Tag Archives: Nikon D2Xs

Transatlantic Sunset Tour: Day 17 ~ Gibralter

Click Gibraltar Logo to begin the Transatlantic cruise

Sarah on top of Gibraltar rock waving her arms in the air and welcome to Gibraltar

⇧ Sarah welcomes you to Gibraltar! ⇧

After 2 days at sea, and finding out(by our new friends who met us for evening meals at Orion Restaurant)  that on the excursion to the “Rock of Gibraltar” requires that we get a cable car to the top on the cliff! Wow…i love cable cars! It reminded me of the cable cars Sarah & i travelled on at “The Heights of Abraham” day trip.a couple of years ago! 🙂 

So leaving the ship i was extra excited to travel on cable cars in Gibraltar! We found the coach that would take us to the beginning of the rock and got on-board. 

The excursion guides so far have been amazing, and really proud of their country! So happy to share everything and anything about the local history and culture, always creating laughter and a friendly relaxed atmosphere. So when this guide stepped on-board complaining  and quite angry we were quite taken aback! After complaint about everything she showed us, we pulled up at the bottom of the rock and waited for the cable cars.

Just a quick side note…As i’m registered blind(i know most of you will know this already) and don’t see people, just hear them. Whenever i’m out sat in a cafe, restaurant, at church or just around town, i often like to play one of my fave games using my ATS(accent targeting system). I love accents, and i like to try and locate their original area?! 🙂 Also its my only way of knowing who’s around me, and i’ve now trained myself so i can listen to 3 conversations at once! lol This can be good and bad depending. 🙂 Anyway enough rambling! 

When i got near the guide i asked her where she was from originally? “Derby” she said! “No way, a Derby bird, i’m from Derby too. It’s crazy that we’d meet here in Gibraltar”. It makes sense now. lol. It’s sometimes hard to pin down a accent that’s the same as your own, but i’m getting better.

After fantastic views from the cable cars, we finally reached the top of The Rock of Gibraltar! 🙂  

Looking down over the bay of Gibraltar with the Thomson Dream in the distance

Looking down over the bay of Gibraltar with the Thomson Dream in the distance

My Lovely Wife Sarah

After taking shots of my beautiful wife Sarah(which i could do all day) the guide warned us about the monkeys  that would steal anything and everything that wasn’t in your bag or not in the right place. By this i mean sunglasses on your head instead of over your eyes. The guide told us of one woman who had put her brand new £200 Rayban sunglasses on her head to take a photo, had them quickly snatched by a monkey and were never seen again! 😦

Me and Sarah stood on top of the rock of Gibraltar in the hot sunshine with the sea behind us

A kind person asked if Sarah & i would like a photo together? I said that would be lovely, thank you. But i think my face is wondering if the man was going to run off with my Big Nikon! lol. 🙂  

Sarah and the Rock of Gibraltar

The Rock of Gibraltar

The guide said we had about an hour free time before we all have to meet back together, so Sarah got her iPhone out ready to take one of her amazing Panoramas! 

Photo of Sarah taking a Panorama of Gibraltar rock

Not 1…but 2 of Sarah’s Breathtaking Panoramas!!! 🙂 

A panorama of Gibraltar rock

Sarah's second panorama of Gibraltar rock

It had been a fantastic day already and the views were simply stunning from up here. We now had to find one  of those monkeys to try and get a photo before we go.  

Sarah taking a video of one of the monkeys at the top of Gibraltar

⇧ Sarah videoing one of the monkeys ⇧  

Photo of a monkey sat on a railing fence looking out ove the bay of Gibraltar

After nipping into the gift shop to get a couple of presents we started heading back towards the cable cars.

We were just near the steps(walking 2 by 2 when we heard a loud “Oi!!” by the woman behind us, followed by a quiet couple of seconds, then lots of laughter??! We stopped and turned round to find out one of the monkeys had touched/stroked the ladies leg near her bum, and she thought it was the man behind her. But after the mix up they all started laughing! 🙂

Travelling back to the ship after more complaining by the excursion guide (mainly about her many ex husbands) we had time to take a few photos from the deck before Thomson Dream sailed overnight to Alicante…our last port before we head to Palma, Majorca for our flight home 😦

Gibraltar 1

Gibraltar Sepia

Sarah & i had a fantastic time in Gibraltar and it was great to have a guide from my home town to share her great accent with us.

Creating these blog posts documenting each day of our trip has been such a blessing for Sarah & i, especially knowing that you’ve been right here with us along the way! 🙂  They leave us with such lovely memories every time we read back through them.

