These homes rock!

Although I could certainly do without the snow, I love the way that these homes in Goreme were carved right into the rock, many of them still topped by conical hills.  This too is in the Cappadocia area of Turkey.  This ancient town made use of the natural terrain, yet blended in with it as far as possible, retaining much of the rugged beauty. 

The Wave

Rigid ripples, rich variants of reds, pinks, ochres and browns undulate in another rock formation that echoes licquid.  This time much closer to home, The Wave is
a sandstone formation on the slopes of the Coyote Buttes in the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness, just south of the Utah-Arizona border.

If you are lucky enough to get one of the 20 permits per day to access the area, this famous formation can be reached by hiking along narrow ridges and sweeping striated swells for approximately 3 miles (4.8 kilometers). For many, it is in full sun, climbing about 350 feet (107 meters) in altitude. The trek in is farther if you also want to see the other rock formations and dinosaur track fossils.  Water is mandatory and GPS skills strongly advised.

Hmmm.  Maybe we will be satisfied with photos.  Some great ones at http://www.cornforthimages.com/Galleries/Landscape/Arizona/Coyote%20Buttes.htm

Giant's Causeway

Near the top of my "Bucket List" and my travel itinery is Ireland.  I've been to England and Scotland, but have not yet made it to Wales or Ireland.  I love the sense of history in both countries, the verdant vistas, the stone work, the culture.

Keeping up the theme of rocks, a must see for me will be the Giants Causeway, 7 square miles of approximatley 40,000 hexigonal basalt stones of various heights.  Sixty million years ago, volcanic eruptions in what is now Northern Ireland formed this World Heritage site. When the lava cooled, it cracked, creating the distinctive columns.

Legend has another explanation:  An Irish giant, Finn McCool, a relatively small giant of  fifty two feet six inches, challenged his rival Benandonner in Scotland to a trial of strength, but they couldn't cross the Sea of Moyle.  Finn McCool threw stones in the water to make a path or causeway between Ireland and Scotland and was exhausted by this work.  Benandonner arrived while he was still sleeping.  Finn's wife saw him coming and knew that the Scot was much bigger than her husband, so she wrapped Finn up as if he was a baby  and showed the Scot  her "infant".  Benandonner was frightened by the size of the child and imagined its father Finn must be far too large and strong to challenge, so he ran back to Scotland, knocking down much of the causeway as he went in case Finn decided to follow him.

Well, I hope that I will be following him, as far as Antrim to see this some day.

Musing on photographs

It will be hard to give justice to the places on my list without photos, and since I have not yet been there, naturally I will only have access to photos from other people. 

There are some wonderful shots on the internet, but respecting copyright means that I can't post them here.   I may try getting permission from individuals, but most of the good shots are from professionals.

As I was looking for someone to contact about Kangaroo Island (and no, I did not find anyone I felt comfortable asking), I found a wonderful Flickr group that posts images of rock forms.  I was in heaven.  I had to be careful not to short out the computer as I stared in awe at the images, probably drooling.

So I joined the group.  I don't know if I will ever have any photos to contribute, but I will certainly be a regular visiter.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/rockforms/

Postscript.  I decided to include a free wallpaper image of Kangaroo Rocks and found someone willing to share their Malaspina Galleries photo, so added them to the previous post.

Kangaroo Island Remarkable Rocks

I love rocks, especially those with texture and contour, shaped by erosion or other forces of nature. The island I live on has wonderful sandstone formations, so I was delighted to see photos of the "Remarkable Rocks" on Kangaroo Island. It is the third largest island in Australia, known for it's white sand dunes and fauna. Kangaroos of course, but also koalas, wallabies, and "fairy penguins" as well as sheep. There is an impressive lighthouse but not a lot of human residents.

The island has a national park, caves, caverns and sink holes to explore. But it is the rocks that draw me. Pitted and sculpted by wind and water, these large sandstone rocks lean against each other or stand alone. The "wave" reminds me of the undercutting of the Malaspina Galleries on Gabriola, http://www.nickdoe.ca/pdfs/Webp27c.pdf, yet they are half a world away.

So google it for more information, or look for photo sites. There are lots of images.

http://bestofkangarooisland.com.au/southwest/index.html