Nannie RaRa is the author of the childrens books 'No more adventures?' and 'Search for the Wibble', both tales of Grandad’s Magic Dust. She is also creator of Counting Creatures – an Android app that teaches children to count using pictures of real creatures. Nannie RaRa enjoys photography and cooking.
After the Arctic Adventures in Greenland our ship headed south to Iceland – a land of green whereas Greenland had been a land of ice.
We saw many whales on the way and as we approached Iceland
there were plenty of birds including the national bird of Iceland – the puffin.
Puffins were runnning over the sea and diving down, sometimes only seeing the orange of their feet
We landed in the north west corner of Iceland at Stykkishólmur. We had a tour of this area of Iceland visiting a cave formed from a lava plume, an extinct volcanic crater and walked along the coast marvelling at the rock formations. All of this was overseen by the Snæfellsjökull glacier. The scenery of mountains, glaciers and lava beds was magnificent.
Here are a few photos to give you a taster of the wonderful day. I want to see more of Iceland.
Landing at Stykkishólmur The remains of a volcano with its lava all aroundBlueberries ready to eatIn the depths of the Vatnshellir Cave with its 200-metre lava tubeThe 1948 wreck of the Grimsby trawler Epine on the pebbly beach at DjúpalónssandurViews from the clifftop walk into the bay at DritvikThe crater from an extinct volcanoThe magnificent Kirkjufell mountain
There is a video on YouTube with more photos of this day in Iceland. You can watch it below:
I recently went on an Arctic Adventure cruising from Longyearbyen in Svalbard to East Greenland National Park and returning via Iceland. What an exciting trip – in the Arctic Circle with continuous daylight for ten days. The weather was perfect – sunny and still with temperatures about 10 – 12 C.
We saw polar bears, whales – fin, minke and humpback – seals, narwhal, musk oxen, little auks, fulmar, Arctic tern, puffins. We went ashore in several places and also out amongst the icebergs in zodiac boats.
Our ship was the hybrid, diesel and electric, eco-friendly Roald Amundsen run by Hurtigruten. The ship was so quiet you could hear the flapping of birds’ wings and their splashes as they ran over the water.
The scenery during the trip was breath-taking. East
Greenland National Park is visited by only a handful of people each year and
when on shore the only sounds were us. You could stand there and drink in the
silence.
We spent days on the expedition without seeing another ship or human being – just wonderful nature.
Below are a few photos I took on the trip.
First view of SvalbardLeaving Svalbard for GreenlandThere was lots of sea iceThe first polar bear. It turned round and looked at us before swimming away.Icebergs in Myggbukta, North East GreenlandAnother polar bearThe trapper’s hut in Myggbukta. We went ashore here.Some of the delicate Arctic flowersSeal on the ice floe IttoqqortoormiitHouses in IttoqqortoormiitGiant icebergsIceberg getting closeClose to the ice in Scoresby SundMountains and glaciers in OfjordView from the hill behind Hekla HavnLeaving Hekla Havn for the open seaA whale coming close to the ship
You can see more by following the link to the Greenland 2019 video on YouTube or watching it below.
We then went to Iceland, but that is for another time.
Summer is here with long days, warmth and sunshine. Take a look at these photographs taken both in Nannie RaRa’s garden and on walks nearby. A favourite place in the early morning is by the local beach at the side of the river. The skies are so big. Every day the scene is different.
The bright red poppies choosing their own place to growBoth bumble and honey bees enjoying the nectar on Nanie RaRa’s buddleiaA bee collecting nectar from a bramble, preparing for the feast of blackberries to comeCow parsley growing tall along the sides of the pathThe deadly nightshade has a delicate beautyA hungry squirrel taking one of last year’s nuts for breakfastNannie RaRa’s English country gardenand finally a view towards the river
Spring is upon us and Nannie RaRa has been out and about taking photographs. Here are a few of the favourites so far this year.
Bluebells and whitebells in our local woods
A baby robin leaving the nest for the first timeA robin singing in the tree – maybe the parent of the fledglingA peacock butterfly enjoying the warm spring sunFerns uncurling in the woodsA spring lamb having a rest from its gambollingA fishing boat returning with its catch on a very still river.
The second in the tales of Grandad’s magic dust, “Search for the Wibble”, has been published on Amazon.
In this story the grandchildren are trying to find the Wibble, an imaginary creature Harvey has made up. He is wary of finding it as it has a stinger on its foot, sharp teeth, a long body, sharp claws and spines.
Would you want to come across such a monster?
The quest to find the Wibble takes the grandchildren from Nannie’s house to Sutton Hoo, Denmark and ending at Weala Tun Naes.
They have the magic dust to help them as well as all the items Nannie has knitted for them using wool that has been close to the magic dust. Lia is delighted with her owl that comes to life; Alex can’t think what use a small square knitted cloth will be; and James is not keen on the striped socks with pink bobbles on them.
Join Lia, James, Harvey, Alex, Alan and Edmund as they look for the Wibble.
You can buy the book, “Search for the Wibble” from Amazon either as an ebook or paperback.
Nannie RaRa 