Dubrovnik, Montenegro and Mostar

October 19, 2015

I took a week out to visit Croatia with my mum. We stayed in Plat, a small village on the coast just south of Dubrovnik. Three days were spent in Dubrovnik's historic old town, surrounded by the city walls, with marble streets and gorgeous architecture. We walked along the city walls and took the cable car to see fantastic panoramic views of the Croatian coast, Dubrovnik and Lokrum Island. On one afternoon while caught in a downpour we visited the Rectors Palace and sought refuge in churches and restaurants.

We decided on a day trip to see Montenegro, crossing the border and receiving a stamp in our passports we explored a new country, stopping at Kotor and Budva. Kotor was beautiful, a walled town by water. We climbed to a church on a hill to see views over the town, as we reached the church bells rang in the distance and then right by our heads. After a stormy day in Dubrovnik the day before, Montenegro offered us brilliant sunshine.

Another of our days was filled reaching Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Due to the geography of the countries, we crossed borders several times before reaching Medjugorje. Once in Mostar we wandered past shops selling trinkets to the bridge where locals jump once they've been paid enough Euros. On one side of the Neretva river the people are Catholic and there is a huge cross on the hillside, on the other side the people are Muslim and there we heard the call to prayer.

It's not often that on a week long holiday you can explore three different countries, or at least sample a little of what each has to offer. Despite having a full time office job I'm happy to retain the adventurous spirit by travelling when I can, and I'm grateful for a mum that is happy to be adventurous with me.

The English Lakes

September 2, 2015

I indulged my love of the countryside by spending a week in the Lake District in August with family.

I've been inspired by landscape for as long as I can remember and my art practice has always involved landscape in one way or another. Being surrounded by such beauty for a week was obviously inspirational. The long walks cleared my mind, I always do my best thinking when I'm walking in the fresh air.

We walked miles. Up and over Cat Bells, up Helm Crag in the rain, to the top of Orrest Head overlooking Windermere. We saw Tarn Hows on a ten mile walk from Coniston and did a seven mile walk near Elterwater. The miles kept adding up and so did the sense of accomplishment.

I can understand why so many creatives spent so much of their time here, Beatrix Potter and William Wordsworth to name just two.

Hundreds of photographs were taken, with every few paces there was a new perspective that I had to capture. Even with the DSLR around my neck I still made sure to breathe in the views without looking through the lens and to feel immersed in the natural wonder of the lakes.

With each trip I gain new inspiration. Art and travel are my two biggest passions, I can't live without either and both feed in to each other. My art has evolved as a means of recording, of documenting. Someday soon I'll use these photographs as inspiration for something, I'm not quite sure what yet but the prospect excites and intrigues me.

Iceland Inspiration

June 1, 2015

In order to celebrate the 30th birthday of my other half Craig, we decided to go on an adventure to Iceland. We invited his mum and dad along, we spent three weeks touring New Zealand together in a campervan and so we knew we would get on well for a week in Iceland. We stayed in the centre of Reykjavik in an apartment at Room With A View.

On our first day we had a big Icelandic breakfast and we went out to explore. We walked down to the harbour and went inside the Harpa Reykjavik Concert Hall. We walked to the Maritime Museum and went inside to warm up with a hot chocolate. After Tjornin and lunch at Bakari Sandholt we visited Hallgrimskirkja, Reykjavik's catherdral which you can see from most places as it is such a monumental building. We ventured to the top which was very windy but offered fantastic views of the city, the colourful buildings and the mountains in the distance.

On day two we decided to do a self-drive trip of the Golden Circle. As there were four of us it worked out cheaper to do the trip ourselves. We first visited Þingvellir National Park where two plates meet. Next stop was Geysir and then Gullfoss which was definitely a highlight of the trip though we did get caught in a heavy hailstorm. The weather in Iceland is so changeable, during our visit to Gullfoss there was perfect blue sky, then rain and a rainbow then a full on hailstorm. The guy at the car rental company recommended that we stop at Kerið, a huge crater which we walked around in the late afternoon sun.

Day three was spent whale watching although in all honesty I felt completely sea sick and only glimpsed a minke whale and some dolphins. This was more than made up for when later in the evening we sighted the magical northern lights. They danced over our heads in Reykjavik and we saw them in all their glory on a tour to the outskirts of the city.

After a busy few days we decided to spend the next day unwinding at the Blue Lagoon. It was such a surreal experience floating around in hot water while practically in a blizzard!

The next day we woke early to drive south. We visited three waterfalls including the mighty Skogafoss and the Eyjafjallajökull visitor centre. We watched a film about the eruption which affected the whole of Europe in 2010 and I practiced my pronunciation - "AY-uh-fyat-luh-YOE-kuutl-uh". After, we drove on to the black sand beach at Vik.

Our last full day in Iceland was spent driving to Snæfellsjökull National Park and was probably our highlight. We had an unobscured view of the partial eclipse in the morning and then drove round the peninsula stopping at beautiful sights. The roads were quiet enough to stop right on the tarmac to take photos and the towns on the south of the peninsula were completely deserted for winter. We met some lovely ladies in a town on the north of the peninsula while we stopped for snacks who were so excited to tell us what we should stop to see en-route. It's so lovely to meet people that are so friendly and proud of where they're from.

As our flight was later in the day we had plenty of time to visit the shops, the art museum and have a lovely lunch at a vegetarian cafe before making our way to the airport.

Iceland was pure magic and I can't wait to return, in fact I loved it so much that I asked Craig if we could move there. The people were so wonderful, the landscapes incredible and we had some seriously great adventures.