Stanziliëri

Last friday was a very rainy day. Everything was grey and wet. That didn't bode well for the weekend. So I looked up the weather forecast on some website, and it said rain rain rain and more rain. Damn...

I had plans to go make a long walk with Dorine. But walking in the rain (and especialy the chalky mud) isn't exactly my idea of the perfect day out.
However, the next morning, it started a bit grey... but quickly enough the sun came shining through. Hooray!
My parents were over for a visit (more on that later) but they went to London to mind their own business, so Dorine came down on the bus and we headed off through Beech Road, on to Colley Hill (on which slope my home is situated), where we joined the North Downs Way. A long footpath (153 miles) that makes its way over the beautiful Surrey Hills.

We both brought our camera, for there were plenty of flowers, animals, and views to be seen. And people ofcourse. Not in the least.... ourselves! C'mon Dorine, you can smile much lovelier than that (move mouse over picture) :)

Weeeeee :))

I can now show lots of beautiful flower pictures and stunning views, but I thought I'd stick to the few more surprising pics. Take a look at Dorine's photo album for her nature shots (including a great one of this chap-on-a-stick)

Here's Dorine making a lovely picture of a certain breed of flies....

A bit further down the way (or actualy a bit further up-down-up-down-up the way, it was quite a lot of climbing and going down again) we passed through a field on top of a hill that was the home to a few long-haired cow-like animals. Here's one.

It was quite beautiful, the way they were standing there with almost no soul at all coming by. During the entire 4.5 hour walk we saw maybe 10 people. But not all of the way was with grassy fields. Sometimes we had to dodge all kinds of trees and bushes to continue our way.

When we finaly arrived at Box Hill, we bought the first icecream of the year, and put ourselves down in the grass, to enjoy the view, which included this flock of c(r)ows.

Then after an hour or so we decided it was time to move on and make our way to the nearest train station. So we walked all the way down hill. At the bottom we had to cross the river Mole, which can be done by using some stepping stones that've been put there for this purpose.

However, I was not the only one who had the same idea. The 6 dogs of someone on the other side wanted to do just that, when I was only halfway.

I didn't feel very much like a wet-t-shirt-contest with a bunch of doggies, bus luckily the problem solved itself when their stepping stone got a bit too crowded :)

We could feel our legs pretty well by now, so we decided to reward ourselves with a nice dinner. And then I had to find my way back home again, by way of a huge diversion. There were no busses to Reigate, and no direct trains, so I had to go from Sutton to Clapham Junction to Redhill to Reigate. But I made it allright, and got home just after my parents. I think I got a new record with the speed I fell asleep with that night.

A proper sign that it had been a wonderful day...