Desert adventures in California

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I wrote about a trip to America way back in 2015 but on that occasion we headed up the California coast and into Yosemite. One of my first trips with my new camera would be another to this part of the world, but instead of revisiting those same spots, wonderful though they were, we decided to head for the desert. In hindsight, which of course is 20:20, this might not have been our smartest move with our trip being in the height of summer for a dear friend’s wedding in LA first, but we stuck to our guns and were rewarded in surprising ways.

Before we get into the desert though, we had a day or two to explore our immediate surroundings around Marina del Ray in Los Angeles before the wedding and between catch ups with friends. Our first stop was the unassuming Burton Chace Park, from where we had a view over the wider marina area and could see one or two distant California Sea Lions lounging on the backs of boats. There were a few butterflies slitting around the Agapanthus but I thought it imprudent to disturb a class taking place to get photos so instead, I focused quite literally on the squirrels. These were a species I’d not met before though fairly ubiquitous in the LA area from what I’ve read. The Eastern Fox Squirrel, Sciurus niger, which are larger and more richly coloured than the Grey Squirrels we are familiar with but seem to have a similar cheekiness about them.

An Eastern Fox Squirrel lounges on a branch, just the top half of its body visible. It seems to have a slightly cheeky expression, if such a thing can be given to an animal!

Having stopped for a brief refreshment, our next point of call was just down the road at the Ballona Wetlands where we would walk a short trail. We had some fleeting views of pretty red House Finches here but most movement was on the ground and the result of scuttling lizards which appeared to be every few feet. We saw a couple of Western Fence Lizards which we had come across on our previous visit with dark blue-green keeled scales. Alongside these though were some others which were new to us, the more subtly marked Western Side-blotched Lizard, Uta stansburiana ssp. elegans.

A pale brown, mottled Western Side-blotched Lizard stands in front of a small hole in the ground, facing to the left and showing the camera its side. It looks at the camera warily.

As we continued on with our walk, we had several stately fly-pasts from Brown Pelicans and then suddenly we were in a butterfly hot spot. A flowering shrub attracted a Camberwell Beauty, known in the US as a Mourning Cloak, Nymphalis antiopa. Sadly, it was a little tattered around the edges, particularly on the hindwings, but since this is an elusive butterfly in Europe I was happy to record its presence.

A dark maroon butterfly with a creamy yellow border to its wings and blue spots where the two colours meet sits in the top left corner of the image. It is in a bush with slightly glossy green leaves and reddish stems, but it is there for the flowers which are just opening and are creamy white masses of small round buds, giving the impression of froth on the ends of the branches.

Then mere moments later, a pristine Anise Swallowtail, Papilio zelicaon, fluttered round our feet and settled on the Hottentot Fig leaves beside the path. Not only was it exceedingly fresh and utterly beautiful, it was offering us the best views imaginable.

A stunningly fresh Anise Swallowtail butterfly with a pale yellow background, black markings around the edges and bright blue and red patches along the tails that make the trailing edge of its hindwings, sits centrally in the image on the grey-green spiky succulent leaf of a Hottentot Fig plant.

Before we moved on, we also saw a slightly scruffy Lesser Goldfinch. This was another new bird species to me and one I was not expecting to find in such a downtown or coastal location.

Our last stop was over the road at the Fisherman’s Village, mostly for a refreshment on a warm day. We also found wildlife here though (after all, it’s almost everywhere if you look!) with more Pelicans and Sea Lions, Western Gulls, and no fewer than 3 species of Heron all vying for space along the waterfront. There were a couple of Snowy Egrets looking elegant in their breeding finery, some Black-crowned Night Herons including a couple of streaky brown juveniles masquerading as a different species, but the most numerous were Great Blue Herons, Ardea herodias, and some of these were at eye level on moored boats allowing for more unusual portrait-style shots.

An adult Great Blue Heron, with slate grey plumage on its back and a long mushroom coloured neck leading up to a smart black-capped head with a sharp grey and yellow beak and beady yellow eye. This photograph is taken against a blue sky and has a portrait-like quality with no other elements in the image.

That was all we had time for before the wedding though – and what a wedding – a friend of mine for quarter of a century getting married on Santa Monica Beach is definitely something to remember and cherish for a long time! Party over though, we were kindly driven back towards the airport by some friends and picked up a hire car for the desert part of our adventure. We had a few more days to squeeze in some more exploring and we headed inland to our next base near Palm Springs.

