adventure – Page 2

Tradional pub skittles

My wife is a fantastic organiser. The family owes an awful lot to her as she always arranges meals and get togethers keeping us all in touch. Without her doing this I very much believe we’d all lose contact quite rapidly. She keeps the family together. And she is brilliant at what she does.

Today is one of those days, Easter Saturday, she has hired the Skittle alley at our local pub and we are all meeting there for a meal prior to throwing our “Cheeses” at the skittles. No perfectly round balls here, these are good old solid wood, full of splinters and shaped more like tin cans to be honest. And they can go off in any direction, there is no way to control them. Just don’t get in their way!

We play it differently up here in the East Midlands as can be seen here:

In the East Midlands, people play Long Alley in which the projectiles are rough balls or small capsule shaped logs called “cheeses” and a score is only made if the cheeses bounce a single time just in front of the pins.

Wikipedia

It can be quite brutal. But that’s how we roll in the East Midlands 😂

It’s a beautiful old pub, and we kind of adopted it when we moved up here. A right old traditional pub. I think there is about 22 of us up there tonight from all different areas, so it should be a nice evening.

Tomorrow is a different story when we will all be off to watch our home football team get slaughtered at home to our visitors- Liverpool.

But let’s not get too depressed about that, here’s how today has gone instead.

Paul wins the skittles

4 rounds of 3 cheeses each and we had sorted out the final four of the contest, cousin Paul wins outright and wins the first prize a Cadbury crème egg. Highest score of the evening went to niece Julie who managed to down eight skittles in one round.

Overall winner Paul, and high scorer Julie.

The remainder of the evening was just people talking and catching up. It was a lovely day and My wife has already sorted out the Christmas party dinner. She’s so damned organised.

The day started at our house earlier when everyone went down our garden pub to play darts, have a drink and kick the day off in a really fun and friendly fashion. It’s ended around 12 hours later when the tiredness sets in and people start to make their excuses and gradually filter off into the night.

Tomorrow we go again when we meet at my nieces home for her house warming party. It’ll be a little more subdued as some are back to work on Monday, however I’m really looking forward to meeting up with them all again.

Good times. Good company. Nothing beats it.

Bye bye moon

One of the finest documentaries I have watched in recent years was by the British space scientist Maggie Aderin-Pocock. It was called Do we really need the moon?

Do we really need the moon?

I like Maggie, she’s one of those tutors you wish you’d had at school, she’s just so good at getting you to understand a subject, and is just so good at making you feel at ease through her enthusiasm and energy. As well as being the Chancellor of our local university in Leicester, she can also be seen on the popular BBC space programme “The Sky at night”

This documentary was released about 12 years ago but is not available on BBC platforms at this moment. I have however included the link to YouTube where you can watch the programme in its entirety.

One of the fascinating facts, and one that had me questioning whether it was a contributor to global issues is that the moon is moving away from Earth at a rate of about 3.8 centimeters (1.49 inches) per year. This might not seem like a lot, but over billions of years, it sure adds up. Since the Apollo 11 landing on the moon on July 20th 1969 the moon has moved away from us by approximately 209 centimetres or 6.85 ft. That’s in just 55 years. The moon invariably has an effect on a number of factors here on earth, with the major one being its effect on the tides.

The moon’s gravitational pull is the primary driver of the tides on Earth. As the moon moves further away from Earth, its gravitational pull weakens, which in turn affects the tides.

Effects on Tides

Weaker tidal forces: With the moon moving away, its gravitational pull on Earth’s oceans decreases, resulting in weaker tidal forces.
Lower high tides: As the tidal forces weaken, the high tides will be lower than they would be if the moon were closer.
Higher low tides: Conversely, the low tides will be higher than they would be if the moon were closer.
Reduced tidal range: The tidal range, which is the difference between the high and low tides, will decrease as the moon moves further away.

Don’t panic though as these changes will occur gradually over an extremely long period. It’s estimated that the tidal range will decrease by about 1-2% over the next 100 million years.

