I ♥ Red Telephone Boxes (or The Time I Was on BBC1)

I love red telephone boxes. Along with red post boxes and red double decker buses, they seem so quintessentially British to me as an American. Someday I would love to have one for my house. I'm not sure what I would do with it, but it would be really neat and a double decker bus is out of the question since it would be too tall for my garage.

Back in June 2005 while I was in London for a conference for work I ended up being on the BBC London News on the BBC1 television channel due my admiration for red telephone boxes.  I love all things BBC, especially listening to the BBC World Report on the radio, so I was really excited. 

On the last day of my conference the sessions ended at 1:30 pm so I decided to spend the afternoon sightseeing before meeting up with some friends at their flat for dinner. I planned ahead and brought a pair of flats and wore a t-shirt under my suit jacket so I could do a quick change and be on my way. Sometimes I am smart like that. Other times not so much. Like the day that I had off before the conference started when I decided to take a day trip to the Cotswolds and got lost walking in the countryside for a few hours resulting in terrible blisters and almost missing the last train back to London.  

Anyway, back to the story at hand. One of the places I wanted to go to see that afternoon was St. Paul's Cathedral because when I was visiting in 2003 the front was undergoing restoration.  On the cathedral grounds there was one of the old style red London telephone boxes so with me being me I couldn't help but take some photos.

The next thing I knew a BBC reporter, Karl Mercer, and his cameraman were asking me if I would mind if they taped me photographing the telephone box.  They explained that they were doing a story about the traditional London telephone boxes for the evening news.  There was a movement to reduce their numbers due to the rise in cell phone usage along with replacing some with more modern telephone boxes, however there were also people who felt they should be kept as part of the cultural heritage.  The cameraman taped me taking photos from a few angles and Karl interviewed me about why I liked the traditional telephone boxes.  They were really nice and even posed for a photo with me.

When I got to my friends' flat I asked if we could turn on BBC1, telling them the story of my adventure with the phone box.  Sure enough, at a few minutes before seven the telephone box story aired with short clips of a variety of people they had filmed that day including the Lord Mayor and me (refered to as "Lisa from California.")  I had been worried that I would come across sounding vapid on film but the story turned out well and now I can say I was on the BBC.

I figured that I couldn't end this post without mentioning the most interesting locale with a red telephone box that I have come across. This past November when I was visiting my sister on St. Thomas we spent some time in the BVI. As our boat pulled up to Marina Cay for us to have lunch, lo and behold, there was a red telephone box perched on the end of the dock. Not only is the phone still in working order, there is also a webcam focused on it so you can take a look at what is going on at the telephone box at any given time online.

Long live red telephone boxes!

Picture of the Day: View From Marina Cay

Marina Cay, British Virgin Islands
11.26.2012 

Picture of the Day: White Bay

White Bay, Jost Van Dyke
British Virgin Islands
11.26.2012 

White Bay & My New Camera

I have a new camera: a Canon PowerShot G15. If you've seen my post about my cameras you might be wondering why I needed a new point and shoot since I already had a Canon PowerShot G12. Well the operative word here is "had".

My journey to my new camera began while I was visiting my sister in the Virgin Islands at the end of November. As part of an excursion we made to the BVI we stopped at White Bay on the island of Jost Van Dyke. Jost Van Dyke is relaxed and relatively untouched with only a few hundred residents on the island. In fact the island has only had electricity since the nineteen nineties.

White Bay is gorgeous. The sand is pristine white and the beach is lined with low palm trees and sea grapes. There is one catch, however; there is no dock. It's a wet landing so in order to get to the beach you have to swim in from your boat.

My sister had been to White Bay several times and I had been once before as well so we both knew the drill. On a previous trip I had swum to shore with my old Canon Digital Rebel over my head so I didn't think much of swimming to shore with my smaller G12 over my head. Below is the last picture I took with my G12 from the boat before disaster struck. I zoomed in and got this shot of my sister swimming to shore with our clothes in a bag over her head with Soggy Dollar Bar in the background.

I got in the water and started swimming a backstroke with one arm and my camera over my head to keep it dry. I had two issues, however. First, all of the spots to moor that were close to shore were taken so our boat was pretty far out making for a fairly long swim. Secondly, soon after I got in the water a wave caught me and I swallowed a bunch of water. If I had been swimming with two arms it wouldn't have been a problem but with just one arm and trying to get my breath while coughing up the water I was struggling a bit. One of the staff from the boat had fins on and was towing people to shore with a buoy. She saw that I was having a tough time and towed me in the rest of the way in. I was embarrassed but happy for the help.

When I got to shore I was feeling really sick from the salt water I had swallowed so I tried to throw it up in the bathroom with no luck. I ended up grabbing a soda and sipping on it to settle my stomach. I tried turning on my camera at this point and found out it was dead. When the wave caught me it must have also gotten my camera which was a big bummer. Luckily the shop behind Soggy Dollar Bar had some disposable cameras for sale so I bought one and my sister and I took a walk along the beach. The pictures aren't the best quality but not bad for a disposable camera.

In the middle of the beach where we came to shore is the famous Soggy Dollar Bar. It got its name because due to the wet landing the money that people use to pay at the bar is usually wet. Many of the people that come ashore stop here so my sister and I decided to head further down the beach where it was less crowded.

