Travelling in the time of Coronavirus 6- Tides and Time

As humanity sits in lockdown

Seemingly hibernating

Time standing still the world and tides rise and fall

And for many life goes on almost unabated

The fisherman returning of the flood tide after another night alone on the Celtic Sea

The flood tide filling the river and spreading out over the salt marsh

For the fisherman every night is social distance

Alone with on the end less waves, the sky and sea birds for companionship

The tides of time go on ebbing and flowing like the water round the old wreck

Ebbing and flowing in time less motion

Last night over the Celtic Sea the Easter Pink Supermoon rose

In a sort of bright isolated orb in the darkness

Casting it’s beam like a stream of rose gold

Like it has for millenea.

And the tides keep turning

Travelling in the Time of Coronavirus-Quarantined week 2

The Mighty Breva remain under the cover, apart from the occaisional shopping trip.

Week 2 of quarantine and its a time of discoveries and little pleasures.

It’s a time self contemplation.

A discovery:

A beautiful beer with a quirky connection.

To quote: This premium strength beer from Rother Valley Brewing Company commemorates the notorious gang of smugglers know as The Blues, who defied the Revenue through out Kent and Sussex for over 50years until their capture and transportation to Australia.

My great grandfather was a rustler not a smuggler and was transported to Australia during the Irish famine.

It’s seems an appropriate drink to have with a healthy home cooked meal

The little pleasures:

The small hardy plants of the salt marsh slowly bursting into life and the days ever so slowly grow longer and warmer.

A bit of self discovery:

Quarantine is a little bit like the kestral hovering, seemingly suspended in space and time. But there is a focus and a purpose.

Travelling in the time of Coronavirus-the last ferry from Santander

It was the last passenger ferry from Spain to the UK steaming into Santander

A small group of motorbikes

And lines of cars and campervans waiting for the exodus.

Like a mini Dunkirk escaping an invisable enemy

It was a different crossing to the previous I have had

No promenading the decks as all passengers were confined to their cabins

Running on the spot to exercise on the 24 hour crossing

Back in England

A walk along the beach in Rye Harbour

Through the marsh to gather my thoughts.

Tonight the UK has gone into lockdown.

Things change quickly in a pandemic.

Travelling in the time of Coronavirus

Lone tourist with mask on Lambath Bridge

London was surprisingly quiet as I wended my way to the Tate

Few tourists about

A lone fellow with a face mask taking pics of Parliament House

Even Borough Market had lost its hustle and bustle

It was an easy saunter past Lambath Palace

Past the war museum

Past typical London Street Art

And the Houses of Parliament to the Tate

And an Aubrey Beardsley exhibition

But that was a couple of days ago

And as the WHO declares a Coronavirus pandemic

I’m on the ferry from Portsmouth to Bilboa

Australia’s Summer of Discontent

When I arrived back home in Australia in October 2019 the bushfires had already started.

The amazing temperate rainforests of Northern NSW and Qld were already on fire

Rainforests don’t burn we thought but things have change

Beautiful ancient forests dating back to Gondwanaland were on fire

It was heart braking

The long summer of bushfires cast a pall over the country

Dead wildlife, rare forests burning, towns and cities choking on the the thick smoke

My long Bike trip in Europe had left me sore, depleted and nursing some nasty Shoulder Tendinitis

So my mood was low and the acrid smoke that clung to the skies of Eastern Australia only darkened my feelings

Dark like the smokey sky and the burning bush

Dark and disturbing

On a ride to Omeo in Victoria just after Christmas , I was spooked by closeness of the fires the smoke so thick

The town cut off from electricity

An eerie smokey foreboding of the horror fires that were to be unleashed on New Years eve in the east Gippsland forests.

Spooked a bit by the smoke ad proximity of the fires I left

Leaving I had a fall off the bike on some leaf litter while pulling off the road

Dislocated thumb ouch, nothing todo but pull it back in and ride the 400+ km home.

So the New Year was seen in with a cast on my hand and Australia Burning

Indeed a summer of discontent

This summer say the sale of Futura

I did the last slip, scrub and paint

And as I write, she with her new owner is approaching her new home in Whyalla South Australia

As the final blow there is now Coronavirus

Emerging and spreading

Quiet leaving Melbourne Airport

Planes only half full

A friend has told me that I’m stubborn and wont change my plans for anyone or anything

Maybe right

As here I sit in London

I’ve collected the Mighty Breva

And on Wednesday I head to Portsmouth to start the journey south to Morocco on the ferry to Bilboa

The summer of discontent, though, is a weight on my enthusiasm

And as I have been reminded though I’m 35 between the ears im actually in a 62 year old body.

But in the world of the traveller a summer of discontent doesn’t lead to winter.

Its spring here

The daffodils are in bloom in Perivale Park

And life’s adventure must go on

The last leg, back to England

The music on the steel drums weren’t for me.

T’was apple harvest fair in Cranbrook, Kent.

As I rode past on the last leg of my long – just over 17,000 km from London to the Danube Delta and return.

By the time I reached the Fortified Farm Retreat in Deux-Sevres the weather had started to turn cool and damp

Rain and strong winds on the French coast made Calais and the Tunnel the best option for a Chanel Crossing.

Running north past the magnificent cathedrals

Im particular the Notre Dame in Amiens

To the Eurotunnel train and rendezvous with other riders returning from their summer winter tour

Back in London it wasn’t just the weather that was changing

So was the political climate and the response to climate change

Extinction Rebellion Trafalgar Square Occupation

Even the lawyers rebelled for the climate

I have avoided politically related statements in my blog but as I write large tracks of beautiful rare temperate rain forests in New South Wales, Australia are being destroyed in unprecedented bush fires. This is climate change and it can no longer be ignored.

Rye Harbour and its Marsh

Follow the Rother River from Rye and the little harbour

Little village

Shingle beach white cliffs in the distance

And in late autumn the marsh full of colourful wild flowers

A few days here is the perfect place prepare before heading off on the big tour of Europe.

Tomorrow morning it’s the ferry to Cherbourg and a treck across the continent

The Ancient Town of Rye

Rye which is a seaside town on the East Sussex, Kent borderA town with a long history of pirates, fishing, trade, and defence of the realmThe towns has beautiful tudor building with the top of the hill dominate by the church and old castleThe view from the church tower over looks the old castle and the Rother River that leads down to Rye HarbourThe hinterland offers scenic ridingAnd winneriesBreweriesAnd traditional pubs and beer gardensMaking sure you dont get thirsty or hungry.