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...

Almost last chapter... In which our Go Stargazing team watch Astonishing Aurora Borealis seen from the deck of the Astonishing Borealis!!!

The weather brightened considerably and the snowy peaks lining our sail down the fjiords looked glorious and sparkly in the sunshine against a (mainly) blue sky back drop. More awesome scenary.... the Go Stargazing team wrapt up their lectures ... only searching for the illusive Northern Lights remained. The tension from the night before dissolved in the sunshine the forecast for Aurora borealis was looking fairly positive - it was the captains farewell cocktsil party so everyone had their gladrags on.. We ate dinner and sky remained clear so we headed back to our room and donned as many layers as we could move in and proceeded to deck 10 in anticipation of stars and northern lights..... it did not dissappiont - just we got there as the bridge announced that the lights could be seen on the starboard side of the ship. It was stunning. Slowly the intensity built. The auroral green became brighter and bigger areas appe...

Istanbul

We had a really excellent day exploring Istanbul. It's over 25 years since I went to Istanbul on a long weekend trip with somebody that I thought was my friend at the time. But with with hindsight.... Well that's another unimportant story for another time... All that time ago I did have a brilliant time and loved the city. I loved the mix of east meets west - It left me intending to return sooner than later so I was really looking forward to revisiting. I was a bit unsure about how Dr Fred would take to the place because it is enormous, it's bustling, it's noisy, it's smelly. There are lots of exciting backstreets and of course there are a lot of tourists - And I was determined to visit the Grand Bazaar... Istanbul didn't disappoint - but I have to say it was a very different city to how it had been all those years ago. It seemed even bigger, and was definitely more full of visitors. I had started with a plan that packed the ...

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