Zoo Day

Just had a whim to go to Chester Zoo. Haven't been for ages and decided it was time for a return trip! 
It was a beautifully sunny day on Monday, can't believe this amazing autumnal weather we have been having, hope it lasts a while yet! 
It costs £20 to get in, but I intended to spend the day and its funny that it doesn't seem so expensive when there is just me and not a family of 4 or 5!

So first stop of the trip are the warthogs!

Is he not magnificent! There were a few in the enclosure, plus about 3 much smaller ones but he was the show-off. He would take a few steps and then stop and pose, look at me as if to check if I had got his right side, then step and pose again. Hours of fun!

There were some wonderful animals, but the biggest "aawww!" came for the baby elephant. So incredibly cute.

The elephants were great to photograph as they weren't rushing about. There was a wooden fence I could lean on to steady the telephoto and I was very pleased with how they came out.

The zoo was really quite quiet, there were a few school parties (nothing cuter than a couple of 6yr old girls walking along hand in hand singing "all about the bass") and a few lone photographers, so I wasn't having to fight through crowds to get a shot.

Next visit was to the butterfly house. Incredible. Worth the entrance fee just to go in there. You are standing in a greenhouse made up like a tropical garden and the butterflies are just fluttering free around you.

Not a huge amount of varieties, think only about 5, but it was amazing. Tried to capture a few in flight but failed dismally at that, need to practice that one. But managed to get a few shots when they stopped briefly.

It was spellbinding. And hot, very hot. After removing as many layers as is socially acceptable, I stood in there for about 20 mins, just watching.

The main problem I had was that the lens kept misting up, so many of the shots were through fog! Not sure how to overcome that, but I suppose its like glasses, going from a colder environment into a hotter one will make the glass misty.

Then off to the section I had been most looking forward to: Big Cats!

One of the main problems that I faced was shooting through obstacles, be it fencing or glass. The fencing in some ways was easier as you could get really close to it and it often blurred into almost nothing. The above pic didn't quite do that, but I still really liked the two lions together so I am putting up with it. I am sure if I was really clever on photoshop I could get rid of them, but I'm not, so I haven't.

However, because I zoomed in really close to the lioness, the fence has gone and it almost looks like I am in there with her.

Many of the animals were being very kind to the visitor, and were just relaxing in the unseasonal sunshine. The cheetahs were no exception.

There is however something a little unsettling about having something so fast and dangerous look straight at you. It's almost as if he is working out just how fast he would have to run to jump over the fence to get to that live buffet just standing there, watching him. I didn't wait for him to work that one out!

This next photo has got to be one of my favourites, taken in the jaguar house.

I think there is something very soulful about his expression and it makes me feel sad whenever I look at it. They have really big enclosures in Chester and I don't know if the Jaguar has ever known life in the wild but you can't help but believe he is thinking of a different life.

Talking earlier of fast and dangerous animals looking right at me, here is another.

I was the only person walking along the path and his eyes followed me every step of the way. He was a real beauty and absolutely massive. There were a couple of walls and a large ditch between us, but somehow that didn't quite feel enough! So moving swiftly on!

There is a lot of redevelopment going on at the zoo. They have built a series of themed islands and I must say have done a fabulous job of it. Its not just enclosure after enclosure, they have created it like a series of African villages and it is splendid. Not finished yet and they are in the process of moving the Orangutans, but when it is done, it will be fabulous. There is even a boat ride! The new tiger area is here, but they were the only creatures not feeling sociable so I didn't even get to see one, never mind photograph it.

Most of the monkeys were behind glass which was a devil to shoot through, especially as it was so sunny there were a lot of reflections. It was either that, or being so far away, but I did like this one shot.

Last but not least, giraffes. Another baby, again very cute.

However, achievement of the day has got to be the bat cave. We have been coming to the zoo for about 20 years and I have always refused to go in the bat cave. The idea of it being dark and having things flying around my head terrified me. However, as regular readers will know, I am doing all sorts of things now that I used to flee from, so to the bat house I headed.

I took a deep breath and walked in, behind a sobbing child who wanted to be there as much as I did!

It wasn't completely dark, you could see a bit and at first it wasn't too bad, but when I got to the bit where the ceiling was lower and something flew past, brushing my hair, I will admit that I nearly lost it! But kept my head and got to the exit. Didn't rush out, made myself stay and look around. OK then, done that, never doing it again!