Being with my husband for the trip meant that not every outing was purely for wildlife but even a visit to the Palm Springs Air Museum (a great day out for anyone interested in aviation or military history, with knowledgeable and engaging staff and volunteers) had a lot to offer. Not only were there some great aircraft, some of which had distinctly wild sounding names like the Nighthawk which looked like something straight out of a movie, but in the outdoor exhibit I came across a real surprise. Beneath one of the planes was a Desert Iguana, Dipsosaurus dorsalis. I’d have liked a closer shot or better background but the location made it impossible so I made the best of the situation.

A Desert Iguana, looking little like other iguanas but rather, a large, smooth, pale lizard with dark spots lies curled facing to the left on the metal plate to which an aircraft is mounted for display. The wheel is just visible behind the lizard.

While we were in the area, we also opted to take some short hikes. This was mostly because of the heat, the thermometer was hitting 45˚c easily most days so we were getting out early to explore while it was cooler and limiting our excursions and our energy expenditure so as not to risk heat stroke. One of the trails we explored though was the lovely Andreas Canyon. This is only just over a mile loop and going early meant that we had it almost entirely to ourselves. The canyon winds alongside a perennial creek and provides a literal oasis from the surrounding desert environment. This means that all manner of creatures visit to drink or bathe, or live in its vicinity. The first half of the trail was in the shade of the cliffs at the water’s edge, and there were a few small birds like Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and Verdin flitting amongst the rocks and bushes here while Ravens called from the clifftops above us. Against the water itself though I came across a number of dragonflies including striking orange Flame Skimmers. The ones that caught my eye though were a little more like the Demoiselles we have at home, a large damselfly size and metallic hues, shimmering in the light. These, I later learnt, were American Rubyspots, Hetaerina americana, and I had fun composing several different shots although the following was my favourite.

A dainty damselfly with wings that have a reddish stain near where they meet the body sits on the leaf of a reed, both facing the right. The light from behind has a soft golden glow and the image is not quite a silhouette as a result.

The second half of the walk was above the canyon in the drier, cactus-studded desert edge as the path wound back downhill towards the stand of California Fan Palms around the car park. There were far fewer signs of life up here as the day warmed up but back near the car, we glimpsed several lizards darting for cover and an Abert’s Towhee, larger relatives of Sparrows with reddish brown plumage, hopping around the picnic bench.

On another day, we headed further afield, not only to make the most of our time in the area and visit a different habitat, but also in the vague hope that gaining some altitude might bring a bit of respite from the relentless heat of the desert. We drove into the San Bernardino National Forest and, stopping at one of several viewpoints, were rewarded with a few wildflowers that had in turn attracted a variety of pollinators. The first to catch my eye was the California Clearwing, Hemaris thetis, which is similar to the related Narrow-bordered Bee Hawkmoth which we encounter in the UK and across Europe. This was nectaring on a pretty blue-flowered plant called Giant Woollystar, Eriastrum densifolium.

A clear-winged day-flying moth with a furry yellow and black body hovers in front of a blue and white striped flower to feed, its proboscis outstretched.

Mere feet away, several butterflies fluttered among some Buckwheat plants. There were American Lady, Coronis Fritillary and Gray Buckeye, Junonia grisea, the latter being the only one to hang around long enough to have a photo taken.

A brown, orange and white butterfly with a black eye-spot sits in the top left corner of the image, sipping on nectar from one of many white buttons of small flowers bathed in bright sunshine.

Driving on a short way, we stopped for longer at Lake Fulmor. Pulling into the carpark we spotted a stunning California Sister, one of the larger butterflies with largely black wings, a white stripe down the middle of each and a vivid orange wingtip to each forewing. It fluttered at high speed overhead and into a nearby tree. Our attention was soon diverted though, first by a Turkey Vulture soaring high above and then by a pair of Acorn Woodpeckers chasing one another round a tree trunk.

We were keen to explore further and set out. The lake was close to the edge of the road and we were soon walking the path along the shore where dragonflies darted among the reeds. There were several species we hadn’t seen before including Blue Dasher and a couple of damselflies too, Tule Bluet and Pacific Forktail. I was pleased though to get an image of the Flame Skimmer, Libellula saturata, which we had seen earlier in the week.