These distances between earth and the moon are calculated quite accurately by a piece of space hardware placed on the moon by the crew of Apollo 15 in 1971. It’s called a retro reflector unit. When a high intensity laser is fired towards it from earth, the time it takes to reach the reflector and then be beamed back to earth is measured, and from this measurement they can give an extremely accurate reading of the current distance. This system is still in use to this day. It also features in the documentary.

I’m fascinated by everything lunar related as I was brought up during the space race and was very much around when all of this occurred. I’ve witnessed a space shuttle launch (STS-79) and long to head back and witness one of the many launches taking place now in this revival of space travel.

My favourite ever quote was the one that went so:

“Don’t believe the sky is the limit when there are footprints on the moon”

Adventure, exploration, breaking barriers and exceeding limits. Everything that the human race is capable and very good at doing.

And some people are just fantastic scholars at teaching the subject.

Maggie is one of those special individuals.

Stay safe. Shine.

Latest Icelandic Volcano eruption

Whenever we go to Iceland one of the things I’ve always wanted to view is an active eruption. But they always happen just after we leave and stop just before we go.

Today an eruption has begun on the Reykjanes Peninsula, the eleventh in just over four years and the eighth since December 2023. The eruption appears to have occurred just southeast of Mt Þorbjörn.

And as quick as it arrives, it’ll disperse just as quick. So by the time you get to peruse this video, it may well be over. Sorry about that. That’s Mother Nature for you.

Live volcano cam

And we were there about five weeks ago. Missed it again….damn.

All joking aside, here’s praying everyone in the area stays safe.

Nature at its most violent.

Is Apollo 11s Lunar module still in orbit around the moon?

In 1969 Apollo 11 completed the first successful landing of the human species onto another celestial object, our moon. We all know that part of the lander is still on the moon but the section of the “Eagle” that took both Armstrong and Aldrin back up to Michael Collins orbiting above in the Columbia module, could to this day still be orbiting the moon. This video by Scott Manley explains how an amateur space fan has used online tools to predict orbits and the potential position of the discarded “Eagle” 55 years later.

Is the Eagle module still orbiting the moon?

I love articles like this, for someone who was a child of the space race era, it is still a fascinating subject to this day.

Beautiful memories

Been looking through some old photos and this one instantly hit me as beautiful.

A very young Alf staring out into a big old world

This was our little Alf back in 2013 at Camber sands in Sussex. We had a family day out there on a beautiful sunny, but wind swept day where we were all suitably sandblasted. It was Alfs first ever visit to a beach as he was only about five months old here. To me I see a young creature just starting his life looking out into a big old world of adventure and learning. To me it’s beautiful as it has a wonderful story connected to it.

We are all mortal and one day our time will be done. All we have in the end are cherished memories and they can never be taken away.

Peace.

The Long Goodbye: More Instruments Shut Down on the Voyagers as End Nears

My favourite space mission and one I have followed for many years. I even have models and posters around the house. I even have an orchid impersonating the model (see post picture)

It will be a sad day when it all shuts down, here’s hoping we get to see their 50th anniversary’s.

Great post from Hackaday, read some of the comments as well, some excellent conversations taking place…

Saying farewell is hard, and in the case of the Voyager 1 & 2 spacecraft doubly so, seeing as how they have been with us for more than 47 years. ……
The Long Goodbye: More Instruments Shut Down on the Voyagers as End Nears

Day four – Reykjavik

Today will be consumed by just the one activity, we are heading down to the south coast of the island, somewhere we have never visited before. So today will be Black beaches, Volcanoes, Glaciers and Waterfalls. We’ve been looking forward to this one.

On our way we passed the volcano Nick named by those who struggle with the Icelandic language as E15. Why E15? Well it began with the letter “E” and has 15 other letters after it that’s why! Its proper name is Eyjafjallajökull, you will know of it, as it was the one the erupted in 2010 causing all the disruption to European airspace as its massive cloud blanketed Europe. It looked so serene from the bus as we passed by on our journey south.

