The 11th of November is Rememberance Day in the UK when we remember those who have died in conflicts and we started our walk in Croydon at the Fairfield Halls. Hence the pictures of soldiers and Jac all dressed in black sporting her poppy. From there we set out on a bitter autumn day into the High Street of Croydon and bumped into a violinist and a balloon seller. From there we set off down a few back alleys and found ourselves in parts of Croydon we had never walked before: mission accomplished. At least one of the strange group outside the knitting shop was starting to complain that she was wearing the wrong boots. We found the interesting set of numbers on a huge plumb bob outside the Land Registry Office marking the lattitude etc. Animals were very scarce today so we had to make do with the poster.
The instruction to sit down for a rest was the best bit. We went into House of Frazer for filet steak, langoustines and string fries.
We hope everyone enjoyed the walk and maybe we can all do it again one day.
Neil
ps When Shirley got home she found she had been burgled - credit cards, mobile phone and her camera.
Intrigued by the cheating clause and rule bending, we set off on our bikes to our chosen start point, the Peace Pagoda in the centre of Brisbane. Zena immediately set about terrorising the tourists so we were forced to move on through the rain forest before an elderly lady decided to attack her with an umbrella. Left took us over the river, and then on through the botanical gardens. Searching for the next right took us on a human slalom along the river board walk, until we were able to traverse back for the right turn over the historical Story Bridge. After hiding out from the short tropical storm, we found our junction with 2 crosses, just to make sure. A left, and a law breaking right as we headed off down a one way the wrong way. The mighty Gabba was strangely quiet, guess the Australian / Sri Lanka test match wasn’t going that well – very unusual.. With a bit of luck, we were soon passed by a very quiet, and very sober crowd of supporters draped in flags and paint, another tick on the page. With the clouds threatening to again mock the Queensland drought, we started to head in the direction of home – to find a stunning dragon showing off next to the Ibis we had stopped to chase. With a pass by the fantastic Brisbane Art Centre to admire the architecture, our journey turned homeward again, with a search for snakes and other wonderful Australian creepy crawlies in the bush trails through the suburbs. (a favourite Jeremy pastime, until he gets bitten one could assume)
Thanks Neil!
Hi Neil,
Well, my photographs are attached.
I was spending the week-end with my Dad. He went off to his memorial service and I started my journey home. I thought I would start my walk in Calla Beach (that’s where Dad lives) but there weren’t enough streets and anyway, you just keep ending up in the ocean!
So….. I decided to start on my way home and see where I ended up.
I love driving around the bends through Kiama – the hills roll down to the sea and it was such a beautiful day it was the logical place for our syncronized walk! So here it is…..
- I drove to the famous ‘Blow Hole’ but sadly couldn’t seem to take a photo when the water came shooting through the hole!
- First left and I saw the local post office – don’t you love that colour !
- First right – local council chambers – time warp!
- When I turned the corner, the only cross was the telegraph pole! Who’d have thought it could mean anything else ?
- Something unusual…. Not really but I liked the mix of ole and new architecture – could have done better with the camera though – you can hardly see the original station house on the right.
- Ok – something interesting that’s moving….. well I waited and waited but nothing was hitting me then I saw the ‘happy cow’. Well it does have wheels so it must move sometimes !
- I didn’t have to wander to fine this fellow – he was following me !
- Loved sitting in this wonderful park looking out over the ocean – it was beautiful and quiet……
- On my way back to the car I saw the lighthouse! Not really unusual in a seaside town I guess but…..
- Well, it was 11 November so I thought it would be good to think about the lives lost on the same day so long ago on the other side of the world……
Hello to everyone
Love and kisses
Janet
Welcome to Javea, Spain, on this delightful sunny morning. Before we embark, check instructions - OK, check orientation - OK , check camera - bugger battery flat, but we proceed regardless. We do the lefts & rights and end up at our first point of reference - a cross - nothing, so applying poetic license we agree that the cross roads we are standing at are our only choice.
Onwards and upwards to find something unusual, now I'm thinking it's a great pity we didn't do this yesterday when we did see a spaceship with spiky haired aliens but not a sight of it today. Nevertheless we do encounter a bit of graffiti written on a wall, Porno Cine, with an arrow pointing left ( I bet those aliens did it - certainly wasn't up to Banksy's standard). Unfortunately our instructions told us to turn right at this point.
Well we have now arrived at a place where we stand and watch for something both interesting and is moving. There is this 21 year girl walking up the road but I suppose that really is not in the spirit of this trek. However Barbara points to the road where a stream of water is moving out of near by garden and at one point containing an inverted dead beetle and he too was moving so we therefore agreed that will have to do and moved on.
Now given carte blanche to wander off in any direction one would have thought easy particularly if looking for an animal here in Spain. Well it was Sunday and relatively early which could have explained the complete absence of anything and I am now considering whether I should go back and fish out the dead beetle when Barbara again saves the day by drawing my attention to a kiddies playground and there stuck up on a spring was our salvation - a wooden horse - thanks again for poetic license. The kiddies playground also provided the opportunity to sit and ponder our epic undertaking whilst deciding where next to head to complete the event. So we decided to head for the Port where the architecturally attractive fisherman's church is situated and purchase a post card of the building which we hopefully have reproduced here together with one of the only animal seen that morning. On the way home we encountered a large group of Spaniards consisting of young and old dressed in their very best Sunday best on their way to the church with whom we exchanged greetings. Thus we ended our trek, a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Barbara & Howard Aylett
The two of us choose Devonport, Auckland because we have our eye on a particular café to which we’ll retire and concoct a likely story after the walk.
Only trouble is, you’re bound to find the sea at any turn – and we do.