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Transatlantic Sunset Tour: Day 6 ~ Basseterre, St Kitts

St Kitts logo

Our excursion today “St Kitts Scenic Railway” didn’t start until 11am, so we had a more relaxed breakfast at Lido’s on Deck 9. Then another lovely coffee at the Coffee Port on Deck 8. Now we had sustenance, it was down to Deck 4 and off the ship to enjoy what today had in store for us?! 🙂    

Welcome to St Kitts… 

Once an illustrious sugar colony, it now focusses its efforts on being a tropical paradise. A seductive blend of blonde sandss, and duck egg blue seas. 

Once we slowly navigated down the gangway steps, we looked up to see a view of the beautiful bay. 

The Caribbean never failed to surprise us, even when we thought we had seen the most beautiful places, the next place would leave us awe-struck with it’s breathtaking landscapes! 

A panorama taken from the dock pier overlooking the amazing span of volcano hills with the vivid blu sea in front

⇧ Sarah’s Panorama of St Kitts ⇧

 

As i was taking a photo of Sarah, a nice lady came over and asked if we would like her to take one of us both together? “Oh yes please, that would be so kind of you”. The photo she took is probably my fave photo of the trip! 🙂 

Me on the left in my bright orange shirt hugging Sarah on the right with the beautiful panorama of volcanic hills and blue sea behind us

⇧ Sarah & i at St Kitts ⇧

Showing my excitement, and love for the Caribbean. Sarah chose(and bought) me an amazingly bright and colourful Caribbean shirt, 🙂

Excursion Details – St Kitts Scenic Railway…

First up, board a tour bus for a drive along the south coast. Important landmarks lie around every corner here.

Second, hop on a train at the “Needs-Must” station, and St Kitts light railway takes you on a 3 hour tour of the islands best bits. You’ll chug over ravines over 300 feet deep, circle mount Liamuga volcano, take a sneak peak at the islands black sand beaches, and soak up the jaw dropping views over lush sugar cain fields,

The Bus…

Another soothing air conditioned bus ride. Our tour guide was fantastic, and told us all about the Economy, history(some grusome battles), and the monkeys! She said “Around 100,000 monkeys live in the tree covered hills, and they steal our fruit etc. So if you want to take one with you, it will help us greatly!”.

View from the bus at St Kitts

⇧ A view from the bus window ⇧ 

The Train…

We got off the bus at the “Needs-Must” station. The hot sun felt lovely as we waited for the train. We had no idea what to expect, and looking at the small narrow train tracks, we expected a little open top fun train, or something like. 

Then…this large double decker monster pulled up. “Wow, i didn’t expect that! It’s really tall, and doesn’t look wide enough to take the height”. I said as we climbed the stairs to the upper deck of the 1st carriage. “Yes! We get to sit at the front too! Unbelievable”.

As the train pulled away, the tour guide told us that the train will sway(strongly) side to side, so it’s best to stay seated, but if you want to stand then keep hold of the rail above the seats. She wasn’t joking!! It was the craziest train i’d ever been on, and i thought there is no way i can take photos whilst being violently thrown around! 

But…as usual, i didn’t let that stop me! My Nikkor lens has VR(Vibration Reduction) on it, so i’ll test it out. I really didn’t expect to have any photos from this amazing, unforgettable train ride, but was surprised when a few turned out not too blurry!  

We started off travelling through vivid green fields flanked by volcanos.

St Kitts 1

St Kitts 2

Then just as a lady asked us if we wanted a “Pina Colada”, we saw the first of many beautiful curved bays, with the sea crashing into the shore.

St Kitts 3

Sarah & i just kept saying “Wow, this is Amazing! How did we get here, it’s like a dream”. The beautiful hot sun shining down, a lovely cool breeze flowing through the train, and a Pina Colada in hand. Some of my fave things are Coconut, Banana and Pineapple, and this drink had them all! Mmmmm. 🙂  

St Kitts Train

Then as the train curled its way through the lush landscape, a 3 part harmony choir started singing. The ladies would come up to our deck and sing some beautiful songs as part of the trip. The voices were fantastic, and brought even more sunshine to this incredible journey. 🙂 

As the singers finished, we heard a horn next to us, so we all started waving at the people on the fun bus! 🙂 

St Kitts Bus

We were then treated to another stunning bay!

St Kitts 7

St Kitts 6

St Kitts 5

St Kitts 4

After passing through more sugarcane fields, the lady brought us a piece of sugarcane with spices. Wow, it was the nicest sweet thing i’d ever tasted! I always talk about this sugarcane everywhere i go.

Sarah St Kitts Train

⇧ Sarah sat at the front of the train! ⇧  

St Kitts Volcano

The tour guide then said “On your left you will make out the bridge we will be travelling over shortly”. I heard Sarah say “No way, the train isn’t going to make it over that, it looks too small and rickety. Steve, if you could see it, you’d be saying the same!!”. 

Train Bridge 1

Train bridge 2

Yes i would! After seeing this photo, i could tell exactly why Sarah was getting worried! 🙂

After the bridge, we travelled back towards the end of the journey. But not before we were blessed, by what is now my favourite church building.

