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Ailsa’s travel theme this week is ‘Shadows’, and I was thinking that I would really be hard pressed to find any shadow pics in my albums. However, I suddenly realised that my blog header, when uncropped, has a great shadow. This was me on an idyllic vacation in Bora Bora, an island in French Polynesia.

One afternoon, we went across the reef to another small island, which as it turned out, had nothing of interest, and nowhere to even buy a drink. I knew then how people marooned on a desert island must feel. I sat in the only bit of shade I could find, reading my book for a few hours until thankfully, our boat returned to ferry us back to the resort.

Here is the shadow under the pier in my South African hometown of Umhlanga Rocks. I’ll be back there next month, and one of the first things we will do is go for walk along the beach and up onto the pier to watch the waves. I’ve really missed them.

On the same beach, this seagull also casts his own shadow as he proudly struts along the sand.

Here in Delray Florida, the sea birds also drag their shadows along the sand as they search for food. I think these may be Storm Petrels.

Here in Pompeii, the shadows cast by these ancient walls, must have been seen day after day by its citizens, as they went about their daily business, until that fateful day in AD 79, when Mount Vesuvius erupted, burying the whole city under 4-6 metres of ash and pumice.

Something far more up-to-date, are the shadows of the flags of British Airways cabin crew protesting just outside London about job cuts, and working conditions.

These weird-looking shadows in the town square in Nassau in the Bahamas, are from a very tall tree with bare branches. Also note the shadows of the air conditioners below the windows.

Lastly, here’s a structure you’ll all recognise. The Leaning Tower of Pisa, casts its shadow on the 180 foot tall Baptistery, which is made entirely of marble, and dedicated to St John the Baptist. Although it doesn’t look it here, the Baptistery is actually a few centimetres taller than the leaning tower.