Eyjafjallajökull from the route one road

Leaving early from the city centre we were heading out on Route 1, the island circular road that encompasses the island, we will be heading south for approx 2.5hrs towards Reynisfjara beach just outside the town of Vik.

From this point on I’m going to post some pictures as written text does not do these places justice.

Reynisfjara beach

And this video at the black beach sums it all up. It was shot in normal full colour mode but all you can see is black and white, maybe the odd colourful coat or two on passing tourists.

Full colour, but black and white

After some time at the beach just drinking in its mystical majesty and getting some fantastic pictures we moved on to the town of Vik, about 20 minutes away to have some lunch. A very pleasant Lamb Stroganoff later we moved on to our next point of interest.

Sólheimajökull Glacier

Sólheimajökull glacier is a perfect example of how global warming is effecting the last remaining glaciers in Iceland, that are retreating year on year at quite an alarming rate. However, it is a beautiful site, what is left. They say that within 150 years there will be no remaining Glaciers on this island.

Panorama capturing the glacier decline. Only a few years ago this entire lake was solid glacial ice, now the only remaining glacier can be seen on the far right.

From here we went on to visit our first of two waterfalls we would be seeing today and this first one has always been one I have wanted to visit.

Skógafoss falls

Skogafoss falls are purely wonderful. With a four hundred plus step climb up to its top you can look down onto the river as it makes its descent to the ground below. It is a magical and most beautiful site surrounded by volcanoes and lush green land. (As the snow has all gone)

From here we moved on to our second waterfall and last point on today’s trip. This waterfall has a uniquely individual twist to it, you can actually walk behind it if the weather is good enough, and today it was fine. Just be prepared to get wet as it’s a constant mist of water all the way around.

Seljandfoss waterfall

Seljandfoss waterfall is unique. Come take a walk around it.

It’s been a day of pure majesty and scenes of some of natures finest displays of grandeur and beauty. We haven’t even began to scratch the surface of some of the places we can visit here, there is so much more to see and do. And I’m certainly hoping we are back here again soon as we are both still very much in love with this island.

I won’t be posting a day 5 post as that will be a day of recovery from all the walking, some packing and dinner at the Hard Rock Reykjavik. All pretty boring stuff. I will however do a little recap post with some other pictures when we arrive back in the Uk. So thanks for looking in, it’s always appreciated. Back to boring old fixing stuff next week.

Stay safe, peace to all 🙏

Day three – Reykjavik

Anyone who’s been to this part of the world has probably been on the golden circle tour, which is a great introduction to what this area has to offer.

However we are not, as we’ve been here before and done that, so the next couple of days will be spent doing variations of that trip to our own agenda. Today was one of those days. We’ve spent the morning after breakfast browsing the area. I always look for an item to take home that will remind me of our visit and today I think I have found the item I would like. It’s a piece of art on glass painted by a superb glass artist named Ella Rosinkrans. Ella is one of only a few glass artists on the island and has been designing and creating these art forms for about the last 25 yrs. it also helps living near the Eyjafjallajökull volcano as all the black portions of her art contain ash from this volcano that caused so much disruption back in 2010 when its eruption closed airspace over Europe for a number of weeks.

Anyway I will be purchasing one of her items as a memento of this visit. We will be back to her studio on day 5 to collect it.

Whilst browsing the shops we came across this one. the shop name loosely translates as “The Golden Cat” it hadn’t opened yet, however patiently waiting at the door for opening time was….a black cat.

The cat patiently waiting for the shop to open

We then popped around to the original Reykjavik cathedral just down by the old government building.

As with a lot of Reykjavik this cathedral had a big connection to Denmark. it was built by the Danish king at the time, built for the people around a time of great hardship as a place where they could all congregate for safety.

We then moved on to our next activity.

The Blue lagoon here in Iceland is on the to do list for many. Based near the town of Grindavik the scene of recent volcanic activity, this is a geo thermal spa where the water is pumped from the local power station. The area has been subject to emergency closures and is still under such an order due to the unpredictability of the seismic activity in the area. We’ve visited before so this year we have decided to try another lagoon closer to the city centre. We have found one just 15min drive out side of Reykjavik called the Sky Lagoon.

