Tiger Leaping Gorge – Amazing

It was early morning as we drove through the streets of Lijiang heading roughly north west up into the mountains. We travelled along  a triple lane highway , long tunnels, smooth roads through a landscape that in parts was dotted with farms being intensively cultivated, past hills covered in pine forests in various stages of growth, there were small villages, the odd clump of highrise buildings mostly unfinished. We travelled  125 kms reaching Qiaotou in less than two hours. By the time we arrived it was steadily raining mmmm. Not a good start. We purchased our tickets, unearthed our rain gear from  our packs donned both and headed up the road out of town. Even having read masses of info about this place i was unprepared for the reality of it.

it was an uphill slog getting to our first sign  post…

view from the naxi family guesthouse…

the sun still shining on the tops of the mountains….

Views of the yangtze river….the colours of the wild flowers were intense….this pony followed us up up and up around the 28 bends.

our horseman and his pony who patiently followed us up through the 28 bends

And steep it was!!

Awesome landscapes wherever you looked!

more wild flowers….. more views and we are now about halfway through. To be continued : ))

 

Swamp lakes glenorchy nz

One afternoon we did the swamp board walk at Glenorchy deep in the southern alps of New Zealand. The skies were an incredible blue, the temperatures freezing, the sun glorious and the reflections mesmerizing!!

A fabulous family outing …… a great boardwalk, lots of places to stop and sit, to gaze at our planets incredible beauty……

Weekly photo challenge – Contrast

I took this on the way into the southern alps in NZ a couple of weeks ago. I love the contrast between the heavy clouds and the super bright clear sky and the mist below which I  captured through the front window of the car I was driving in. As a passenger I hasten to add : ).

Mirror mirror on the lake…..

On the way south from Milford sound late afternoon and no wind ……zoom in on the sign, might have to squint a bit …true New Zealand humour!! As is the scenery…….

The place felt serene and surreal full of the magic of nature in all her glory : ))

Taken with my phone ……camera battery had run down…..

On the road to the mountains

We had a window of opportunity to see and explore the mountains of southern new zealand. We headed south  and west from Dunedin. Snow topped mountains if you look real close,  otherwise landscapes that are deeply green with the odd tussock thrown in , oh yes and some cows, sheep and braided rivers.

Its intensely cold …..7ºcelsius daytime temperature brrrrrr!!

The hillsides are morraines  and covered in  red tussock grass.

To be continued….: ))

On the road to the mountains

We had a window of opportunity to see and explore the mountains of southern new zealand. We headed south  and west from Dunedin. Snow topped mountains if you look real close,  otherwise landscapes that are deeply green with the odd tussock thrown in , oh yes and some cows, sheep and braided rivers.

Its intensely cold …..7ºcelsius daytime temperature brrrrrr!!

The hillsides are morraines  and covered in  red tussock grass.

To be continued….: ))

Weekly photo challenge: On top…… of a mountain

This first image I took from the top of the hotel I was staying at in Pokhara 2 or 3 years ago. Many of the buildings are now 4 and 5 stories high , not nearly as pleasing to the eye as they were the first time I visited nearly 30 years ago but the views were at times spectacular! Machapuchari is its name.

This was taken in the Kali Gandaki valley near a small village called Marpha, seeing the snow swirling off the top of this mountain was amazing.