2008 blog

It's New Year's Eve so it is time to publish the new blog site for 2008.

Click on this link for the 2008 blog http://thebuchans2008.blogspot.com/

Christmas 2007

We didn't have snow before Christmas, but we did have some hard frosts. This is an old gravel pit near to Burley all frozen over.



Sue and I were walking close to the Bolderwood in the New Forest and spotted these two Red Deer stags. Nice pair of antlers.



On Christmas Day we were joined by Jane, Ron and Margaret. We all had a very good time.

ECA Christmas Celebrations

Sue and I were invited to one of the Eastney Cruising Associations Christmas celebrations by our friends in Portsmouth. It was also part of Geoff's (front right) celebrations for his 60th birthday (bus pass country). Note the balloon.
We had a great time and as usual the staff produced a super lunch, Glyn even got his baked beans.




The table was well decked out with crackers, poppers and flying balloons so it was like a kids' day out.



Lady Bristow and you know who!



Lord Bristow and you know who!



Sue and Sybil - thanks go to Sybil, the main photographer, and Roy the facilitator for emailing the photos. I left my camera behind.

Christmas Letter 2007

To read the letters double click on the letter itself and it should enlarge.

Lanzarote One

The photo below is of the harbour at Puerto Carmen, Lanzarote. We went here in late November for a couple of weeks of sun, sea and beer.


Here I am at Puerto Calero filling in a geocache. There some very expensive boats in the harbour.



In the south west of the island there are these salt pans. The pans are designed to trap the seawater in huge mud reservoirs or cocederos where it then collects before being channelled through rough stone trenches to smaller rock-lined ponds, tajos, where the salt crystallizes at 25°C.



Another geocache, but with a difference. I think this is the first we have done in a volcanic crater. Fortunately the way into the crater was not too difficult, over the top would have been impossible for us.



Another volcanic crater which has been partly washed away by the sea. This is El Golfo which is a major tourist attraction.

Lanzarote Two

We visited the Cesar Manrique Foundation, where this famous local artist lived. It is 5 huge volcanic bubbles which have been joined together. The house is on two levels the lower being below ground.
Manrique had a major influence on the planning regulations in Lanzarote, when he recognised its tourist potential and lobbied successfully to encourage sympathetic development of tourism. One aspect of this is the lack of high rise hotels on the island. The buildings that are there are in keeping with the use of traditional colours in their exterior decoration.

One of his mobile sculptures, many of which can be seen throughout Lanzarote.



The living area.



Views from the Castillo de Santa Barbara towards Teguise, the old capital of Lanzarote. The Castillo houses the emigration museum. This documents the emigration of the Canary Islands poorer inhabitants to Cuba and Venezuela in the 19th and 20th century.






Who goes there?

Lanzarote Three

One of the main sites to see is Timanfaya National Park. The Montañas del Fuego (Fire Mountains) were created between 1730 and 1736 when more than 100 volcanoes, covering more than 50 km², rose up and devastated this part of the island (including several villages). The last eruptions were in 1824, however due to the low rainfall (and therefore lack of erosion) this area appears much the same as it did just after the eruptions. In 1968 the area was declared a national park, Parque Nacional de Timanfaya.



Not a lot grows around here.

Timanfaya's symbol - that's the one on the left!



Sue at the Ermita de los Dolores (Hermitage of Sorrows). This is where the lava flow stopped just short of the village in 1824. The church was built to honour the Virgin of the Volcanoes.

The church.




The interior.



Charco de San Gines, Arrecife. We had a couple of visits to Arrecife, the capital of Lanzarote. The first time was with our hire car. Unfortunately there was a marathon being run along the promenade so there was traffic chaos throughout the city. The second time we took the bus (we only had the car for half our time there).

The Gran Hotel is the only high rise building on the island. We had some super views, but the windows were dirty so the photos from here are c**p. Coffee and cake is £1 pp so we went there twice.

One of the busy beaches.

We knew the hotel was close to the airport!

Below is Club Nautilus, we had a self catering apartment here which was excellent.

We went to Portugal on the way home (to take on more fuel) and then had an interesting landing at Bournemouth, very jiggly.

Rainy Weather

It's Sunday the 18th November and the rain has been sheeting down all day. This is quite unusual after all the very good weather we've been having. I thought I would share some of our sunnier photos with you.

Here I am with Bailey the next door neighbours' dog. He's on the lead here because a while back he gashed himself very badly on the submerged concrete by the bridge (we think).



Another day geocaching we saw this dead tree near to Ashley Walk, New Forest.



On the return from the geocache.



All ponies ever seem to do is eat. They prefer ice creams though.



Bournemouth Pier



This is a new mural on the side of the tourist train shed, Boscombe.



German Christmas market (in November) Bournemouth.

October - De Burgh School Reunion

De Burgh School was opened in 1957 and I joined in 1961 in the 3rd year. Sue joined in 1960.


The school closed its doors in the late eighties and was demolished in 1997.


On the left is Graham Lee. I cycled with him to Maldon Youth Hostel for a sailing course in the 60's. Sue's in the middle and then John Edmunds. I used to do gardening with him for 5 bob (25p) an hour. We haven't seen either of them for 39 years!




Group photo of the 1958 intake plus some of the teachers.

October - Brighton

Here we are in the North Laines, Brighton. As you can see it is a very colourful place with its street art and the bright shop frontages. In this photo spot the guy and his sofa.

Great graffitti!



One of the streets. I think it is just about possible to buy anything in the shops around here.



Here is Sue on the steps of a bathing machine in Hove Park. Not far away was a geocache which we did and also the Goldstone, which gave its name to Goldstone Ground where Brighton played football until 1997.

The Goldstone, lies in its southwest corner of the park. This huge rock, weighing about 20 tons, is commonly believed to have been used by the Druids for worship.
Legend has it that the devil threw it there while excavating Devils Dyke.

Brighton Marina was very close to the campsite so we found ourselves there on many occasions. On a sunny day there is a thriving cafe culture.



More boats!



This is Roedean School as seen from the marina breakwater.



Last, but not least is The Royal Pavilion. This looks good from the outside, but is a definite WOW on the inside. Unfortunately photography was not allowed inside. If you want to know more go to their website or better still go there in person, it's certainly worth it.

October - Out and About in Portsmouth

We were hoping for a trip to the IOW on the hovercraft, but time was rather short so this is the closest we got.

Eastney Beach next to the caravan site is almost a truly natural area, which is hard to come by, but this shingle beach is a close runner.
The straggly spread of plants here may look untidy, but form one of the few habitats that develop without the influence of man. Plant covered shingle beaches like Eastney are internationally rare and unusual habitats. They support a fantastic range of wildlife, some of which won’t live anywhere else.
Vegetated shingle has now become a priority habitat in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan and this beach is designated as a conservation area.
The shingle is made of flint, washed out of chalk, such as the cliffs in Dorset.
Vegetated shingle is only found in NW Europe, New Zealand and Japan.

We did a lot of cycling because it was very flat and with the car parking charges being astonomical it was the cheapest and most convenient way to get around. Here we are having a lunch break close to the sally port.

Sunday - Carol, David and I decided to take the ferry to do a couple of geocaches on Hayling Island. One was very easy and the other diabolical.

Found it!

We assembled for Sunday lunch at the club house. Here are the caravan group surveying the scene out to sea. Now for a drink - Bottoms Up!