View allAll Photos Tagged mudbath
The mud baths above Dalyan in the days before it became commercialised and when we had just turned 30.
"I am directing the photographer from the sidelines to take a better picture of us coming out of the tube,
even at this muddy state I am imperious about picture composition, now that's funny." ~Tomitheos
Copyright © 2013 Tomitheos Self Portrait - All Rights Reserved
Das war herrlich dreckig :-) Eine Bekannte von mir suhlte sich 1994 genüßlich bei den Schweinen - der Mantel war hinterher tonnenschwer mit Schlamm vollgesogen. Und roch etwas...
I must admit that I hadn't originally intended to shoot the return "Torbay Express" but the fact that my morning shot was in full dull and the late afternoon weather was forecast as unbroken sunshine forced a change of tack.
I excused myself from a social gathering in Exeter for an hour and hoofed the trusty Focus a bit sharpish to Cockwood harbour.
It's particularly galling that the fence here detracts from the view.
A local chap told me that NR erected it to stop track-workers falling down the bank during engineering work and couldn't be bothered to take it down but I don't know if there's any truth in that.
Anyway No.5029 "Nunney Castle" drifts past the low-tide mudbath in lovely conditions.
The African or Savannah buffalo is traditionally known as the meanest beast in the bush, prone to launch a killing charge at the drop of a hat. Although this is the natural reaction of almost any buffalo that is being shot at, many non-provoked, solitary males like the one in this image also do it. The most common species, a very large black-pelted grassland dweller, can weigh up to 1,750 pounds.
In South Africa, we were out for a night drive following a Pride of Lions, which were tracking a herd of Cape Buffalos. One of the large lions jumped on the back of a male buffalo and tried to bite through his spinal cord. The buffalo headed at full speed toward a tree with low hanging branches and knocked him off.
Understandably angry, the buffalo turned around and charged our 4x4 at full speed. The guide slammed the gearshift into reverse and the gas pedal to the floor. We went flying backwards over rough ground. The buffalo having made his point backed off on his charge.
It was one of the most exciting experiences on the trip, but not one that I would want to repeat.
Older males are generally forced out of the group. They tend to be solitary or join bachelor herds. You might hear guides refer to them as "old dagga boys". The word "dagga" is Zulu and means mud - it refers to the fact that they like wallowing in mud
For more detail, please click on the image.
Decided to spend my Christmas Eve doing photography in my favourite place in the world. The mudbath that is: The Lagan Meadows nature reserve, Belfast :D (though it was a rushed session because the sun sets in Ireland at 3:30pm in December!)
Have a Merry Christmas!
Shot is of myself taken on a timer with a tripod and a nice gap in the storms.
Up to date in posting at last! Hopefully back to normal service from now on. For the first 38 days I got into a nice pattern of shooting, uploading and commenting, but after a couple of weekends away, I've been forever on catch up. I have to say that having people drop by and comment all of that time, while I was doing precious little commenting of my own, was very much appreciated.
I quite like the action in the water on this shot, taken at the River Irthing. Here is an interesting fact about the River Irthing... It used to flow into the Tyne valley and out on the East Coast into the North Sea. But a debris left by a glacier blocked this passage, and now it flows in the River Eden and out into the Irish Sea on the West Coast. Actually, that would be more impressive if England was a bit wider, like say, the US or Australia....
While clambering around on the rocks looking for a good angle and some firm ground, my foot got stuck in a crevice and my welly was pulled right off. It then toppled on the edge of the river for what seemed like an age, then righted itself and didn't plunge into the current. I've tried to build that up a bit, create a bit of drama and suspense, but there's no hiding the fact this was just a welly, not life or death. Still, I half expected to see it bobbing off down the river, leaving me to walk across the freshly slurry sprayed fields to the car.
