Good People, Good Times

This weekend we caught the train to Darlington to catch up with Nick and Cat. They have featured in this blog previously as good people and good times and this weekend was no exception.

We arrived in Darlington late on Friday night and met them at a pub in town where they were celebrating a successful year with Nick's work colleagues. Soon after, Lee drove us home in Nick's car, with some enthusiastic directions from the back seat. Once home, Nick outlined the plan for the morning, and we tucked ourselves in to bed for an early start.

Luckily for us (and him), Nick again proved his forethought as a host by prepacking and preparing the food for the day, so that we were away by 8am, the roughness caused by the night before only adding 30 minutes to our planned departure. We were feeling optimistic with the sun shining through the window, but as Cat drove us toward the Lake District we headed into some inclement weather. It was beautiful to see the double rainbow stretched across the fields and houses, lit by golden sun, but it was an indicator for the rest of the day.

We reached our destination at the base of Helvellyn, the third highest peak in the Lake District and England (do I trust this information from Wikipedia?), and layered up in time for it to start raining. Not prepared to back out yet, we crossed the bridge over the river and started up the valley toward the Hole in the Wall. It was beautiful with the bright orange heather stretching across the hill and we were able to see the weather coming and put our hoods up. It was fairly easy-going up the hill and finished with a winding rock stair. As it rained down on us, it was asked, "Who's idea was this anyway?"

We reached the Hole in the Wall and our next decision point. As we poked our heads over the dry-stone wall we felt that the strong wind that we had dealt with so far, was pretty minimal in comparison to what was roaring across the unsheltered ridge of the mountain. We sat in the shelter of the wall and ate our sandwiches, very quickly adding all the layers we had just taken off or carried thus far.

We set off for Striding Edge, one of the peaks, and our original optimistic destination. We didn't get far before the hail stopped us. Let me describe it. It was like being hit directly in the face with tiny rocks. The hail was thick and travelling horizontally. It died down and we proceeded a bit further before it started up again. Gusts of wind knocked us sideways and backwards. We couldn't see where we were going. A conference of the minds decided it was safest if we turned back. You may think it odd that, even then, I was still a little disappointed, but agreed that it was the wisest choice.

We took a different path back down the mountain. In most places it was more sheltered, but still we were blown about and rained on. The layers over our ears made decent conversation limited, but none of this could detract from the beauty of the region. It really helped that we were well rugged up, once again proving, "There's no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing."

On the way down we saw a collection of dogs and their owners training for mountain rescues, in various stages of training. In one case a man ran 20m away and hid in a dip off the track. The dog was then released to find him and bring the handler to the man, indicated by barking. Once found, the victim passed over the squeaky toy reward. At the other end of the scale, we saw a person hiding out, perfectly still in a green sleeping bag and a dog scaling the whole hillside.

The occasional lulls in weather were welcome, but there was plenty of motivation to get down the mountain and into a sheltered, warm place. Cat drove us home after stopping off at Dirty Bird for some hangover cure (yes, it was bad enough to last most of the day). We spent a quiet evening in with some movies and takeaway.

The next morning, it again dawned sunny. I made sure to pack my polarizing filter and left the tripod behind. After some fresh, home-baked friands, that inexplicably didn't turn out as usual, we drove to Richmond. The biting cold came as a bit of a shock as we stepped out of the car, as did the light shower of rain. There was still a lovely golden sunlight, so we took the scenic route around the castle and down to the river, where it started to rain for real. Our hosts were not dressed for this weather and we strode back to the car. From there we travelled to a local, rural shop/restaurant where we ate a hearty breakfast, then drove down the road to meet Cat's borrowed horse Splash.

The weather was bitterly cold and threatening, but it wasn't until Cat had changed and taken Splash out of her stable that it started to rain. And it wasn't until she had tacked her up (excuse me if wrong terminology) and mounted that it started to snow. She took a short walk around the field, probably neither horse nor rider enjoying it, for the sake of the photographer. Of course, as soon as the horse was untacked, rugged and put safely away the weather stopped dropping water (in various forms) on our heads. We reached our limit and went home. From there we walked Fenris and their new cat in the park (cat thinks she's a dog maybe?) and spent a quiet afternoon at home with a collection of cheeses and mulled wine, before catching the train home
again.