“Left turn” proves tricky – do we launch the beached swimmers’ pontoon? Or the kayaks? Rangitoto beckons insistently. But no, we trudge on along the beach to North Head, spying our “cross” on a flag along the way. Not quite the ecclesiastical one we’d expected on Sunday.
“Right turn” takes us up the steep steps from the beach onto North Head, where Erin just HAS to take a potshot at Rangitoto with her handy cannon.
Once off the headland we find a quirky garden in which the residents have planted their garden “sculpture” – the rear-end of a digging dog, the forequarters of which are presumably down a hole. The real live dog who lives there, and who is too much of a princess to get dirty, lolls in a planter, with a plaster seagull for company.
Well, the streets of residential Devonport are devoid of eye-catching, moving “interest” but we wander onto a dock in search of some yarn-spinning fishermen who will lie to us about “the one that got away”. No lie, they all got away, so we sit a while and wait for them to come back. We admire the juxtaposition of old architecture and new in Torpedo Bay.
We accept there will be no fish for dinner tonight, so load up on fresh produce from the farmers’ market at the ferry terminal. Coffee is calling urgently by now, and not even a team of horses pulling a wagonload of tourists can catch us as we bolt for that caffeine fix. A couple of lattes later we head for home, with a new appreciation of Devonport.
Robin Gamble & Erin Bannister
Sister Janne and I had just completed a 160 kilometre push bike challenge in the beautiful Nelson Lakes district, and it was surprisingly painless the next day to start our NeilWalk in Nelson Township. Janne started at the Nelson Catholic Cathedral that dominates the view, while I started at a mark that says it is the very centre of New Zealand. We rode our bikes throughout.
My story is thus We did the lefts and rights, and I came across a strange bit of art in a back alley- five phallic stainless thingys stuck erect in a car park. Finding a cross was easy, for there were EXPORT Gold beer signs, crosses on buildings, street pedestrian crossings, and the like.
A hairy haired alien or similar was also easy- I found two gorgeous young nubile creatures obviously from another planet.
I missed a lovely old vintage car but came across a kissing couple. They only qualified as moving objects when they came up for air.
For architecture I thought the old turn of the century building housing School of Fisheries was perfect. Who ever knew that fish were actually taught to swim (I didn’t)
For an animal I had Harvey come waddling into my life, a genial very placid old Labrador dog
I finally I did find somewhere to stop, rest and think- a beautiful Japanese tea garden complete with tea house. Inside was a stone on the seat. I thought about it carefully and it was meant to be an everlasting momento of the good day doing this trail.
Brian and I had a lot of fun on 11th Nov, riding our bikes around Nelson doing the Neilwalk.
I started from the beautiful cathedral, which has a great cross on it’s roof, went left and right as instructions, found a piece of modern art in the main street, symbolism impossible to fathom, found a over friendly dog which kept wanting to sniff bits he shouldn’t, then found a stiletto shoe abandoned outside a used car yard, the whereabouts of the rest of the owner unknown.
At a brewery was a beautiful full size windmill, with sails gently turning.
The best moving object was me pedalling through the park by the river – not a lot happens in Nelson on a Sunday!
Ken and Jan’s adventure took place in the Far North of New Zealand which is predominantly a rural setting. Crossroads and junctions are infrequent so we focused our day on the Waimate Pastoral and Industrial Show. It has a long tradition of 165 years, being the first annual show held in New Zealand. We were joined by ten thousand other people attending the show and our friend Fenella, a new arrival to the Far North.
Ken found the ideal pet dog, cheap on vet expenses but the rust might be an issue. Jan, in true sheep farmer fashion, spotted the prize winning lambs. A little further on she discovered Jaimee, a real cool dude, a 13 month old West Highland Bull with a wicked hair do and mean body piercing. Ken, feeling a bit left out, was happy to relax by the sheep yards and let the sign speak for itself.
Needing a break from this tiring wheel/walk we sat a while. Fenella and Jan were caught in an action shot pondering what to the do with the grape seeds. Just what you would expect to see during a relaxing sit was the arrival of traction engines chuffing along – the driver, complete with bowler hat, looked like he had stepped straight out of the 19th century.
With tired feet and flattened batteries we prepared to leave the show. We took one last glance across the rolling country side and saw in the distance a church steeple. We negotiated our way over the country roads to discover it was Waimate Mission Church, the first mission established inland in New Zealand in 1830. We were taken by it’s construction of native New Zealand timbers and the slate roof. Venturing inside the church we discovered a memorial plaque for Jane Holloway. Jane was born in the Bay of Islands in 1818, this was a time when there were very few European settlers. She was the widow of Rev. Richard Davis and died in 1891.
Is this just a coincidence or did destiny lead us to Jane - what a fitting end of an enjoyable adventure.
Hi Neil,
Mum and I did your walk on Saturday - although we did follow your instructions I have included some photos taken out of order because I like them better.
We left from Mum's house in Takapuna, turned left and wandered down the road.
Just a few doors down we saw some delightful pink blossoms - quite eyecatching.
A little further still and quite a delightful scene when peering between through the gaps in a gate - this is more the spaces between architectural objects but lovely all the same.
Our first something unusual was some pillows hanging out of a window.
Our second was a children's playground boat complete with protective balustrades (p.c. gone mad?) Our animal was a pretty blue ladybird investigating mum's shirt.
Thanks for the great idea.
Love from Tam and Margaret
Hi Neil,
As suggested Steve, Becky, Richard, Catherine and I did go for a walk on 11 November to Hamsterly Forest, though I must say that Becky and Steve wondered why you hadn't contacted them. Hence the first photo!
Hope you enjoyed the day.
Miriam
We were going to go shopping but it was such a lovely day we put away the credit card put on our walking shoes and picked up the camera. We live On Northcote Point Auckland New Zealand. We set off following the instructions and had a lot of fun.