Three Beautiful Things

1. We are walking down a long valley of heather and moorland grass. Rosey says it reminds of a scene in one of her favourite books, 39 Steps . The hero is walking down just such a valley afraid that at any moment a plane will appear because there is no-where to hide. Just as we are discussing the possibilities, a helicopter appears over the mountain. 2. Rosey finding her first geocache . 3. Stacking rocks on the beach. It's a game I like because there is an element of chance in what rocks will be to hand; it takes skill to balance them on top of each other; and looking back down the beach at the trail of stacks is very satisfying.

The beautiful things from the next couple of days come from a trip to Arran where I helped Rosey measure wind movement on a wooded hill. 1. Sitting in a forest glade listening to the sea lapping on the shore far below. 2. Lying in the heather on a high moor feeling the sun warm on my face. 3. At 8pm on a Sunday on a Scottish island, we find a restaurant willing to give us supper.

1. Seeing Table Mountain. It’s such an iconic image of the city. The other place I’ve seen it is in engravings illustrating books about early explorers. 2. Iris chasing a singer round the restaurant. Poor man. He thought he was on to a good thing. Get the big table going and the entire restaurant will follow, he must have thought. ‘Come on then, what will it take to get the big table dancing?’ he asked. So we released Iris. She chased him round the restaurant, in and out of the tables, cackling wildly. At first the other tables tried to pretend it wasn’t happening, but gradually, people got into it and soon everyone was dancing. 3. It’s time for goodbyes. I like the way people suddenly open up and tell you all sorts of things. I like all the promises to stay in touch that may or may not be kept. Cape Town, South Africa

1. The shattered mountains and jaggy ridges on the way from Citrusdal to Stellenbosh. 2. The owner of Citrusdal saying goodbye to us. He told Anne that we were a lovely group. 3. Darren’s county faces. You can name an English county and he will have a face for it. Pictured are Cornwall and Buckinghamshire. 4. For our first farewell dinner, Elaine had the idea of going round the table with each person saying what their beautiful thing for the trip was. 5. Cream soda in Stellenbosh is bright green. We drank it with cane -- the local rum. This is called a green mamba. 6. I have broken my face. Rosey says I toppled forward and didn’t even put my hands out to stop myself, so the edge of the pool terrace did for me. It didn’t hurt a bit, and it made me giggle. My first inkling that something serious had happened was when Claire said she had been cut ‘just as badly and now you can’t even see my scar’ but refusing to let me see -- or touch -- my face. It was that and the blood on Darren and Cr...