Window seat please.

Marianne’s CBBH Photo Challenge this month, is ‘View from an aircraft‘.  I always try to get a window seat, more for the view than any other reason. For me, the flying experience is enhanced when I can watch the sunrise, sunset, or just see the fluffy white clouds passing by. I guess some people don’t want the constant reminder that they’re sitting in a long metal tube, about 30,000 feet above the ground, or the sea, and would rather pretend they’re on a train or a bus, so sit in the middle, and there are those that have to keep getting up to use the toilet, so prefer to sit on the aisle. Not me though; I revel in the fact that I’m actually high above the earth, flying effortlessly and at great speed, towards my destination. Quite often, I forget to take the camera out of my cabin bag, and by the time we take off, it’s too late to get up and grab it, so some of my pics are taken with my iPhone. I guess if it’s on airplane mode, that’s permissible, but I’m never sure, so try not to do it when the stewards are close by.

Here are a few of my in flight pics:

Coming in to land at Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok.

Taking off from Phuket International airport.

View from a helicopter over Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.

Victoria falls in the distance.

Flying towards Belize.

Fluffy clouds.

Looking down at the swamps.

Smooth landing at Belize City.

First sighting of  San Pedro.

Getting closer to the ground.

This was only a 10-seater plane.

Miami next stop.

Coming in to land at Miami International.

Sometimes my attention is distracted from the view out of the window, and I’m more interested in what’s for dinner.

Very welcome view on the airplane.

Stop looking out of the window and eat.

Yummy raspberry chocolate mousse cake.

To see more views from airplanes, just click here.

According to the rules of Marianne’s challenge, I have to introduce you to two of the blogs that I’ve commented on in the past month.

First up is my South African blog friend, Adeeyoyo, who writes beautiful poetry which really touches one’s soul.

Then there’s the artistically talented Poppytump, who advertises her blog thus, “PhotographyBooksArtyStuffAndPlentyOfOtherNiffNaffAndTriviaToIgnore.”

Please pop over and visit them both. I promise that you won’t be disappointed.

Wild weekly photo challenge: Sunsets

I’m participating in the Lets be Wild, online adventure travel magazine competition.

For the competition, bloggers are invited to share their favourite sunset photographs.

I just had to include some of our magnificent Florida sunsets. I never cease to be amazed at how beautiful and varied they are. These were taken after rushing out of my kitchen whilst preparing the evening meal. It’s so important to get ones priorities right. 🙂

This stunning sunset was taken during ‘happy hour’ at our local golf course.

If you go to Hawaii, it’s almost compulsory to visit Sunset Beach, pick your perfect spot and wait patiently for that sunset to arrive.

Venice Lagoon is also  a great place to capture that memorable sunset,

These photos were taken from the Island of San Clemente, on which our hotel stood.

From the motor launch taxi, we got this shot of the setting sun, highlighting the 17th century ‘Basilica Maria della Salute’, which stands in a prominent position between the Grand Canal and the Bacino di San Marco.

New

A visit to New England in the Fall, is supposed to be all about leaf peeping, but after a rainy afternoon, it can yield a delightfully surprising sunset moment.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my sunset pics. If you would like to be kind enough to vote for me, please visit this link. http://www.letsbewild.com/photo-challenge/wild-weekly-photo-challenge-6-sunsets/

New England in The Fall, for Jake’s theme.

Jake’s Sunday Post theme this week, is ‘Autumn’, and although it’s Springtime here in South Africa, I remembered that I have some lovely photos taken a few years ago, on a visit to New England in the Fall. This was something I’d always wanted to experience, ever since a friend who used to live there, told me about the beautiful colours of the foliage to be seen at this time of year. It was in October, some time around Columbus day, and the pumpkins were out in force.

Porches were already decked out for Halloween.

