rachel.blog

Tag: photos

  • Linn O’ Dee

    FossilCycle pointed out in the comments on my post yesterday that we were just down the road from the Linn O’ Dee when we visited Braemar. If you Google Linn O’ Dee you’ll see this is a place worth visiting. So we drove back to Braemar today, a drive I would happily repeat because the…

  • Christmas in the Cairngorms

    Christmas Day in the Scottish Cairngorms looks like this: Lots of people said to me before we moved here that we’d be shocked by the number of people and the amount of traffic. Maybe this is true for the rest of the UK but not here in the north-east corner where the roads are extraordinarily…

  • Santa, reindeer, and snow!

    I got my Christmas present early today in the form of snow! No, it’s not snowing in Ballater but we drove to the village of Braemar – a gorgeous, gorgeous place – and then up to the ski field at Glenshee. It was only about 30 minutes away by car but I was driving and so…

  • Stone circles and whisky

    Today we went in search of some stone circles. Humans have lived in Aberdeenshire for thousands of years and there are lots of important archaeological sites here including some strange and intriguing stone circles. They don’t really know what these were used for but I’ve read they may have astronomical significance and/or they were used…

  • Marischal College, Aberdeen

    It’s a beautiful day in Aberdeen today. I had to run some errands in town this morning and I took these photos of the very gorgeous Marischal College. It’s the second largest granite building in the world, and is owned by the University of Aberdeen and leased to the city council. Apparently much of the…

  • Newtown Grafitti

    My father-in-law, Mike, died earlier this year but before his death plans were in progress to take some of his 29,913 photographs of Sydney and exhibit them. A documentary is being made about Mike by the very creative Rachel Jordan and she also wants to make these exhibition plans a reality. You can read more…

  • Newton Dee

    There aren’t very many off-road cycle paths in Aberdeen but there is one very good one: Deeside Way. It runs along an old train line from Duthie Park all the way out to Ballater, a total distance of 41 miles. Unfortunately the line is no longer used by trains; it was closed in 1966. But once…

  • Plants that are longer than they are wide

    In the interests of promoting gender equality in blogs, I thought I’d dedicate a blog post to plants that are longer than they are wide. I took these photos last weekend at the Duthie Park Winter Gardens:

  • I’ve got Busby back!!

    Busby finally arrived today. He’s been at the hospital (= bike shop) in York having some work done. We took him out for a spin. I felt very wobbly at first as the longer frame takes some getting used to and I haven’t ridden him for 10 months now. But after about 15 minutes or so I…

  • Gentle lighting

    A couple of people pointed out the gloomy colours in the Northern Scottish sky on my previous post. The sunlight is more subdued here and more gentle than the bright sunlight you get in Australia and New Zealand. I prefer this gentle lighting. I must have been a vampire in a previous life because I’ve never…

  • Photos from Aberdeen

    I like to look at the types of houses people live in when I go to different cities. Here are a few from the residential streets of Aberdeen plus a couple of our backyard. Aberdeen is a beautiful city. It’s quite leafy for a British city – which I really like – and many of…

  • Butt plugs, deadly nightshade, and hookers

    Apparently a large, green, blow-up Christmas tree in the centre of Paris is outrageous and humiliating if you’re of a right-wing political persuasion. The sculpture, which was part of an exhibition of modern art, was vandalised by right-wing protestors. Why? Because it looks like a butt plug. I have to confess that I didn’t even know what a butt plug…

  • My new home: Aberdeen

    Aberdeen is endearing itself to me. It’s the little things that make a difference. Like this front gate I walked past yesterday with a tin of biscuits for the guard dog. Just in case you want to rob the place and a fierce dog is standing in your way, the owners have helpfully provided the dog biscuits…

  • Footdee, Aberdeen

    We went out for a long walk this afternoon to an old fishing village at the very tip of the east end of Aberdeen harbour. It’s called Footdee, or “Fittie”, as the locals call it. Aberdeen harbour has been hijacked by the oil industry and none of it is walkable to the public (not that…

  • Duthie Park, Aberdeen

    We’re in Aberdeen and still all a bit tired and jet-lagged but glad to have all the hard stuff over and done with. We ventured out for a walk in Duthie Park yesterday and it was wonderful. They have an enormous winter garden as well as some brilliant playgrounds. Can you judge a city by…

  • Larnach Castle, Dunedin

    We couldn’t leave Dunedin before making a trip to Larnach Castle. It’s touted as the only castle in New Zealand but whether it really is a castle is probably debatable. It was built by a merchant baron and politician, William Larnach, in 1871. It’s on a prominent spot and has battlements and turrets but lots of…

  • St Clair, Dunedin

    Another wonderful day in Dunedin. We return to Auckland tomorrow and I feel sad about that. This evening we went out for dinner in St Clair, a very lovely beach suburb. We went to The Spirit House, a superb Thai-Vietnamese-Korean restaurant overlooking the sea. The food was delicious, the views wonderful, and the service I…

  • Dunedin homes

    On my run this afternoon I took some photographs of some of the homes in the local area. I quite like seeing things other than the usual tourist attractions when exploring a different city, like streetscapes and the types of homes people live in. So here are some of these scenes from Dunedin:

  • Dunedin Botanic Gardens

    I managed to escape my computer briefly today to visit the Dunedin Botanic Gardens; a place that is always well worth a visit.  

  • Magnificent Dunedin

    We’re in Dunedin for a few days: my favourite New Zealand city. Dunedin is right at the bottom of the South Island while Auckland is right at the top of the North Island. It’s a lovely city: small, fairly compact for the Antipodes, magnificent views from most parts, and in my view, it’s the most…