While you read the following article why not listen to my e-baroque compositions – just click on the box below:

or if techno music is more your cup of tea here are my techno/ambient compositions:

I hope you find the information below interesting…please visit chrisduggleby.com again.

Apologies to regular readers for being a little late with the blog this week. Just before my last departure from the northern hemisphere I managed to pick up one of the more unpleasant bugs that was circulating so I had little choice but to spend the last couple of days in bed. My sympathy goes out to any readers who are suffering with these seasonal conditions and I hope you make a speedy and complete recovery.

Fortunately my faithful canine companion RISKKO was not under the weather and since we work as a team this week he offered to feature in the blog to give me a rest. So while I was feeling sorry for myself RISKKO took himself up one of our local mountains, Chapman’s Peak, in search of wild animals (and if you are looking for wild animals Africa is a good place to start).

First of all let us set the scene. The pictures above and below show the amazing views that you can enjoy when you take the mountain path up Chapman’s Peak. I mentioned the Karbonkelberg mountain in my earlier blogs. I have a great view of this mountain from my balcony and it also serves as a picturesque back drop to Sandy Bay beach (the articles can be found here and here). Today I can share with you the view of the Karbunkelberg from the other side.

Similarly the picture above is of the Little Lions Head Mountain from the opposite side. Chapman’s Peak features in the picture below and RISKKO’s adventure today takes him close to the top.

One of the first things you notice as you climb the mountain path is the abundance of pretty butterflies like the one below.

…..and of course this would not be Africa if we did not come across some trainee crocodiles and alligators…..

One of my (and RISKKO’s) favourite wild animals is the hairy caterpillar. Today we were not disappointed….

RISKKO, with his very sensitive hearing, is of course able to communicate with the caterpillars and decided to make friends with one of them called Katy.

Caterpillars are normally very weary of little dogs because they know how much dogs like biting tails.

After a little hesitation the caterpillar agreed to become RISKKO’s friend and before long they were rubbing noses together.

The caterpillar quickly climbed onto RISKKO to join him on his expedition up the mountain.

When you get towards the top of the mountain you can enjoy the distant views of the inland plains at the other side. This was a rather misty day but the views were still staggering. If you would like to see more detail simply click on any of my photographs to get a high definition version.

Another of the features of this walk are the many and varied birds. Like the one below:

Of course any walk in the South African countryside would not be complete without a reference to the fantastic vegetation.

In my next blog I will focus on some of the exotic flowers that grow along this path. Regular readers may remember that some of my summer blogs focused on the flowers in the Bavarian mountains. So to wet your appetite and set a benchmark for next week’s African blog here are some of the pictures from Bavaria. If you would like to see more please use the links here, here and here.

Time now to go and snivel a bit more. I hope to see you next week (and of course I will bring some flowers),

Chris Duggleby

While you read the following article why not listen to my e-baroque compositions – just click on the box below:

or if techno music is more your cup of tea here are my techno/ambient compositions:

I hope you find the information below interesting…please visit chrisduggleby.com again.

Having written several recent blog articles about my (and RISKKO’s) adventures in Africa I realized this weekend that my other (prime) winter residence was suffering from under-exposure. So this week I will try to correct this.

Regular readers of my blog will know that I spend the months from March to November commuting between London and the Alps. London is where I earn my living helping a large industrial group manage its business risks. The Alps, or more precisely Bavaria, is where I go on a weekend to recharge my batteries and get inspiration for the week ahead.

In the winter I find that commuting to the mountains can get disrupted by the weather and the drive from either Munich or Salzburg Airport to my apartment in the mountains is rather dangerous (my trips to and from the airport are either very late at night of very early in the morning).

So in the winter months Bavaria as an escape route is replaced by South Africa where I live in a remote location next to the ocean (my recent African blogs have lots of pics and can be found here, here and here). However, commuting every weekend between London and Africa would be a bit over the top, both in terms of my body and my bank balance. So I save up all my annual leave and together with the festive national holidays this allows me to make three trips to Africa of 2/3 weeks.

When I am in the UK I live in leafy Surrey, not far from Horsell Common. Horsell Common is famous because it provided the setting for H.G.Wells’ book “War of the Worlds”. The sand pits mentioned in the book actually do exist in Horsell Common (see the picture below).

If you visit the sand pits or the surrounding swamp area on a misty day it is not very difficult to imagine the Martians landing there and building their heat-ray machines. The book features many of the local areas so if you are a fan get yourself over to Woking in Surrey and visit the common. The author H.G. Wells lived in Woking when he wrote the book and there is a statue of a Martian ‘Tripod’ fighting machine in the town shopping area.

In addition to the sand pits there are a number of other interesting things in Horsell Common. In an earlier blog I described the prehistoric burial mounds which only further add to the mystique of the location (the relevant articles can be found here and here). Around the sand pits, where sand has presumably been excavated (or perhaps its is a result of the Martian heat ray), the ground below many of the trees has eroded leaving some very interesting root structures (see the pictures above and below).

Those local people who have dogs will be very familiar with Horsell Common as a popular place for walking their dogs. In order to not stand out when I am taking photographs I make a point of also taking my dog RISKKO. This helps me to avoid drawing undue attention to myself.

Of course when you are out with your dog it is pointless thinking that you are in control of the agenda. Invariably RISKKO meets up with one of his many friends – like Sid (below).

