65 Metres above Ground...

Second post today... the rock posts are just interludes..

FINALLY!!! More kangaroos.... there loads more but it was too dark to photograph them....

We camped in a site at Windy Harbour and it sure was aptly named... serious gales confined us to quarters.. we did a short walk on the beach but I had a dreadful headache so Dr Fred went off to explore the headland on his own... the rock here was very different to the granite we had become used to. It was more fossilised sand dunes quite crumbly and eroded into fantastic shapes and patterns.

As a campsite Windy Harbour did the job but it wasnt the best.. but for one night it was ok.. in the morning we got up and the weather was loads calmer and there were no kangaroos to be seen!!! We drove to the headland where Fred had walked the day before - the rocks were pretty amazing .. there had obviously been a huge cave made out of the fossilized rock which was everywhere and it had partially collapsed making a huge window or bridge affair vet spectacular especially as it was this really interesting lumpy crystal type of rock.

we had a walk around the rest of the headland... again fantastic views across the ocean - beautiful colours but no sign of any dolphins or whales.

We set off back toward Pemberton but on the way we decided to stop and have a look at Mount Chudalup - another masive lump of rock. We had chatted with a woman who said it was a nice walk through the forest before you had to make any effort to climb the actual rock... so we had a wander and it was very pleasant - there was no-one else there which was nice and eventually we got to the rock and it didnt look too hard so in the end we both climbed to the top and it was a fabulous 360 view

- forest more forest and forest....

Next adventure was to set off to find the 'big tree'. We had heard about this tree from a couple of friends who said it was a crazy experience - so we thought we should go look... we were surprised how busy it was- but mainly spectators... no actual takers for climbing the tree... the tree was amazing.... scary but amazing - its called the Dave Evans Bicentienal tree.

Basically its a tree with steel rungs driven in extremely securely to make a spiral ladder around the trunk. There is a bit of flimsy wire at the sides but absolutley nothing below... and if you have

the nerve (and skill to be fair) you can climb up using these stakes - its completely mad. But of course - a

challenge - and one Fred rose to - he practically ran up

- well he was obviously being quite cautious but he got into his stride and 65 metres later he was at the very top of this ginormous tree.

photos are great but I have to say my heart was in my mouth watching him climb it - he did make it look very easy and he did say it wasnt hard but a bit nerveracking.. coming down was much harder... I climbed the first 4 rungs and that was more than enough!! (But this picture of me shows how the rungs were to the tree.. )

Alesund

Our final destination stop was Alesund. This is a very pretty town in southern Norway built on a peninsula. All the houses are painted pretty colours and a lot of the architecture is all very Art Nouveau based. This is because the town itself was completely burnt to the ground In 1904 by a fire for which they never found the original cause. The whole town had to be rebuilt and this became a huge National Effort and a lot of prominent and up and coming architects flocked to the town to stick there 20 pence in. Consequently the town is very heavily Art Nouveau which was very fashionable at the time. There is this wonderful Museum just off the harbour which is a very beautiful Art Nouveau house. It has amazing panelling, doors, wallpaper, and it's all furnished with beautiful art Nouveau Furniture. It also house a collection of of enameled Art Nouveau Trinkets,boxes, spoons, jewellery, very very beautiful. There is an interesting collection of old books and paintings a...

Isle of Bute

Another Landmark Trust tick - this time Ascog House on the Isle of Bute - stunning as always... a very comfortable warm accommodation for the usual 8 suspects. This time we had a wee tower house for Dr Fred and myself - a lovely bedroom up the stairs with a big window and a bathroom al to ourselves - having said that all the other bedrooms in the big house were large and serviced by two bathrooms so there was no hardship for any visitors! The grounds of the house were very extensive with ponds and secret passages - hidden paths and we even spotted a deer late afternoon - there were lots of old features - ornate staircases and a lovely hidden door which I did a quick sketch of. Bute provided quite a lot of entertainment as well - the weather was kind and we did a a muddy wander down the south of the Island taking in St Blanes Monastery and Kilcannon Bay. The views were spectacular and it was fabulous to be out in the fresh (and it was fresh on the tops) air and we...

The Blue Dot

Excellent evening spent at the first Blue Dot festival held at Jodrell Bank. Clever use of the radio telescope as back drop for the main stage... there were some major teething issues which hopefully will addressed if this event happens again - mainly access and parking.. it was a nightmare approach to the festival and fortunately as we were only doing one night we decided to ditch the car and chose to walk the last mile and half into the site... what a relief as if we had queued we would most certainly missed Public Service Broadcasting which was one of the reasons we were going.. anyway we caught them and then enjoyed fantastic set by Underworld - danced much of the night away in the rain - my trusty solfest poncho almost kept me dry.. it was a splendid evening and the telescope looked brilliant when lit up when it got dark. There was a rather fab "installation" called a luminarium, lack of site information - another hiccup meant we were really lucky to catch it just ...

Planet Ruby Starrs

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