St Kitts Church

This fantastic train ride came to an end back at “Needs-Must” station, where the bus was ready to take us back to the ship. But before we boarded, we still had a short time to look around the shops at the dock.

I bought another Caribbean shirt(blue one) so i could keep up with the vibrant colours surrounding us from all angles! Sarah even plaited my hair too! 🙂     

My Platt  Blue Caribbean Shirt

⇧ My quiet blue shirt ⇧ 

 Tomorrow will be our last Caribbean island, before we are at sea for 5 days crossing the atlantic for the Azores. 

We’ve booked a horse ride across the beach etc, so i’m a little nervous. But at least the horse isn’t blind(i hope) and will lead the way! Either way, i’m sure it’ll be another unforgettable experience! This holiday has been full of them! 🙂 

 Our Route 4 2day…

This evening Thomson Dream travels to St Johns, Antigua. We’ll arrive tomorrow morning having travelled 61 nautical miles, at an average speed of 4 knots.

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Our Friends “The Wigley Family”

On Saturday (day #1 on our 3 day trip) Sarah & i met up with our friends Rob, Shelley, Abbie, Ella & Georgia, and we went to Darley Park in Derby to take some photos! It was a lovely sunny day and we all had lots of fun!! 🙂

Ella sat in a tree

⇧ Ella playing in a tree ⇧

Georgia  the stick

⇧ Georgia fascinated with a stick ⇧ 

Ella stood with a flower in front of a huge bush of flowers!

⇧ Ella found the flowers! ⇧

Georgia Flwers

⇧ I love Georgia’s hair! ⇧ 

Ella  Georgia picking flowers

Ella & Georgia picking flowers and making chains ⇧ 

Rob  Georgia

⇧ Georgia with Rob ⇧

Shelley sat on the bench

⇧ Shelley ⇧

Shelley  Abbie

⇧ Shelley & Abbie ⇧

Calm Like A Bomb!

A bowl of the Chick pea salad with a wooden guitar spoon

My lovely wife Sarah has just cooked and tried out the “Chick Pea, Potato & Spinach salad” (with Chilli Turbo) for RNIB’s magazine diabetic recipe section. They wanted me to take the photos for the magazine. They didn’t use this particular photo (my fave)  as they didn’t like my sick wooden guitar spoon!  It tasted great and i’d definitely have it again, but was almost too spicy as it nearly blew my head off! I would rename it “Calm like a bomb”!!! 😀

Work, Rest & Play! :)

Chessington World Of Adventures

This week i finally got to drive again after 14 years!! (see image of the custom car below)

Me driving a custom hotrod

Ben & i took Vini and 5 of his friends to Chessington world of adventures for his early birthday present. We all had a fantastic time going on rides, eating doughnuts and meeting the animals at the zoo.

picture of me & Vini chatting and laughing!

⇧ Me & Vini ⇧ 

Me kneeling down next to a little goat

⇧ Me with a new friend ⇧

Me at the top of the log flume

⇧ Me at the top of the log flume ready for the big drop! ⇧ 

Vini  Bruno on the log flume

⇧ Vini & Bruno on the log flume ⇧

Baby Gorilla

⇧ A baby Gorilla ⇧

Tiger

⇧ Tiger ⇧ 

Sea Lion

⇧ Sea Lion ⇧ 

Goat

⇧ Goat ⇧

Cisswood House, Horsham RNIB Supporter Reception 

RNIB Horsham Reception

⇧ Cisswood House ⇧ 

I once again pretended to be a photographer and went with Sarah to Cisswood House in Horsham to a supporter reception to interview some inspiring people. The day was fantastic and we met some truly amazing people who are simply inspiring, and also heard about some of the great services provided by RNIB

Relaxing At Sicily Restaurant 

Me relaxing with a refreshing drink in Sicily restaurant garden

⇧ Me relaxing with a summertime special drink ⇧ 

Sarah relaxing in the garden of Sicily restaurant

⇧ Sarah also relaxing with my drink! lol. Only noticed it was my drink after zooming in on this photo! 🙂 ⇧

You’ll Never Believe This…. (Part 2)

Me taking a photo with sony

After all of your lovely comments and encouragements (more than i could reply too) i thought i would keep you up to date with a second post. 