When the two dogs are together they love playing in the roots and building little doggy houses there. Readers will certainly remember that RISKKO gets involved with similar activities with his friends in the Bavarian Forests during the Summer (if you have not seen the pictures try the link here).

I personally find Horsell Common is great for jogging because the ground is quite soft. This helps me to keep my aging knees going a little longer. Being chased by an untethered Rottweiler also acts a great incentive to go a little faster (I normally jog very early – which is the time that people with the most dangerous dogs are also out – to prevent them disturbing other dog-walkers). If your dog struggles with eating fresh meat try wrapping it in Lycra first!

I can actually get from my apartment in Surrey to the Common by foot. I simply go along the Basingstoke canal. This allows me to avoid unpleasant traffic fumes or hard surfaces. The canal also has lots of interesting things to look at and photograph.

I live next to the canal so I can enjoy the four seasons from my balcony and also keep an eye out for the many activities on the water. We get numerous barges and canoes going past and there is plenty of wild life. The pictures below are taken in Winter and show the views in both directions (taken from the balcony).

One of the most interesting things is a very large Oak Tree which grows directly in front of my balcony. The reason it is interesting is because of the local squirrels.

The squirrels use the tree on my side of the canal together with a similarly large tree on the opposite side as their ‘bridge’. Like many bridges over pretty rivers this ‘Squirrel Bridge’ appears to be a key meeting place and a popular location for the enjoyment of ‘Squirrel Romance’. Clearly you will not find any photos of that kind of stuff on a respectable website like this one.

Although I understandably draw the line at publishing squirrel porn I think it is probably OK to share with you a picture I took in the last couple of days of a rather large squirrel having a mid-day nap on the ‘bridge’.

Squirrels are not the only animals to have found an interesting way of getting from one side of the canal to the other. In the winter time the ducks can find the water a little cool and as a result they have taken to using the local locks as a way of avoiding getting cold feel.

As well as helping to keep their feet warm the locks are also a useful vantage point to enable the ducks to watch out for the many naughty foxes that travel up and down the canal.

Actually I think the major reason for the ducks meeting on the canal locks is to satisfy that most basic of animal instincts – they like to gossip. Take a look at the picture below and tell me that Ducks don’t like getting together for a good chin-wag.

The local ducks also strike me as being a bit vain. I have noticed they like using the locks as a kind of catwalk to show off their shiny red boots.

Well I hope that has brought you up to date with some of the excitement we get here in Surrey during the winter months. Sadly my time for photographing in the UK is somewhat limited in the winter as I normally start and finish work in the dark. However that means there will be lots of potential when I retire.

If you have any suggestions or comments please do not hesitate to use the message box below. Time now to pack my summer gear for the next session in Africa.

Chris Duggleby.

While you read the following article why not listen to my e-baroque compositions – just click on the box below:

or if techno music is more your cup of tea here are my techno/ambient compositions:

I hope you find the information below interesting…please visit chrisduggleby.com again.

This week I am going to introduce you to some of the fierce (and often cute) wild animals that live on our doorstep in Africa. First of all let me introduce RISKKO’s personal trainer called Charlie.

Charlie is training to be a fierce crocodile and so whenever we see him he shows off his press-ups on the rocks near our home.

In my earlier blog article about the Sandy Bay beaches (you can find it here) I described the many rock pools that we have around our local beaches. We are often among the first people to visit the beach in the morning and RISKKO has made friends with the crabs who live here. Below is a picture of one of them called ‘Crusty’.

Here is a picture of some of the rock pools. These are next to Sandy Bay’s smaller beach.

Dogs have very sensitive hearing which means that RISKKO is able to listen to molluscs like clams and mussels. This can be very useful because Molluscs can tell us where to the best pearl oysters live. In the past Sandy Bay was very famous for its pearl oyster beds. In fact there is a story that before the area became famous one of the first settlers in Llandudno came across a beautiful naked girl gathering pearls from around the rocks and caves around Sandy Bay. Apparently this was how it first got its reputation as Cape Town’s unofficial nudist beach. It was probably also the inspiration for the beach scene in Dr No (OK – well perhaps I have used a little artistic license here – but it is nice to think that Sean Connery and Ursula Andress would have prefered to meet here had they been given the choice!)

One day as we were looking for pearl oysters we came across some donuts (or ‘dough nuts’ for the language police). Many readers probably just think of donuts as something you buy in the store or restaurant and that they taste yummy. They do not even stop to consider where donuts actually come from (or more precisely where they grow). Well do not let it be said that this site does not help to educate our global readership. Clearly donuts like most other foods have to grow somewhere. There are lots of donuts living in the rock pools around Sandy Bay and I have captured some of them in the photographs below.

Donuts live in many of the rock pools at Sandy Bay and you occasionally find them growing in rather inconvenient locations as the picture below illustrates. Clearly this rock did not take too nicely to having a donut growing on top of his head. Well I guess at least it could be useful if the rock every gets hungry and fancies a quick snack.

As well as donuts and apprentice crocodiles there are lots of other animals to be found here. Below is one of the local lizards (Lizzy) who likes to play hide and seek with RISKKO.

Seeing Lizzy reminded us of Sally Manda the friendly Salamander who likes to cuddle with RISKKO when he is out walking in the Bavarian forests. If you would like to read more about this the link is here.