I have to commend and thank our magnanimous hosts for their patience with my shooting photos and their hospitality in trying conditions. We had a great time, despite what my description might suggest.

Georgian Gastronomics

Most of the adventures I have blogged have been over the weekend, but that is not to say that we haven't also been active during the week. I had such a good time Tuesday night it is worthy of a post.

We met up with Ange and Stu for dinner, at a restaurant suggested by Ange as one that we wouldn't otherwise have access to. She was right - how many Georgian (the country not the state) restaurants would I have the opportunity to eat at in Australia? I'm guessing not many.

I arrived first and was amused to hear that the same music on the website was featured in the restaurant.  We had folded flatbread with cheese in the middle that tasted a bit like calzone and another bread that also had egg on top, yolk still runny.  For mains I had lamb and eggplant kind of stew/soup (came with a spoon for eating) in a delicious broth.

From there, very full, we moseyed down the street to the multi-storeyed Whole Foods to drool at the cakes, meringues and other baked goods, have a sticky-beak in their coolroom full of cheese and basically dream of the time when we could afford to shop there regularly.  (We were in Kensington..)

We came out almost empty-handed (thanks Ange for the white-choc-coated pretzels) and found our way back to a piano bar above the street that eagle-eyed Lee had spotted.  It was great!  The piano man played a selection of classic rock and classic 90s hits that had the whole bar on their feet - spot on for the target market which appeared to be single, 20-somethings that are making the most of Mummy and Daddy's allowance, or at least No Kids Professionals like us.  (We weren't dressed in the latest fashion though.)  I can only imagine how ram-packed the bar would be on a Friday or Saturday, as it was full on a Tuesday.

A really relaxed and enjoyable night with great conversation and even a little dancing.  I'm going to miss hanging out with Stu and Ange when we're back in Australia.

Northern Lights in the north of Norway

One of our most anticipated and envied trips took place this weekend: we travelled to the north of Norway to see the Aurora Borealis - and we succeeded.

Travelling to Tromso

Friday night after work we flew 2h from Heathrow to Oslo in the south of Norway. With no connecting flight to Tromso, we stayed overnight near the airport. My first impression was the cold. My second, the politeness of the receptionist at the Gardemoen Airport Hotel as he explained that we were one letter away from the correct Motel and gave us directions on how to get there. We stayed a basic and comfortable night in the Motel/Hostel and breakfasted on the usual Euro fare plus something brown that might have been goats cheese. Then it was back to the airport on the bus and on a plane for another 2 hours to Tromso ('s' sounds like a 'z'). We landed in Tromso at midday - in twilight. Our (Lee's) research had shown us that the sun was up between 10:40am and 12:20pm, losing 15 minutes a day. I'm not sure where it was rising and setting - but we never saw it.

Saturday in Tromso

We wandered through downtown Tromso: down the main street with its Christmas lights, through the town square where we picked up some street-side lunch and along the waterfront. The centre of the city and the airport are on an island at its widest 3.5km and 10km at its longest. It is part of 'the fiddly bits' or fjordland in the north of Norway. The waterfront was particularly interesting as, as several locals told us, it was at its highest ever level. A storm in the North Sea had led to water levels being several metres higher than the usual high tide. I would never have known otherwise, it was so calm. An indicator that may have been key to a more keen observer than me was where the water had breached the harbour in a puddle, all the locals were clustering and kids were splashing about in their gum boots.

It was dark by 2pm. I had to keep reminding myself of the time. I imagine the lifestyle of a local to be very different to mine. I would find it difficult to motivate myself to go outside when it was dark so much. Although being out of bed before dawn takes on a new meaning. Most people, particularly parents with kids, had some form of reflector on their clothing.

We felt like we had a good idea of the main city centre (is 65,000 people classified a city?) by 4pm when we were picked up for our main event. I had slept on both flights and I slept some more on the 1h30min coach ride to our destination in preparation. 

