Monthly Report, May 2025

Just like April, but in reverse.  

Started in Italy, then a wee while in Oxford before heading back North to spend more time with the puffins and other auks at the south end of Shetland.

Reporting Days: 31

Locations: Boario, Turin, Paris, London, Oxford, Cumbria, Shetland.

Distance Walked: 292 km

Distance Driven: 1229 km

Distance Trained: 1320 km

Still in Boario

I've now visited Boario (and the lovely folks at REGEN) on five occasions - and experienced both one and two week stays. My considered view is that I really do prefer the longer stays - there's more time to get fully caught up in the therapy sessions and there's the bonus of some free time at the middle weekend.  

I think I've also found travel routes that work for me - trains via Paris and Turin (and not trying to do tight connections!).  I did talk someone through the journey (well they did ask!), and the fact that that they glazed over when I was talking about how easy it was to get across Paris between Gare de Lyon and Gare du Nord was a reminder that (i) it's easy when you've done it a few times, (ii) you do really need to be pretty mobile and (iii) you need to able to lift and carry your luggage easily.  

I've got more to say about my experiences of travelling and anxiety over on my Parkinson's blog (coming soon).  

My (relatively) low stress route between Oxford and Boario, involves breaking the journey in London and Turin on the outward leg, and in Turin and Paris on the way back.  Yes, you can find train connections that mean you can skip the London and Paris overnight stops but that means some long train days.  You can also opt to stop over in Milan rather than Turin (that takes one change of trains out of the equation) - but I prefer spending time in Turin rather than Milan, Turin just feels a bit more chilled than Milan. 

I'm planning to be back in Boario again later in the year for Visit 6, and I intend to use the London-Paris-Turin-Boario route again.

Pisogne on Lake Iseo (a short train or bus ride from Boario)

Dezzo Gorge (a short-ish walk from REGEN in Boario)

I Love Boario Terme

Old Montecchio bridge over the River Oglio in Boario

Mole Antonelliana tower (National Cinema Museum) in Turin

Musée du Louvre in Paris

Oxford (briefly)

The trouble with May is that it's too nice.

It's the ideal time of year to spent time in Italy, mostly decent weather but not too hot - and perfect for both travelling and for pavement dining and/or coffee drinking.  

It's also probably my favourite time of year to be in Oxford.

It's also my favourite time of year to be hanging about at the seabird colonies on Shetland.

It's challenging when one wants to be in three places at the same time!

Orchids in the Lye Valley, Oxford

High Bridge (over the Cherwell) in the University Parks, Oxford

Back Amongst the Auks

Having had a quick fix of May in Oxford, it was time to load up the car and head north to Aberdeen - via Cumbria and Fife - to get the Northlink boat back to Shetland.  

I haven't travelled between Oxford and Aberdeen by train (yet) but I did once do it by bus - and I wouldn't recommend that to anyone - but there is a blogpost if you want the gory details. 

Although I've been enthusing about the delights of May, it is worth mentioning that it is very possible to get rubbish weather in May too - and my overnight ferry crossing back to Shetland was definitely one of the more uncomfortable ones. And I had a cabin right up at the bow which always makes the motion more extreme,  I was very grateful to hear the cheerful 'Welcome to Lerwick' announcement as we got into harbour.

The first move, after unloading the car, was to Quendale Beach and second move was heading to Sumburgh Head - and that was pretty much how I spent the rest of the month!

The photo collection from the second half of May is dominated by auks and orchids - the orchids on Shetland are plentiful but both later and (mostly) smaller than the Oxford ones.

The auk activity at this time of year is dominated by nest building (for the auks that do) and egg laying - and once the eggs are laid the auks (mainly the puffins and razorbills) take to the burrows to sit on their nests - only appearing briefly at 'shift change' - which can make catching sight of them a test of patience!

Leaving tracks - coming through the Quendale dunes

Finding orchids on Quendale Links

Getting re-acquainted, puffins at Sumburgh Head

Purposeful puffin at Sumburgh Head

Nest materials at Sumburgh Head

Next Month

More Auks. Lots more Auks.

Monthly Report, April 2025

 A travelling month - cars, boats, buses, trains but no planes.

Reporting Days: 30

Locations: Shetland, Oxford, Bristol, London, Turin and Boario

Distance Walked: 290 km

Distance Driven: 1320 km

Distance Trained: 1320 km (yes, really)

Starting in Shetland 

April started much as March had ended with me hanging over the walls at Sumburgh Head hoping that the puffins would put in an early appearance before I had to jump into the car and head for Lerwick and the Northlink boat south.   And of course they did.  Both the razorbills and puffins were, for a few early season days at least, plentiful and active with the traditional auk activities.

Talkative Auk (Razorbill)

Returning Puffins

Puffin settling in for the Summer

Razorbills renewing bonds

In southern England

Having faced the busy-ness of both the boat and the motorway network it was good to get to the Oxford to-do list.   That did still leave a wee bit of time to hang out in the parks and gardens (and hospitals!) in Oxford, Bristol and London. 

Spring in Bury Knowle Park, Oxford

Oxford Botanic Garden

Radcliffe Camera

H H Wills Physics Lab, Bristol

On to Italy 

My pattern (and I am definitely a creature of habit!) is to spend a bit of time at the REGEN therapy centre each Spring and Autumn, and to travel there and back by train.  

This Spring's travel plan involved a night in London (just beside St Pancras), then an early Eurostar to Paris and a Frecciarossa from Paris to Turin.  It makes for a lot of travel hours in one day but with the bonus of a lazy day to be a tourist in Turin the next day. 

