ON THE ROAD SURPRISES - Part 4 - Going Underwater

Scuba diving is unpredictable and always full of surprises which is what keeps me going back for more. I’m off to the Maldives next week for a diving trip, so I’m going to leave you with some underwater surprises and I’ll see you when I return at the end of March.

The first time I bumped into a Decorator crab I didn't realise what I was looking at. We were diving the Lembeh Strait in North Sulawesi and I saw a sea urchin moving impossibly quickly on the sand. It was only when I swam closer that I realised the urchin was perched on a crab. 




These crabs have spikes on their eco-skeletons which enable them to attach sponges, seaweeds, algae - and in the case of the crabs I saw in Lembeh - sea urchins, onto their backs as a form of disguise. I've even seen a decorator crab with an unwieldy mess of dead coral on its back, but alas I haven't been able to unearth that particular photo from my files.

I think there's something rather endearing about these little critters and I'm looking forward to a wealth of diving surprises in the Maldives next week.



As a result of a question put to me (see the comments) I did further research and discovered that my 'decorator crabs' are in fact 'urchin crabs' which resemble decorator crabs. The big difference being: urchin crabs carry sea urchins and decorator crabs carry sponges, hydroids, bits of algae and other inert objects on their shells. 

This is a classic case of believing what a dive leader told me without thoroughly checking the facts - so slapped wrist to me - and big thanks to AW for asking the questions that prompted my research.

In answer to AW's question about the advantages: the sea urchins benefit from being carted around by the crabs because they are transported to new feeding grounds. 

ON THE ROAD SURPRISES - Part 3

When it comes to travel surprises some countries offer richer pickings than others. Morocco is a good example of a country that offers a wealth of surprises. During our road trip I was regularly delighted by the unexpected forms of transport sharing the parking facilities.

We stopped for lunch next to this 'parked' camel.

Later we pulled up by this little donkey.

At a fuel stop we found this horse waiting patiently for its owner.

Donkeys were placed in an overflow 'car park' on this football pitch.

And finally....

Well, the sign is clearly marked P for Parking!

Do let me know if you've enjoyed this post. Thank you.

ON THE ROAD SURPRISES - Part 2

In my last post I talked about the joy of surprises when I'm travelling. This next surprise occurred in New South Wales, Australia. I was in Jervis Bay National Park for some wildlife spotting, so it was no surprise to see kangaroos...

What I didn't expect to see was a kangaroo exploring the camp site.

You could almost imagine this one was thinking to itself, 'Tsk! Will you only look at the mess they've left.'

'Now, where do I start tidying this lot up?'


Please feel free to comment if you enjoyed this and I hope you'll look forward to my next surprise.

ON THE ROAD SURPRISES - Part 1

We all love surprises and there is something particularly delicious about being surprised when travelling. I think this is because the traveller is looking at the world around him or her with heightened senses and is hoping to be surprised by something new at every turn in the road. So, when the surprise occurs, the traveller mentally punches the air with a vindicated: YES!

Straw Men pushing bales, France

I was touring in France, in the Midi-Pyrenees with my husband when we rounded a bend and saw a sight that made us slam on the brakes. Here is the fabulously witty open-air art installation that stopped us in our tracks.

If you can turn the surprise into a story or article, all the better.








I hope you enjoyed this travel surprise - I'll be posting more over the next few weeks.

A SOCK ON THE JAW - CAMBODIA

There are times when something happens on my travels which socks me on the jaw. When I visited Cambodia I met a bookseller in Siem Reap. He told me his story and I have never forgotten the impact it had on me.

I wrote a story based on that encounter and a shortened version was published on the Cafe Lit website and published in their Cafe Lit 3 anthology.

You can read the story

HERE

















I didn't take his photograph - it would have been too crass to ask his permission, so here are some other photos instead.

Wild Birds in West Cork

At this time of year the birds need a bit of extra help. 

Blue Tit

Our bird feeders are alive with blue tits, great tits, chaffinches, siskins and robins. The rooks and magpies make occasional attempts to snatch food from the feeders, with little success.

Thrush

Thrushes are shyer.

Curlew

Down on our local beach I often see cormorants, oyster catchers, herons, swans, herring gulls and curlews. 

Curlew

I’m still working on my ‘portfolio’ of bird photos! 

Wishing you a Happy and Prosperous 2016

LATEST WRITING SUCCESSES

Hello again and Seasons Greetings

I’m home from my trip to Thailand where I enjoyed some phenomenal diving… more of that in the New Year.

In the meantime, several writing successes occurred while I was away.

I wrote a couple of stories for Café Lit.

The first story: Sex and Socks and Rock 'n' Roll was published on the 2nd December

Patpong, Bankok

You can read the story

              HERE

Red Hibiscus

The second story: Santaphobia was published on the 15th December

Frangipani

You can read the story

          HERE

Pink Hibiscus

The Best of Café Lit 4 Anthology was launched. I was delighted that one of my stories was chosen for the anthology.

The Amazon link for the book is HERE

Finally, I won second place in the 2015 Alfie Dog Short Story Competition. Licking an Ant's Bottom was a story I thoroughly enjoyed writing and I was satisfied with the result, so it was a real rush when my belief in its merit was vindicated.

If you’d like to read the story for an extremely modest 39 pence, the link to Alfie Dog is HERE

All in all, it’s been a great end to 2015 and I'm all fired up for more writing projects in 2016.

Wishing you a happy and successful New Year!