Lyngsfjord Adventures

On arrival we were kitted out in quilted onesies, boots, mittens and gloves. There were 12 of us who were keen to try the dog wagons - unfortunately there wasn't enough snow for us to go sledding. We split into two groups of six - our group went first to the camp, where we met the dogs - looking less like the stereotypical huskies and more like kelpies in shape. Their fur was thick and they were all friendly, although maybe a little shy at the number of people.
There was:

• A dog who had just returned from a trip to the north pole (one you would always want on your team apparently);
• Happy - who was just that;
• Balu or Blue who was a really tall dog and so keen he had to be chained or he'd jump out of the pens and chase you down when left behind,
• There was also a 13-year-old dog who was still racing;
• And a fairly new pup (1 year) that one of our leaders was given when she helped a friend to finish a race - he had a team of young dogs that were so mentally tired that he had been running in front of them for 100km already. She was a beautiful-looking dog who was quite keen on finishing off her neighbour's unwanted food.

While our two guides Amanda and Nora loaded the dogs to take them to the starting point, we went into one of the Sami tents for a feed. We were served a wholesome meat (reindeer?) and vegetable soup served in wooden bowls with a sweet flatbread, about a centimetre high. After we had our fill of soup, a Norwegian dish of flatbread, nuts, brown sugar and cinnamon was served for dessert. Then it was our turn with the dogs.

The owner of the business drove us to his property where we were to start with the dogs. Each cart had 5 dogs. The carts themselves were 100kg, plus the weight of the two travellers - one passenger and one steering/braking/scooting/pushing as required.  Steering felt a bit like a quad bike. We took it very slowly as it was very icy and the main message of the pre-briefing was basically "screw up or screw around, you injure the dogs". It was a trail-ride style, where each pack followed the one in front (apart from our leaders who wanted to cut the corner when we turned around). We travelled 9km all up, 4.5km each way (although it didn't feel that far). My favourite part of the trail was a section of woodland where the road was more of a track with ups and downs and corners and tree
stumps to navigate.

While I was driving was the first time we saw the Northern lights. A couple in our group had seen them the night before and pointed them out. After the initial distress to our guides for our unplanned stop, we had a chance to observe and take some photos - only a little bit of pressure on Lee as I was holding the dogs in check. It was faint, but very beautiful on the longer exposure on the camera. The movement or 'dancing' of the lights I would compare to sheet lightening in a distant storm, only not as fast (more a flicker than a flash) and not as bright. This may well be inaccurate as most of our view was in the gaps or reflection of clouds.

Our guides returned us safely back, without injury or incident. From there Lee and I were delivered back to the camp where we met our guide for the night, Roy, and the two other couples who were to stay the night. Roy described himself as a very active person who fell asleep if he was sitting still for five minutes - so right up our alley. He was a climber, hiker, photographer, and more. He had brought some toys along for us to try: a couple of unicycles, some juggling balls, a guitar and a mandolin. Lee tried all of these and I tried all but juggling. Throughout the evening we ducked outside to take a new shot of the northern lights, to try a different composition and in the hope that they might be brighter/less clouds/generally better.

Before going to bed around 2am in the cosy cabin we took advantage of the sauna. Robes, towels and slippers were provided, so we felt very fancy. Everything was lit by candles, lamps and the fire, so was also pretty romantic, if you discount the reason being no electricity. Our log cabin was toasty as with its roaring fire. The only, very real, reminder that we were camping - or to use a plane magazine term, "glamping" - was the drop toilet, that will always smell like a drop toilet, no matter how many candles. Breakfast was served a bit after 7am, and was made special by cutting our own large hunks of fresh-baked bread. We were driven back to Tromso with a bit of information about the area and a lot of sleep.

All the staff at Lyngsfjord Adventures did everything they possibly could to make the experience personal and enjoyable. Each activity was seamlessly run and transitioned. The staff appeared to be a very happy family who all lived within the Tamok Valley.

The ~50 people living in the Tamok Valley made their living from tourists or commuted into town for the week. There were few farmers and few fishermen but both were finding it hard. Previously, being a farmer of salmon in the fjords guaranteed you as a millionaire. Now, due to the low price of salmon, and the setup and maintenance costs required to meet strict regulations to prevent disease escaping into the wild salmon, it is a break even exercise.