Now getting back to Africa (and summer) here is a picture of the wild countryside where RISKKO goes hunting for vicious animals. See if you can spot the little lions head.

Every week we like to share with our readers some of the pretty flowers that we come across during our travels. This week is daisy time. Daisies some times get forgotten but are among the most beautiful flowers you can find. Here are some pictures taken from around Sandy Bay and the little lions head mountain. All of the photographs are taken using high-definition photography so you can see more detail by clicking on the pictures.

I will complete this weeks article with some more pictures of the flowers (see below). I intend to publish some more exotic pictures of local vegetation in future weeks so if you like flowers please pop-by again. Just watch out for any wild animals!

Chris Duggleby.

While you read why not listen to my album ‘Electro Baroque‘ (all tracks are also available on iTunes using the link here)? Classical music using modern instruments:

or if you prefer to listen to my electro/techno album ‘Studio Valiumm‘ here are the videos (also on iTunes using the link here):

More info about my music is at the dedicated website www.TRANSFORMATES.com

This week I am going to restrict myself to only showing you pictures taken from my balcony (with a few pictures of a my neighbours’ properties to show you what is available nearby). One of the reasons I come here is to be able to focus on writing without too many distractions (you can visit one of my latest creations at www.transformates.com). In fact I do not even allow myself to have a car here, which can be a challenge because Llandudno and Sunset Rocks do not have any shops or restaurants. I will explain how I solved that problem in a later blog article.

Without a car I am forced to walk to my two local beaches which ensures I get some exercise (if you are interested in seeing what these beaches look like please visit my previous articles on Llandudno and Sandy Bay Beaches – they are both about 15-20 minutes walk from the apartment).

Let me explain how Sunset Rocks got its name. Actually the pictures above and below do not need much further explanation….

Although this location was named after its sunsets I find that the setting of the moon is also magical, especially when we have a full moon like the one below. All of these photographs are taken from my balcony which is convenient because in order to catch the moon setting I often need to jump out of bed in the middle of the night (don’t worry you wont find my night attire featured in any of these photographs!).

Just taking a picture of the moon on its own can be a bit boring so in the picture below I managed to capture my next door neighbour’s house (many thanks to ‘Villa Lara’) which adds a little human interest to the scene.

Moving away from the night let us now take a look at the views from my voluntary balcony imprisonment during the day time. The first picture captures the view to the left of the balcony featuring the Karbonkelberg Mountain and Sandy Bay beach with its surrounding rocks and other interesting distractions (don’t worry no mid-day telescopic lens photos of Cape Town’s famous nudist beach will be featured in this highly ‘respectable’ website – unless by accident!).

The photograph below presents a panoramic view of the ocean as seen looking directly out from the balcony. As with all my pictures this has been taken in high-definition. If you want to see more detail on any photographs just click with your cursor over the picture and you will see a high-definition version. Then use the backward arrow on your browser to get back to this page.

To the right of my balcony I get quite a different view. Here you can see the back-side of the 12 Apostles mountain range. The shot below was taken as the sun was setting which creates some stunning red colours.

As the sun sets on one side we often get the moon rising from the other direction. The photograph below captured the moon just as it rose over the 12 Apostles Mountain (again from the balcony).

In my earlier article about Llandudno I mentioned that in this ‘village’ we have some of the most expensive real estate in cape town – US $2-3m would get you a fairly average place. The next 4 pictures are of some of my other neighbours to share with you a selection of the homes that are available around Sunset Rocks.

Coming back to my more modest roof top apartment with its very discreet balcony I noticed in the last few days that my New Zealand Christmas Tree has acquired its first flower. This is where I hang my Christmas Lights – more on that in a later article.

Although I live a somewhat reclusive existence I am never short of visits from beautiful birds. Here are a couple of pretty singers that popped over to entertain RISKKO and myself on the balcony.

…..and occasionally we get a really sophisticated bird calling in like the one below…

As the sun sets our pretty visitors have to return to their homes…..

Since the theme of this week’s article is ‘Sunset Rocks’ let me leave you with some more photographs of impressive sunsets and moonsets that I have recently witnessed. If you have any comments or questions please do not hesitate to use the comments box at the bottom of the article.

Time now for a sundowner!

Chris Duggleby.

If you found this review interesting you may also find some of my other recent articles worth checking out. To view these simply click over the titles below:

6th April 2014: Product Quality Risk: Shoes Sold On-line By Zalando Recalled Due To Chromium 6 Contamination – Known Allergen And Carcinogen 

22nd March 2014: Helping the Blind ‘Hear’ Shapes and Pictures – Image Recognition Area of Brain Stimulated by ‘Soundscapes’ in Congenitally Blind – Despite Never Having Seen Before!

18th March 2014: Germany and Finland Joint Investigation: New Case of Sexual Cannibalism Including Self-mutilation (Castration) During Intercourse.

24th February 2014: NAZI Research into the use of Mosquitoes as Biological Weapons to Infect Allied Troops with Malaria.

9th March 2013: Insects getting hooked on psychoactive drugs – How plants take advantage of bees by giving them a caffeine buzz.

30th December 2012: German Medical Scandal: Experiments carried out on communist patients for capitalist pharmaceutical companies.

