Here, finally, is the slide show I have been yacking about for days:
Start show
The handsome fellow accompanying me is one of my brothers, Dietrich Gottwald.
Posts
Robert's Rules of Haka
22 hours ago
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Days of Heaven
Here, finally, is the slide show I have been yacking about for days:
Start show
The handsome fellow accompanying me is one of my brothers, Dietrich Gottwald.
·
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
10 comments:
Ulrich, thank you for putting so much effort into sharing your photos. What a paradise! (Loved the array of hats in church!)
Is that you dancing? Great shot!
In '83 when Mr. Fikink graduated from pharmacy school we did a bare-boat charter in the BVIs with a sailor-friend of ours. The pictures from your boat took me back to that time (all of which is documented on slides) when we explored the more remote areas of various uninhabited "islets" in that area. (I was in charge of the dingy, whereupon I learned the term "painter," the rope you tow the dingy with.)
Laraine, they have lyre birds in Maine??? I must check it out!
I'm looking forward to your next slide show!
@fikink: Thx--this one isn't finished yet! I have still several days to add to it.
And yes, that's me dancing. That particular troupe, performing at our hotel, interrupted its performance and members picked unsuspecting spectators from the audience to dance with them in full view. I was one of the chosen, still wet and dripping from the beach.
Beautiful pictures, Ulrich! I especially like the ones in the church, charming. We were once in Huahine, pretty deserted with toothless women and many tiny crabs crossing the roads. Too hot for me.....
@fikink: My brother owns a sailboat that's currently moored in Croatia, and he takes it every year to sail around the islands there in the Mediterranean--it must be a similar experience like you had in the BVIs.
What makes the Islands in Polynesia so special is a combination of factors: Each started with a volcano whose crater rim has eroded over the millenia, producing those unforgettable silhouettes. At the same time, a coral reef is forming a ring around each island that stops the surf on the outside and delineates a lagoon on the inside with calm water in all shades of blue, depending on the depth. The lagoon of Bora Bora is open only at a single spot on the W, through which all ships have to pass, turning it into the most spectacular swimming pool. Michener, not surprisingly, called Bora Bora the most beautiful island on earth. I think it does get some competition from Moorea (still to come in my show).
@mac: We had a better experience in Huahine, where I bought the most fragrant vanilla shoots imaginable. The heat didn't bother me that much--the hike depicted in some pictures from Raiatea (with the three waterfalls) was, in fact, physically the most demanding hike I ever did--it was more a climb than a hike--but I enjoyed it tremenduously despite the heat--well, there was always the brook nearby to cool yourself off.
When I first looked at the slide show this morning, it didn't go as far as you amidst the fish with that Jules-Verne era diving helmet. The last slide I see now is your dining with the captain.
Love the sketches and notes on the fish (your sketches?)
What a magnificent trip! And I love all the rigging on the ship! (I see sailing again in my future.) I actually kept a journal while we were sailing - I must go dig it out and see what I wrote in those tender years!
@yes, my sketches--thx
I had grandiose plans for doing color drawings on the trip. Inspired by Emil Nolde's wonderful drawings and paintings done while he was traveling in the S. Pacific in the twenties (?), I had bought a set of pastel crayons and pencils, but it came to nought. I never found the time or place to use them except for the note on the fish we had seen while wearing those amazing helmets.
And yes, the rigging is amazing--the sails form glorious sculptures in the sky when raised or lowered--I have to control myself lest I put too many of these photos up!
I also kept a diary, scans of which provide the narrative structure for the digital photo book I just finished (the slide show is a by-product)
Ulrich, Your photos are just gorgeous! I follow your comments and adventures at Rex Parker's NYT blog, but have no identity as I live in syndication land and do not comment. Came to your blog hoping for pictures of your trip and found a beautiful slide-show! Thank you for sharing!
@grammarianne: Thx!
@Ulrich:
Our son, who spent Oct-Jan in India, just enjoyed watching your dvd of that country! Thank you again.
@mac: Thank you so much! That makes me very happy.
Post a Comment