Lessons Learned: Bats are evil. Although I am assured they would never ever get caught in your hair, they can sense who is scared and like to divebomb them just for the sheer hell of it. OK, that might not be strictly true, but that was certainly what it felt like. But at least I did it, so one more thing crossed off the list!

Diet Diary: Due to lack of demand, diet diary has been temporarily suspended. (too much cake recently!)

Cheltenham and Bristol

I am so sorry it's been ages since I have blogged. Just don't know where the time has gone. I haven't actually done an awful lot blogworthy recently, just trying to get back into the swing of things and reclaim my mojo.

So, just when I needed it most, we decided to have a weekend away. It was Beth's 21st birthday so we headed to Gloucester to spend some time with her.

We started off in Cheltenham, a beautiful city. It has some wonderful architecture and a very eclectic mix of shops. Plus a small street market selling the most gorgeous flowers.

The Cheltenham Literary Festival was being held as well and we had a wander around some of the marquees and nearly saw Salman Rushdie. He was about to go into the Waterstones tent to sign copies of his new book, so we thought we might wait. But then it occurred to us that none of us particularly like him or his books, so decided not to bother. Headed outside and took a photo of Neptune instead. I didn't have the tripod with me, so kept it on a short shutter speed which I think works ok with the fountain which was behind him.

Because of the Festival, the city was buzzing and it got very difficult to take photos without hoards of people in them. Hardly took any that I was pleased with, so will return another time and try to do the architecture justice.

Day 2, headed to Bristol Docks.

Much better, so much to photograph here. We avoided the city centre and just headed straight for the docks. You can do a circular sweeping walk around them, about 2-3m which is fabulous. The old cranes were completely amazing, and reminded me a bit of those snow-walker things in one of the Star Wars movies.

We went to a lovely, quite artisan looking place for breakfast. The menu was fabulous, eggs benedict, smoked salmon and poached egg, but I went for the buttermilk pancakes with bacon and maple syrup. A plateful of heaven!

So all the food came and it looked amazing, apart from mine. The pancakes were burnt so I had to send them back and waited for a replacement. And waited. And waited. 20 minutes later, after everyone else had finished their breakfast, they reappeared, as burnt as the first time! Not a happy bunny! So we left, not prepared to wait again. Got the promise of a free breakfast next time we went, but I think we may have made it clear that there won't be a next time!

Anyway, back to the main order of the day, photography, no sorry, that should read spending time with the family!

Just loved this boat. The day was quite dull so it was great to have a splash of colour on the water. Just loved the teeth!

I suppose one of the main attractions on the docks is Brunel's SS Great Britain. It is a wonderful ship and you can go around it, but at £60 for the 5 of us, we decided to do that another time! Although I think I may have found my next challenge, climbing the rigging anyone?

Boats are still made and repaired on the docks and it was fascinating to be able to see into some of the workshops. The smell of woodshavings was so evocative of my childhood, spending time in the garage watching my father make fabulous things with wood, my doll's house for one.

I would really have loved the chance to have a rootle through the workshops, but unfortunately they are privately owned and that was not possible. 

The dockyards have seen some amazing refurbishment happening. It is lined with beautiful housing and fabulous restaurants, well most of them are :-( 

I loved these rows of houses looking down, I thought the colours were amazing and together with the sails on the boats, added a fabulous splash of summer colour to an otherwise quite dull day.

Since doing a lot more photography, especially with the need to blip something every day, I am finding that my view on what I am seeing has changed. I find myself looking for the different and unusual that might not necessarily make a pretty picture, but will certainly make an interesting one. Saw the mural of the Girl with the Pearl Earring, with the earring actually being the burglar alarm

I am finding too that textures now excite me in a way I never thought possible! I know, sad isn't it! But I loved the rusting paint on this gate, with the fencing in front of it and the wonderful added bonus of a spiders web.

So all in all, with the exception of breakfast, a completely fabulous weekend. Wonderful to spend some quality time as a family and also be able to take some photos of something new.

Promise I won't leave it so long next time!

Lessons Learned: Pancakes are apparently very easy to burn!

Diet Diary Well the fact that I didn't have pancakes probably helped, although having pizza for tea might have outweighed that one! Struggling a bit to get back into the diet mindset. Need to get back to some proper regular hiking!