29th December 2012: Spreading diarrhea and vomit through the washing machine – The Norovirus propagator in our kitchen. 

1st September 2012: Multiple antibiotic resistance transferred between harmless soil bacteria and the killer pathogens found in hospitals.

25th August 2012: Bubble Tea – German scientists claim to have found traces of carcinogenic chemicals.

18th August 2012: Polar Bear dies of Encephalitis after catching Herpes from a Zebra in Wuppertal Zoo near Düsseldorf.

11th August 2012: Do you have killer rats/mice in your cellar? Over 2000 people attacked in Germany so far this year (Hantavirus Infections at record levels).

14th July 2012: Jews and Muslims Unite Against German Court Ruling that religious Circumcision is a ‘Bodily Injury’ (“The Worst Attack on Jewish Life in Germany Since the Holocaust”).

23rd June 2012: “Doctors are legally allowed to accept gifts from Pharmaceutical Companies” – In Germany.

If you find these articles interesting why not visit the contents list of my Alpine Press page and take a look at some of the other reviews, just click on the link here. Alternatively why not get free updates of new articles by subscribing to my RSS feed using this link. This will send the latest updates direct to your browser and you can read them at your leisure by looking under the ‘feeds’ section of your browser favourites.

Those readers who regularly visit this blog will be aware that the next generation of Dugglebys (namely my son in Bavaria) has already been sold on the advantages of quadbikes due to their versatility and fuel efficiency. He finds the quadbike is a very practical way of getting around rock festivals where the terrain (and the weather) is not always ‘car friendly’.

So imagine how impressed I was when I discovered that in preparation for the visit of our celebrity hound RISKKO the Hout Bay Police department had sent in reinforcements to ensure that Sandy Bay Beach was cleared of any undesirables (in particular paparazzi with telescopic lenses trying to catch pictures of RISKKO skinny dipping with the birds on the beach).

Sandy Bay is the closest beach to the African hide-away which I use to escape the European winter. It is less than 15 minutes walk from my front door. However because it is part of the Table Mountain National Park it is not very easy to access or patrol using the normal 4 wheel police vehicles. Therefore the local police from the nearest town, Hout Bay, come over on their quadbikes and do the job in style, with the minimum impact on the environment. This allows them to also patrol the pathways leading from Hout Bay to the beach.

Despite its remote (and therefore wonderful) location Sandy Bay also receives careful attention from the authorities in other respects. I was particularly impressed to see the amount of attention given to educating sun worshippers about the harmful effects of over exposure to the sun. They actually encourage people to wear extra clothing on the way to and from the beach (to minimise the potential damage by harmful UV radiation).

The photograph below shows the location of Sandy Bay in relation to Sunset Rocks which is where my roof-top retreat is situated. There are two ways to get from Sunset Rocks to Sandy Bay. One follows the official path (and if you visit please note the requirement to be suitably attired – we don’t want to risk any over exposure!).

The second way (and the way RISKKO and I prefer because it take a little longer and provides us with some excellent exercise) involves going (and in some cases climbing) over the rocks. The Photograph below shows these rocks which also provide an alternative bathing location for people who do not necessarily wish to get sand into every crook and crevice.

Often we arrive at the beach very early in the morning when the sand is untouched by other visitors (except for the birds and crabs). Although it is sometimes misty early in the morning the sights are still staggering and the feeling of being at one with nature is unique.

There are actually two main beaches making up the area people refer to as Sandy Bay beach. The one in the picture below is the smaller of the two and has a lot of interesting rock formations and rock pools to explore (more on these adventures in a later blog article).

The next picture shows this smaller beach from the opposite side which gives a better view of the rock pools. Notice there is only one set of human footprints on the beach – mine!

Moving on from the smaller beach (either via a path along the grass to the left or if the tide is out you can walk along the sand and rocks from one beach to the next) the first thing you will notice as you enter the larger beach is the fantastic view of the Karbunkel Mountain (named because it looks from the other, Hout Bay side, like a carbuncle).

If you go to the end of this larger beach and look back (in my case from a vantage point on some of the rocks) you can see the mountain views providing the backdrop to the other side or the beach. These are the little lions head mountain (the pointed one) and the back-end of the 12 Apostles mountain (which were featured in my last blog on Llandudno which can be found here).

Here is another view of the Karbunkel Mountain showing off some of the flora and the fascinating rock formations in the sea.

The photograph below is of the little lions head with an even smaller dogs head in the foreground. There is a bigger Lions Head mountain nearer to the centre of Cape Town which is also pointed. You will be able to see this in the photograph at the end of this blog.

The next three photographs illustrate some of the colourful natural flora that grows naturally in this area. These just happen to be the ones that were in bloom on this African spring day.

If you like wild flowers Cape Town and its natural parks are well worth a visit. In some of my later blogs I will be presenting some of the beautiful flowers I found in other parts of the region.

Finally my ‘exercise’ trip took me along the last part of the official path leading to the car park at Sunset rocks. On the left hand side just before you get to the car parking area there was a beautiful array of orange,yellow and purple flowers which I captured in the following photographs.

Have I managed to wet your appetite for a visit yet? So far I have only been able to present a fraction of the beauty which exists in this region. We have beauty at the micro level with the flowers and small animals and at the macro level with the mountains and sea views (and of course the Whales – more on that later). If you like what you see please visit the site again.