The last time I lost footwear was a long time ago. I was lucky enough that I used to be taken camping in France when I was a youngster. My parents were teachers and so we'd get the car packed up and drive off in the summer holidays until the money ran out and we came back. One place we stayed had a little beach on an Estuary, which was extremely muddy. For some reason I'd taken it into my head to squelch around in my jelly shoes, exploring this muddy wasteland. And with a satisfying 'sluuuurp', the mud plucked one of my shoes and ate it. It must have eaten it because I couldn't feel it anywhere under the mud.
While at this campsite I had been in bare feet and stood on a bee. The next day I stood on a wasp, using the same foot. For this reason, these jelly shoes had been purchased and I was instructed to wear them all the times in case it was a scorpion next. Perhaps because of their protective qualities, the following morning my Dad decided to go and find the shoes.
Now, the tide had been in and then out again. I had no real idea whereabouts the shoe had fallen off, and there must have been a square kilometre of mud to go through. But he gave it a go, rolling up his sleeves and feeling around with his hands in the stinky, squelchy grey-brown mud.
I sat on the pebbles at the edge of this giant mudbath and watched. He pulled up stones, seaweed, sticks, tin cans and got nipped by a crab but still no shoes. After about half an hour of watching this toil I began to get bored and cast my eyes around looking for something to do. Perhaps I could find some shells or throw stones or something.
And there, lying next to me was my jelly shoe. I didn't even have to stretch to get it, I'd nearly sat on it all along. The fact that today, my welly didn't plunge into the river meant I was spared having to give my Dad a call to go and find it for me.
Hedon Spa & Hotel is a unique new home for pleasures and relaxation.
Situated on white shores of Pärnu beach, its superb location and fine architecture make it a one-of-a-kind masterpiece.
The spa side of Hedon is built into the historical mudbaths that for long have been one of the symbols of the city.
The new, exquisite part of the building is home to the hotel with its 72 contemporary-styled rooms and a fine dining restaurant Raimond.
Hedon Spa & Hotel truely lives up to its slogan ’Pleasures live here’.
The Ralston Company's automotive roots stretch right back to the 1910's, but it wasn't until the late 1920's that the low-volume products offered really shone.
Like all luxury automotive companies, however, the Wall Street Crash and ensuing Great Depression upset the grand plans that they had put into place. Prior to WWII the Ralston Group was still based in Finland, where the assembly of it's cars took place. Many of the systems, however, were sourced from other makers or suppliers.
The Ralston Type 8 was launched in 1928 (just in time for the financial crisis), and used the Engine and Driveline supplied by the Cord-Auburn-Duesenberg Corporation, based in Indiana USA. The engine was the mighty straight-8, as used in Duesenbergs, though at this stage the engine was not supercharged. The driveline was fitted to a chassis made by Ralston Engineering works, and bodies were supplied by the world's leading coachbuilders.
The first 'Rhino' model again used systems from Duesenberg. Now upping power with the addition of a supercharger. The more interesting addition was a front axle drive unit developed for the Cord L29. This allowed four-wheel-drive, fitted with the standard bodies (and marginally lengthened wheelbase frame), or more spectacularly, six-wheel-drive or half track options. Along with the front driven axle and transfer case (resulting in the need to offset the engine to the left side within the frame), the car also required a second driven axle at the rear. The two rear axles were approximately located either side of the standard Type-8 rear axle location. This produced a car that was necessarily longer, but also only allowed the fitting of two-door body styles because of the forward position of the first rear axle. Weight was increased significantly over a 'standard' Type-8, by as much as 3/4 ton.
Other fixtures were changed according to purpose - many cars sporting removable fuel tanks mounted outboard ahead of the front doors. Depending on model, fuel consumption varied from horrendous, to abysmal.
The Ralston Rhino Type-8R was an immensely accomplished off-road luxury vehicle. Fit-for-purpose allowed Ralston to charge sums of money unheard of for a motor vehicle. The six-wheel-drive and half-track versions were able to go almost anywhere, and had been designed to do so for very specific reasons.
