I Did Not Have Much Planned For Today,

but one trip I have booked is for a photography tour,

a photo workshop to Namibia, a little about the country, Namibia is a sizeable yet sparsely populated country, spanning a total of 824,292 square kilometres (318,260 sq. mi) in Southwest Africa. It features particularly harsh geographical features, with central semi-arid mountains, the Namib Desert on the coast, and the Kalahari Desert to the east of the mountains, Namibia protects a significant proportion (18%) of its land with designated national parks and reserves. Some of these parks, such as the Namib-Naukluft Park and Fish River Canyon Park focus on protecting the landscape, whilst others such as the Etosha National Park focus primarily on wildlife, the capital city is Windhoek, a long time in the future but I spent the day looking at the itinerary and a few YouTube videos about trips there, I will be going there from 17 October – 2 November 2026,

starting at Windhoek, then spending 2 or three nights at each of the following locations, the Kalahari Desert, Quiver Tree Forest, Aus and Luderitz, Kolmanskop and Duwisib, Sossusvlei, Walvis Bay, Swakopmund and Spitzkoppe, Twyfelfontein, Etosha National Park, Etosha, Waterberg Wilderness and then back to Windhoek and home,  

and here is a map of the route that is planned, all in a 4 wheel drive minibus and open 4 x 4s phew! what a trip, it has all been arranged by master photographer Will Gray, here is a video by Ryan Shirley of what I hope to see and photograph,

to say I am looking forward to it is a grand understatement! in the evening, 

time for my read and sherry, 

for tonight spring rolls, 

followed by a Chinese chicken curry, 'Cheers!', after which a film for the evening,

 The War of the Worlds, the 1953 version which have enjoyed watching before, based on a book by H. G. Wells, the only slight problem was that the book was set in the UK, (the film set in the US), in the book it was set in Horsell Common near Sudbury, as it happens, the reason Wells chose Sudbury was that when he did a lecture there he found that he was very poorly receive, so the book being set there with the place destroyed in the book was his idea of payback time, after which as I put the DVD away I noticed the film Midway was there so I put that on until Diana returned home, so feet up for a coffee and a chat, (well another spiced rum for myself), before we were both off to bed.

After Posting The Blog,

I spent the afternoon in the garden,

 in the company of Julian and Sandy, just 2 of the many characters from Round the Horne, a popular radio show of the 1950's/60's, Julian and Sandy, spoke in Polari - the underground slang used before the decriminalization of homosexuality - and produced several catchphrases that passed into common use, a little about them, Julian and Sandy, played by Hugh Paddick and Kenneth Williams respectively, both were in the show playing a couple of camp out-of-work actors, at the time of the shows male homosexuality was illegal in the UK, laws meant that any male homosexual could be arrested by the police, this led to the development of a secret language so that gay men could converse without being understood in front of straight members of the community similar to Cockney rhyming slang, the language was called Polari, it was widely used by the British gay community from the 1900s to the 1970s, it meant that there was a show within a show in which the producers of it the BBC did not know what they were broadcasting! I stayed in garden for the afternoon, 

in the evening time for my read and sherry, 

for my evening meal a few picnic bits and pieces, 

'Cheers!', after which the usual Outback Opal Hunters and a Deadliest Catch, before my film for the evening,

 Journey to the Center of the Earth, Professor Trevor Anderson receives his teenager nephew Sean Anderson and a box of artifacts from his lost brother Max, Trevor decides to follow the steps of Max with Sean and they travel to Iceland, then the fun begins! After which Diana arrived home, so feet up for a coffee and a chat, as we started to watch,

 Death on the Nile, but alas Mr. Sleep caught up with Diana so she was off to bed, I stopped the film and watched a Bangers & Cash before I too was off to bed.

Although Diana Was Working Today,

she was on a late shift, 

 first thing in the morning we were out, crikey I look worried!

diving through country lanes,

arriving at the Castle Farm lavender fields, 

all set to pitch up with Diana's new cool box trolly, 

OK one more pose!

we had booked a slot for our own picnic, there were 4 huge open sided marques erected next to the field, 

first a walk through some of the lavender, 

then out with the goodies, 

breakfast next to a field of lavender, what a great start to the day, 

I took in a few rays, 

then I was snapping away, 

those pesky bees will just not stay still!

