Bergen- Norway

There were a large array of furs for sale at the daily Bergen Market. Bergen is a pretty city and one that we really enjoyed. It is situated on a harbour with very old style fishing houses dotting the surrounds against a hilly backdrop.
Norwegian art from a local gallery (above)
Old style fishing houses some of which are thousands of years old.
The gorgeous harbour with many Norwegians in there "must see me" boats that don't leave the harbour.
Norwegian Trolls are scary!
The berries were absolutely gorgeous. Cherries, raspberries and strawberries to die for. The best we have ever had. Apparently they are so tasty as they grow very slowly. Later on in this trip we stayed in a berry farm and had so many delicious desserts with berries.

The waterways of Norway

Luster Fjord - is an arm of Sognefjord which is 200 km long and the longest fjord in the world.
Naeroyfjord boat trip. The surface was so flat that it was like a mirror to the surrounding mountains. Breathtaking.

Spectacular Norway

We walked straight up the side of another waterfall to reach this beautiful waterfall at the top - off Luster Fjord an arm of the giant Sognefjord.


The spectacular glacier of Tullebreen.
The glacier at Galdhopiggen Peak, Jotenheinnen National Park.

Summer slush walking across the glacier.

Daves Relatives

Dave with his cousins children Sam and Jessica, Elle and Clover are the hounds.

Dave's uncle Richard & aunty Joy, Uncle Ernie and Dave.
Jessica and Dave. So sweet!
Lunch at The Waggoners.

Daves Family -England

Karen and Matt's lovely garden at the back of the house. It looks so beautiful and boasts a lavender hedge, greenhouse and vegetable patch ambundent with vegetables.
Sam and friend on the trampoline.
Matt and Karen (above).

Danny is Dave's nephew.
Debbie-Jo is Dave's niece.
Charlotte is Dave's cousin Sandra's daughter - this is getting confusing!
Kevin is Dave's niece Debbie-Jo's husband.

Glenn is Dave's nephew.
Zoe is Dave's Great Niece.

England -Base Camp Cain

Nikki relaxing with Elle in the family room at Sandras and Petes.
Nikki and Clover snuggling on the couch.


Pippin the new kitten arrival.
Pippin playing with Masey.
Pete and Sandra are enjoying a sundae out with us after one of the many airport pick ups.

Galapagos Islands -Crabs and Seals

Sally Lightfoot crabs scattered everywhere across the shore. Dave took a wonderful shot above showing their bright colours.

The seals did not mind how close you were to them.

Iguanas

The Marine Iguanas were pretty amazing. They spent their time grazing the seaweed in the sea and surfing. They are creatures of habit and they all return from the sea on dusk. It is strange and they are the only iguana in the world to eat seaweed. The reason for this is that there is no food on the dry desert like islands.

These are also marine Iguanas that sleep together to keep warm. They are different colours on each of the different islands. We were told that these ones are red due to eating red pigments in the seaweed. Cool.

Magnificent Birdlife

There are two types of frigate birds and the pictures below sho the Great Frigatebird. The bird on the left has no balloon inflated. The one on the right has it inflated. Looks a bit uncomfortable -doesn't it. They seem to get on alright with it including preening and flying. They steal foods from aother birds by attacking them in the air, dangling them by their tail feathers until they drop the fish. The reason they do this is that there feathers are not waterproofed so they cannot go anywhere near the sea. Pretty cool I think.























These were my favourite bird in the islands. The blue footed boobie. They are fantastic to watch. They obviously have bright blue feet hence their name and are strong fliers and spectacular plunge divers. "Booby" in Spanish means "bobo" clown or stupid. They really are natural performers. The males whistle to the females who respond with a honking sound. If trying to attract a mate the male dances in a circle and the female joins him. If all that goes well the male then finds stones and twigs to hand to her in a ceremony that involves a strange pointing beaks to the sky routine. Trying wonderful creatures and the blue feet are luminous.

The Albatross

This is David's favourite animal/bird in the Galapagos Islands. We were also so lucky to watch the mating in progress which according to the guide of 16 years is very rare. He only sees them every 4 years or so. The most amazing thing about these birds is there shear wingspan up to 2.8meters! To watch them soar in the sky in truly breathtaking. Anyway, here are some notes about these awesome birds. The waved albtross is endemic to the Galapagos Islands. There are 20,000 pairs at the island Espanola. Juveniles spend 4 years at sea until they meet another mate. They then come to the island to bill each other for one whole year. Billing (picture below) is clicking beaks together is some weird choreography only known to the pairs. After billing for the year they then fly out to sea together as a couple for about 6 months. Then they come back to the island to mate and partner for life. How lovely. They lay a 285g egg(big) directly on the ground. They have no nest which is sort of strange but frankly there is not alot of stuff around to build a nest with. The parents feed their young with squid oil from a separate stomach. This oil is really high in protein. A chick will recieve 2 kg of oil! These birds arrived from the south pacific and got caught in the dulldrums around the Equator and stayed. They are often spotted in the Southern part of South America so they still fly great distances.

Tortoises - the mating game

We witnessed two males fighting each other. How it works is that the tallest tortoise wins. So they both stand up as high as they can, stretching their necks and hissing at each other. It took about 30 seconds as it requires a huge effort for the tortoises. The reason the tallest one wins is that it must be superior as it can reach more foilage higher in the trees so must have an evolutionary advantage. Dave took an award winning photo shot.




The male tortoise is 3 times the size as the female so mating is interesting. Looks uncomfortable for her. The male shell is intented so that he can balance better. Surprisingly she tossed him off by destabilising him. All I can say is that the males make an unearthly sounds whilst in progress.