{"id":741,"date":"2012-12-31T16:41:27","date_gmt":"2012-12-31T16:41:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.alanrowley.info\/?p=741"},"modified":"2012-12-31T16:41:27","modified_gmt":"2012-12-31T16:41:27","slug":"thank-you-2012-you-were-great","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alanrowley.info\/?p=741","title":{"rendered":"Thank you 2012 – you were great."},"content":{"rendered":"

As a year ends, it is customary to look back at the one just gone, and remember the good times that we had. For me, 2012 was a great year filled with memories of some amazing places and of meeting some lovely people.<\/p>\n

The beautiful country of Norway<\/strong><\/p>\n

2012 was the year in which I paid my first visit to the beautiful country of Norway, with trips to see the Midnight Sun and the Polar Night, with a sighting of the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) thrown in for good measure.<\/p>\n

I visited the city of\u00a0Troms\u00f8 in July to experience the Midnight Sun. Between mid-May and late July, the Sun never sets in Northern Norway. This period is known as the Midnight Sun and it is something I’ve wanted to experience for a long time. I chose the city of\u00a0Troms\u00f8 to witness the Midnight Sun because it is the largest city in Northern Norway with a population of around 70,000, and there was plenty to see to fill my five days in the city.<\/p>\n

\"Rainbows
\n Rainbows in the harbour at Troms\u00f8<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

After arriving in rain, the weather had cleared up by the third day and I was able to see the Midnight Sun from the top of a mountain overlooking\u00a0Troms\u00f8. I was also able to take a cruise on the Hurtigruten coastal ferry and visit a brewery. In Polaria,\u00a0Troms\u00f8’s museum, I saw an amazing panoramic video of the Northern Lights, which made me want to see the spectacle again.<\/p>\n

Troms\u00f8 holiday<\/a><\/p>\n

I had to wait until December before I saw the aurora, this time on a trip even further north to the town of Alta. I took a guided tour to the mountains surrounding the town and was able to take several photos of the aurora thanks to the guide who helped me with the camera settings.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\"Northern<\/em>
\n Northern Lights over Alta<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I was made to feel very welcome by the people of Alta, attracting the attentions of the local television station who interviewed me.<\/p>\n

I experienced the Polar Night, the opposite of the Midnight Sun, when the Sun never rises for a couple of months. The area was shrouded in a blue haze, called the Blue Light by the locals, and it was everything I hoped it would be.<\/p>\n

Alta holiday<\/a><\/p>\n

Norway is a very expensive place to visit, but the people are very friendly and I hope to return to the Arctic Circle in the not too distant future.<\/p>\n

Welcome to paradise<\/strong><\/p>\n

Three weeks after my\u00a0Troms\u00f8 visit, Sandra and I visited the Channel Island of Herm. It is 30 years since I last visited the tiny island for the day while on holiday in Guernsey. I was amazed how beautiful and peaceful the island was.<\/p>\n

\"Herm
\n Herm sunset<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

We stayed on the island for five days and had the most amazing time. We did a lot of walking and enjoyed some lovely food. While we were there, Prince Charles and Camilla visited and we were no more than a couple of feet away from the Royal couple.<\/p>\n

Welcome to paradise<\/a><\/p>\n

Lighthouse holidays<\/strong><\/p>\n

During 2012, we visited the Belle Tout Lighthouse on the cliffs of Beachy Head. This former lighthouse has been converted into a luxury bed and breakfast and we visited twice, in March and August, staying for three days both times.<\/p>\n

\"Belle
\n Belle Tout Lighthouse<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Belle Tout is in a spectacular position on the edge of the cliffs, and from the top of the lighthouse, there are spectacular views out to sea, and over the South Downs. We were very well looked after on both visits and I’m sure this is another place we will be staying at again.<\/p>\n

A weekend in a lighthouse<\/a> | Return to Belle Tout<\/a><\/p>\n

During the year, we attended a couple of events organised by Camelot and we extended our stay at one of these events into a weekend in London. We stayed at the Four Seasons Hotel in Canary Wharf and had a great weekend, although it never stopped raining all the time we were there.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, back at home …<\/strong><\/p>\n

At home, the wet summer enabled the plants in the garden to grow rapidly, although the long spells of rain meant that the garden and meadows were often neglected. I continued to develop the weather station, adding ultra violet and solar sensors and several records were set that will probably last some time.<\/p>\n

I also spent my spare time cataloguing my photograph collection. I now have over 15,000 items in my collection, dating back to 2005. These have all had to be loaded into the software, edited and improved – a time consuming task, but one that brings big rewards. The best of my photographs have been uploaded to a Flickr site so that everyone can take a look into my lifestyle.<\/p>\n

… and finally<\/strong><\/p>\n

As the final minutes of 2012 tick by, I can sit and reflect on a year which has left me with many memories. I will always count myself very lucky to be in a position where I can do what I want to and visit places that I have dreamt of.<\/p>\n

There is nothing I want to change in my life for 2013, except the usual resolution to lose weight and get fitter. If I am to visit the remaining places on my list, losing weight is now my priority for 2013.<\/p>\n

Happy New Year!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a year ends, it is customary to look back at the one just gone, and remember the good times that we had. For me, 2012 was a great year filled with memories of some amazing places and of meeting some lovely people. The beautiful country of Norway 2012 was the year in which I [Read more]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-741","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-holidays","category-whatido","category-31-id","category-9-id","post-seq-1","post-parity-odd","meta-position-corners","fix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alanrowley.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/741","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alanrowley.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alanrowley.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alanrowley.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alanrowley.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=741"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.alanrowley.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/741\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":757,"href":"https:\/\/www.alanrowley.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/741\/revisions\/757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alanrowley.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alanrowley.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alanrowley.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}