Greetings from Africa,

Chris Duggleby

If you are interested in reading some of my other articles try the following

Torture In The Shower – Face and Body Soap Allergies – Main Suspect: Pears Transparent Soap

Poison in your Washing Machine: Allergic Contact Dermatitis from Laundry Detergents, Softeners, Conditioners and Whiteners

Is Alzheimer’s caused by the Gum Disease Bacterium P. Gingivalis – A Dementia Prevention/Treatment Breakthrough?

Toxic Chemicals in Sex Toys – 18 Vibrators, Cock Rings, Love Balls Tested – Only 3 Get All Clear

My T-shirt Made Me Sick – Textile Allergies – Sinusitis From Your Underwear

After a hectic summer roaming the European Alps the time has arrived to witness the second spring of the year. Pink Lips being a Polar Bear is not too keen on Africa so she volunteered to stay behind and look after our home in the Alps. So RISKKO and I jumped into a plane and aimed south towards the tip of Africa.

However, before departing it was necessary to extricate some batteries from RISKKO’s undercarriage. These normally power my faithful guard dog’s rather loud laugh. This infectious laugh got me into trouble earlier in the year when RISKKO, who was carefully packed in my rucksack, started to laugh as he passed through the X-ray machine in Düsseldorf airport.

There was almost a major security incident due to the laughing sound emanating from the inside of the baggage checking machine. Upon searching my bags a rather serious German security guard enquired as to why a senior oil company executive was travelling around with a laughing dog in his rucksack. He looked very carefully at my visas for Russia, China and Azerbaijan and asked if the dog was one of my professional ‘tools’?

His face became even more stern as I tried to explain that I like taking photographs with the dog and publishing them on the internet. I offered to make him a star by taking a photograph of him inspecting RISKKO with his baton. This did not improve the situation! Fortunately a nice police lady came to our rescue by pointing out that clearly there were no weapons of mass destruction hidden in RISKKOs underpants or shoes because he was not wearing any. He was certainly far too cute to be a spy and she gave him a cuddle. At which point his laughing mechanism went off again. We moved on quickly before they called in psychiatric support.

On the day after our arrival in Cape Town RISKKO and I trekked from our rooftop apartment on Sunset Rocks to the local beach known as Llandudno. We are fortunate enough to have two beaches within walking distance: Llandudno is a 15 minute walk to the North and Sandy Bay, is a 15 minute walk to the South. I will describe our exciting adventures on Sandy Bay in a future article.

Llandudno was named after the traditional sea-side resort in the North of Wales because it has also has similar outcrops of rocks at both ends of the beach.

There are two ways to walk from ‘our’ outcrop of rocks, known as Sunset Rocks, to Llandudno beach. One is over the rather narrow and sometimes challenging cliff side path. This path can be rather difficult but when we do go this way there are some interesting caves on the way. These have openings which allowed me to take some rather unusual pictures of Llandudno beach. The one below shows the outcrop of rocks at the opposite end of the beach.

For hundreds of years the caves around this coast-line were inhabited by natives known as the Khoikhoi. The outcrop of rocks in the photograph above overlooks another smaller bay next to Llandudno beach known as Logies Bay. There is a very large cave on this outcrop where remains of the Khoikhoi inhabitants have been excavated.

An alternative and easier route follows the only road which runs between Sunset Rocks (and the path from Sandy Bay beach) to Llandudno. This is higher up and provides a nice aerial view of the beach and village. This road takes you through LLandudno village all the way to the beach. Actually the word village may give a misleading impression – there is not a single shop or restaurant in Llandudno. This area, including the whole of Sunset Rocks, comprises mainly luxury villas. Some of the most expensive real estate in Cape Town can be found here.

Whenever I take the path down to Llandudno beach I am always stunned by the beautiful purple flowers at the side of the path (see the photograph below).

We are normally among the first people to arrive on the beach (there has to be an upside to getting up at 04:30 a.m.). The beach is very popular during the day time but it is absolutely majestic first thing in the morning as the sun rises over the 12 Apostles Mountain.

Usually the only thing we have for company are some of the local birds looking for morsels which have been washed up by the tide. It is not unusual to catch these birds skinny dipping in the very cold, but refreshing, sea.

OK so we like pretty birds!

If you walk over to the rocks on the north side of the beach (either along the beach when the tide is out or using a road which runs parallel to it) you can get some fantastic views of the Little Lions Head and the Karbonkelberg Mountains.

Occasionally if you are ever the first person on the beach you might also be lucky enough to find some interesting beach sculptures like these. We found these close to the caves above Logies Bay – perhaps they were left by the cave dwellers to remind us that they are still here (in spirit if not in body!).

Here is an early morning picture of the 12 Apostles Range which directly overlooks Llandudno beach.

It is impossible to be in South Africa in spring and not to notice the fantastic flowers. Here are a couple of shots of RISKKO enjoying the flowers. If you like flowers I can promise you some real treats in future articles.

I took the next couple of shots of flowers as we walked back over the mountain road to Sunset Rocks for a well-earned breakfast.

These flowers are just a sampler. There are a lot more which I hope to share with you soon. You can find more photographs in my gallery – the Cape Town pages can be found here. If you would like to learn more about some of the gems from the Cape Town region, especially those which are not necessarily in the brochures, please visit this site again.