My photography received a warm response and they have asked if i would like to be apart of another exhibition in Estonia 2015 (Yay!!) Also they would like me to do a video interview (maybe next month) trying to explain how i go about taking my photos etc.. This will be really interesting for me too as i really don’t speak much, i much prefer to listen, and i also don’t really know how i manage to get most of my shots! Lol! 🙂

More Exhibition Dates:

The exhibition ART SENSES 2013, dedicated to blind and visually impaired people, starts in Ancona 4th April 2014, and then Tuscany, region in Italy, on October 26th in Massa Marittima, and it ended in Grosseto on December 3rd, with a conference on the occasion of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities

For the final exhibition in Florence, Italy in December, i’ll be sending them 6 mounted & framed images and we’ll be actually going to visit the exhibition and meet the people etc at the museum. As you can imagine i’m really excited! 🙂

Anyway i’ll keep you up to date with anything else that may be of interest to you regarding my photography. Thanks again for all of your encouragements. I’m so blessed to have such fantastic group of friends on here! 🙂

See also: You’ll Never Believe This…..

Daily Prompt: Fly on the Wall

Photographers, artists, poets: show us SNEAKY

📖 Verse 4 2day 

Proverbs 5:21 (NIVUK)
For your ways are in full view of the Lord,
and he examines all your paths.

This daily prompt instantly reminded me of how alert Bruce used to be. If you tried to sneak anywhere, as soon as you look up, he is stood watching you! 😀

Sarah also sneaks photos of me and my camera too!

Bruce Sneaky

⇧ Bruce catching me sneaking up the stairs! 

Me taking a photo with my Nikon

⇧ And I thought I was the one taking the photos! ⇧

RNIB Supporter Receptions

Ageas Bowl panoramic

Yesterday Sarah & I attended an RNIB supporter Reception at the Ageas Bowl in Hedge End. (image above taken using the panorama option on my iPhone 4s)

As part of Sarah’s work as a legacy marketing officer at RNIB and editor of Outlook Magazine, she gets the chance to attend some of RNIB’s supporter receptions, held all across the UK at some amazing locations. She interviews people, finds case studies and learns more about the ever changing new technologies and services that RNIB provides to help transform the lives of blind and partially sighted people and offer them a brighter future to look forwards to. On a personal level we also like to speak with the people to inspire them and more importantly, for me, break their misconceptions of what a blind person should look and act like. (as a blind photographer I often inspire a range of questions which I am happy to answer)Sarah interviewing

Portrait of one of the lovely ladies who help support RNIB and Action for blind people

Portrait of one of the supporters Sarah interviewed

Candy enjoying helping and chatting to James

Sat listening to the speakers

One of my memorable moments was when John walked to the front and said:

Today and everyday  in the Uk alone 100 people will be told by specialists that they will lose or have lost their sight and there is nothing that can be done. Yet 80% of those 100 people could have avoided it, see Spot The Signs

The reception ended with this moving video.

It was a great day and we always learn so much, meet some lovely people and leave feeling well informed on all of the amazing services and work that go on behind the scenes to help blind and partially sighted people have a brighter future!

Related Links:

Brooklands Museum

 

Brooklands Motor Museum

Brooklands 1

Brooklands 2

Brooklands 3

Concorde

 

Description

Shots taken during a day trip to Brooklands Museum.

Brooklands Museum Trust Ltd operates the independent Brooklands Museum as a charitable trust and a private limited company incorporated on 12 March 1987; its aim is to conserve, protect and interpret the unique heritage of the Brooklands site.

The museum is located south of WeybridgeSurrey and was first opened regularly in 1991 on 30 acres (120,000 m2) of the original 1907 motor-racing circuit. It includes four Listed buildings: the 1907 Brooklands Automobile Racing Club Clubhouse and Members’ Hill Restaurant buildings, the 1911 Flight Ticket Office and a 1940 Bellman aircraft hangar. Surviving sections of the 1937 Campbell Circuit, the 1907 Finishing Straight and Members’ Banking (the steepest section of the former racing circuit), the 1909 Test Hill and a WW2 ‘Bofors‘ gun tower are all important parts of the Brooklands Scheduled Monument which was extended in 2002. The entire Brooklands site having been designated a Conservation Area by Surrey County Council in 1989. The Brooklands Trust Members,[1] formed in 2008 after the Friends of Brooklands Museum and Brooklands Club amalgamated, and is the official supporters’ organisation for the Museum….read more….

 

Camera usedNikon D2Xs

 

 

[edit]

Marshall

A framed black and white portrait of Marshall

Description

Meet Marshall, one of my brother-in-laws.

The photo effect is from a new Mac app I am experimenting with at the moment so please be patient with me! I am trying to do more black and white photos as I really struggle with colours as i’m also colour blind.

I am really enjoying creating life from my old images though! 😀

Camera usedNikon D2Xs

Related posts:

The Old Hunstanton Lighthouse

The Old Hunstanton Lighthouse TIF

 Description

This photo of “The Old Hunstanton Lighthouse” is taken with “St Edmunds Mount” on the left and the “Garden of Rest” pictured below the lighthouse. It’s a lovely place to stop and take in the panoramic sea views, a beautiful part of the world.

 Camera usedNikon D2Xs


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