2014.06.22 Lepe Country Park

Unexpectedly weather for that day appeared to be very nice, we did not make any plans (due to earlier forecasts), so as a kind of spontaneous reaction we decided to go the the closes decent seaside place. That appeared to be Lepe Country Park.
We started with small walk through the conservation area, then to the lighthouse, and then we sat on a patch of sand. That is a great place for children, as apart from usual seaside activities there is a big meadow and playground near the car park. We will definitely be back there, at least for a walk east, to the D-day remains. Here is Lepe Country Park guide showing all the attractions

2014.06.16-17 Crosshaven

I wasn't very excited on another trip to Co Cork, but as the weather was beautiful, I drove to Crossheaven to capture some seascapes around Fort Camden area.

Roches Point lighthouse

 

Lanscape degradation: now each ugly factory has got its own wind turbine

2014.05.25 Eden Project

Since it kept raining, visit to the Eden Project also allowed us to hide inside.
The place is architectural, botanical and artistic marvel, it offers attractions for any age. I'm not going to write about it in detail, it simply must be seen - highly recommended!

2014.05.25 St Ives

Trip to Cornwall was a bit of a disaster - driving down on Saturday starting long weekend and half-term holiday week in heavy rain meant we spent all day long in the car pretty much stationary...
When arrived it wasn't much better: St Ives is a picteresque town with very narrow and steep streets and that, together with very limited parking space, makes it very unfriendly to drive a car into. The weather of course did not improve neither.
I'm sure we'll be back there in more convenient circumstances, but I'd suggest taking train either from Penzance or from Leland Saltings, which is St Ives' offical Park&Ride station, yet hard to find as is hidden behind a housing estate.

Editing GPX and saving KML files for web publication

My satnav/GPS device (Garmin eTrex20) produces GPX files as its track log. They cannot be opened and visualized staright avay in Google Maps, although one can use either Google Earth or services like gpsvisualizer.com to achieve that.

GPX contains much more information than required to present the track and for purposes of this blog  I edit the track records and save as KML file. That strips all unnecesary pieces of information by default (making the file smaller). I use free GPX editor for that purpose, as it also allows to edit the track, so the path can be displayed as smoother, and unnecesary (lost track, wee break etc.) bits removed as well as some points added.

Here is a quick tutorial:
1. start with File > Open GPX
2. Switch to preview mode
3. zoom in/out using mouse scroll, click and hold to pan
4. Click Delete inside the box tool

5. Drag a box around part of the track to be cleared

6. To add a waypoint switch to Google Maps view
7. Click on the place to mark and then Add waypoint to Google Map button

8. To rename go to the left pane, find the waypoint, click and click again to enable editing or right-click and go to Properties
9. Finally go to File > Export > As KML and voila

For sharing and presentation I upload the files to Google Drive with sharing with a link enabled, when the link is clicked, it recognizes file type and opens it with Google Maps.

2014.05.18 Lymington - Keyheaven nature reserve

Because the 5 year old member of our occasional expedition along the Dorset Coastline shows typical for that age symptoms (are we there yet?), instead of driveing further west we switched to areas lying closer to home, which we skipped before.

Loop around Lymington - Keyheaven nature reserve did not leave too many photographic memories: that day the sky was aboltutely pure (blunt...), with strong sunlight causing terrible haze over the Isle of Wight. Not to say that there is nothing to see in the area: for one loving sails there is plenty to stare at, but most of all the place is full of birs - and birders, with their cannon-like lenses.

There is no beach at Keyheaven bay, although one can walk on the pebbels easily, ant there is pretty much no access to the see along the seawall, apart from small 'beach' at the pipe leading to Isle of Wight. The path is pretty wide, there are also more of them cuttting through the reserve and the next time we go there, it will be with cycling in mind.

We stooped for lunch at The Chequers Inn- delicious pork ribs!

For more information of the reserve see the leaflet
Our walk as kml file can be seen and downloaded here

If you arrive early at Lymington you can be lucky to find some space along the road, otherwise there is a big pay&display car park

Blue sky, gren grass...

 

Shape and colour abstractions appeared to be the main theme