Chris Duggleby.

If you are interested in reading my other health focused articles try the following

Torture In The Shower – Face and Body Soap Allergies – Main Suspect: Pears Transparent Soap

Poison in your Washing Machine: Allergic Contact Dermatitis from Laundry Detergents, Softeners, Conditioners and Whiteners

Is Alzheimer’s caused by the Gum Disease Bacterium P. Gingivalis – A Dementia Prevention/Treatment Breakthrough?

Toxic Chemicals in Sex Toys – 18 Vibrators, Cock Rings, Love Balls Tested – Only 3 Get All Clear

My T-shirt Made Me Sick – Textile Allergies – Sinusitis From Your Underwear

Well it had to happen (as indeed it does every year). Snow came to the Alps during the night last weekend. I awoke on Sunday morning to find everywhere covered in about 2 inches of snow. This in itself is not unusual but it has arrived a little early this year. As a result the area has undergone a dramatic change from ‘sunny autumn’ to ‘bleak winter’ over the course of a single week. I took the following photograph on my way to the recycling centre a week before the snow came. Contrast this with the one below it which I took last Sunday (as my photographs are taken in high-resolution just click your mouse with the cursor over the picture to see a more detailed copy).

The snow arrived so early that the fruit was still on the apple trees. Here is another ‘before’ and ‘after’ picture of the local fruit orchard. The first picture was taken a week before the snow arrived (capturing some of the autumn colours). The following two pictures show the same trees one week later.

Just before the snow arrived it was so warm in the sun that Pascal and I were able to sit outside in the garden of our local restaurant for our Sunday lunch. After lunch in order to prepare for my Winter travels there was quite a lot of housework (ironing!) to finish off. However ironing can be quite pleasant when the view is nice and the sun shines – I thought it might be interesting to share the view from my ironing board! (with my little domestic helper also managing to get into the shot!).

One week later the view was somewhat less interesting – I couldn’t even see the Wendelstein mountain last Sunday.

The snow was so early that many people still had flowers in their window boxes. The ‘before’ and ‘after’ pictures of the guest house near my apartment show how fortunate we are to be able to enjoy such beautiful flowers right until the end of October.

On my last snow free trip to the recycling centre I was able to capture some photographs of a couple of really beautiful local horses. Take a look for yourself……..

I know some of my international readers particularly like the snow – especially Bob in South Carolina. So here are a few pictures which I hope manage to capture that unique period when we still have the autumn colours but they are blended with a carpet of white snow. This period, when the streams are still flowing, allows me to also show-off some of the mountain streams (or ‘bachs’) which flow through my village of Bad Feilnbach. I am lucky because one of these bachs flows right past my apartment – this is where I keep my pet trout ‘Trevor’ (but that is another story). Enjoy!

I hope you like these pictures of alpine snow scenes. I will be spending quite a bit of time in Africa over the next few months and I do not expect to see much snow there – despite some pretty spectacular mountain scenes.

Wrap up warm!

Chris Duggleby.

If you are interested in reading my other health focused articles try the following

Torture In The Shower – Face and Body Soap Allergies – Main Suspect: Pears Transparent Soap

Poison in your Washing Machine: Allergic Contact Dermatitis from Laundry Detergents, Softeners, Conditioners and Whiteners

Is Alzheimer’s caused by the Gum Disease Bacterium P. Gingivalis – A Dementia Prevention/Treatment Breakthrough?

Toxic Chemicals in Sex Toys – 18 Vibrators, Cock Rings, Love Balls Tested – Only 3 Get All Clear

My T-shirt Made Me Sick – Textile Allergies – Sinusitis From Your Underwear

While you read the following article why not listen to my e-baroque compositions – just click on the box below:

or if techno music is more your cup of tea here are my techno/ambient compositions:

I hope you find the article below interesting…please visit chrisduggleby.com again.

This week to celebrate the arrival of autumn RISKKO and I jumped into the car with the camera, popped over to Lake Spitzingsee to pick up RISKKO’s playmate Robin Huddy and drove to the Lake Schliersee. Schliersee is a natural Bavarian lake measuring 2.3 x 1.3 km and is situated next to the small town of the same name. From this town you can walk around the lake by following a made up path. The following picture was taken from this path.

Here is the Google map for Lake Schliersee which can be enlarged to highlight the main transport routes and other local places of interest.

One of the main focal points of the town of Schliersee is the St. Sixtus church dating from 1712-1715 which has wall and ceiling frescoes by Johann Baptist Zimmermann. More information and pictures of the interior of this church can be found at the german website here.

On the other side of the lake is the church of St. Martin Westenhofen which is the oldest church in Schliersee having been built around a.d. 1000. Nearby a monastery existed since about a.d. 770. If you are interested in the interior of these churches more information can be found at the website here.

The mountains surrounding Lake Schliersee belong to the Mangfall range and include the Aiplspitz, Jägerkamp, Brecherspitz und Bodenschneid. Here are some photographs of mountains and hills taken from the side of the lake. All my pictures are taken with high resolution photography. To see mere detail just click your mouse with the cursor over the picture. Afterwards use your web-brouser’s backwards arrow to return to this page.

