October 2019 I’m a big sky girl and Scotland is a big sky country. So I’m a little disappointed when the clouds close in and truncate the view, flatten the tops of hills, hide beauty that I know is there. We turn to the Queen Elizabeth forest (clearly not Scottish Nationalist territory) surrounding Aberfoyle, walking […]
Great Britain: Part Three – Lakes and Hills.
October 2019 There’s a stark beauty to Bowness. Here the houses aren’t the warm hues that make other parts of the country picturesque, rather they are shades of grey. The stones here are harder so even though they seem to be haphazardly piled on top of each other, random shapes and patterns, they are straight-edged […]
Great Britain: Part Two – Into the Dales.
October 2019 The sky hangs low, cutting off the hilltops, and rain splatters the windscreen. In this light the grass is vividly green, snakes of pale wall dividing fields into random shapes and sizes. It is a sight unique to this country and typical of this county: Yorkshire. God’s own county. (Kiwis please note the […]
Coasting
October 2019 Nearing the north west coast of England Essie shows a large blue expanse to our left but, frustratingly, there are sand dunes in the way and no amount of stretching my neck will allow me to see over them. Finally the dunes break and there it is: the sea. I grew up as […]
Merry Christmas!
Circumstances (and fate) have conspired against me and this is not the blog I wanted to write. Instead I present a truncated version with a few words and a lot of pictures. Nothing says Christmas like a tree full of lights sparkling against the dark of a winter evening sky. Framed by curtains left open […]
Entrusted
The Temple of Ancient Virtue flips upside down into the lake, a perfect reflection looking up at its original. In this garden it’s one of many (often flamboyantly named) structures placed alongside still water for maximum effect, a swan occasionally gliding across, its gentle wake rippling the reflection but adding to the scene rather than […]
Return to NZ
If we lived in Oz (Australia) this would make a far better title! As we make our final drive south towards Heathrow and a plane to take us halfway around the world and home I feel I owe you an apology. A comment on a recent blog commended me on my discipline and for not […]
Two Tales of One City
(With acknowledgement to a far better writer than I for the title) My return to Sheffield, the place of my birth, a city I still refer to as my home city – even though I call Wellington home – is frustrating. It rains all day. We get wet packing the car; we get wet when […]
Yorkshire Worlds
We’re in Yorkshire for the UCI world championships* and it looks like it’s going to be a wet one. We catch the train into Harrogate for the men’s Time Trial, finding a good spot by a corner where they have to slow down. The time trial provides a good chance of seeing individual riders – […]
Great Britain: Part One
The sun is shining as we drive from the ferry towards Durham, a few recalcitrant clouds hanging around. Trying to park we have the problem we’ve encountered elsewhere – all parking has height restrictions, clearly not aimed at those carrying two bikes on the car roof. We finally find street parking and walk towards the […]
Tracy Annenberg 