And having decided which red car I wanted from the Museo Automobile, I completed the journey from Turin (via Milan, Brescia and Marone-Zone) to Boario.  That final days travelling required three trains and a rail-replacement bus - Boario has a perfectly serviceable train station, but at the moment no trains as the line is in the process of being updated to have experimental hydrogen-fuelled trains.

The canals of St Pancras

Cisitalia 202 (from 1948) at the Museo Automobile in Turin 

Back at the REGEN centre in Boario Terme

Old Montecchio bridge over the Oglio in Boario

Next Month  

Current plan is for May to be April in reverse - time in Italy, then southern England and finishing up on Shetland (train, bus, boat and car permitting).

Monthly Report, March 2025

Again a Shetland Month

Reporting Days: 31

Location: Shetland (south end of)

Distance Walked: 209 km

Distance Driven: 676 km

Number of Days which included a walk on Quendale Beach: 31

Auks Spotted: Lots of guillemots, lots of razorbills and a few black guillemots

Quendale Beach

It's good to have a daily routine, this month the routine has been to start the day with a walk on Quendale beach (sometimes with another walk on Quendale beach later too).  It's always different - the light changes, the tide changes, the sand gets moved around and different flotsam get blown in from south. 

Return of the light

When I came back to Shetland in January there really wasn't a lot of light around - it was particularly noticeable in the afternoon (when it seemed to get dark just as I finished my post-lunch snooze), through to the end of March when the clocks changed and a walk after dinner became an option.

Return of the razorbills

First they return to the water around Sumburgh Head, and onto the cliffs then into the nests. Always a delight to see them return in the Spring. 

Reading and listening

Book of the Month: Music as Medicine / Daniel Levitin.  The potential (and power, perhaps) of music to reduce stress, enhance cognitive function and maybe even help slow the development of Parkinson's symptoms.  And there's a splendid 200+ song playlist too.

Audiobook of the Month: The Great Auk / Tim Birkhead.  The fascinating (and at times shameful) story of the biggest auk. 

Next Month

Traveling South. And then some more South.

Monthly Report, February 2025

A Shetland Month

Reporting Days: 28

Location: Shetland (south end of)

Distance Walked: 180 km

Distance Driven: 535 km 

Auks Spotted: Lots of guillemots at Sumburgh Head and a few black guillemots around Lerwick harbour.

Weather

The ever changing (but never changing) Shetland weather always seems to dominate island life, particularly in the winter months.  Are the boats running? What about the airport? Is there ice on the roads? Have the gritters been out? Is it possible to walk the beach without being sand-blasted? Can I hold a camera still without getting spray on the lens or water in the works?

Two things you can safely say. 

1. My pictures give a misleading picture of the weather, and 

2. There is more light each day at the end of the February than there was at the beginning of the month.

Places

In the summer months I very often head out for the day expecting to spend significant amounts of time walking or just sitting watching (usually waves or auks).  In the winter months the walks tend to be shorter and inevitably I end of doing the same walks again and again.  Quendale Beach. Scat Ness. Sumburgh Head. West Voe. Pool of Virkie. St Ninian's. And Repeat.

Scat Ness

Scat Ness Waves

Breaking Waves at Sunset

Waves in the Sunshine

Quendale Beach

Q Beach from the west end

Q Beach from the east end

Q Beach Reflections

Sumburgh Head

Sunshine & Rainbow at the Lighthouse 

Guillemots at Sumburgh Head

Sumburgh Fog Horn

Pool of Virkie

Harpers Marina, Virkie

St Ninian's Isle

St Ninian's Stacks

West Voe of Sumburgh

West Voe coastal walk

Reading

The short walks and the long evenings leave plenty of time for photo processing, but once that is done there is still time, while one is waiting for the northern lights to appear, for reading (and listening to audio books), so I thought I'd highlight one of each from the last month.  

My real book pick for February is Helgoland by Carlo Rovelli (an attempt, by me, to re-engage with the quantum physics I never understood as a student). So what does quantum physics have to do with 'a treeless, wind-battered island in the North Sea'?

My audio book pick for February is Great-Uncle Harry by Michael Palin.  The story of H W B Palin, who died in the Somme in 1916 (having survived the chaos that was Gallipoli). 

Social Media

If you want to see more pictures (including some of the bad weather ones) - I post pictures most days on Instagram, Bluesky and Flickr, and the Picture of the Day appears on Blipfoto and on Facebook.  I've pretty much given up on the platform once called Twitter.

To find the links to all these (and to my Parkinson's Blog) - click on this LinkTree Link.

Monthly Report, January 2025

A month of two parts.  First part in Oxford and London, second part north of the border.

Reporting Days: 31

Locations: Oxford, London, Dundee and Shetland

Distance Walked: 222 km

Distance Driven: 1002 km

South

Mostly London - drawings at the King's Gallery, exploring at the V&A Museum and early morning shopping in Covent Garden.

Drawing the Italian Renaissance

V & A (London branch)

Quiet morning at Covent Garden

Mostly Oxford - the Covered Market, the Lye Valley and searching for signs of Spring 

Quiet morning at Oxford's Covered Market

Frosty morning on the Lye Valley boardwalk

Snowdrops in Headington Hill Park

North

And back north, this time to Shetland - via Cumbria, Fife, Dundee and Aberdeen - and trying to keep ahead of the weather.

V & A (Dundee branch)

Quendale Bay - wind and wave swept

Sumburgh Head - lighthouse and foghorn

Sunshine on West Voe of Sumburgh

Across the Scat Ness chains

Fair Isle on the horizon

Winter time on Shetland in real life is lots of stormy weather and occasional gaps when the sun shines and it's possible to stand up without holding onto the fence posts.  Winter time on Shetland in a photographers record is lots of calm weather with the occasional wind swept shot.

So, I'm expecting to have lots more sunny Shetland images to share in next months report.