Boats and planes, Morocco and Madeira
Thought for the day…” Reach for the stars, even if you have to stand on a cactus”.
” Too many people miss the silver lining because they’re expecting gold.”
A photo of an Airbus A320 about to land at Funchal, Madeira for the photo today. This aircraft was involved in an emergency descent on 8th July 2014 when on a flight from Lisbon to Amsterdam. The aircraft declared an emergency and descended rapidly from FL380 (38 000 feet) down to 10 000 feet. The passenger oxygen masks were deployed, but the aircraft landed without further problems. This aircraft regularly does 5 flights during a single day, and is seen here at one of it’s regular airports, Funchal. It was flying at around 130 knots (240 km/h) when the photo was taken. 
And another photo out of the archives…fishing boats in Essouria, Morocco. Spot the figure on one of the boats….
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Two from the opposite ends of Norway
Thought for the day…..”If you cannot do great things then do small things in a great way”
“Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations”.
So the crazy ‘security’ people in the good old USA have now decided that the humble Kindle e-book reader cannot be taken onboard flights from certain countries, nor a laptop, digital camera or tablet. Yet people flying from some other countries CAN take the exact same items. Just another sign of how stupid the USA has become. And I am even more surprised that the travelling public in the USA is putting up with more and more of this nonsense. Nothing to do with security, just a way for the Department of Homeland ‘Security’ to exercise even more control over people, without making flying any safer. Even Australia is now making the use of the naked body scanners compulsory, with no opt-out option, yet another intrusion into personal privacy and personal rights. Based on these stupid, groundless ‘security’ procedures ( security scam would be another way to describe it) then I will continue to avoid the USA, UK and Australia. Airport procedures now are beyond reasonable.
A photo of the west Norwegian city of Bergen, taken from Mt. Floyen in perfect light. Again great colours from the Fuji camera, taken as a jpeg.
and another photo….the fishing town of Vardo, Norway. This is the easternmost town in Norway, and actually lies further East then Istanbul or Kiev !! One of the town’s slogans is ‘Eternal light, Eternal Night’, which is a reference to the 24 hours of constant daylight during summer, and the 24 hours of constant darkness during Winter. The Russian border is only a few km away across the bay.
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Squeeze more in – more cuts in standards at the airlines.
Thought for the day…”The secret of getting ahead is getting started”
“Some people are like clouds. When they go away, it is a brighter day”.
Back on one of my favourite topics..airlines. I see in the news that British Airways (BA) have become the latest airline to increase the number of seats in its aircraft. The Boeing 777 will go to 10-across seating (currently 9) and the total number of seats will go up from 280 to 332. The Airbus A320 will have more seats, up from 168 today to 180, and the Airbus A321 will go from 205 today to a new high of 218 seats. So BA has also chosen 10 across seating for the 777. And to make matters even worse, they are removing 2 or 3 toilets from economy class as well. More passengers but fewer toilets. Since SWISS airlines also introduced 10-across seating on the 777s, then I have avoided them, as the reports online about airlines who use 10 across seating have been far from positive. Not only are passengers being squeezed width-wise, but also leg-wise as well. Lufthansa’s new Airbus aircraft will actually have LESS leg room than Ryanair, and again the intial reports from passengers have been negative. And more of the legacy airlines are introducing charges for food onboard (eg. BA from January) as well as charges for checked-in baggage. All this begs the question, why pay more to fly with the legacy airlines when the service levels are less?
Today’s photo comes from northern Norway. Honningsvag in wonderful autumn light…..
and another photo from the archives….landing at Funchal, Madeira……
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Oslo city centre – not pleasant
Thought for the day…”Postive anything is better than negative nothing”
“If your ship does not come in, then swim out to it”.
The Norwegian capital, Oslo, becomes even more unpleasant to walk around. It seems that in the very centre of the city, that drug dealers can openly sell drugs, and drug users can wait around, apparently without the police doing anything. As soon as you come out of the main train or bus stations then you see it. The newspapers were reporting that the Norwegian police said that they had lost control of one area (Gronland), and the situation seems to be getting worse. Go for a walk early morning and you may see used syringes on the ground. Walk around after dark (not recommended) and you will see drug dealers openly selling. It is very clear who the drug users are, but they seem to be immune to action. Add to that the large number of begging gypsies in the city and Oslo has become an unpleasant and dirty place. But why are the police not doing anything?? Surely the use of hard drugs must be illegal in Norway, but these people apparently get away with it, and openly too. And all the begging gypsies apparently do not have any legal right to stay in Norway, so why are they allowed to remain? What are the police doing about it? I wonder.
