Manawatu River

I have quite a few photos of my current 'local' river, the Manawatu River. I have lived here in this area for 23 years now, so I guess I can consider this river 'home'. But I grew up in Waitara, where quite another river was part of my childhood. And in the province of Taranaki, many rivers started on the mountain and travelled down to the sea.

This photo is one of my favourites of the river, and I use it as the background on my PC screen. I find it very calming. (The river is not always this calm and I have other photos of it in flood!)

French vocab for walking

Vocabulary List
Landscape Features:
la combe: anticlinal valley
le hameau: hamlet
une crête: crest, ridge
la falaise: cliff
la butte: hillock, mound

Position:
Two words I often tend to muddle:
*Au-dessus: above
*Au-dessous: underneath, below
Amont: upstream

Verbs:
couper un virage: cut a corner/bend
déboucher: leads to, comes out on
contourner: go round, bypass
aboutir: to lead to (something)
s’abaisser: to fall away, slope down
franchir: to walk through (stream, river), to jump over, clear
obliquer: bear eg obliquez a gauche, bear left
se scinder: to split up, divide
atteindre: reach

Adjectives for track/road surface:
goudronnées: tarsealed
un chemin castiné: untarsealed path?
Un chemin caillouteux: stony path
Gravilloné: gravel, grit
Une route revêtu: sealed road
une assise empierree: a layer ( stratum) of metal

Miscellaneous:
des poignées pour se hisser: handholds to hoist yourself up
livre d’or: visitor’s book (in sanctuary of church in Le-Puy-en-Velay – reserved for pilgrims and walkers.)

French TopoGuide vocab

When I was cycling in France I managed to understand most of what was on the maps. One day though there was a note "forte pente." I suspected this might mean steep but didn't know for sure until I encountered the relevant section of the route, which was indeed very very very steep. I would quite like to make sure I know more of the 'climbing' and directional vocab I will need before I try to follow instructions for the St James pilgrimage route.

The three topoguides I ordered on our wet wet Labour Weekend have now arrived in the mail from France. (Great excitement!) I intend to make up a little 'vocab guide' for myself as I use the dictionary to check terms in the Topoguide that I am unfamiliar with. In particular, I plan to make very sure I understand all the verbs connected with direction, and all the nouns that describe landscape features. This will reduce my guesswork, as I already possess an ability to get majorly lost. I have a well-developed knack for mixing up left and right!

As I add to this vocab list I will edit previous entries and bring the list more to the top of my blog so I can more easily find it when I need it.

I have a reasonable command of French but only a few words of Spanish. I am not sure how much of an issue this will be. It may be too hot to realistically complete the Spanish section of the pilgrimage in the same year after the French section. Time will tell. I would start a traveller's Spanish course at night class next year except I am planning to do another Massey paper on New Zealand fauna.... and that will keep me very busy for the first semester.

Vocabulary List
la combe: anticlinal valley
le hameau: hamlet
couper un virage: cut a corner/bend
une crete: crest, ridge
deboucher: leads to, comes out on
contourner: go round, bypass

la falaise: cliff

des poignees pour se hisser: handhols to hoist yourself up

goudronnees: tarsealed

un chemin castine: untarsealed road?

No accents included... not sure how to do them in blogger!

Cycling down Newbury Line

We have had a real 'cycle' here of bad weather for weekends lately, and being the fair-weather cyclist that I am, I haven't even managed an out-of-town ride on my new bicycle until this morning. Ahhhh but it was worth waiting for: an hour and a half out in the countryside on a bicycle and all is right with the world. This morning I did a rural circuit, heading out to Newbury line, then along as far as Te Ngaio Rd, and back to town via varied rural roads.

I had to cycle out into a stiffish westerly. I had my km-counter on, but it was depressingly 'slow'. As I battled into the westerly at times I only seemed to be cycling about 12km/h. Eventually I realised the bike shop had installed the counter onto miles! Have since been in and had that remedied. The best thing about battling a westerly headwind on the way out of town though, is that a good proportion of the circuit in the homewards direction becomes a lovely tailwind.

Newbury Line has a lot of modern houses along it, as there are quite a few 'lifestyle' blocks out that way. I took a photo of this older farm building as it was quite refreshing to see something unmanicured still on the road.

