Tag Archives: Travel Writing

Wow, an Award!

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Well knock me down with a feather!

My little blog site has been nominated for an award!

Thank you a million times to Lili at http://liliscakes.com for the nomination, it really means a lot to me to be recognised by fellow bloggers. By the way, Lili’s site is mouth-watering!

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These are the rules that go with the award:

1. Display the Liebster award on your blog. Done.

2. Thank and link back to your nominator. Done.

3. Answer the nominator’s 11 questions. Done.

4. Nominate 11 other bloggers with about 200 or fewer followers and link to them. Done.

5. Draft 11 new questions for your nominees. Done.

6. Notify your nominees via their blogs or social media. Done.

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These are Lili’s questions that I need to answer, with my replies:

How did you first feel about receiving this award?
Pretty chuffed really, like… WOW!

What have you been enjoying most about blogging?
Capturing my thoughts at a moment in time and sharing with the world, then going back later and saying to myself, “Yes, I did feel like that.” Sometimes it stirs quite strong recollections and emotions.

What is your idea of a good day?
Hmm, tricky. There are lots of things that push the buttons for me; being with close friends and certain family members is one, sometimes being alone in the hills or on the coast, but any day on my Harley really rocks!

What is your favourite cake and why?
Mrs Dookes makes the most amazing Breton Cake, it’s got to be that, partly because of who makes it and also because it always reminds me of days in France.

What’s your dream?
To ride all the way around the world on a Harley… though I can’t ever see that happening, unless Harley Davidson sponsor me to do it! Are you listening in Milwaukee boys?

What are your favourite possessions and why?
I had to think quite hard about this. Actually i’m not a very material sort of guy, despite having loads of “stuff” around the place. Sure I have some little things that are quite precious to me, but have no real value…like a pebble off a Cornish beach or a piece of rock from Galibier. If I had to say just one thing it would be my memories, that OK?

What do you usually do at the weekend?
There is no usual in my world! It could be riding Harley, gardening, walking, surfing, cooking, watching rugby, model engineering…the list goes on! Yeah, totally self-indulgent!!!

What makes you happy?
Riding my Harley, watching the Wales rugby team, nice food, making people happy too.

On average, how many hours a day are you blogging at the moment?
About two hours each evening, which is about what I normally do when I’m off on a trip anyway. I am really enjoying receiving and replying to quite a few comments at the moment!

What kind of blogs do you like following?
Well, thanks to Blogging 101, the variety has exploded! I follow blogs about travel, cooking, poetry, books, humour, photography… just about anything except teenage angst!

What are you going to do now?
Blogging-wise probably sign up for the 201 course and keep up the work I’ve put into my blog over the past month. Other than that, start planning the next road trip!

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OK, now my nominees:
Click on the highlighted text to link to their blog.

Science, books and silly things – A blog that makes you ponder things.

The Lodge on Haydon – Inspiration for a happy home and a happy life.

Rainy Day Reflections – Reflections about life, photography and creativity

Pay, Pack and Follow – Travel, words & great photos.

An Englishman in New England – What it says.

Alba10 – Photography and general randomness.

Kellies Food To Glow – Feel-good food that’s good for you.

Harley Travel and tips – Travelling the USA on a Harley Davidson.

Humour, travel, running – Laugh out loud with this one!

Confessions of a Food Tourist – What it says!.

Clumsy and Stupid – Life in the far North of Canada.

…and these are your questions:

1. How do you feel about getting nominated for the Liebster Award?

2. What made you start blogging?

3. Where is your favourite place in the world?

4. Bungee jump or surfing?

5. If you could go back in time and do something different in your life, what would that be?

6. Where will your next holiday/vacation destination be?

7. Dogs or Cats?

8. Tell us about your favourite food!

9. What is your perfect day?

10. Who would be your dream dinner companion?

11. Do these questions all seem very random to you too?

I think that calls for a drink, cheers!

Dookes

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Just Blowin’ Away Some Cobwebs

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OK, I know… I’ve been whingeing on for a bit about how I haven’t been out on my beloved Harley for ages, so I guess the first thing to say is, “Sorry about that!”

Whilst it seems like for ever to me, it’s actually only been eight weeks; such is the depth of withdrawal symptoms that I have been suffering!

Well, the good news is that the enforced riding break got busted last Saturday!

The day dawned bright and clear, we had rain in the early part of the night which nicely washed the salt off the road, so all looked fair for a quick breath of fresh air on two wheels. Apart from a quick return blast along the A30 between Launceston and Bodmin, something else a bit more interesting was also called for. Harley was running as smooth as ever and like me, seemed pleased to be out again. So lets head north-west for about 16 miles and find the delightful coastal village of Crackington Haven.

I hold a special affection for the place and its beautiful beach.

