Fogg surfing? and other stuff!

Hi Fogg here
I would like to tell you about my surfing exploits as evidenced by the photograph of a beardless and slimmer Fogg to the left. A fantastic experience which I will not forget. I hung 10 with the best of them and waited for the ultimate 'rip and curl'. As you can see not only have I honed my skills I have learnt the lingo too!

We stayed on Brighton beach at Scarborough (it's true!) on the west coast. A wonderful beach for surfing and watching sunsets, before heading north to Cervantes. This is a small settlement of about 750 named after an American whaling

ship that ran aground off shore in 1840. All the street names are Spanish too when in fact the whole area has nothing to do with Spain! Nearby Cervantes there are the 'Pinnacles', limestone outcrops that developed around the roots of trees. They are in desert conditions and are all set in sand. As you can see there are some strange markings which we found in a straight line in the sand heading towards the 'bush' . A prize for the first correct identification of the attached photo. So over to Phileas and this is Fogg sending you very best wishes x

Hi Phileas here, a second photo for identification
too, answers next time! The clue is it's very old and involves cyno - bacteria (blue green algae).
Enough of this, we loved the beach at Cervantes as well. The sand was white and the sea turquoise and emerald green. Had some good bird spots as you can see from the emu photo; also pelicans, ospreys, willie wagtails (seriously, they are a feisty bird, well they'd have to be with a name like that!!), cockatoos and parakeets and galahs. Just as the sun was setting we also glimpsed three grey kangaroos but they were too far away to 'snap'.

Yesterday we drove from Cervantes to York where we are staying for a few days. On the way we passed through the small settlement of New Norcia which is a Spanish Benedictine town dominated by a monastery, convents and associated buildings all dating from the 1840s. Strangely nothing to do with Cervantes. We browsed their extensive collection of European and WA religious art and had a good lunch at the Hotel before heading off again to our present destination, York. I'll talk about York later when we have taken some photographs. Suffice to say that we are staying in a converted tin barn - very comfy!!

Best wishes
Phileasxx