An orange dragonfly with orange patches that extend along the inner half of its wings sits, facing away from the camera on a reed stem which cuts diagonally across the image. The background is out of focus and the whole scene is bathed in sunlight.

A short way further on we had a wonderful close encounter with a White-breasted Nuthatch, Sitta carolinensis, which went about its way seemingly oblivious to our presence. We watched quietly as it foraged around our heads in the branches of a tree which overhung the path we were on, smiles on our faces the entire time.

A small bird with a grey back and white breast and face eats a morsel of food it has picked out of the bark of the tree branch it sits on. The background is the dappled green of a leafy tree canopy and blue of the sky beyond.

Further on, the path opened out a little and among the flowers that lined the banks, we found a few more butterflies. The first was the Marine Blue, Leptotes marina, looking similar to its European relative, the Long-tailed Blue.

A small butterfly with intricate brown and white markings and two dark lunules at the back of the hindwing feeds on small yellow flowers of the pea family. It faces to the left and slightly away from the camera.

Another beautiful species that we came across was the Mylitta Crescent, Phyciodes mylitta. This particular individual seemed especially small but perhaps I was just expecting larger species after the one from earlier in the day.

A vibrant orange butterfly with scribbled black markings and a row of black dots along the trailing edge of each hindwing sits square in the middle of the picture with its wings spread. It is perched on a single piece of dry grass which stretches horizontally across the frame and the dull green background is thrown out of focus.

By now we had reached the head of the small lake and although there were a few butterflies coming down to the damp sand at the waters edge here, there was no way of reaching them so we decided to follow the trail that wound back the way we had come but lead away from the water and up a slight hill. This worked in our favour as we passed some different flora which was appealing to a different range of butterflies. The first flowers we came across were the last few on the stem and belonged to the Western Wallflower, also known as the Sanddune Wallflower or Prairie Rocket, Erysimum capitatum. This native member of the cabbage family was being enjoyed by a beautiful yellow butterfly called Harford’s Sulphur, Colias harfordii, a relative of the Clouded Yellow which we occasionally find as a migrant to British shores but is common across Europe.

A yellow butterfly nectars on a a vibrant orange flower, the last on the stem. The butterfly is side on to the camera, facing left and has its wings closed, the sun is bright and the entire scene gives an impression of a hot landscape behind despite the rest being out of focus.

Beyond, we found a lovely patch of vibrant red San Gabriel Beardtongue, Penstemon labrosus, which was fleetingly visited by a hummingbird as we approached. We were delighted at the brief view we had, although I couldn’t be certain I thought it might have been an Anna’s Hummingbird which we had seen several of on our previous trip. I had wanted to see more but wasn’t sure whether they would be here or not.

Our attention was quickly taken by another bird, or more specifically, a pair. In a nearby tree, I saw some movement and it transpired to be a female Western Bluebird, Sialia mexicana, feeding what appeared to be a recently fledged juvenile.

Two birds sit facing one another on a branch. The bird on the left is the adult female, with just discernible blue plumage on her back and a pinky grey breast, while the one on the right is her chick, brown and streaky, sitting lower than her. She has just finished feeding her youngster. The background is dappled foliage against blue sky.

A little further on, we found a familiar bird but one that I can’t resist photographing. Maybe it’s just me, but I love a Jay and the Steller’s Jay, Cyanocitta stelleri,  has to be one of the finest members of the family. This fine individual was unconcerned by us as we neared the picnic area and gladly waited while I took its portrait.

A black and blue Steller's Jay with its crest partly raised sits on a branch in dappled light, its body facing the camera but head turned to the left.

Our final encounter came at the picnic site where a trusting female Red-winged Blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus, hopped around the tables in search of forgotten crumbs. While not as showy as their male counterparts, I find these to be attractive birds and was happy to photograph this one.

A brown streaky bird sits on the edge of a picnic table in dappled sunlight beneath the trees. She faces to the right but looks slightly at the camera.

 

The next morning, rather than drive out further afield, we opted to walk out directly from our AirBnB to explore a local trail along the side of a dried creek bed. Owing to the aridness of the area we weren’t expecting to see as many invertebrates, although there were a couple of flighty dragonflies around. We did see some birds though. Many were distant such as American Kestrel, Mourning Dove and Mockingbird, but we enjoyed a Loggerhead Shrike, Lanius ludovicianus, which was on the top of a dead tree beside the path. We had had wonderful views of this species on our last trip and it was nice to encounter this species again albeit from a different angle.