My Maps have arrived!

On July 5th on the island of Jersey, at huge expense, I posted home a small parcel of things so I didn't have to carry them any longer on my back! I was given a very precise "63 days" as a delivery time - nine weeks - about when I got home early September. The parcel had my bright yellow cycling jacket, and a few other bits and pieces, but what I was most looking forward to seeing again were the maps and brochures from my Loire cycling trip.

However, the weeks were passing by and I was thinking that perhaps the parcel had gone to Argentina or somewhere else in the wrong direction and that I might never see the contents again. Then suddenly on Friday I had a parcel dropped in my lap at school. My bedraggled maps! I was delighted, though strangely, nobody else was especially interested in them!!!!!

After drooling over my maps I went to the Public Library this morning and got out a couple of books. One was a book of beautiful photographs of villages in the Loire region. I had been to some of the places; and I had been to many others not mentioned. By cycling through the region though I have gained a knowledge of the area that lives in my very muscles.

The other book I got out was about the St James Pilgrimage, starting in Paris. (The author wasn't a walker though.) The book had a photo of the bridge over the Loire at Beaugency, and said that it was built in the eleventh century, mainly for pilgrims going to Compostella. (I had taken several photos of this beautiful bridge.) I am already thinking ahead to my next European trip...... another year of work and maybe I will be ready to tackle some of the French section of the pelerinage of St Jacques. I have started a folder and am getting info off the internet......

Manawatu River

After posting so much from the Loire River, I am home and it is time the Manawatu River got some airplay!

After a spell of freezing cold southerly weather we finally have some spring weather to be pleased about this morning. So I was able to enjoy one of the loves of my life, a Sunday morning bike ride. I headed out to the far end of Te Matai Rd, where I passed many cyclists, then onto the Bridle Track beside the river. All was going swimmingly well until I struck a rough patch on the path and became aware that I had a puncture! Oh No! So after about 17km of cycling I then had to enjoy a walk in the spring sunshine to the bike shop! (No I wasn't carrying a tube, though I had 'nearly' put it in!) Ironic really, five weeks of cycling in France with no incidents, and first longer bike ride back home and I get a puncture!

Strange thing was though, that I had been intending to go to the bike shop later in the morning anyhow, as my new 'touring' bike was ready to pick up. (I might tell you a funny story about this later....) So I dropped off the old bike and picked up the new bike and rode home on it!

Corippo

My great-great grandfather, Giuseppe Scettrini, was born in 1835 in the mountain village of Corippo in Ticino, Southern Switzerland. I had a wonderful week based in Locarno exploring in this area.

These first two photos of Corippo are taken from the track that leads to Mergoscia.

In this photo I am standing on the path leading down the mountain towards Mergoscia and the mill at Corippo. The houses are all made of slate in a Ticinese building style.

These last two photos are of the parish church in Corippo, Our Lady of Mt Carmel. Giuseppe was baptised in this church (though I am not sure how old this particular font is.)

Rome for Easter

I was in St Peter's Square for Easter Sunday Mass. Even with the zoom lens on full you can't see much, but I was there! The first photo was taken during the Mass, and the second one when the Pope was giving his Easter speech from the balcony above. And yes, they had big screens there so you could actually see what was happening! Even though it was so far away it was still wonderful to be in the international crowd. The music was amazing for starters.


Here is a 'spring' shot over the Tiber. I have a 'winter' one from another trip. I can't imagine ever wanting to be in Rome for the heat of summer, but maybe one day I will get an 'autumn' shot. (And maybe I just shouldn't be so greedy!)

This last photo is of the Appian Way, taken when I went to the Catacombs. The road was quite busy closer to the city, but got quieter the more you got out from it. And of course, not so many modern cars want to travel on this old section of cobbles, so as you can see I nearly have the ancient road to myself at this point.

Naples

Naples was a great base to see Vesuvius from. This first photo is the view from my hostel window, straight out to Vesuvius. Now would you want to live in Naples with that lurking in your back yard??? I really wanted to climb up to the crater of Vesuvius. OK, this is Europe so there was a minibus most of the way up! Pretty impressive and vast crater.
Once down I went to see the ruins of Herculaneum. These are much smaller than the ruins of Pompeii, but in many ways they are more atmospheric as the modern day town surrounds them.

