Er, So I Moved Country...

Hi guys! How's it going? Long time no see right... Yeah I kinda slipped off the face of the earth for awhile there, quite literally really since now that I've landed I'm on the other side of the world in England! No more NZ for awhile, I'm back in the mother land! Although I should call it the father land since this is where my father was born and my mother comes from NZ... Anyway

It's spring over here and today was a beauty day. Me and Dad spent the afternoon in Bridgnorth which is a lovey two tier town. No matter how many times I go there I always find something interesting to look at. Today it was steam trains at the severn valley railway station.

We spent some time sitting on the platform watching the comings and goings and enjoying the sun. It was warm enough to actually take our jumpers off which is quite a feat for England in early april. So we made the most of it and lounged until the clouds came over.

After the station we went for a walk up the hill and saw a gorgeous retriever who was very intent on something that it could see but well behaved enough to just stand and stare. It took me a minute to twig what it was so keen on but when I worked it out I cracked up.

 

Cheeky cat knew it was out of reach! We carried on towards the shops where we saw a great sign in a window, good humour on the shopkeepers part and pretty true too.

We were very lucky with the weather today as for most of the time that we were walking around it was sunny or at least patchy sun but on the horizon we could see dark storm clouds gathering. I was very glad to be where we were rather than under those threatening clouds.

Bridgnorth is such a historic town, and such a touristy town, that it's hard not to learn something new while you're there. Today I learnt that the steps leading to high town are so shallow as they were designed for donkeys! Apparently there was only one road wide enough to allow passage to wheeled vehicles so most goods had to be brought up the hill on the backs of donkeys. So they made a set of shallow steps that wouldn't trip them up.

So there you have it. A day trip in Bridgnorth sort of, more like a lazy afternoon but that still counts. Here's hoping I can get back into the blog a bit more in the next few months and keep you updated on my adventures around jolly old England. As a parting pic, have another steam train.

 

 

Photography Fun

Today was unusual for me, a theme this weekend that I feel I've really needed. Today I went to my first bloggers brunch club and I was pretty nervous before I left but everyone made me feel really welcome. I was very impressed, the other girls seem so much more accomplished than me, working with suppliers and businesses while I'm just over here writing to myself. It was nice to hear their views though and to hear that blogging doesn't have to take over your life and small is nothing to be ashamed of. We all start just for the love of it and I don't need mine to pay the bills so I'm happy to let it roll along quietly. I got so wrapped up in listening and talking that I forgot to ask for their blog details and instagram names! Duh! Oh well I guess I will just have to go to the next brunch and ask then.

 After brunch club I decided to take the long way home as the sun was shining and I wanted to take photos. I had seen a road sign on the way down pointing to a town that I couldn't remember visiting so I decided to travel back via that way. As it turns out the town wasn't really a town at all but about 6 building around a round about which I guess is why I can't remember visiting it before.

Next stop was Marton where I found a cute park that I've never seen before. It didn't look it's best really but you can just tell that it would be beautiful in the spring and summer so I plan to go back when the leaves return.

There were loads of ducks on the pond but there was a trio that really caught my eye because they had funky hair do's like this guy! They started off on the pond as they were a bit nervous but once I crouched down to take photo's of other things they got a bit cheeky and came up on the bank to see if I had any bread hiding in my pockets. Unfortunately I didn't but I will try to remember to take some when I go back.

On my way out of town I saw this nice church and played about with the sun behind the cross. It didn't come out quite how I planned but I still like it.

I headed home and picked up Mum and convinced her to come out to Kai Iwi beach with me as neither of us had been out there since the floods. We knew the bridge was broken but it was still a bit of a shock to actually see it first hand. I of course had to test it out and walked over the broken bits to stand on the end.

There was a lot of rain last night so the rivers where all running dirty and have made the sea a strangely appealing muddy colour. You wouldn't catch me swimming in it but it was interesting to watch.
I'll leave you with one final photo of a shell that was on the beach. It caught my eye because of the strange worm like patterns on it.