Hill 99

So this is insanely out of date but I have just catching up now my mac is fixed and I have access to my photos again.

One  of the best days we had on our September trip was to Hill ((. We went previously but epically failed to find the correct path. So had to go back a second time.

The second time we were better prepared and found the right path. Hill 99 is an area where local grass was removed causing an erosion of the whole area. The sand dunes were disappearing. So after years of trial and error they found trees which managed to save the sand dunes. As an unforeseen consequence they created a forest of moss.

No one planets the moss. Or know how it grew. But the whole area was a wonderful carpet of moss and algae over the whole area. 

Half way through there is a hill top 'fort', a construction showing off the whole area. 

Not actually sure what is going on here.

My photos don't do it justice. It is one of the most amazing beautiful places I have been in a long time. The closest like place is in Japan. 

 

Dudmaston

One of the days we went to Dudmaston Hall and had a walk around the grounds. (I'll have to go back another time to see the house.)

The woods are amazing and worth a visit. The trees are huge.

We walked the long way round and stopped and had a picnic at the side of the river furthest from the house. It was beautifully quiet and we sat and watched the ducks and dragon flies. 

Picnic! 

Week at home

Over the August bank holiday week, I went home. Mom retired on the Friday before the bank holiday so we celebrated. 

During the week, the weather was nice so one of the days we went for a walk over highgate common, through the woods.

We got a little lost at one point but finally found the car park. On the way home Dad and I convinced mom to stop at the Vineyards for lunch and a glass of wine. I forgot to take any photos but we enjoyed some very tasty sharing plates in the sun with a bottle of white. 

Mid week we went to a spa for the day and then a few days later a picnic by the river.

We need up having to take shelter a few times when the rain started but it was still nice.

Mom and I also went shopping and I treated her to lunch as payment for waiting with me while I got a new phone. It was a lot more complicated than I expected and took a lot longer. (Part of the reason it took so long to get the photos downloaded.)

Quarr Abbey and home

On the last day of my holiday, I got the ferry at 1pm so had a few hours in the morning to kill. Quarr Abbey was near the ferry terminal. I am not a fan of monks but the area was nice. They have a lot of pigs, a nice walk in the woods and a tea rooms.

The new abbey

Walk in the woods

The ferry on the way back was delayed a little. We left a few minutes early to try to beat a destroyer across the channel. We failed. The channel between the island and mainland is actually controlled by the Navy so if a destroyer comes along, the channel shuts until it is finished.

The trip back was easy, sailing through.
On Wednesday I was supposed to get a new fridge. My landlord ordered the wrong one. I finally got one today, only to be informed that the fridge was probably fine (once they had installed the new one and trashed the old). The issue is the electrics. Which are dodgy and built into the wall. Woohoo! So my fridge is plugged in across the kitchen and I am left praying it doesn't spark and burn the place down. I love renting. :(

West Virginia

I ended up getting up earlier than I wanted Sunday morning (thanks to very thin curtains and a 5.30am dawn) and I was not happy about it. The amount of wine the night before didn't help. And my legs hurt. A lot.

After breakfast at the hotel, I started the drive to Blackwater creek falls in West Virginia. I wanted to see the falls as I have seen so many amazing photos of it. The drive was longer than I expected (~2.5 hrs) so I amused myself by singing to the radio (well iPod), often in funny voices. Because I could!

The drive all day Sunday was interesting. My GPS/SatNav had a mood on and took me some interesting routes. Lots of sharp 180 degree turns, usually after the rise of a hill to keep you on your toes. I think I scared the shell off a tortoise out on his Sunday morning constitutional. He was in the middle of the road thankfully so I managed to passed over him without harming him. (I might have been imagining the "WTF?" look on his face but I doubt it.) I saw very few cars for most of the trip which was a good job as I have no idea how 2 cars would pass on those roads. Someone would have to reverse for quite some distance.

I don't think I killed anything on the trip! :-) Bar some bugs and a few butterflies. Though it was a close called with the baby bunny. Luckily he/she ran the other way.

The weather was not as nice on Sunday. Another factor making the drive more interesting. When you can't see in front of you, no matter how fast the wipers are going, there are random detours, and in one case a jeep reversing towards me on the highway (thankfully in a detoured area so I was going slow enough), well, all in all, I was happy to get there.

Bug!

The main waterfall is at the end of a short set of stairs (though given how badly my legs hurt, they didn't feel very short at the time).

Nearly there. 

Blackwater Creek falls

View from the lowest viewing platform

Other side of the creek

I have to say it looked nothing like the photos I have seen but I think they were from creek level, which the average person can't get down too.
Of course there were lots of people taking selfies. So I thought I would give it a shot. (Don't know why I bother!)

Best Selfie attempt

The original plan was to do a few walks in the area but my legs hurt too much and the weather was not good, with frequent and heavy showers in between sun. However I did find a short 0.25 mi trail to Elakala falls and had the place to myself. Sadly the bridge goes across the top of the falls and there isn't really a good place to view it. Still it was nice to sit and relax, listening to the water.

From the bridge above Elakala falls

water

I did hike a bit around the trail and found an ok view. But the ground was soaked and it looked like they have had a lot of the woodland falling into the creek so I didn't want to go near enough to the edge to get a better photo.

Best view of Elakala falls (without risking death)

After the hike, I ended up at the park lodge, which was empty, for lunch before starting the drive back.

Last view in the park

After about an hour, I decided to break up the drive and as I was only likely to be out here this once, go to the Green Bank National Radio Observatory. Thankfully it wasn't too far out of the way. And stayed open late. They had a small display section which I wondered around until the tour started.

In Infra-red

Heat hand print

Radnom galaxy art

I wish all mirrors made me look like this!

 The tour consisted of a video and short talk. There were a couple of others which was good as I didn't have any questions to ask. Then we went to see the telescopes. They have about 8. You can only take photos outside the limits, but the bus did drive around all the telescopes. They were a lot bigger than I expected (given that it is West Virginia).

The main Green Bank Telescope

After finding my lost car keys (one of those days) and getting a very large coffee, I headed home. At this point, the GPS/SatNav decided it wanted me dead.
I couldn't convince it to take me on the interstate (a fact I only realized when I had no clue where exactly I was so at its mercy). Instead it was small country roads all the way. Which was fine. Until the County Highway. I was happy to hear the name, until I saw the road. It might have been a highway in the 1800s but little had changed since then. Think: gravel and mud road (using the name road loosely), 180 degree bends often up or down hill on 45 degree slopes, random cabins with a LOT of "no trespassing" and "Mind the guard dog" signs (I am guessing more than a few meth labs). Oh, and the occasional torrential downpour, making the road even more fun to drive. My back end slide out a few times trying to get up a 180 degree uphill bend. I would have taken photos but I was to busy trying to stay on the road.

So I was a little tense by the time I got home at 8pm. But I lived. And I did say I wanted some adventure. But it might be time to wipe the GPS and start again. (I threatened it which such and it didn't listen so I may have to follow through with the threat.)

Over the 36 hours I was away, I drove over 400 miles. Quite impressive I think for my last Virginia?US road trip! (At least for a while.) :-)