Pompeii, with Vesuvius in the background.

Florence and Assisi

Two "local" shots of Florence. Most people used bicycles or motorbikes in the narrow streets. So the 'parking issues' were not the same as other cities!

Came out one morning to find the Firenze marathon was in full swing with a good contingent of locals cheering them on.

When I realised that I could get to Assisi en route to Rome, I booked the trains that way. Luckily there is a shop where you can leave your packs as 'left luggage'.

Assisi was very beautiful, set up on a hillside. These two shots were taken on a walk up the hill. I loved looking down below through this belltower on a little church. And at the top there were definite signs of a storm brewing.

Prague

Prague had quite a few memorials that reminded you in various ways of the horror of some of its recent past. One day I passed this sculpture of a set of humans who appeared to be marching down the steps on the hillside. When you saw the figures from the side it became apparent that the figures had varied parts of their bodies missing. The image of these figures was haunting.
The plaque reads: "The memorial to the victims of communism is dedicated to all victims not only those who were exiled or executed but also those whose lives were ruined by totalitarian despotism. "

Prague - springtime

I arrived in Prague at the very beginning of spring. The week before it had snowed, and it seemed like the week I arrived there was suddenly a dramatic warming.





But with the warming came problems. Heavy rainfall elsewhere in the country, as well as snowmelt, led to flooding. Here people are checking the river and erecting flood barriers.

Jersey - coastal walks

I ended up staying eleven days on Jersey, and it is only a small island, 9 miles by 5. Partly I stayed because the people were so friendly. But also because in the summertime there are extra buses to get to various bays. I ended up walking quite a bit of the coastline by catching a bus to one bay, walking, then catching a bus back again to St Helier. Here is a shot of some coastline north-west of Rozel, and also a sign in "miles" along the coastal footpath.

Jersey - Payn

The reason I went to Jersey was because my great-grandfather, Francis Davis Payn, came from there. This posting has a few family history bits and pieces!
This is St Martin's Church where my great-great grandparents, Thomas Payn and Elizabeth Mourant are buried.

The old family home is still standing though has been much changed from its days as a typical Jersey farmhouse. You can see on this end-shot of the house how walls have been added to add a second storey in more modern times.

But there is still a sign proclaiming the house as "Les Ruettes" as it was when my Payn family lived there in the mid-1800s.

Prehistoric Jersey

For those of you who don't know, this Jersey is off the coast of France. In the days when more water was locked up as ice, you could apparently walk across to France. One of the surprises for me about Jersey was how much evidence there was of prehistoric people.

This mound, La Hogue Bie, contains a passage grave that they believe had ceremonial uses.

You can see that you need to stoop quite low to actually enter the doorway. Hardly any tourists here really, compared to the so, so busy site of Newgrange in Ireland.

This is the neolithic dolmen of Faldouet, la Pouquelaye de Faldouet.

Prehistoric Ireland

Ireland, like Jersey, has an impressive array of prehistoric sites. I only saw a small but interesting smattering of these. I show just two Irish photos here. One is the Poulnabrone Tomb in the Burren region, dating bck to 3000BC. The other is the Hills of Tara, the seat of the Irish Kings. I had great delight being here as my surname means "Royal Bard". From what I have read, the Kings had to be a bit wary of the Bards, lest they ridiculed them with their words!

Giant's Causeway

A real highlight of my time in Ireland was a day trip from Derry to the Giant's Causeway. Walking on the clifftop pathway and amongst these strange rock formations was very special.

Derry

After a few days in beautiful Donegal I travelled into Derry and Northern Ireland. I had not realised I was arriving on the day of the Apprentice Boys' March when tension was heightened.

Maybe on another day I would not have noticed things so much, but there still seemed to be trouble near the surface of this rather beautiful walled city. This huge tower has cameras trained all over the Bogside area.

There were a few vehicles burned out, and a few bonfires lit.

The murals on some of the Bogside buildings were very powerful and said a lot about the time of the Troubles.

The hostel I stayed in in Derry was very welcoming and a great place to talk to others. They had this wonderful Tintin outside the front door!