Sky Laggon Reykjavik (Picture Skylagoon)

Only opened in recent years this is a custom built lagoon / Spa where the order of the day is to take in the Skjól bathing ritual a seven stage experience that relaxes and invigorates you inside and out. I was sceptical but I must admit it’s a worthwhile experience although the cold sessions were quite horrendous seeing the outside temperature was -6. As I said it was a worthwhile experience.

The day finished with us all feeling refreshed, we then headed back to the city where we convened at a bar for some dinner. One of our party is a football fan whose team were playing and fortunately they won so the day came to a pleasant happy ending.

The Twister cocktail was a nice way to finish the evening, I believe it consisted of Rum. Peach schnapps and other bits. Oh, and an ice lolly on the top. Good stuff!

Have a great day.

Day two – Reykjavik

Well we are actually on day three but I’m writing this in past tense. I’m struggling to find the time to be honest, we’ve kept ourselves very busy.

Day two has been a quieter day, it’s Sunday and we had a late night last night, so today we are relaxing as we have a couple of busy days ahead. The plan today was just to saunter around, stay local and chill, and that is quite easy when wind chill is taking temperatures down to minus eight degrees Celsius.

So we did chill we went to a local museum/exhibition centre called Perlan

Perlan is an all exhibition of all that has made Iceland, its natural wonders, its wildlife and its people. It’s a fantastic place to spend a few hours learning something of the history of this island. It’s an immersive exhibition with a number of shows about auroras, volcanoes and glaciers, it also looks into global warming and the issues of protecting this fragile environment. There is also a 100mtr ice tunnel at minus 15 degrees that replicates an ice tunnel found in a glacier. The 360 degrees view from the observation deck are superb.

And another thing, the Icelanders love their signage, no messing about, straight to the point they say what they mean. Here are two examples, one is found on a sealed off door to a shop, the other is in a bar.

And here is the one in the pub. No messing.

So we finished the night at a new bar called Skor that we found, based on darts where you play different games. You hire the board in a way similar to how you hire a lane in ten pin bowling. This was a nice way to finish the day.

After that we wandered back to our hotel, look what came out to greet us for the second night on the trot.

Two nights on the trot. We have been blessed.

And what a way to finish the night. Two nights in a row, we were truly blessed.

Happy day all.

Day one – Reykjavik

This is our third visit to Iceland and today has been a long one due to us travelling for the most part of it. However I’d like to share these little snippets with you.

Last night was special we witnessed the Aurora Borealis right over our heads in the centre of the city. Quite a spectacular show. Aurora Borealis – Northern lights, Iceland

We also did a few touristy things and here is some of what we saw and did.

The old parliament buildings looking out towards the mountains. Looks so different without the snow that normally adorns the area

We popped in a local bar to watch a game of football and to grab something to eat and drink. The beer – local IPA was nice, the brand name was questionable though 😂

And did you know what the third most popular tourist attraction in Reykjavik is? it’s probably not what you think but it is, the Icelandic Phallological Museum otherwise known as the museum of the Penis. Stay with me now…it’s quite an experience.

The museum is a collection of “Penis’s” from animals around the globe and every mammal on the island is represented. It all stems from the curators fascination with the form from an early age and this collection was formed as a result. That said there are also “representative” examples of creatures from folklore such as “Trolls”. Just have a look at the link I posted above to find out more yourself.

However the cafeteria and bar area is quite something itself with tee shirts, gifts and food a plenty all in keeping with the subject of the museum.

The food and drink is of a very good standard, the surprising fact is that a massive 60% of all visitors are female. That is the very hing that strikes you as you walk in, just how many women work there and are also there as visitors. You do hear an awful lot of laughing and it is all mostly tongue in cheek fun. A day out. It’s worth popping your head in the door and having a visit though. I’ll save pictures of the exhibits for another day, as waking up to a barrage of penis pictures doesn’t feature high on everyone’s daily agenda.

Have a great day and peace to you all.

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Effects on Tides

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