A smart grey bird with darker grey wings and a white breast sits on top of a dead branch that sticks up vertically. It has a long tail and a hooked beak, the dark grey of its wings is echoed in a mask-like marking that covers its eyes. It looks slightly away from the camera into the distance. The background is mostly blue sky with a few leafy branches sticking up into it from beyond the bird.

One of the species we were most keen to see while we were here though was a larger bird. A ground-dwelling member of the cuckoo family, the Greater Roadrunner, Geococcyx californianus, is probably best known from the Looney Tunes cartoons but, unlike their ‘meep-meep’-ing counterparts, the real ones are streaky brown birds which feed on a variety of prey and tend to clatter their bills together more often than calling. I was therefore delighted when we came across one which, with patience, came quite close to us.

A roadrunner, with streaky brown plumage and a long tail, stands in the middle of a paved path that is dappled with shade and looks to the right, its beady eye facing the camera. Its beak is slightly open.

Later in the day, we decided to make an evening excursion into Joshua Tree National Park and the true desert. We had read that it was an excellent spot for stargazing due to low light pollution levels and we were more than happy to explore this. We set off in the early evening and arrived just in time for the sunset. I had no tripod with me as with a wedding to pack for as well, luggage space had been limited, but I used a couple of rocks to make a solid base and made the best of the situation to get a classic silhouette shot of an iconic Joshua Tree, Yucca brevifolia, for which the park is named.

A silhouette of a spiky Joshua Tree against a sunset. The sky is orange at the base of the image and fades to deep blue at the top as night draws in. There are several other Joshua trees in the middle distance.

We settled in to watch the stars emerge in the clear desert sky and were amazed when, a short while later instead of stars we found ourselves witnessing a SpaceX rocket launch. It was in fact the second we had seen in our time there, the first being in daylight from Santa Monica, but this was so much more dramatic in the dark. I have no images but my husband captured an extraordinary shot on his phone, which is in our album of the trip. Needless to say, although we very much enjoyed our dark sky experience, this was an unexpected talking point for the evening. It was incredible to watch and yet at the same time, we debated the ethics of the venture when climate change is affecting our world so much and we still have so much to discover on earth. Nevertheless, our journey took us through the park and out of the other entrance before we headed for our accommodation and this allowed us to experience even more. We saw a number of Black-tailed Jackrabbits, Lepus californicus, relatives of our hares along with a grazing Mule Deer which we later learnt are rare in the park, presumably preferring more lush landscapes to the harsh desert environment here. We also saw a huge number of small rodents, although in the headlights of the car and with their bursts of speed, it was impossible to identify them.

The next day, we decided to go back into the park in daylight and explore further. This would mean venturing out in the heat of the day, but we felt it would be worth it so we made sure we were prepared. Entering near Cottonwood Springs, we found ourselves in the Colorado Desert which is a distinct habitat from the Mojave Desert in the western part of the park. Here, the lower elevation meant a vegetation more like that in the valley with species like Cholla cactus, grasses and desert saltbush. We saw Gambel’s Quail in the undergrowth and despite only seeing our first Roadrunner the previous day, several more lived up to their name and ran across the road in front of us (thankfully at a safe distance each time!).

We stopped at Arch Rock and made the short hike out to see the natural rock formation. Impressive though it was, I have to admit, I was more interested in the charming White-tailed Antelope Squirrels, Ammospermophilus leucurus, which we met along the way, skittering between patches of shade.

A tiny squirrel with white stripes up tawny brown flanks runs diagonally towards the camera from a patch of shade. The squirrel has its tail up and the desert ground is sandy with the odd bit of dry vegetation in the foreground and a small shrub on the left of the image making the patch of shade it is leaving.

Our next stop was at Barker Dam and this proved more fruitful still despite only a short section of trail being open. The first thing we noticed was a Catclaw Acacia, Senegalia greggii, in bloom and being visited by tens of butterflies, all the same. These, we would later find out, were Ceraunus Blues, Hemiargus ceraunus.

