Santorini 28th june 2016 pt1

Our first day in Santorini ,  breakfast is served on our private balcony :)

Today we are first going to walk down the Steps to Fira Old Port before it gets too hot!    walking, not riding a donkey mind, and will probably get the cable car back up.

Its only about 5 - 10 mins walk along the top to the start of the " Karavolades Steps"  about 600 steps down to the Old Port where the cruise ships passengers are brought to shore.

                              Down here?!!!!!!!!!!!                       The start of the way down!

                                                                   What a view stop :)

                      Its a long way down still   haha             loads of donkeys further down the steps.

                                                                             Donkeys :)

                                                                     Local Wildlife :)  
   loads of these small lizards on the way down and a butterfly flew past which might have been an Appolo i think.

                                                                      Phone panorama

                                                                    Rush hour traffic jam! 

                                                                     "The Old Port"
                                      Sitting eating large ice creams served in glass

 

 

                                    Water clarity is amazing , we can see small fish everywhere.

 

 Old and the New.

          Time to take the cable car back up to Fira ,   10 euros for a 2 minute journey!   Bloodyhell.

                                                                         Up we go :)

 At the top there is a HUGE queue of cruise ship passengers all waiting to get on the cable car , with 6 cars taking a maximum of 6 people each its going to be quicker to walk for most of them   Haha.

                                           Bougainvillea looks great on this gift shop :)

Back to the hotel now for an hour or so and then we are going to take the bus to Oia to watch the sunset , like most of the island by all accounts.

Norfolk holiday june 9th 10 th

Today i am going to have another look for Swalowtail  butterflies at  Strumpshaw  fen.
Its quite windy but warmish and bright with sunny periods forecast , but im not hopeful!

Arriving at the reserve there are no butterflies on the flowers in the garden near the entrance  so i decide to walk around the reserve anyhow to take a look.......

                            Around the meadows and marshes i have not seen anything whatsoever!

                                                  Not even a Dragonfly or Damselfly :(

At the far end near the Swalowtail breeding area , the only thing i have spotted is this Lizard ......

                                                      finally get to use my macro lens :D

                                                                              Very cute :)

                               On the way out a Sawfly and then in the field beyond a ...........

                                                                                 Pheasant :)

Not a butterfly to be seen unfortunately.    now to go back to collect Jan the dogs to go for a walk.

An afternoon walk from Horsey mill to the beach , a good long walk and a few seals to watch for a while .

                                  The Seals are so nosey, coming up to watch us .

The following morning we are going to Holkham Hall which is right up at the top of North Norfolk coast near Wells-next-the-sea.  When we arrive, after paying car parking we are told the hall is closed on Wednesday's!!!!!!!!   WTF?                 there is virtually no mobile coverage so cant check on line and we have driven nearly hour and a half & its bloody closed!!!!! 

At least we can go for a walk in the estate ..............

                                                                 Mollster looks happy :)

                                                          Top end of the entrance.

 Enough of this walking, after a bite to eat in the car we drive down to Holkham bay to run the dogs on the Huge beach!                   

                                                                   Very wet...................

                     Time to head back now, stopping off at  Cley Mill on the way to Cromer.

                                                                Early  Evening in Cromer

                             And a walk on the Pier , which Terrifies Mollster   Oooops lol

after a visit to the famous chippy near the pier we head back to the caravan , and hopefully a  sunset at How Hill later :)

Dorset Holiday pt2 Castles, Spiders and Sunsets sept 15 th 2014

Today we are going to visit Corfe Castle which is about 40 minutes drive from Durdle Door campsite.   i think  lol.    the weather is looking very good for today with sun,  blue sky and staying very warm :)

After parking up we walk around the castle through a wooded path before coming to the main entrance...........

Walking up the inner grounds of the castle towards the ruins.  more info on the castle HERE

Look at the way the gateway has dropped on one side , in fact the ruins clearly show huge walls ect that have fallen or slid sideways where the foundations were not built to hold such large heavy fortifications.

                                                            Mollster resting in the sun :)

                          I believe the castle was partly demolished on orders from the parliament!

                                                           Mol is climbing the battlements  lol

                                 The Swanage railway , always great to see a steam train :)

                          Mol,  being Queen of the castle is looking "Down" on her subjects   haha

                                                                        The" Stocks"

                                                                        Arghhhhh...............

Time to go now , Durlston country park is our afternoon destination , having parked by a lovely meadow , (which i must search for Wasp spiders later)  we have walked down towards the coastline.  a small art gallery has a viewing platform where we can see "Old Harrys Rocks" in the distance.

            A long lens image of the "Pinnacles "   with Peverill "look out point" in the foreground which is overlooking Swanage bay.

                                                                           A bit of fun :)

                                    Mol makes a good squirrel!    she actually hates them  !

                        Walking down to the coastal path , we come across this huge stone globe!

                                                               Something down there Mol?

               I have spotted loads of Dark Bush Crickets :)   shot with 100mm macro natural light.

I have been looking for Wasp Spiders along this coastal path as this is a good area for them, i would really like to photograph one, especially as i have never seen one before.

After looking all along both sides of this path  i have finally found one , and a very unexpected find with a young Lizard in her web!     I had no idea they could catch a prey this big ,  the poor Lizard has been well wrapped up in silk thread  , shows how strong the silk is :)  Its in an impossible position to get good images , this is the best i have managed.

                      Continuing along the path i have not managed to spot any more spiders .

There are quite a few caves here , named Tilly Whim Caves , but they have been fenced off due to being unsafe after coastal erosion i presume.

      Heading back towards the car park , i have found a tiny beetle  lol  , but no more Wasp Spiders :(
I will go and have a look around the small meadow area next to where we parked.

After getting back to the car, I have just 20 minutes left on parking ticket to find and photograph a wasp spider!  This could be a bit tricky!    Look at this meadow.  There are some thicker, higher pockets of brambles and other plants either side of a wooden fence in the middle of this area , could be a good place to look .

Yay  i have found a nice female  , but not in a very good perch/position .   I have run back to the car to get the tripod so i can shoot a series of frames to focus stack to increase depth of field ,i usually shoot hand held but the spider is too deep in the foliage for me to get a good position , so tripod it has to be, but in low light with a slight breeze it may be advantageous and being low to the ground might be sheltered enough.

                       this image is 5 frames focus stacked , natural light shot with 100mm L macro lens.

                                                and a 13 frame focus stack with flash

Time has run out ,i have to get going now, but i will try and come back later in the week to see if i can find some more.......



Back to the camp site now for dinner, and then hopefully another sunset down at Durdle Door :)

Its just before 7 pm now , and i am on the shingle shooting long exposures as the sun starts to set behind me , this is the best image , shorter exposures give the best water movement i have found  and a bit of colour is being reflected in the distance.   only 0.8 sec exposure gave the best "movement" in the sea :)

I have rushed up to the top above the bay to shoot the sunset , its best colour is now at about 7.15 , and setting fast...               cant believe how fast the sun sets here!

A cooler look now as the sun sets behind the cliffs of Bats Head ,but giving a lovely colour over Weymouth now :)

                           Cool blue now , love the colour in the water around the rock arch.

                                                    Back onto the shingle after sundown.

                                        The end of another great day on the Jurassic coast.