Today’s photo comes from north Norway, and from the fishing village of Honningsvag.
and another photo from the archives….the same photo as in the previous post, but this time converted to black & white.
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Buying decisions….to buy or not to buy, that is the question
Thought for the day…”A goal without a plan is just a wish”
“Success with a negative attitude is called Luck. Success with a positive attitude is called Achievement”.
To buy, or not to buy. That is the question. Having recently upgraded the camera to the newer Fuji X-T10 (great camera, and highly recommended), the finger is now poised over the ‘BUY’ button. This time it is the new Fuji XF 100-400mm lens. All the reviews have been great, and the people that have posted their comments praise the lens, so it is undoubtedly a wonderful lens. I gave the lens a try in the camera shop, and it felt very good, and the extra zoom would be very welcome BUT here is the problem….the lens costs about 3 times as much as the camera did, and with the teleconverter, will cost around 2000 euros. So the finger is hesitating on the ‘BUY’ button. Quality always costs more, and the Fuji products are great, but the thought of almost 2000 euros on a lens is difficult to accept. To buy, or not to buy, that is the question…..
A couple of photos from the north of Norway, taken with the standard 18-55mm Fuji lens on the X-T10. The first photo is from the small town of Vardo, at the top of Norway.
and another photo from north Norway…Hammerfest
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Rice terraces in China
Thought for the day…” Do not make excuses, make improvements”.
“Expecting and accepting are two sides of life. Expecting can end in tears, but accepting will bring you cheers”.
A photo from the south west part of China for the photo today, from Yunnan province. Around 45 million people live in this province, which borders Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar. The western part is mountainous, with the peaks reaching over 5000m. Ethnic groups make up about 1/3 of the population, so local dialects and colourful local costumes are very much evident in the towns and markets here. The hills in the west border the Tibet autonomous region, with deep valleys and hillside farming. It is also very rich in minerals, so mining is very important, as is agriculture. Seen here are some rich terraces not far from the border with Tibet.
and another photo from Svolvaer in the Lofoten Islands……
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Fishing boats in Norway’s easternmost town
Thought for the day….” People who say that money does not buy happiness do not know which shops to shop in”. ” Adversity is the weight that strengthens us”. Back online after some internet problems, and another photo from the north of Norway, far above the Artic circle. This photo is of Vardo, in the province of Finnmark. As Finland is so close at this point, then it also has a Finnish name (Vuorea) and a Sami name, (Várggát). Only a small population of around 21oo live here, although with the extremely long winter, then that is hardly surprising. It has the honour of being the easternmost town in Norway, with Russia being not far away across the bay. It actually lies further east (31 degrees) than Istanbul, Kiev or St. Petersburg. Much of the land around is barren and treeless artic tundra. Fishing and fish processing are the main industries here. Interestingly, it is also the site of Globus II, a radar tracking station for space junk, although given that Russia is so near, then this station may also have other uses. Vardo is one of the stops on the famous Hurtigruten coastal boat service in Norway. Another photo taken with the Fuji X-E1 camera. 
and another photo from the archives….4 modes of transport in this photo from Cuba……. 
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Coming Home, end of the day
Thought for the day….” The secret of getting ahead is getting started” (Mark Twain).
“Nothing is enough for whom enough is too little”.
A photo from the Adriatic Sea and from Croatia, with some local fishermen returning home to one of the islands near Split. Croatia became independent from Yugoslavia in 1991, and is now a member of the European Union. Along the coast of Croatia, there are over 1000 islands, with the largest being Krk. It is said that Croatia has the smallest town in the world (Hum), which has a population of only 23 people !! It is also believed the the famous traveller Marco Polo was born on the Croatian island of Korcula, and it is believed that the parachute was also invented in Croatia in the 17th century.
One of the positive effects of the karst (limestone) rocks around Croatia is that the seabed is often sharp and jagged, making fishing with large trawling nets impossible. Fishing with handlines and small nets has meant that fish stocks have been preserved, and have also prevented the large factory ships from fishing in this area, so fish stocks are good. Some interesting birds around the boat in the photo too.
and one from the archives…. sunset in Nicaragua
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Icelandic Fishing Village – Not the Quality Spa Resort Hotel, Norefjell.
Thought for the day…” Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience” (Mark Twain). ” A fool and his money are soon partying’.
