Hello all
Some days are glorious and today was one of those days. The sun shone from the start till the end of my walk. I returned to Noss Mayo with the help my friend from Ermington who is also a Rob. Rob collected me from Bigbury (parking £12 a day - I found a free parking spot) and dropped me down the coast at Noss. When I was in Noss on Sunday the weather was dull, but today was a different story.
Lot's of photos follow. I just couldn't stop taking them!
Rob had told me that the walk around the point and along to the Erme Estuary was a good one and he wasn't wrong. It was a gentle walk along the cliff top with a few climbs and descents towards the end and the scenery was stunning.
One unusual thing that I saw was a group of about seven cows chasing a fox across a field. I was really glad that I happened to glance into the field at just the right time to see this amazing event. I wonder how many other unusual things happen as we walk through life, but are not lucky enough to look at the right time. Who knows?
When I see an unusual thing I sometimes think of my days as a child with my I-Spy book. In the book you had a list of things that you may see as you pass through your day and each thing is scored depending on how unlikely they are to be seen. (1 point for a zebra crossing, 20 points for a tandem.) The idea was to tick off the things you saw and try and get some of the rarer ones to build up your score.
So, when I see something like a fox being chased by a group of cows I say to myself - "I wonder how many I-Spy points I'll get for that".
I remember that the I-Spy books were written by someone called Big Chief I-Spy.
Some days are glorious and today was one of those days. The sun shone from the start till the end of my walk. I returned to Noss Mayo with the help my friend from Ermington who is also a Rob. Rob collected me from Bigbury (parking £12 a day - I found a free parking spot) and dropped me down the coast at Noss. When I was in Noss on Sunday the weather was dull, but today was a different story.
Lot's of photos follow. I just couldn't stop taking them!
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| Newton Ferrers |
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| The channel through to the sea. |
One unusual thing that I saw was a group of about seven cows chasing a fox across a field. I was really glad that I happened to glance into the field at just the right time to see this amazing event. I wonder how many other unusual things happen as we walk through life, but are not lucky enough to look at the right time. Who knows?
When I see an unusual thing I sometimes think of my days as a child with my I-Spy book. In the book you had a list of things that you may see as you pass through your day and each thing is scored depending on how unlikely they are to be seen. (1 point for a zebra crossing, 20 points for a tandem.) The idea was to tick off the things you saw and try and get some of the rarer ones to build up your score.
So, when I see something like a fox being chased by a group of cows I say to myself - "I wonder how many I-Spy points I'll get for that".
I remember that the I-Spy books were written by someone called Big Chief I-Spy.
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There were some interesting plants growing in the dry stone outcrops along the way. I've seen a lot of these two plants all along the Coast Path, but these were particularly nice ones. So guess what? I took a photograph of them.
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| A Sedum of some kind |
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| I really have no idea what this is, but I like it! |
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Burgh Island is a constant presence on the second half of the walk and as I got closer it became clearer.
It's no wonder that Burgh Island has been used in various film and television settings. It is quite a unique place with it's sand approach and tractor ferry for high tide.
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On Sunday, as I sat in a cafe with Helen and Liz, we had a conversation about tattoos. And I was thinking about our conversation today as I walked along. I was remembering a funny and true story that I heard on the radio many years ago. Suddenly I spotted a flower growing on the edge of the path that was connected with this story. So I decided, there and then, that I would tell the story in this blog.
But first the picture of the flower.
This is the story -
A Scotsman who was on a trip to the West Indies had heard of the extremely brilliant skill of the local tattoo artists in French Guiana. As he was visiting that country for a few days he decided to have a tattoo which he had always craved but could not previously afford.
He selected a very well known artist and explained to him what he wanted. The Scotsman was concerned that the language difference could cause problems with the explanation, so was as careful as he could be whilst instructing the man.
"What I want is a tattoo going right in the middle of my back, and it needs to fill the whole of the area between my shoulders".
It was clear that the artist understood, what with all the pointing that the Scotsman was doing.
"I would like "SCOTLAND" across the top, and "THE BRAVE" across the bottom, and in the middle I want a thistle"
He said it another way so that it was clear, "So that's a thistle with SCOTLAND on top and THE BRAVE underneath."
"Yes, yes I understand, but what is thistle?" and he gave the Scotsman a piece of paper and a pencil. "You draw?" he said
"I'm not much good at drawing, but I'll give it a try".
An attempt to draw a thistle was made and it was clearly good enough because the artist said that he now knew what it was.
The tattooing began. It took a long time because it was a very large piece if work.
When it was finished the tattooist was extremely pleased with his work. The Scotsman left the studio and went back to his hotel.
I'm not sure how many days later, but the tattoo was ready for the Scotsman to have a look at it. He was rather nervous about the chances of a spelling mistake. He removed the dressing and positioned himself in front of the mirror.
And there covering the whole of his back were the words (mirrored in reverse) SCOTLAND THE BRAVE.
And in the middle was an enormous pineapple.
Take it easy.
Rob
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