The Ralston's native Finland is a beautiful place, but not the easiest to traverse by motor vehicle. For much of the year the ground is covered by snow, or if the snow has melted the ground can quickly turn to a mudbath. The ice, snow and mud of Finland is only one location - the other - was Africa. Ralston Industries founder Xavier was fond of big-game hunting. Along with gaming, the luxuries to which the aristocratic class deemed necessary, meant that an appropriate vehicle was of grand proportion, grander power, and in the case of the Rhino - grand capability. The six-wheel-drive prototypes had proved their value on the African Savanah, as well as the North African desert marches.
Alas, the car was launched as the Great Depression took hold. The Cord-Auburn-Duesenberg group was struggling financially also, though the supply of the front drive unit for the Rhino (based on the Cord L29 system), allowed C-A-D to develop a second generation unit for the V8-engine Cord 810/812 'Coffin Nose' for 1935.
The 'Tiger' line was to have gained access to the C-A-D V8 of the 810, but the financial collapse meant the program was delayed, and the vehicle was launched with Cadillac power in 1938, and without the additional front drive unit available.
Ralston had pre-bought enough front drive units for the limited volume Rhino Type 8R though, and had enough supply to continue buidling limited volume of the Rhino Type-I, all the way into the late 1950s at their Finnish works. Some cars had been specially built during WWII, and many cars that were already in private hands were converted to military staff cars.
The car was launched in 1932, when a mere eight vehicles were produced, reached its peak in a minor update for 1936 at thirty four cars. After the war, Ralston produced an average of five Rhino MkI (D & E) Type 8R vehicles until 1958.
This Rhino MkI Type 8R-32 (1932) Coupe Triple Axle has be built on Lego miniland scale for Flickr LUGNuts 77th Build Challenge, - 'Designing the Ralston Rhino' - a challenge to design the fictitious Rhino 'Truck' model for the fictitious Ralston company. The model must feature a 'X' in the styling, and also follow the themes developed in LUGNuts Challenge 63, - 'Designing the Ralston Tiger'.
A work that I abandoned a while back that I thought I'd have another go at. Red deer rolling in the mud to cool down on a hot day in Bushy Park
Now you know how Odie maintains his youthful look at the age of 11. After a good exercise in the park, he soaks in a mud bath. :-)
No sign of the footpath across Town Fields near Tiverton. A very recently planted field of potatoes needed a bit of hop, skip and jump to negotiate. At least better than the mudbath here for most of the winter! The farmer or a contractor may have returned to create a footpath line or, more likely, walkers and locals will have created it.
An meinem Gerburtstag 2003 haben wir mit drei Paaren im Moor gefeiert. Erst schick essen gehen - und dann mit den eleganten Kleidern rein in den schwarzen Moorschlamm. Das war schön :-) Und kuschelig :-)
You give it water and mud. Plenty of it.
I caught this one just before its mud bath.
Kruger National Park
Mpumalanga Province
South Africa
Deer doing what deer do, Richmond Park, London. Young Red Deer stag keeping a watchful eye before continuing with his mud bath.
Deer doing what deer do, Richmond Park, London. Young Red Deer stag enjoying a roll around in the mud.
Primitive Mud Man Shares Sustainability Symbol.
Photo taken at the Dead Sea of China, Yuncheng, Shanxi Province
LOOK UP! - my dear and sadly missed friend Ilse advised when I bemoaned the fact that I was running out of subjects in my vicinity.
I did heed her advice and I quite often scour the skyline for something worth snapping. And so it was today too, except, I did not plan to land with my full weight into the illustrated mini mud-bath.
The fact that a kind passer by reassured me that people regularly landed in it did not in any way make me feel any better.
Still, my pragmatic problem solving was in gear and went to a Pret a Manger branch on the opposite pavement. A very kind member of staff let me in the code protected toilet and brought me a substantial amount of kitchen roll with the help of which I managed to clean up myself. I never imagined that one day I would be drying my socks in a toilet hand dryer.