Around the lake are numerous bathing areas where people can, at their own risk, bath in the lake. I didn’t have to ask RISKKO twice! Whoosh and he was doing his celebrity skinny dipping act (a ‘rapper’ without any wrapping). Robin Hoody, by contrast, was a very sensible bear, kept himself warmly clothed and just threw pebbles in the water.

If you like going out on a rowing boat to get away from the stresses of daily life you can’t go wrong with the Schiersee. Below are a couple of pictures of someone who, despite the chilly October weather, did just that.

A rowing boat is not the only way to get around the lake. Regular boat trips are available like the one below.

Just take a look at the autumn colours of the trees around the lake in the picture below.

Near the lake there are a number of interesting buildings many of which provide accommodation for visitors. If you stay within walking distance of the town of Schiersee you should have all the necessary amenities at hand.

Before leaving Lake Schliersee I could not resist one last photograph of the staggering autumn colours on the lakeside hills.

For us our journey home simply involved a short ride along the Deutsche Alpenstraße driving east in the direction of the Wendelstein Mountain.

….and of course we had time to take one last photograph of our two cuddly friends before dropping Robin Huddy back off at his home by lake Spitzingsee. If you would like to see more about the Spitzingsee please take a look at my article here.

So despite the cold and the gradually shortening days it was well worth venturing out on this October day to enjoy the colourful autumn scenery. If you would like to see some of my other recent scenic articles from this region please try the following links.

here (Schloß Neubeuern: A fairy tale castle in the Alps near the Bavarian/Austrian border)

here (Spitzingsee or Spitzing Lake in the Bavarian Alps)

here (Bavarian Schwarzenberg or the Black Mountain in the Voralpen region)

here (Thiersee or Lake Thier in the Austrian Tyrol)

here (Bayrischzell: a Bavarian village with an impressive background), and

here (Achensee or Lake Achen: The largest lake in the Austrian Tyrol and one of its best kept secrets)

Watch out for the Halloween ghouls!

Chris Duggleby

This week I would like to introduce you to the Bavarian market village of Neubeuern with its impressive castle or schloss (Schloß Neubeuern). Neubeuern is a particularly picturesque village and was voted as Germany’s most beautiful village in 1981. The village is built around a hill, which has an amazing back-drop of the Austrian/German Alps. I have a particular affiliation with Schloß Neubeuern because my son, Pascal, went to the Gymnasium (Grammar school) there. This is a well-known German mixed-sex boarding school and being based in a castle has something of a ‘Hogwarts‘ feel to it. Any young ‘Harry Potter‘ fan will not need to be asked twice to become a student there!

Pascal jumped at the opportunity to leave home for the Neubeuern castle at the age of 12. Coincidentally his brother Alex, 6 years earlier, had attended another castle school, Schloß Traunsee, in the Austrian Lake district – I will try to feature this in a forthcoming article. OK so J.K. Rowling may have had a titsy bit of influence on the selection of the boy’s educational establishments. I featured the boys in last week’s blog which can be found here).

Let me explain where Schloß Neubeuern is. The castle sits upon a hill which is surrounded by the pretty village of Neubeuern in the south of Bavaria not far from the border which leads into the Austrian Tyrol. It lies about half way between Munich and Salzburg. Here is the Google map which you can expand to find the nearest Autobahns and Towns:

Driving from my weekend retreat I crossed over the river Inn on the short journey from Bad Feilnbach to Neubeuern. The river Inn runs parallel to the Inntall Autobahn which is one of the key transit routes through the Alps between Bavaria and Italy.

Wherever you travel in this region you are not far from staggering alpine views.

Some of the best views of the castle ‘Schloß Neubeuern’ can be enjoyed by driving towards Neubeuern from the Austrian direction. It stands proud at the top of its own hill surrounded by the immediate countryside which is relatively flat. All of my photographs are prepared in high-definition so if you would like to see more detail just click your mouse with the cursor over the picture. After viewing the photograph use the backward arrow on your search machine to return to this article.

In order to enter the village square at Neubeuern you must drive through one of two villages gates or ‘Tors‘. This only allow traffic to pass in one direction at a time so drive slowly. These small gates ensure that large lorries do not enter into the village square.

As soon as you enter the gate you will be struck by the impressive old buildings with their colourful Frescos.

Once you arrive at the market square you get a view of the castle towering over the village. It is possible to park in the square and the town council is currently considering how they can increase the number of parking spaces. This has caused quite a heated debate because one of the proposals would involve removing two old trees from the square; an issue that has divided the residents of the village. If you would like to read more (in German) about this subject a local press article can be found here (don’t let it be said that http://www.ChrisDuggleby.com doesn’t bring issues of major environmental importance to the World stage!).

From the market square you can get a close up view of the beautiful hanging gardens which flow down the cliff face from Schloß Neubeuern to the village.

The colours of the hanging gardens are complemented by the well stocked window boxes of the many individually painted buildings below.

Even the buildings without flower baskets are artistically painted. Some of the paintings depict historical events or stories like the one below.

At the opposite side of the square to the castle is the village church. In addition, the castle has its own church which is also worth a visit. This ‘Schlosskapelle St. Augustin‘ has fine examples of Bavarian late Baroque Rococo architecture. If you would like to see a 360 degree sight-seeing tour of the schloss and the staggering sights from its grounds please visit the interactive tour from the school’s website which can be found here. (it can take a while to load!)

