Category Archives: Nature

Symi: not-so-wild walks

Posted on April 27, 2016 by BarryH

Well, I made it to Symi. At first the weather was great, sunny with temperatures mid to high twenties. One day it dropped to a chilly low twenties with heavy overnight rain depositing half of the Sahara on the island. … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Hiking, Landscape, Mountains, Nature, Photography, Spring | Tagged bush legumes, cornflower, cyclamen, Dragon Arums, Flora, Greece, hollyhock, Pedi, Pedi Bay, razor limestone, spring flowers, Symi, Symi harbour, Yialos | 2 Comments

Wales and Greece: life on the wild side

Posted on April 7, 2016 by BarryH

I first became fascinated by birds of prey when I was a research student and lived with friends in a tiny former lead-mining village in the mountains inland of Aberystwyth. The closest house was about half a mile away. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Hiking, Mountains, Nature, Photography, Wildlife | Tagged Aegina, bird calls, Bonelli's eagles, brecon beacons national park, Buzzard, Eleonora's Falcon, Golden Eagle, Greece, Imperial Eagle, kestrel, Little Owl, Mid Wales, Nisyros, ornithology, paragliding, photography, Red Kite, Sparrowhawk, Symi, The Mani, Tilos, trekking, Wales | 1 Comment

Canadian Rockies and Greek Islands: twittering and tweeting

Posted on March 20, 2016 by BarryH

2016 is not going at all well for me. Just diagnosed, I now have a long-term health issue, probably triggered by the flu, which means a period of monitoring and the need to review plans and maybe lifestyle. So, still … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Canada, Greece, Health and humour, Nature, Photography, Wildlife, Winter | Tagged banff canada, Canada, canadian rockies, Die Ztwitscher Maschine, Greece, Greek cuisine, Paul Klee, spanakopita, sparrows, swallows, Symi, The Twittering Machine, tweeting, twittering | Leave a comment

Canadian Rockies and Greek Islands: looking back, looking forward

Posted on March 9, 2016 by BarryH

So far 2016 has had its share of setbacks. A minor viral infection in January which kept me indoors in Banff for two day and impaired activities for the rest of the stay. A skiing accident resulting in a dislocated … Continue reading →

Posted in Canada, Greece, Hiking, Landscape, Nature, Photography, Reflections, Spring, Wildlife, Winter | Tagged Banff, Bow River, Bow River Falls, Canada, canadian rockies, Forty Mile Creek, Greece, Lappatoniou Castle, Snow and ice, squirrel, Symi, thermal springs, Vermilion Lakes | 2 Comments

Banff, Canadian Rockies: last trek, early bath

Posted on February 19, 2016 by BarryH

The shoulder injury I wrote about in my last blog post did not respond to treatment anywhere near as quickly as hoped so regrettably I went for the early bath and flew home. I guess the body heals more slowly … Continue reading →

Posted in Canada, Hiking, Landscape, Mountains, Nature, Photography, Wildlife | Tagged animal tracks, Banff, Bow River, Canada, canadian rockies, Cave and Basin, ice, Mount Bourgeau, Mount Edith, Mount Rundle, powder snow, snow, snowshoes, thermal springs, wolves | 2 Comments

Banff, Canadian Rockies: a walk on the lake

Posted on January 14, 2016 by BarryH

On one of my days-off from skiing I fastened snowshoes on my pack and headed out northwards from Banff along the Bow River, then along its tributary Echo Creek, crossed the Trans Canada Railway at the point where a Canadian … Continue reading →

Posted in Canada, Hiking, Landscape, Mountains, Nature, Photography, Reflections, Wildlife, Winter | Tagged Banff, Canada, canadian rockies, Cascade Mountain, elk, frozen lakes, ice, ice crystals, Rundle Montain, snowshoeing, Vermilion Lakes, wapiti | 2 Comments

Kalymnos: peace and tranquillity at the end of summer

Posted on December 14, 2015 by BarryH

I finished my summer in Greece with a short stay on Kalymnos. Its population of 16,000, making it the third most populous island in the Dodecanese group after Rhodes and Kos, is considerably increased in the summer by tourists. However, … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Greece, Hiking, History, Landscape, Mountains, Nature, new technology, Photography | Tagged autumn crocus, broadband, castles, Emborios, flowers, Greece, hiking, Hora, Kalymnos, Kastri, nature, photography, rock climbing, Symi | Leave a comment

Greece by bus

Posted on November 26, 2015 by BarryH

After years of hopping around the Greek islands I decided in 2012 that it was time to take a look at the mainland. By bus. Interest sparked by reading ‘The Mani’ by WW2 hero Patrick Leigh Fermor, made the wild, … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Hiking, Landscape, Mountains, Nature, Photography, Reflections, Wildlife | Tagged books, Greece, Greece by bus, Meteora, photography, The Mani, travel by bus, writing | 5 Comments

Nisyros: Pirates of the Aegean and soft rock

Posted on October 31, 2015 by BarryH

Once upon a time the people of the small fishing village of Palloi on Nisyros, so it is said, got fed up with being raided by the Pirates of the Aegean, upped sticks and moved from their harbour-side homes to … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Hiking, History, Landscape, Mountains, Nature, Photography, Wildlife | Tagged Emborios, Greece, hiking, history, Landscape, lava, Mediterranean shag, Nisyros, Palloi, photography, Pirates of the Aegean, pumice, sea daffodils, underground church | 3 Comments

Nisyros: waiting for it to blow

Posted on September 14, 2015 by BarryH

It is more accurate to describe Nisyros as a volcano than as ‘volcanic’. Lots of bits of countries are ‘volcanic in that they are have areas of either lava (cooled magma) or igneous rock (rock modified by super-heating) … like … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Hiking, History, Landscape, Mountains, Nature, Photography | Tagged active volcano, eruptions, fumaroles, Greece, hiking, Hippocrates, Kos, monitoring, Nisyros, photography, Polyvotis Craters, Stephanos crater, sulphur crystals, thermal springs, Volcano, Yialli | 7 Comments