Many, many, years ago a young Dookes once spent a wonderful holiday there, playing the crashing surf and hunting in rock pools for crabs and shrimps. Today not much has changed, though over forty years have passed! The beach is still a mix of glorious sand bounded by rocky outcrops, with some of the highest sea cliffs in Britain.

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Crackington is, in addition to being a super holiday location and when the tide is right an absolutely brilliant surf beach, amongst the most interesting geological locations along the North Cornwall Coast.

The rocks here date from the Upper Carboniferous period and are around 325 million years old. They originally started as mud and clay deposited in a relatively deep delta basin, which at that time lay roughly on the Earth’s Equator. These stones have moved around a bit! Over time the movement of the earth’s crust has compressed the mud into hard shales, sandstones and slates. In places the twisted and folded rocks show fantastic patterns in the cliffs.

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Such is the geological importance of these rocks that they have been named the “Crackington Formation” and although they have been studied for well over 100 years, they are still yielding new fossils and data. Not bad for 325 million year old mud!IMG_0496

The air was clean and gin clear, sometimes it can be easy to forget that we are blessed with such vivid light in our corner of the world, but Saturday certainly gave me a gentle reminder. Standing there on the beach, soaking up the view and atmosphere, I got a real sense of being at one with the world.

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Riding home, the air temperature was beginning to fall; 6 C/43 F, boy was I glad of my heated gloves and jacket liner!

Harley and I rolled back into my workshop after a fifty mile long smile; Mrs Dookes greeted us, “Good ride?”

“Yeah, great thanks… just been blown’ away some cobwebs!”

I’m back in black.

Catch you all later,

Dookes

Re-Springing My Step

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OK, this blog is supposed to be, mostly, about travels on my beloved Harley… and yes just at the moment there hasn’t been much of that to report on.

I’m getting motorcycle withdrawal syndrome.

Its like cabin fever, I feel boxed in, almost unable to breathe and all because I haven’t been out on two wheels!

Let me explain, it’s not a weather thing per se, I hear cries of “fair weather rider” from my friends with “Adventurer” type bikes. Then I hear the sniggering of my Trial Bike Champion nephew Chris, who not only rides in all weathers; but also rides across/along logs, barrels, rocks, old cars and anything else that will stand still. Chris does not have a good day out unless he can pressure wash his motorbike off at the end of it and leave a ton of mud on the driveway! No, I’m not afraid of the weather, but it’s the amount of salt that the Highway Authority throws on the road during the winter here in the UK, I am afraid of that damaging my dear Harley…

The not riding thing is, therefore, self-generated and self-enforced, but I am climbing the walls to get out.

One day last week, as I was driving across Bodmin Moor I felt the urge to stop and dream of what was to come.

It was a beautiful afternoon, a tad chilly, the hills were bathed with a gorgeous clear light and there was a brisk north wind blowing in from the sea. The journey is one I had made countless times before, this time was a little different. About halfway across the moor is a narrow lane that leaves the highway and heads north into the heart of the high moor; it only serves a couple of farms and is for the most part gravel and pot-holed. I’d often wondered what was down that lane, so I turned off to find out!

After a mile I parked in a gateway and got out of the car. The keen wind and clean air made me catch my breath, but then so did the view and the silence. I stood drinking it in with my eyes.P1020918
In the distance I could hear the mewing calls of a flock of Golden Plover as they wheeled on the breeze; other than that, just the buffeting of the wind.

OK, so it’s not the Rockies, the Alps, nor even my beloved Welsh Mountains, but it is only three miles from home and it ain’t half nice!

I may not be out on Harley for a few weeks yet, but places like this put a bounce back in my stride; sort of “re-springing my step,” if you like!

Catch you all later, all down the line…

Dookes

Who I Am And Why I’m Here!

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OK, so this post has a pretty quirky title. “What’s that all about?” You may well be asking… Well, as always there is a story behind it and as regular followers will know, most things in the world of Dookes generally have a story behind them!

This one is thanks to my friends at WordPress, who this month are running an on-line course to help us bloggers get better at it; Blogging that is! And this is our first assignment.

Yeah, I know, the blog already has an “About” page, but to be honest its a bit shallow and doesn’t really tell you much about me… and there is a reason for that; basically I’m a bit on the shy side, but my blog enables me to express myself to the wider world in a way I feel comfortable with.

I love travelling and exploring, particularly on my beloved Harley and my blog has become integral to my journeys. I normally ride alone and I often spend time, whilst riding the highways, musing over what I will write about particular experiences and how I can make that tangible link to connect with the reader. I really want to get better at that and I appreciate feedback to assist me.

I’d love my blog to connect with more people and receive more feedback.

I need to get better at the “technical” bits of blogging that can make it all more interesting, like what the heck is a “text widget”!!! ….So please join me for the ride, it could be fun!

Dookes