Just to the back of the church you will find a couple of the village’s picturesque restaurants. Many of the restaurants have garden terraces which allow customers to enjoy the amazing sights of the mountains and local countryside.

All around the village it is possible to catch views of the Alps which provide the perfect back-drop to this scenic masterpiece.

It is difficult to find a building without pretty hanging baskets and impressive fresco work.

The next one is one of my favourites.

After a great day enjoying one of Germany’s most beautiful villages I departed through the old village gate, but not before sampling some of the delights from the village baker.

In my view Neubeuern with its Schloß is well worth a visit and I will certainly be coming back. I hope you like the pictures and please do not hesitate to let me know if you have any suggestions or recommendations using the comments box below.

Chris Duggleby.

If you are interested in reading my other health focused articles try the following

Torture In The Shower – Face and Body Soap Allergies – Main Suspect: Pears Transparent Soap

Poison in your Washing Machine: Allergic Contact Dermatitis from Laundry Detergents, Softeners, Conditioners and Whiteners

Is Alzheimer’s caused by the Gum Disease Bacterium P. Gingivalis – A Dementia Prevention/Treatment Breakthrough?

Toxic Chemicals in Sex Toys – 18 Vibrators, Cock Rings, Love Balls Tested – Only 3 Get All Clear

My T-shirt Made Me Sick – Textile Allergies – Sinusitis From Your Underwear

While you read the following article why not listen to my e-baroque compositions – just click on the box below:

or if techno music is more your cup of tea here are my techno/ambient compositions:

I hope you find the information below interesting…please visit chrisduggleby.com again.

My two sons in a Bavarian beer garden

This week I am reserving a little space in the blog for a small family reunion. My son Alex, who lives in Vienna popped over to Munich on the way to Gmunden, in the Austrian lake district. More observant readers will know that going from Vienna to Gmunden via Munich is not the most direct way of travelling but it does allow one to drop in on one’s parents on the way. Gmunden is a very pretty town on the Traunsee or Traun Lake next to the Traunstein mountain (the Austrian one!). We were fortunate enough to live there many years ago while Alex went to school in Schloß Traunsee.

As most of our family meetings tend to be via Skype, and we could be separated by rather large distances in December, we decided to bring forward Christmas lunch by about two months. So Pascal came over from Rosenheim on his Quadbike and we all popped over to the Bärenstub’n, a very nice restaurant in Bad Feilnbach where you can sit outside on a sunny day and enjoy the Alpine views. If you do happen to visit Bad Feilnbach we can highly recommend the excellent food and friendly service of this local restaurant. Their website can be found here.

As you will see from the picture above our faithful guard dog RISKKO jumped at the opportunity to have a ride on Pascal’s new Quadbike. Following on from this there is a serious risk that our four-legged friend may give up spending his time riding in luxury convertible sport’s cars with beautiful ladies and take up the life of a beach bum on a quad bike (for Bavarian guests instead of ‘beach bum’ please read ‘Baggersee Po’) . Watch this space.

Pascal works in Event Management and a quad bike can be a pretty effective way of getting round the large Bavarian music festivals – especially once the mud arrives! It was very nice to have the boys together and I am including a snap shot of them at the restaurant so that their extended family and international fans (well mainly my niece Estela in Spain!) can share in the occasion.

RISKKO particularly likes this restaurant because the chef is one of his best friends and always prepares a special treat for him.

While we were in the kitchen something else caught my eye – the restaurant was selling some of Bad Feilnbach’s excellent honey. During my many trips up the Schwarzenberg mountain I have always been impressed by the large number of the bees at the top of the mountain. Like the cows grazing on the mountain pastures the bees are clearly very happy and therefore the honey they make is especially delicious (more information about the Schwarzenberg can be found in my article here). I have to say I have never seen a sad or depressed bee up there.

Honey has been in the press quite a lot recently. To be precise blue, green and chocolate-brown honey produced by some rather naughty French bees who were more interested in M&M’s than they were in pollen. If you would like to find out more please read my article which can be found here.

In addition to the family Christmas lunch in Bavaria the RiskBusters’ ‘Team Duggleby’ also managed to find a night when we were all in the same country (England). This meant that we could finally have the team dinner we have been promising ourselves for many months. We found a nice Italian restaurant in Twickenham near the Thames and I did my best not to whinge the whole night about the cost (coming from Yorkshire anything more than £5 a head can cause severe psychological trauma – I am still undergoing therapy!). The restaurant was Osteria Pulcinella and the food was so good that, although we were only 8 people, we seemed to get through 12 deserts!

It was quite an international evening as the team was made up of representatives from South Africa (Michele), Germany (Ulrike and Klaus), China (May), Australia (Tong), France (Vincent), Lancashire (Nikki) and Yorkshire (guess who). Clearly the last two represent two of the culturally most distant races, especially linguistically.

So after a strong focus this week on food I promise in next week’s blog to have some more scenic photographs. There will be a special focus on a Bavarian hilltop-castle and its beautiful town. By the way here is a close-up of the Forest Bear we saw on the Schwarzenberg Mountain – fortunately it was preoccupied with its cub. Don’t say you don’t get exciting wildlife pics on the Chris Duggleby website!

Happy eating and remember to keep an eye out for any bees showing early signs of obeesity.

Chris Duggleby.