Sunday in Tromso

The remainder of our day in Tromso we explored a little further out of the city centre. There was a lake marked near the centre of the island and we made our way there following Google maps. It wasn't a long way, but it was uphill. It wasn't the hill that was the trouble, it was the wet and cold weather forming ice. On the way up we were ok, possibly because we were leaning forward. On the way down was a different story. I'm not sure if it's Lee's walking style, but he ended up with a sore backside and wrists after 3 accidents. We soon adopted the locals' method of sliding our feet along the ground without lifting them. Locals seemed to use the controlled slide not just when they were walking but also when they were driving. We wondered what the statistics on road/pedestrian accidents in Norway compared to other countries is, as it was often easier to walk on the road.

The lake was beautiful in the dawn/dusk twilight; a collection of wader birds on an island in the middle, frosty yellow heather around the outside and parts of frozen water. It was also surrounded by locals taking their children, dogs or themselves for a walk (or solitary run).

For lunch, back in the city we ate two different meals combining cow and pig with veges. On the potato we had sour cream and the house garlic butter which had herbs, lots of salt and something that made it red that we just couldn't put our finger on. Once we had finished, all the light from the sky had gone, making photo-taking a little less interesting. We wandered through the town some more until it was time to make our way back to the airport for our two flights back to London Heathrow.

We were exhausted, but flat out congratulating ourselves on two items off the Bucket List:
1) See the Northern Lights (bonus points for photographing them)
2) Visit a place where the sun doesn't rise (or set)

Photoshoot analysis

I find it really interesting to look at the photos that we selected.  I believe we selected the shots that reflect how we perceive ourselves.  Let me take you through what I mean.

The shot of me: I'm leaning a long way forward looking relaxed, but engaged.  That's how I perceive myself to be.  Whereas Lee's, to me, looks strong, easy-going, but still showing his interest by a slight lean forward.  It also makes me smile to see how (un)flexible he looks. 

As for the shot of the two of us: 

• We are looking at each other which shows our connection;
• Lee's arm around me signifies strength, protection and comfort;
• Lee kissing me on the cheek shows me his love for me; and 
• My smile at him shows that he makes me happy(er).

We have a very similarly posed shot from our wedding, so that also has strong reminders for us. 

Most of these 'winning' shots were taken while seated.  This reinforces for me the online posing advice I had read, which suggested seating people, particularly if they were uncomfortable.

What do you think our photos express?  Would a different pose reflect how you perceive us?  Let me know in the comments.

All our shots can be viewed by clicking on the album link here.

Photoshoot

Yesterday we started off with a very cheap haircut, a fun (and informative) experience and a photo each and came out with a regular priced haircut, a fun (and informative) experience and 5 ok-priced, well-lit, well-posed digital photos. This is following a deal I spotted on lastminute for a haircut, makeup and photoshoot with one print for £10. Unfortunately (?!), we are a very photogenic, touchy-feely couple who were having some fun - and it shows.

I was most excited about the photoshoot part of the experience as I hoped to learn some poses for portraits. Most commonly, standing shots of me were one hand on hip and sitting was with legs crossed. For Lee, standing shots were hand in pocket or arms crossed. There were, of course, minor adjustments and differences, including holding collar or looking away and down for me.

If you're not interested in poses - I'd skip the next few paragraphs..

Our first set was a typical residential stair, with everything painted white. Here, I stood leaning against the wall, one hand on hip, or one hand on banister, or I sat with my wrist on my knee, or leaning forward with my head on my hand. The next step was to bring Lee in to sit beside me on the step above and I rested my hands on his knee. Then it was his turn: leaning back against the wall, leaning shoulder against the wall with hands in pockets, sitting with feet on different steps either leaning back or leaning forward.

Next stop, a wall with bamboo curtain, where we stood alone or together, and then back to our own bit of curtained-off studio where we changed. Most of our shots were then taken in front of a roll of black card, with or without an additional light behind us. We had together shots where my arms were on his shoulders or around his waist; where we looked at each other or at the camera, or he looked at me and I looked at the camera; Lee stood behind me with arms wrapped around or I looked backwards over my shoulder and he looked basically straight on.

