerves and a bunch of frogs having a party in my throat (this last I blame on the copious quantities of incense which were being wafted around).

Choral Evensong - 14th August 2009 - York Minster

2009-08-14T20:23:00.003+01:00

Finally the day we'd all been dreading- the day we sang the Mendelssohn canticles, a mammoth effort, with the Magnificat alone lasting approximately 10 minutes. What more can I saw? After a heavy day rehearsing, we got there in the end.

During the lunch break we were given a tour of the Minster, focusing on the architectural styles (early English, decorated and perpendicular) and events in the Minster's history (primarily fires). The story of Jonathan Martin, who, not content with writing nasty letters to the organ (really truly, he called it a foul beast, or some such), set fire to the place in 1829, was particularly interesting.

In the evening we had a choir dinner at the Italian restaurant Ask, which is situated in a very impressive, large hall, perfect for a group of our size.

Responses: Tomkins
Psalm:73
Canticles: Mendelssohn
Anthem: Save us O Lord, Bairstow

Sir Edward Bairstow, by the way, is another famous face to be found in the camera cantorum. He succeeded our friend, T. Tertius Noble as organist there in 1913 and remained until his death.

Day Off - Holy Trinity Church

2009-08-13T21:23:00.000+01:00

The church dates from the 13th century, although the box pews were added in the Victorian era.

Day Off - York Minster

2009-08-13T21:17:00.000+01:00

Despite being our day off, I was back at the Minster this morning, albeit later than normal, to take some photographs. More will follow later on my website.

Choral Evensong - 12th August 2009, York Minster

2009-08-12T20:23:00.002+01:00

We had a hard day rehearsing today, with a focus on the music for Friday and Saturday, as well as today. I think everyone is looking forward to the day off tomorrow. After today's service we are halfway through the week, in terms of singing days, but have still only sung 3 out of 8 services. The busiest days are yet to come.

Today's canticles were by T. Tertius Noble (the first "t" stands rather prosaically for Thomas), previously an organist at the Minster. The clock in the camera cantorum was donated by his son, in his memory.

Responses: Tomkins
Psalms: 66, 67
Canticles: Noble in B minor
Anthem: And I saw a new heaven, Bainton

Choral Evensong - 11th August 2009, York Minster

2009-08-11T20:29:00.004+01:00

The camera cantorum, where we are practicing is adorned with numerous photographs and portraits of distinguished York personae, most of whose names are familiar, and some of whose music we have sung in the past, or will be singing this week.

3 (of 4) generations of Camidges, all organists at the Minster. Matthew, the one on the right, wrote some psalm chants that are still used today.

Yet again, we had a good congregation, even larger than yesterday's.

Responses: Grayston Ives
Psalms: 59, 60, 61
Canticles: Sumsion in A
Anthem: The Lord hath been mindful, S S Wesley

Choral Evensong - 10th August 2009, York Minster

2009-08-10T20:23:00.001+01:00

Monday morning visits to Manchester Airport are more or less business as usual in my life, but this morning's was a bit different. Instead of heading off to Terminal 3 to take a Fokker 50 over to Rotterdam, Dad dropped me at the station to catch a train up to York for a week's singing at York Minster with the ECS.

This is my fourth ECS cathedral visit, and having vowed each year that I would work for an RSCM medal before the next trip, finally I've managed to achieve it. The six of us that took the exams in June wore our medals on a cathedral trip for the first time today.

Generally, congregations at a weekday evensong, even in the big cathedrals, can be quite small (think less than 10). Whilst I expected York to be an exception to this rule, I was amazed when we entered the quire to realize that there were upwards of 100 people listening to us. As if the large numbers weren't enough to give us nerves, the fact that Andrew Carter, the composer of this evening's anthem had made a special effort to come and listen to us, certainly did the trick.

* Responses: Nardone
* Psalms: 54, 55
* Canticles: Wood in E flat (number 1)
* Anthem: God is Love, Carter

Choral Evensong - 9th August 2009

2009-08-09T12:57:00.000+01:00

For the first year since 1996 when I joined the choir in Bowdon, I'm not going on choir camp with them. Tomorrow, they head off down to Wells for the week, and I will be heading east to York, where I'm going to be singing with the ECS. I did, however, join them for evensong tonight.

Introit: Jubilate, Britten
Responses: Sanders
Psalms: 53 (Walmisley) and 54 (Martin)
Canticles: Ireland in F
Anthem: Morley

As a memory exercise, I tried to recall the trips I have been on with the choir. I think it is as follows: Norwich (1997), Wells (1998), Ely (1999), Windsor (2000), Beverley (2001), Beverley (2002), Bath Abbey (2003), Lincoln (2004), Salisbury (2005), Wells (2006), Durham (2007), Winchester (2008).