Take a hat

An Easter Island tour Old Harry basking in the sun Poole Harbour A few years back, there would hardly be a bike on the Sandbanks Ferry. Now there is a queue to get on! Mostly Mountain Bikes heading for the off-road routes over the heath land and through the forests. No problem though, there is plenty of room. Headed over to Swanage and picked up a pasty in a traditional bakery. Then over to Old Harry Rocks and then the heath to Ower Quay. Beautiful! Ower Quay What brilliant weather for April!. Days out with TW and TMIL on the seafront.  We cycle and TMIL takes her mobility scooter. Fancy a pint at the Sandbanks Hotel? Spinning - otherwise known as a indoor cycling! You walk in the room, its cold, very cold. Just like walking into a freezer. There are about 20 bikes. I pick a bike at the back. The instructor sits at the front barking instructions. The music blares out. Will I last the 45 mins I wonder?  Change up, change down, stand up, sit do...

Lunch on the balcony When you start skiing in November everything is fresh and there is real sense of winter advancing with the snowline down the mountain. The staffers in the huts are particularly pleased to see you, the lift attendants give you a merry ‘gruss gott’ and you don’t have to share the pistes with the hordes. The palms at Sportgastein When you finish in April the snowline is edging skywards, the birds are in song and the flowers are starting to appear in the newly revealed green pastures. The snow is soft but on many runs the corduroy lasts all day. The buses, previously every ten minutes, are now giving us time at the bus stop to soak up the afternoon sun. Lunches are leisurely with no fighting for tables, no anxious scanning of the sitting tenants for someone who looks like they are about to pay. Each day the number of available runs reduces but those that have the green light are open range with, very often, no other skier in sight. Spring is definitely ...