PHOTO UPDATE: NORFOLK WITH FRIENDS

Yes, I know - it was in January when we headed up to Norfolk with our friends L and D... and it's now April! But I did warn you that this blog was going to be quiet. If you're dying for updates, we are @nixanddanibeth on Twitter and you can always look at Flickr - not that we've been very active there, either!

So, a few photos from our early Jan trip to Norfolk!

*

We picked our peeps up in Cambridge and had a wander around in the chilly winter sunshine.







We had a couple of walks. This circular one from Wells-next-the-Sea took us through the Holkham Hall estate.

















Our other walk was from Old Hunstanton up to Thornham for a delicious lunch at The Orange Tree. It's not often that you can visit an award winning eatery as a vegetarian and (a) find more than one vegetarian option on the menu and (b) feel like just as much interest and care has been shown in making the vegetarian dishes.







*

Well, I hope I get around to uploading more photos before the end of April, because we've done some pretty spectacular things - including walking on the South Downs Way in the snow!

Cheers for now!

PHOTO UPDATE: LONDON-NORFOLK WALK

Did we mention that we have a long-distance walking project or two? One of them is a walk from D's parents' place in London to their holiday cottage in Norfolk. In December we did our first multi-day walk as part of this project. We walked from Cuffley to Bishops Stortford, stopping overnight in Hertford and Green Tye. The most exciting part of it, for me, was the snow! Here's a (large!) selection of photos from that walk.

TWO VIEWS OF LONDON

Scrolling through my Twitter feed this evening, I read these two pieces back to back. First, a blog post by a young woman whose experience of London continue to be tainted by the bizarre lack of wheelchair access on the tube and in major venues: Wheelchair Access: The WHEEL DEAL by Bunnyaimee. Second, an article in the Guardian about four women who walked the Capital Ring, camping out in green spaces and in strangers' back yards: London Walks: the Capital Ring by Kate Fenhalls. While both stories contain their moments of human kindness, it's pretty shitty that the walking group had an easy time of an unusual experiment, while the ridiculous set-up of the tube means wheelchair users are often unable to even get into town.

MELBOURNE WALKING GROUP

Hello peeps! I hadn't heard of this group before I left Melbourne, but it looks like it could be of interest to some of you: Two Legged Adventures: Melbourne and Beyond. It seems like it could be fun, so long as they don't dwell IRL on all the anti-fat stuff they mention on the website. Anyone want to check them out and report back to me?!

SHORTCUT TO MUSHROOMS

Here are some mushrooms, toadstools and fungi that we saw on our walk from High Barnet to Cuffley on the 17th of November.



You can see more photos of fungus here.

I'll post an update about that walk at some point in the not too distant future!

AROUND NORTH LONDON

We've uploaded some more photos to Flickr for your enjoyment.

On the 2nd of November, we went for a little local walk to check out some parks we hadn't visited before: Brent Park and Hendon Park.


At Brent Park, Dollis Brook feeds into a pond - formerly part of a lake that possibly acted as a duck decoy (hence the nearby Decoy Avenue, I suppose).


At the southern end of Brent Park, Dollis Brook/River Brent flows between these two structures. Not entirely sure what they are.


I liked this street sign.


Lovely autumn colours in Hendon Park.

On the 13th of November, we went for an impromptu trip to Moat Mount Open Space and wandered around the fields and woods for a couple of hours.


The morning light was gorgeous!


There were so many inviting paths... This one led down between horse paddocks.


Waymarker and permissive path sign. They close these paths one day a year so there can't be a future claim of continuous use.


The wonderfully named Leg of Mutton Pond.

On the 15th of November, we went for a walk with a Ramblers group around Hampstead Heath:


We were a bit overdressed in comparison - one of the group did say they were happy to see the serious hikers were joining them!


Golders Hill Park.


At the top of Parliament Hill. We had a good time checking out the view and watching someone try to fly a kite in the wind. We saw The Shard for the first time.


Others went for a pub lunch in Hampstead, but one of the reasons we did this walk was to have an excuse to re-visit our old favourite: La Creperie de Hampstead!

We've done several other walks and trips around the area, too. Stay tuned for further updates!