A small butterfly with a delicate pattern of spots and streaks on the underside of its wings visits a pale yellow fluffy flower in search of nectar. The butterfly is brownish grey on the underside but a thin streak along the edge of the wing hints at the blue on its upper surface which isn't fully visible because they are closed. It faces slightly downwards and to the right as the flower belongs to a tree, the branch of which comes up through the image at a left-leaning diagonal. There are more branches out of focus in the background.

Nearby, more of the same trees were being visited by Verdins, Auriparus flaviceps, a yellow-headed relative of the European Penduline Tit. We had seen these birds for the first time earlier in our trip but this was our first experience of them close at hand. It seemed there was a floral oasis here in addition to the dam itself and these birds and insects were benefiting from it in the otherwise inhospitably dry desert.

A small grey bird with a yellow head hangs off the edge of a branch in search of food. The branch has lots of small leaves and yellow fluffy flowers, and there are more such branches in the background.

Further on, I found one of the most intriguing insects of the whole trip though and enjoyed the setting in which I found it, on a sunlit Buckwheat stem against a shaded rock beneath a shrub giving a naturally dark background and adding a bit of drama to the image. This is the weird and wonderful looking, locally endemic California Thread-legged Katydid, Arethaea brevicauda.

A pale tan coloured, very long-legged Katydid with long wings too, sits on top of a buckwheat flower which is bathed in sunlight. The background is cast into shadow and makes everything stand out in stark contrast.

Before we left, we also saw some very attractive Black-throated Sparrows. Unfortunately, they were not in the mood for photos but sometimes nature is just nice to watch!

Our final stop meant a short back-track since we had over shot the turning. We headed to Keys View ostensibly for the vista over the valley below which was pretty spectacular. We also saw a Turkey Vulture and a pair of Red-tailed Hawks here but the species that excited me the most here was another butterfly, and a tiny one at that. The Western Pygmy Blue, Brephidium exilis, is the smallest species in North America and a similar size to the smallest in Europe, the Grass Jewel.

A tiny coppery coloured butterfly sits on top of a buckwheat flower with its wings slightly open. There is a metallic sheen on the upperside while the underside fades from copper to pale blue-grey near the body with an intricate pattern of spots. The butterfly is facing to the left and the flowerhead, although itself small, dwarfs it.

This had been our final full day in the desert and the following morning we would leave to make the return journey to LA before flying home. Despite the heat and the harshness of the desert environment, if you stopped to look there was no lack of wildlife to find. The thermometer as we left for the final time though touched 50˚c and we were most grateful of our air-conditioning in the car. Perhaps if we ever make it back to that part of the world again, we won’t go in the middle of summer!

Canon R10; a forced change of kit

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If you’ve been following this page for a while you will have noticed that in writing terms, I’ve been absent for some time. I think we all struggled with lockdown, I certainly found inspiration difficult to come by and, rather than force out content that I didn’t feel worthy of sharing, I decided to take a break from things until I was ready to come back with new and hopefully exciting images. I was also aware that my camera gear was ready for an update after nearly 10 years of ownership, use and occasionally abuse (accidents happen to the best of us and I’ve been lucky more than once!)

Despite a couple of local trips in 2021, I got back into guiding tours in earnest in the spring of 2022 and was beginning to feel like I had something to write about and maybe some images to share. I just had to find the time to sit down and do it. I thought that perhaps it would be good to give the home page of the website a refresh too… I had a lot of work to do. I set out to get things lined up and then while juggling all this, the unimaginable happened.

In October 2022, at the age of 36, I suffered multiple strokes. It took ten days before the issue was diagnosed, at first being thought to be a severe migraine. When I was eventually admitted to hospital, I spent 2 and a half weeks being thoroughly tested to find out the cause & rehabilitated to a point where I could return home. It turned out that I had a dissected (damaged) artery in my neck by coughing too hard owing to Bronchitis, and that when my body had tried to heal itself, clots had been sent around my brain. These had mostly affected my vision and balance but with a lot of hard work and physio, thankfully they would ultimately prove largely fixable. It would turn out though that these things would take longer than I hoped and that while I can be patient, this is where my limits lay. The whole recovery process was not only physically tough but felt frustratingly slow to me despite everyone around me saying otherwise and on top of it all I was struggling with PTSD at the idea that it could happen again at the slightest cough.