Saw a couple of interesting stories in the news. In Britain, Barclays bank is planning to cut 12000 jobs yet at the same time, is raising bonuses for investment bankers. According the British Guardian newspaper, the average bonus paid last year to investment bankers was over GBP 60 000 each. That will not be happy reading to the 12 000 Barclays staff who will lose their jobs. Also interesting in the news, again from Britain, is that the police there will be able to access people’s private medical records online. So much for privacy and for the doctor-patient relationship. There is a good website on the internet which often reveals stories like these, usually very good reading, http://www.infowars.com Many of the articles are about things that they would probably prefer that you do not know.
Spring sunshine over an Icelandic fishing village for today’s photo. Iceland has a small population, around 300 000 people and averages around 3 people per square kilometre. Its flag, a red and white cross on a blue background is said to represent the sea (blue), snow (white) and volcanoes (red). 
There are around 130 volcanic mountains on Iceland, several of them still active. The capital, Reykjavik is the world’s most northerly capital. Interestingly, beer was banned in Iceland until 1989, prostitution became illegal in 2009 and strip clubs were banned in 2010. Another interesting fact is that Icelanders drink more Coca-Cola per person than any other nation.
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Going home at sunset – Not the Quality Spa Resort Hotel, Norefjell.
Thought for the day…” A nation of sheep breeds a government of wolves.”
Did you know that the first digital camera was made by Fuji in 1988 (called the Fuji DS-1P), although engineers at Kodak had earlier made a camera that used a CCD (charge coupled device) ? Digital cameras had evolved as a natural extension of the technology that had been developed for recording television programs, such as the VHS tape system. In 1986 Kodak engineers made the first million-pixel sensor. Even Apple joined the race, producing the ‘Apple Quick Take Camera 100’ in 1994. At the other extreme, Fermilab built a 500 megapixel camera for use in telescopes, and the latest professional digital cameras are coming with 70mp sensors. Progess.
Sometimes you need to take a lot of shots of the same scene in order to get one good one. Today’s photo is just one of those situations, as it needed a lot of shots before the fishermen were in the correct position. Timing was so important for this shot, which comes from Mindelo in Cape Verde Islands. End of another day.
As always, comments are welcome, just find the comments box below and write.
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Fishing village in Madeira – Not the Quality Spa Resort Hotel, Norefjell.
Thought for the day….” If at first you do not succeed, then destroy all evidence that you tried”.
” People can live 100 years without really living a minute”
Have you heard of Charles Veley? He is said to be possibly the world’s most travelled man. According to the website mosttravelledpeople.com he has visited 829 countries, territories and autonomous regions out of a possible maximum of 873. He is a millonaire (it helps !) in his thirties, and at one time, was visiting over 100 countries a year. He estimates that he has spent over USD 1 million on airtickets and boat transport. He says that travel is an ‘investment in life experience”. His favourite destination is Lord Howe Island off the coast of Australia.
Some fantastic coastal scenery in the photo today, from the island of Madeira in the Atlantic. The fishing harbour is at the village of Camara De Lobos, with some of the highest cliffs on the island visible behind. Madeira was discovered by the Portuguese in 1419 but now receives around 1 million tourists a year, attracted by the wonderful, year-round climate and the landscape as well as food. It is also a cruise ship destination, and a stopover for trans-Atlantic yachts. The population is around 260 000, mainly on the southern side of the island. Madeira is actually the top of a huge shield volcano, which accounts for the very fertile soil there. The famous Madeira wine originated here, using wine fortified with brandy to produce a stronger and often sweeter wine. The fishing village in the photo produces its own special drink called Nikita, made of wine, beer, ice cream, pineapple and sugar.
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Photo of the Day Thursday 18th April 2013 – Not the Quality Spa Resort Hotel, Norefjell
Thought for the day…” Enjoy when you can, and endure when you must”
“Pick battles big enough to matter, small enough to win”.
The colour red can make you feel hungry, whilst the colour green makes you feel less hungry. For the ancient Romans, red was a sign of battle, whereas in Russia, red means beautiful. In South Africa, red is the colour of mourning, whilst in China red is the colour for good luck. Only one national flag is a solid colour (green, Libya). The ancient Greeks wore white to bed to ensure pleasant dreams. About 8% of men have a problem to distinguish colours (colour deficiency). With all the facts about colour, here is a colourful photo
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Photo of the day Thursday 31st January 2013 – Not the Quality Spa Resort Hotel, Norefjell.
Thought for the day…” Don’t be pushed by your problems. Be led by your dreams.”
“Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine’
“Life is like a camera.
Just focus on what’s important
Capture the good times
Develop from the negative
and if things don’t turn out
just take another shot.”
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