We travelled around Vermont, staying in various B&B’s along the way. This one is ‘Mapletown Inn’ in the historic hamlet of Mapletown, on route 7. It dates back to 1810, and was used in the mid 19th century as a safe house for black slave fugitives who were fleeing to a better life in Canada.

The scenery was spectacular, and it’s hard to choose which pics I love the most.

I loved the movie, ‘The Bridges of Madison County’, starring Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep, and have also read the book, so was absolutely thrilled to see some of these wonderful covered bridges for myself.

I said that I didn’t know which pics I like the best, but at the end of the final day of our trip, we had the most wonderful photo opportunity, with the sun showing its face after a cloudy rainy day. Just before sunset, it came out to play, together with a stunning rainbow.

What more could I wish for?

Can you spot the Bennington Obelisk in this last photo? It’s a battle monument, and at 93 metres, is the tallest structure in Vermont.

I can tell you that this was the best time I’ve ever had in Autumn. So much beauty, and an American road trip which I’ll never forget.

To see more entries for Jake’s theme, just click here.

Home again, home again, jiggety-jig. ;)

Here I am back home again in South Africa. It’s winter here and I was surprised at how cold it was when we touched down at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo airport at 7am. Some people on our flight were still dressed in shorts, sandals and T-shirts, and were shivering as they waited for their baggage, which they would no doubt open up and grab some warmer clothing as soon as possible.

International departures at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport, was quite spectacular. We had an awfully long wait for our flight to SA, and weren’t sure whether to go through security early, as we didn’t know what facilities were waiting on the other side. Sometimes you go through, and all there is there, are just uncomfortable waiting areas. Hubby asked one of the airport staff if there were more shops on the other side, and he smiled as he answered in the affirmative. Well, he certainly wasn’t lying, as after passing through the gate, we were met by a massive array of fancy stores and restaurants, almost as big as a small town. Every designer shop was represented, and we could have spent a large fortune if we had one to spare. 😉 There were wondrous creations to see all around us, and we so enjoyed admiring all of these, as well as the beautiful orchid displays.

We had lunch and then found something to take home for my mom, but still had almost 8 hours to wait until our flight at 1-15am, so we settled down to read and wait. By the time our flight came up, we were both more than ready for bed, and we still had an 11 hour flight, plus another one from Jo’burg to Durban. At such times, I just resign myself to my fate, and the phrase, “This too shall pass,”  plays itself over and over in my head.

I did get a shot of the rainbow over Phuket as we left for Bangkok.

The night passed very slowly indeed, and it was such a relief when the lights came on and I realised that there were only a couple of hours left. This was the first time ever, that I’ve been awake in time to get a sunrise photo.

By the time we eventually arrived home, I was ‘finished’, but still managed to unpack whilst the water was heating up for a very welcome bath. I made some delicious butternut soup for supper, and then it was absolute bliss to get into our own bed and sleep for almost 9 hours. It rained for most of the night, and today is cool and grey, but I’ve had that old Frank Sinatra song playing in my mind today, “It’s nice to go travelling………but it’s so much nicer to come home.”

Weekly photo challenge “The Sun”

The WordPress  photo challenge this week, is “The Sun,” and I see many people have posted beautiful pics of sunrises and sunsets. Here is one which we took over the Venice Lagoon, from the pier of ‘The San Clemente Palace’ hotel, in October last year.

This one was taken from the famous Sunset Beach in Hawaii. If you go there,  you just have to get this shot.

I think we might sometimes need reminding that rainbows are caused by the refraction and dispersion of the sun’s light, by rain or other water droplets in the atmosphere, so the sun also plays a major part in the appearance these beautiful phenomena.

This picture was taken after a spectacular storm over the sea here in Umhlanga, just a few days ago.

A rainbow demonstrates the effect of the sun’s visible light waves turning into the light spectrum. The sun  is essential to life on earth, and because of the sun’s rays, we are able to enjoy all the wonderful colours of the rainbow that we see around us every day.

Hope you’re all having a wonderful weekend. Chat again soon.