West Witterings – Shot 4
Last shot from West Witterings beach in December last year. This shot was taken using a Lee Filter 3 stop ND filter and polariser as the storm moved off towards the east, along the beach.
storm
Shot for the Day (06 January 2016)
West Witterings – Shot 2
Following on from my last entry, here is another shot from the sequence I shot in West Sussex, at West Witterings beach in December 2015. This shot was taken using a Lee Filter Big Stopper about 10 minutes after the previous shot. You can see the rain falling in the distance, beneath the cloud. Quite a surreal scene.
West Witterings – Shot 3
Shortly afterwards, the sun climbed high enough in the sky and started to light the clouds above the main bank. I had to wait another half an hour until the sun had completely cleared the main bank of cloud in the scene and that created a completely new view of Witterings. Truly a stunning morning.
Shot for the Day (04 January 2016)
West Witterings – Shot 1
Before leaving the UK for Christmas with my family in Singapore, I headed down to West Witterings, one of my favourite childhood beaches. The morning was cold, wind lashed and stormy. All of which made for fantastic clouds and changes in light.
The image for today’s shot of the day is one of a series of five shots I took that morning, that I will publish over the next few entries. This was the moment the overhead storm relented momentarily, giving the sun a brief reprieve to broke through the cloud and washed the beach in golden light.
Warning, if you head to Witterings, remember to take £1 coin or change with you as you have to pay to drive into the car park behind the beach. Otherwise, it is a long walk.
Shot for the Day (02 January 2016)
Yesterday, we took a family outing to an island off the north eastern coast of Singapore called Pilau Ubin. It feels more akin to neighbouring Malaysia than the ultra-modern Singapore and as such, has a certain charm that is lost in this country’s modernity.
Unfortunately for us, being in the midst of the rainy season, the heavens opened as we were en route to the island from Changi. The shot above was from the pier we were deposited on at Pilau Ubin. Our boat was reversing out into the emerald green bay as the rain lashed the landscape.
After a very wet cycle ride around the island, we caught a boat back to the mainland in the early evening The rain had finally stopped and we were afforded a dramatic view of Pilau Ubin to the north, as the heavy rain clouds circled the seascape, in preparation for another storm.
All shots were taken on my Nokia 1020, which did a pretty decent job. However, I will definitely return on a less inclement day and take my camera kit as the views on the island are very contrasting to mainland Singapore.
Shot for the Day (9 November 2014)
I miss the big country. The violence of the weather, the sheer size of the landscape. Most of all, I miss nature. Singapore is so many things but alas, not natural. Everything here is outlandish, larger than life. Perhaps the weather in this image I took in California a couple of years ago is also as prodigious in its own way as Singapore is.
Two hours after I took this image, the rain had washed the road out leaving all timorous motorists stranded. However, I was in the world’s best off road car; a rental Ford Mustang convertible, which ploughed through the rushing waters. Although it leaking into the footwells as the water level rose above the base door height, the car made it. I can still recall the sight of several scared drivers disappearing behind me in my rear view mirror, all huddled motionless in their pick up trucks.
Shot for the Day (28 August 2013)
Sometimes, squaring off against the elements for the shot can be worth the wait.
I sat on Exmouth beach as a storm front rolled in over the English Channel. The orange afternoon hues were soon extinguished by the choking, omnipresent clouds. Day was transformed to night as the wind suddenly picked up. Moments later, the heavens opened and I realised how exposed I was, sat alone on the stretch of sand.
A perfect afternoon as I recall.
Day 13: Litlahof to Kirkjubaejarklaustur
Julien is currently waiting for a pizza to arrive.
Woke up and had a chat with Dave. He decided that he couldn’t ride anymore. So left him behind in Hofn. Jumped on bike. Perfect conditions. Arrow straight road, glacier on the right hand side. Even saw the sun and although it was intermittent, it was a welcome change. Julien got excited by the conditions and caned it as he was so excited to see the sun. Not many kilometres left to cover but still a few days left to cover them in so am limited myself each day.
Cycled on for about 65 km and found a very random hotel in the middle of nowhere. Situated on a flat plateau and is a building that looks like containers from a big ship with windows at each end. Looks bizarre and crazy but is surprisingly smart inside. I wandered in and they looked me up and down. I asked them if they had any lunch but I was too late. Too late for lunch and too early for dinner but they did have their special so I was treated to bowls and bowls of lamb soup with a great waitress running back and forth refilling my bowl.