one more for the family album, if anyone stills has physical photo albums, 

all packed up and time to go, 

back through those leafy lanes, arriving home as Diana left for work, Andrew from the Beckenham Photographic Society called round to pick me up, we had a photo shoot at Midfield Primary School, in Grovelands Road, St Paul’s Cray, Orpington, Kent, BR5 3EG where some of the children had just returned from a trip to Iceland, 

Sarah Eede, ARP leader, present the show, 

a 2 part photo/video record had been made of the holiday, 

the school hall was quickly filling up, 

Andrew on the red carpet, 

photographing the stars of the show, 

the show was projected on a screen, 

titled Fire & Ice it followed the children as they were shown real lava, 

and the ice sheet,

as well as swimming in the Blue Lake, 

the PTA supplied a huge table of snacks for the halfway break,

Sarah having a chat with one of the parents,

Andrew snapping away,

all set for the second half, 

I have not included any photographs of the children, both Andrew and myself were supplied with school memory cards for our cameras, it is a bit delicate photographing children, so we leave what images that can be published down to the school,

it is all over, what a treat for the children, the photo and video 2 part show was just so enjoyable and it was nice to help out at a function like this, I should also mention that whilst in Iceland the children were welcomed into the British Consulate there, back in the UK introduction music was supplied by the Bromley Symphony Orchestra Sting Quartet, and very good they were too, arriving home after my evening meal I watched a Bangers & Cash before leaving to pick up Diana from work at the end of her late shift, then feet up for a coffee and chat as we watched a Poirot before we were off to bed.

Day 12,

we made landfall, 

in Gibraltar, so some time onshore, 

our ship on the right, 

into a mini bus and we were off,

past a man made waterfall, it is the waste water outlet from the rocks desalination plant, water is forced through a semi-permeable membrane, this process removes up to 99% of dissolved minerals, salts, heavy metals, and microbes, resulting in highly clean water used for drinking, aquariums, and industrial application, the water is known as RO water, the waste water now has all of the dissolved minerals, salts, heavy metals, and microbes that were taken from the original water and returned to the sea down this waterfall, onboard the ship the same process is used to that all tap water onboard is safe to drink, and soap goes twice as far, as the water is so soft in the bath or shower, 

we made our way to this mosque, notable because if you look instead of a crescent moon above it, the mosque has a full moon, the full moon above the Ibrahim-al-Ibrahim Mosque at Europa Point is a representation of a "closed crescent". Instead of a theological distinction, this symbol was chosen to denote it as a royal mosque, a design choice commissioned by King Fahd of Saudi Arabia to signify his title as Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques,

we made our way to the light house,

a couple of poses, 

on the way back, 

then to somewhere on the rock we have not been to before, there are over 150 caves in the rock, but the most famous is St. Michael's Cave, a stunning, illuminated natural limestone cavern used as an auditorium,

the cave has so many huge stalagmites and stalactites, with a technicolour light show constantly changing the look of them,

this one with just a floodlight, 

time for a pose, 

or two, 

I was snapping away as usual, 

but also taking time out, 

to be amazed, 

selfie time!

again,

the cave was huge, 

and so nicely illuminated, 

the system was so big there was a auditorium where you could watch the light show, 

absolutely amazing, 

a pose by the now derelict cable car, it is being replaced as the old one was too small and resulted in queues more than a few hours long every day,

I am keeping elbows on the rail, 

it is a sheer drop and it made me a tad 'unsettled' shall we say, 

back on ground level, 

and into the mini bus, 

it was a very early start and rather than have a rushed breakfast we ate when we came back onboard, 

then out with the cards, 

in the evening a special treat, it was nearly Diana's birthday, 

so a meal in the Ocean Grill,

lobster for Diana,

a steak for myself,

birthday girl,

it all looked and was delicious,

on to deserts,

with a 'Cheers!',

finishing with a coffee, after which a show and a nightcap before we were off to bed, back to the UK after dropping Diana off at work, I called into Marks & Spencer's for a few bits and pieces, before driving home, next a day in the back garden,

 before my evening read and sherry,

for this evening a cold half of a chicken, the foxes will have a few bits and pieces of left overs tomorrow, 'Cheers!', after the usual Outback Opal Hunters I decided on a film, 

Rampage, a sci-fi, from the blurb:

'When three different animals become infected with a dangerous pathogen, a primatologist and a geneticist team up to stop them from destroying Chicago',  

a good fun, action, (most of the time), easy to watch monster flic, as it ended Diana arrived home so a coffee and a chat about our plans for tomorrow, after which we were off to bed.