Theres Another Sand Dune in the Van.

6633 kilometres... 4121.5 miles... Its been a fabulous trip... amazing places, dark skies, fabulous wildlife, some catching up with old friends, new friends made...lots of stories to tell and memories to mull over.

I won't miss the constant refrain 'theres another sand dune in the van' as Dr Fred once again sweeps the floor of the van...

Or the sand in the bed ... but its all worth it for the sunshine - long white beaches - dark red earth - and pure blues skies...

I have loved the different colours and and landscapes we have encountered.. as always our trip takes in a lot of rock but this has been incredibly varied and on a completely different scale to what we see in the UK.

The echidnas continued to be elusive but we had some wonderful moments observing the local native wildlife... only picture I got of echidna ... stuffed in visitors centre!

Its been uplifting to have the stunning light and warmth from day one.. even when we stepped out of the airport, Mars, venus and the moon in perfect alignment sitting there to welcome us - the moon upside down just to remind us we are in another hemisphere...

After the last two years this sense of rejuvenation is incredibly welcome and we are lucky to have been able to scratch the travel itch!

The van itself was pretty much what we expected -basic - but it delivered what we needed - an easy, safe, dry (mostly), place to sleep - we have lived outside almost exclusively... dusty, dirty, sandy... our hygiene standards have eroded somewhat🤣🤣🤣 -I have always maintained a thorough strip wash suffices but really nothing beats a long hot shower or dare I suggest it a bath!!

We have no idea how long we travelled with the giant spider 'pet' - or how it may have lurked about in the night - clambering with its then intact long legs around the van.. it doesnt bare thinking about... we were sorry to have maimed it upon capture but it shouldn t have resisted..

South of Perth has a fabulous coast line. Lots of sleepy towns and good swimming spots - often in places the sea was too wild for me to be confident but Greens pool, Peaceful Bay and Bremmer headland were all nice calm seas and lovely to swim in. Nothing beats the snorkeling on the Ningaloo Reef in the indian ocean though.

There was a lot of mountain, rock, crag climbing.. lots of granite domes and boulders... cliffs to conquer and a fair amount of bush walking.. it was hot - and I know it will be hard to imagine the extent of the heat in a few weeks!

We were made so welcome in Kalbarri and the crayfish feast and party for Dr Freds birthday were fantastic.

The Eclipse was the icing on the cake... we had a fabulous week in Exmouth..

We spent the last couple of days in Perth with friends. We visited the Western Australian Art Gallery and were wowed by the year 12 art exhibition... so much talent and quite a lot of politics.. joyous to look at.

The rest of the gallery was ok but the Japanese artist Yoshitoma Nara wasn't really my thing...

and while I loved the lift

the exhibition Yeahnahnesia was interesting - strange - but not particulary appealing to me.

I'm going to post thisas phone keeps crashing more highlight another day ...

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...

Autumnal Garden Days

I love these (rare) warm sunny late summer days and there is all sorts of lovely things going on in my garden... I counted 12 red admiral butterflies whizzing around the over grown ivy which I had been about to hack down but then left until the flutterbies have finished with it... The late blooms add a dash of colour and the daisy strewn lawn is littered with autumnal leaves, debris from my brief half an hour of slash and burn and the stone wall is covered in glorious soft moss all shiny and tactile with a few late nasturtiums loitering. I've hacked out the brambles for this year, sadly I missed the fruit as we were away, ditto the strawberries, we never seem to get the fruit before the birds so I've made space and moved the plants that were getting swamped and so not performing to their potential - hopefully next year they will literally blossom now they have light and room to flourish.

Total Eclipse Spain 2026

Eclipse day!!!! Most of the photos on here were taken by friends...my phone died... I dont use names on here but you know who you are thank you.... This will be Dr Freds 8th eclipse and my 6th... I have 100% clear viewing and its continued that way. Our friends have this amazing house tucked away on the side of a hill - fortuitously right on the centre line of the 2026 eclipse. And... to make it even better they have a roof terrace which gave us an almost perfect elevation to see the total eclipse in all its glory. Dr Fred wasnt sure at first - he worried that as totality was so close to sunset we might not be high enough before the sun disappeared under the ridge. So, the evenings leading up to the night of the actual event, required a lot of balancing on the roof with spirit levels at various degrees and exact timings for exact positioning of the sun and considerable maths.... yes it was complicated but it p...

Planet Ruby Starrs

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