One of the lasting repercussions and the reason for this article is that I was told I must never lift more than 10kg again. This came as a real blow – I had initially been terrified that I may not be able to return to the job that I love. When I say that my vision was affected, I had severe double vision – not only were there two of everything but they were crossed at right angles to each other. I suffered intense vertigo so that sitting upright was difficult unless my head was supported on a cushion, let alone standing or walking and even watching movement made me nauseous. Reading was not possible to begin with because my brain couldn’t separate the lines of text in a paragraph. There was a lot to overcome before the weight limit was considered.

But here we were: my kit, when all combined (which was often if I was travelling with multiple lenses) was definitely more than 10kg before you even take into consideration a bottle of water or any of the other accoutrements that one takes along. While I had been considering the possibilities available to me for some time, this new situation unexpectedly helped to narrow my options; probably a silver lining as I was being decidedly indecisive!

One decision that I made was that I would have to part with at least some of my equipment, and so, I opted to go to a shop with a reasonably local branch to me: Wex. You might have heard of them before as they’ve a network of shops around the country and I’d purchased the odd piece of kit from them in the past but nothing like what I was intending to do now.

By the time I went into the shop I was well on my way to recovery but I was still nervous. Strangely, my camera had been by my side for so long that it felt like part of me and so making such a monumental change felt decidedly huge. I was greeted by the staff and explained why I was there, but they took it all in their stride and couldn’t have been kinder, offering several options and allowing me to try each for weight and feel as well as patiently going through all the pro’s and con’s of each system with me. 

I had taken along two lenses to part-exchange and while we chatted through the choices I was up against, they assessed and valued them so that the total could be taken off what I would owe at the end of the day. I knew I would need a mirrorless system as this would be a much lighter option and I was fairly confident (although not completely sold on the idea) that I would like to stay with Canon equipment. I weighed up, both literally and figuratively, the better option for me between an Olympus OM System, Canon R5 and Canon R10. 

There were of course many things to consider alongside the weight. I was keen to have something where I didn’t feel like I had an entirely new system to learn. I was still getting to grips with re-learning other things and going mirrorless meant using a digital viewfinder which was new to me. I wanted the majority of other buttons, dials and functions to be intuitive to my already Canon-adjusted mind. Coupled with the desire to use my original Canon macro lens if possible, this ruled out the Olympus (although I had read and seen through friends the amazing capabilities of this camera, it was not for me).

After much deliberation between other two, I am the proud owner of a Canon R10, along with Canon RF 100-400mm lens, Canon RF 18-150mm lens and an RF adapter for my precious EF 100mm macro lens which I couldn’t bear to part with. (Yes, my macro kit is identical to what I shared in my previous blog on the subject!) I kept my previous camera body as a back up although I have only used it once in the intervening years. I could not be happier with the results and what’s more, my bag weighs under 10kg even with everything I need in it (even though that limit has now been relaxed a little after more time healing and lots of tests).

Canon R10 with 18-150mm lens

 

One of the reasons that I opted for the Canon R10 over the R5 was the cropped sensor. This may not be the choice for many professional photographers but in my situation, I decided that it would actually work in my favour since it would allow me to carry less. There might be a slight trade off in quality terms but it would be just that, slight. In real terms though, the 1.6x magnification that a cropped sensor affords allows me to achieve a better ‘reach’ with my lenses. I would be less likely to need a teleconverter or more telephoto lenses to take the photos I was after, and coupled with the focus tracking, I was confident that my images would still be sharp. These have proven to be truant I am delighted with the results. What’s more, the 100-400mm lens I chose has a minimum focal distance of around 90cm which is significantly less than my previous telephoto lens and I’ve found myself using it much more as a result and for a wider variety of subjects. When guiding, this has now become the main lens on my camera and it is so light I barely notice it.

For examples of some images taken on this new kit, check out my Image of the Month gallery. There will be more detailed posts in the near future but for now, this is a good starting point and will also give you a sneak peek at what I’ve been up to recently.

As for Wex, if you’re considering selling, exchanging or purchasing equipment, or you just want some advice before making a decision, I can’t recommend them highly enough. Their team are friendly, knowledgeable and professional at all levels.

Thankfully, I can now report that other than needing lifelong medication to prevent further strokes and to stop migraines which have become almost constant since without it, I am in good health. I have had several adventures since, am planning more, and have shared some images on social media already but will be writing about them soon!