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Is it art or is it nature? Northumberlandia
At first glance the land formations of this small country park look quite natural, if a little manicured – some small hillocks with ponds at their base. They are anything but, however! This is not nature, but art – art on a very large scale.
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Gallery: Mountain, Desert, Jungle or Ocean?
Some years ago the Wanderlust magazine used to have a regular feature in which it asked contributors and readers: What are you? Mountain, Desert, Jungle or Ocean?
Or what about ...?
Thar she blows – eventually!
Guarding the Solent
The black lava beach of Reynisfjara
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Gallery: street photography in Hoi An, two ways
For most photographers the old town of Hoi An is a riot of colour, as it was for me too. The beautiful lanterns adorning the streets; the rich ochre of its buildings; the traditional costumes worn by many Vietnamese visitors; the boats bobbing on the river … But I also took a lot of street photos there, and traditionally most street photographers work in black and white.
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Elephant encounter: flashback to our first safari
The bull elephant seemed to glower at us from just a short distance away. Reginald eased the jeep door open a few inches, not for the first time. The elephant stomped his feet and advanced a little, and Reginald hurriedly shut the door again. Clearly the elephant was not going to let him out of the vehicle without charging. Sitting in the back seat Chris and I looked at each other nervously. Would the first day of our first ever safari end in disaster?
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A pit stop in pioneering Pie Town
When I saw Pie Town on the map I knew we had to go there! Any town named after food has to be worth a visit, yes? And while getting to Pie Town involves a long drive across the empty plains of western New Mexico, for us the effort was well rewarded.
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Gallery: the White Garden at Sissinghurst Castle
When we think of gardens and garden flowers we usually think of colours - lots of colours. But there is something particularly restful about a garden that has nothing but white, and shades of green. And by limiting the colour palette, texture and patterns of light and shade come to the fore.
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Gallery: the humble manhole cover as public art
The Japanese seem to take pride in making everything look the best it possibly can; even the humble manhole cover is an opportunity for some decorative design. Each town or city has its own unique styles, and many are not only intricately moulded but also colourfully painted.
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The sun sets and the sun rises over the Chobe River
The wide waters of the Chobe River form the northern boundary of the national park of the same name. They divide Botswana from its neighbour Namibia to the north. But of course the wildlife that teems on its shores, in its waters and in the skies above knows no national borders. And nor does the sun, which sets and rises on all.
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Gallery: welcome to my wonderful world
I love to travel and see other lands; I love to spend time in the country, time by the sea, time among mountains or deserts. But I am a city girl. I was born in London and this is where I belong.
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Cracking the code at Bletchley Park
The first computer my husband and I bought had a memory of around 500 MB. The second seemed a huge advancement at a whole gigabyte! Today I have 32 GB in my phone, i.e. 64 times as much, and 64 GB (128 times as much) in the memory cards I use in my cameras. And yet that first computer of ours was of course a massive advance on the earliest computers.