The remaining shots, brought in props. The first, a plain black chair, at a slight angle to backdrop, lesser angle to lightbox and photographer 

- for me: sitting up (wrists crosses on knees), sitting back (one arm across back of chair), leaning forward (chin resting on hand, keeping other arm across back of chair) [See below];
- for us: Lee giving me a hug from behind [See below];
- for Lee: sitting leaning forward (elbows on knees), with leg crossed [See below].
The second prop, a white box with a hole in the middle with a white background (rather
than the black to date) 

- for me: Sitting sideways in the circle (feet against the perimeter), sitting up in the circle (hands against perimeter, legs crosses);
- for us: Lee poking his head over my shoulder with no change from me, me back in first pose with Lee leaning on my knees, us both sitting facing forward.
- or Lee: ?

We finished up with some individual and paired shots in front of a textured wallpaper.

The whole shoot took about 30 minutes and there were approximately 80 photos from which we could choose. In most poses there was a portrait and landscape shot. Each location was lit by a giant lightbox and in some cases an additional light source (with or without a coloured gel). Our photographer Jay-Lin was experienced enough to recognise how much we enjoyed photos together and to use our connection in the photos she took. She never said to smile, just positioned us and got to shooting. I would be interested to see what would happen if the photographer then gave us 2 minutes for anything else we wanted to try - could really get some gems - but then perhaps this has been tried and resulted in duds.

The photos of us are pretty sweet: Exhibit A.

From 20111121 Photo shoot

Priscilla Queen of the Desert

This show was spectacular.  Our cheap Theatre for a Tenner tickets backfired a little when we found ourselves in the top balcony with practically a birds-eye view of the stage. Not ideal. We quickly realised why they were pushing the Upgrade Tickets for a Tenner so hard, and took advantage of it. From that somewhat grumpy start (on my part), our aspect vastly improved.

Men with smoother, sexier legs than me rocked the stage with their dancing, singing and general cavorting, through multiple costume changes. The larger-than-life characters were right at home on the
stage, (perhaps not surprisingly), and the smart as a whip one-liners seemed to be funnier than when said in the film. The costumes were all-out in size, cheek, and glitter. The wigs alone were works of art that looked terribly heavy to wear and a little unstable to dance in. The whole composition was a visual delight, making it the show I have most wanted to photograph. Perhaps others have felt the same - which is why they were checking bags at the door.

We laughed our way through the first half - particularly the scene in Broken Hill. A cheer went up when Ray Meagher who played Alf Stewart in Home and Away came on with the line "Stone the flamin' crows, what the hell's going on here" - or something to that effect - to close the first half.

The second half was marginally subdued as more of the personal aspects of the plot were explored, but continued to deliver the laughs and costume changes. At the end of the show, it appeared to be a full
standing ovation from the audience.

If you enjoyed the movie, then I believe you will enjoy the stage show more. If you enjoy a show with spectacle, visual and audio delights, and a good laugh - this will suit you down to the ground.

Nice Bristol

We spent a really enjoyable weekend with Dave (who Lee had played with on Chilly) and Laura (his new wife), in Bristol. A pair of very easy-going hosts, they picked us up from the train station Saturday morning, and we spent a couple of hours cleaning the front of their house, demolishing a rickety lean-to out the back and scraping old paint off the window-sill. The time it took to demolish was faster than the paint off the window-sill, but made the greatest difference.  They seemed really pleased with how much we were all able to do in a short time and after a tasty deli lunch, we made the most of the sunny
weather and went exploring Bristol.

We walked down the street, through the park, saw the lock that enabled the floating dock and a swinging bridge that allowed the boats through, the river at low tide, the spanning suspension bridge, the tower, picked up some patisserie treats for 'pudding', stopped for a hot drink, and wandered home along the river, which was running a bit higher.  We stuffed ourselves on home-grown pumpkin curry and our patisserie treats before being treated to large-screen David Attenborough.

This morning we had a little sleep-in before heading down to the riverside for a breakfast sandwich and to explore a little of M shed - a dockside shed filled with the people and places that make up the history of Bristol. The morning quickly disappeared and it was time to go, pack and board our train before we knew it.

I left feeling relaxed and rejuvenated (only a little bit sore) with a couple of winning photos to share (although, mostly taken by Lee - I told him he wasn't allowed to get better than me..). All in all, a comfortable weekend filled with easy conversation with Good People.