Headed to Kirkjubaejarklaustur and outside of the town I could see a rain cloud coming like curtains ahead of me. I thought I might get away with it but no, cycled 8kms in the pissing rain. Found service station, ran in absolutely soaked. Ordered a cup of tea. I met two German guys going around the island in a 4×4 so spoke with them for 1 hrs 30. Went to Tourist info to find out where I could camp. In the tourist office there was a great guy who was half Scottish and half Icelandic who recommended a campsite and a great restaurant where I have now ordered pizza. It’s arrival is imminent!
I have two days left and now I am solo am cycling about 17/18 miles per hour and getting excited about meeting up with Dave in Reykjavik and celebrating the end of the tour 🙂
Please support Kids First Trust by sponsoring Julien on his Just Giving Page
Events Team
Kids First Trust
020 7841 8955
events@kidsfirsttrust.org
Day 9: Moorudalur to Berufjordor
Woke up the next morning to the sound of rain. Had to pack away a soaking tent which was a bad start. The wind was phenomenal. I was due to meet Dave so had to cycle 8km back up the gravel track. It was very hard so I waved a coach down and loaded the bike on to travel to Egilsstadir. As I left, I heard that there were Country wide warnings about the wind. It was so bad that Campervans and cars with caravans were being warned not to drive. A couple of cars were blown over very close to our route, this made the whole day very intense and the weather was still horrific with terrible rain.
Once we had left the bus we had lunch and aimed to set off again. It was getting really cold and unfortunately I had given Angelique my fleece to take back to UK during the warm sunny spells last week. Fortunately I found a shop to by one and got on the bike to follow route 1 south. Cycled through the valleys but after 25kms it turned into a gravel road. It was very hardcore and still incredibly wet. We had to climb in the rain, going uphill in progressively worse winds. There was a shortcut recommended by locals down a track. She had said it was downhill and easier that way. But it wasn’t. It was uphill and only wide enough for one car – we felt very vulnerable in the teaming rain through thick fog. Rivers were bursting their banks and it was really cold. Everything was wet, it was as miserable as hell. Then we had the issue of descending down a 17% extreme ‘slope’. It was incredibly steep. Fierce wind, pissing with rain, water and gravel everywhere. We both needed to use brakes all the way down. Dave’s brakes started to fail first and then Julien’s. We had to stop and tighten both bikes brakes in the torrential rain. As well as the Hollywood like conditions around us, we also experienced a real movie scene moment. A car stopped with two passengers within it. One opened the window and just handed Dave a big bar of Cadbury chocolate and then drove off (!). We just stopped and crammed half each. At this point, Julien was suffering from mild hypothermia. It was very difficult to hold on to the brakes. Dave’s were so bad that in the end he ended up running down the hill with his bike. It was horrendous. Like a bad horror movie.
We eventually got down to sea level in the East. Looked at map and found a safe place to stay called Berufjordor. We had to climb 2kms back up the hill to find it but it was dry and warm, we were not in the mood for damp tents and found a lovely hostel. It was very cosy.8 other tourists had passed us on the way up ( 6 Israelis and 2 Dutch) and they had said that they would have the soup on ready for us. The landlady was lovely and offered to wash and dry our clothes. We had a lovely evening, we were both exhausted but enjoyed chatting to our new friends. Got to bed at 2am. Found out at the end of the day that it was the worse rain that the country had experienced all year.
Please support Kids First Trust by sponsoring Julien on his Just Giving Page
Events Team
Kids First Trust
020 7841 8955
events@kidsfirsttrust.org
Cadbury
Day 3: De Panne to Haamstede Burgh
Day three and just a quick update today as Julien is having trouble getting a phone signal so our communications have been limited to text messages!
It sounds like Julien has done incredibly well today, covering 84 miles across the northcoast of Belgium and making it into Haamstede Burgh in Holland. This whilst contending with heavy thunderstorms and hail. Holland’s well known flat landsacape meant that he had no cover – ouch!
Julien has found that the roads in Holland are excellent for cycling and a real improvement over those in the UK. If the weather permits and Julien keeps up the fast pace tomorrow he hopes to get past Rotterdam and close in on Amsterdam. I’m sure he will make it!
Please remember why Julien is undertaking this epic journey and visit his Just Giving page and the Child’s i Foundation website. Thank you!
All Terrain Photography 