Fellowship of the Lakes

I spent Easter weekend exploring the wonderful Lake District. We rented two cottages, in Kendal and Windermere, and took turns hosting each other for dinners and games nights (my contribution was the awesome Cards Against Humanity). The hikes were beyond beautiful, but bloody freezing!

How apt is this group shot?

And one final HADOUKEN! Kudos to Tiago for really committing to the moment. As soon as this was captured, he sort of landed backwards on his head. I have awesome friends.

People of Tokyo

How have I not blogged anything from Japan yet? Back in 2010, I spent two weeks exploring this fantastic country. We travelled through Tokyo, Kyoto and Hiroshima, and took day trips out from each city. I definitely want need to go back.

So here’s Chapter 1: the people and lights of Tokyo. Harajuku was as mind-blowing as I imagined, and I felt incredibly under-dressed the entire time!

Sonoma & Napa

After San Francisco, we spent some time driving around Sonoma and Napa. Or – more accurately – T driving and me leaning out of the car window with my camera. I had a blast meeting and hanging out with some amazing peeps.

Jan made a stop-motion video of the sunset. One frame caught us in the air as we were doing a jump shot for Till’s camera. Love this:

Streets of San Francisco

More random snaps taken on our walks around San Francisco. I swear I must’ve travelled every district by foot!

Twin Peaks

Really chuffed I got to meet so many SF peeps on my visit. Big thanks to Pei for organising – and Sonya and Zack for hosting – an unforgettable pot-luck lunch and walk up to Twin Peaks.

I wish I’d taken more photos (isn’t that always the case?) but there was much banter to be had, and delicious home-made food to be scoffed. Took lots on my iPhone, which I’ll share in another post. And I heart this group shot by Cindy.

Anyway here are some of my snaps! Dan and I reflected in Gordon‘s sunnies:

Oh hai Pei and Sarah:

…and Jenny looking adorable:

Chris and Pei are totes amazeballs:

Dan, seen here in Bryce‘s legendary horse mask, made a stop-motion video of our descent from Twin Peaks.

Zack and Sonya, who is probably the coolest chica I know:

It’s a Hassy shoot-off between Jenny and Ike:

…and of course I had to get in on the horse mask action (thanks Bryce). Here I demonstrate my ability to multitask – Instagramming and being a horse at the same time:

‘Twas a good day.

The Petrified Forest

I don’t take many photographs of nature; people are of far greater interest to me these days. But it was impossible not to be moved by the landscapes of California last month. So here are some snaps taken in The Petrified Forest in Calistoga.

When I first heard the name, I immediately got an image in my head of stunned-looking trees with a face like :O in the bark and all their branches sticking up. Not quite accurate. Millions of years ago, the force from a huge volcanic eruption knocked all the trees to the ground. I don’t fully understand the chemistry behind all the lava and elements… but the trees were effectively turned to stone (petrification) and are preserved in this forest.

Nature’s pretty damn awesome sometimes.

A Weekend in the Lakes

Rented a car and a cottage for the weekend in the Lake Districts – round Ambleside, Windemere and Coniston. Good times!

Nazca Lines

I first learned about the Nazca lines from a little Peruvian lady selling silver jewellery in Camden, back in 2006. She described these ancient mysteries in very broken English, but luckily I figured out enough to Google it when I got home. I bought my Nazca lines thumb-ring from her that day, and vowed I would one day see them for myself.

In 2009, I got the chance! We boarded a rickety 6-seater plane with a wonderfully crazy pilot. Once he was satisfied that we were unlikely to throw up, he really let loose (and even gave us the zero-gravity experience a few times).

The lines around the Nazca desert were created about 1500 years ago. Nobody is quite sure why, but whatever the reason, it’s astounding how they managed to create perfect shapes and straight lines (some several hundred metres long) without technology to see from the air.

Ironically, I lost my Nazca thumb-ring shortly before this flight (somewhere along the trek to Machu Picchu), but I bought another ring out there with the Nazca line designs around the band. I wear it all the time.