Island Paradise

Sunset over an island in Fiji

Another old photograph from my gap year travels, this time from Fiji. One of the most relaxed days we spent on our travels was on this Fijian island; we were taken out there one morning by boat and then got to spend the whole day on a little island, lounging on the beach, snorkelling with amazingly brightly-coloured fish (and I saw two cuttlefish! Probably sepia latimanus, the broadclub cuttlefish, which is very common on coral reefs) and even doing a spot of sea kayaking which proved rather more strenuous than we had anticipated.

Fiji is totally beautiful and you should go there. Although, take insane amounts of insect repellant because I was eaten alive by mosquitos and managed to snag a spider bite that made my foot swell up like a pufferfish into the bargain.

Red Earth

Another picture from my holiday in Devon, to show how bright red the cliffs by the railway are.

One of the fun things we did on holiday was to go visit one of my relatives and her husband who live near Dartmoor in a gorgeous house. They were really welcoming and lovely and served an absolutely incredible cream tea (and anyone who knows me knows I love cream teas immensely), with teeny delicious sandwiches and cute little scones with two kinds of jam, real clotted cream and an incredible slab of cake covered in strawberries. I made an absolute pig of myself.

But moving away from the food aspect of things, we also had fun discussing star signs and I resolved that on my return I would look up what I'm supposed to be like (I'm a Cancerian). Apparently Cancerians are the "least clear cut" of all the star signs. Negative traits according to this site include: untidy, sulky, devious, moody, inclined to self-pity, inferiority complex, brood on insults (very often imagined), easily flattered, tactless and difficult, often change their opinions and loyalties, lack stability, easily corrupted and (my favourite) can make successful confidence tricksters.

You have been warned.

Cairn

Another photograph of my summer holiay in Cornwall; there was a whole herd of cairns scattered across this beach. I don't know who built them or why, but it looked very picturesque.

In a not-unrelated note, my word of the day is tumulus, a "mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves". Purely because it sounds good. Also known as a barrow, a less awesome word which greatly confused me as a ten-year-old reading Lord of the Rings for the first time. Near the beginning of the book there's a bit which involves much unexciting messing around in/near barrows, and as I had only come across the word in the context of a wheelbarrow (and was too lazy to go get a dictionary), it caused me a great deal of confusion.

All at Sea

Believe it or not, these fisherfolk were only metres from the train station at Dawlish. It's right on the beach. I took the photograph while standing on the platform waiting for a train to arrive.

Making a Splash

This picture took a few tries to get right! Fortunately my mother was very good at warning me when a big wave was coming, while I tried to hold the camera as steady as possible. The end result is surprisingly un-wonky, I feel.

You could probably guess it's another picture from my holiday in Devon. We had a couple of days of really summery weather, but I only actually made it into the sea once, and even then only for a paddle in the very late afternoon. However, I did eat copious amounts of ice cream and jam my last two-pences into a shove-penny machine, which on the scale of seaside experiences is practically equivalent to full immersion.

The thing about seaside towns is that they get eerily quiet at night. Even the funfair, which for me is a late night activity, was silent and dark by 9 o'clock, and the restaurants in the town where we stayed were... variable. On walking in to one of them we were informed that there was only one menu because all the others had been stolen (?). My dad was asked if he wanted his beer chilled or room temperature. He said room temperature. They only had chilled. When it came time to pay we waited for ages, despite being the only people in there, and the old man who ran the place kept giving my dad's credit card nervous looks as it lay on the table. He finally scuttled forwards, holding the chip & pin machine... only to scurry straight into the kitchen. His wife eventually emerged to explain that she was the only one who could work it.*

*Incidentally, the food was extremely tasty, but that's not the point.

Diversify

What an odd-looking flower. OH WAIT.

Yes ladies and gentlemen, for your viewing delectation it's... a picture of a landscape! With sunshine and everything.  Taken from the top of Langstone Rock at Dawlish Warren in Devon, on my holidays. A very nice coastal path runs along the edge of the beach, and my very intrepid mother and I* couldn't resist the chance to climb up the Rock, despite our impractical footwear.

It's only a shame that you can't see how red the cliffs are; even the sand is actually quite dark there. The route of the old South Devon Railway follows the coast very closely; it's very picturesque, gliding out by saltwater marshes and past beaches. The history of the line is interestingtoo; built in the mid-nineteenth century, it was originally conceived as an atmospheric railway with the trains powered by the use of vaccuum pumps. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was the brainchild of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who (in addition to having possibly my favourite name ever) was fond of making cool stuff. Also he wore a top hat. So I think we can concede that he was pretty much a legend and it was not his fault that rats ate his vaccuum tubing.**

*Note grammar.
**Not a euphemism. Euch.