before it melts!'
I glibly said,
in answer to Ted's
'Where do you want to go for your special birthday?
That was a good few years ago now.
A lot has changed in the intervening years,
not least our savings!
When we got together, we decided fairly early on
we would travel, while our health and investments allowed,
and we did!
As we sat on the Shearings coach this year,
I thought back to the last coach trip we took...
to our boat sat waiting for us at Longyearbyen.
The start of my very special birthday trip,
sailing around the Svalbard Archipelago.
The scientists on board were full of
global warming and the effects it was having on
this most pristine of regions.
Even then it was hard to imagine, the ice melting;
the grandeur of the glaciers just slipping away.
It hurts me now to think of it.
You can imagine how I felt when I read this article
in Wednesday's Independent.
For sale: Norway's pristine Arctic wilderness - the coal-rich Svalbard Island
the majesty of the Arctic
our photo's
the colours
the remains of a whaling outpost.
What state will it be in, when man has raped and pillaged in
the never-ending quest for coal and the world's
natural resources?
What state will it be in, when man has raped and pillaged in
the never-ending quest for coal and the world's
natural resources?
Wow what an adventurous girl you are, and what a stunning place! I dread to think what may become of places like this.
ReplyDeleteBTW I love your new header photo, wouldn't you just love to return to such a carefree time. Progress brings so much but what lot we lose to pay for it!
It certainly was the holiday of a lifetime, so many happy memories.
DeleteThe photo of me I can remember the day as clearly as if it was yesterday. I suppose that is a sign of ageing!
LLX
Wonderful memories of an adventure for a special birthday. I also dread to think what will happen - where will it all end!
ReplyDeleteAlthough we heard the words, we didn't quite realise just how accurate their predictions were going to be... sadly.
DeleteLLX
Ahh, you were such a cute little thing. I used to have those sandals too, they came in blue, red and brown and were made by Clarks (I believe). The damage we do to the earth is frightening, there are times when I feel totally weighed down by it. What an amazing holiday - beats the heck out of going to Butlins!
ReplyDeleteI can't remember what colour they were Elaine. I can remember the blue dress with its little sailor collar. A friend of my parents had come specially to take a whole range of photographs of us, it was a Saturday morning and I was excited by having special clear straws bought for the occasion, hence my 'Life through a Clear Straw' blog title.
DeleteLike you I get very het up about about what us so called 'intelligent life' are doing to our planet.
'Beats the heck out of going to Butlins!' Yes, I thought the same, going on a Shearings holiday... How the mighty have fallen!
LLX
What wonderful memories these are and such beauty. Let's hope it doesn't have to rely on your photos for us to know what it was like....once!
ReplyDeleteThe trouble is, I did think in amongst all this pristine landscape, that the detritus left by the whaling folk had a faded charm. God forbid, in a hundred years time, folk will think the same when they see the scars of coal mining and oil exploration scarring this once beautiful wild land.
DeleteLLX