The walk along the beach was amazing. It was a perfect day with a brilliant blue sky and turquoise waves gently breaking on the shore.

Halfway down the beach we decided to sit down and relax at Gertrude's Beach Bar & Grill, a quiet little place with only a handful of people which was a nice change of pace from Soggy Dollar's hustle and bustle. I had a few more sips of soda and we watched the waves roll in.

We continued down the beach soaking up the sun and enjoying the beautiful views.

At the west end of the beach is a cute place called One Love Bar and Grill. We didn't have much time to stop, but I loved all of the buoys decorating the outside and couldn't resist snapping a few pictures.

At this point we headed back towards Soggy Dollar, meandering up the beach while I used up the rest of the film on the disposable camera.

We got a dry bag at Soggy Dollar to put the cameras and clothes in for the trip back which my sister swam with. Using two arms and having my lungs clear I had no problem getting back to the boat. I used the camera on my phone to snap a few more pictures from the boat before we pulled away.

Despite my camera mishap we had a lovely time at White Bay and if you are in the BVI I would definitely recommend stopping there. There is nothing like relaxing in one of the hammocks there under a palm tree. I might suggest getting a dry bag prior to your visit, however, to make bringing any cameras or clothes to shore easier. I definitely will next time!

As for my poor little G12, well, it was toast. Back at my sister's apartment we covered it in rice to try to dry it out but it didn't fix it. I think that it might be because I had tried turning it on earlier. Luckily my SD card was fine so I still had the pictures from my trip.

With my camera dead I decided to replace it. Since the newer Canon PowerShot G15 was fifty dollars less than the G12 I thought I would get the G15. It is a nice little camera and perfect for my needs of having a small point and shoot when I don't want to take my SLR with me. 

I've had it for about a month now so I thought I would share how I feel it stacks up with my old G12. Both have the capability to shoot in RAW format and have the ability to change settings manually to have more control over the camera than a typical point and shoot.

I really like that the G15 has a larger aperture lens (f/1.8–2.8) than the G12 so that I can take better pictures in low light. Since I take a lot of photos in dimly lit restaurants with my point and shoot this is great for me. The G15 has a 12.1 Megapixel sensor compared to a 10 Megapixel sensor for the G12 and the continuous shooting speed on the G15 is also a little faster which is nice.

The only downside for me is that the G15 has a fixed screen and I loved my articulating screen on my G12. As someone who is short and travels alone a lot the articulating screen was an awesome feature. In crowds I could hold the camera above my head but swivel the screen down so I could still see what I was shooting. Also, when taking my own picture by holding the camera out in front of me I could flip the screen so that I could see that I was actually in the picture and not cutting off my head. It is definitely something that I miss about my G12, but all in all the G15 seems like a great camera and I have enjoyed using it so far.

This has turned into a pretty long post so I will wrap things up with a quick summary: White Bay = gorgeous, sea water + camera = bad news and G15 = great point and shoot.

Have you ever had any camera disasters? Were you ever any place gorgeous with only a disposable camera to take pictures? 

The Baths at Virgin Gorda

Last week when I was visiting my sister one of the things we did was head out to the British Virgin Islands on a boat trip to visit The Baths National Park on Virgin Gorda.

The name of the park comes from the gorgeous rocks that line the shore called batholiths. Batholiths are formed from cooled magma deep in the earth's crust. Through continental uplift and erosion batholiths can be exposed on the surface.

The batholiths at Virgin Gorda are made from granite and are special due to their location on the sea as most batholiths are inland. The unique formation creates a maze of grottos, tunnels, and arches right on the shoreline.

As interesting as the geology behind The Baths is, it is really even more impressive to see and explore them in awe of their beauty. I had visited them with my sister on my first trip to visit her in the Caribbean back in 2006 and requested to go back on this trip because they are such a beautiful sight.

At the visitor's center, which is a short distance south from Spanish Town, you pay your entrance fee ($3 for adults, $2 for children) and can choose between two paths down to the rock formations. We decided to go to the right and follow the Baths Beach trail to the water.

As you start to head down the trail you can start to see some of the batholiths surrounding you. The vegetation is also interesting and I particularly liked the cacti that we saw scattered along the trail at various points with a bluish hue to it. It looked so striking again the bright green foliage.

At the bottom of the trail is a lovely beach. The waters were too rough that day for swimming, but the views were stunning.

After enjoying the beach it was time to head into The Baths. The path can easily be followed by the ladders and ropes that were put in place to help people navigate the slippery and sometimes steep areas. In places where it still may be unclear there are some yellow arrows painted on the rock as a guide. 

One of the first amazing formations you come across as you enter the baths is known as The Cathedral. Two enormous boulders barely touch to make a gorgeous triangle shaped cave with the water rushing in and out with the tide. No pictures can do the experience of being there justice.

Continuing on we were lucky to be exploring with no one around us. We ran into a few people occasionally but luckily we were a little ways away between tour groups so we had the rare privilege to be alone with only the sound of the water as we marvelled at The Baths.

The rock formations were fantastic with beautiful coloring and interesting shapes.

At a few points along the path were had glimpses through the rocks out to the sea and then eventually the trail opened up a bit more. The views were spectacular.

At the end of the breathtaking trail we reached the beach at Devil's Bay for more amazing scenery to explore.

Eventually we needed to head back. We could have gone back the way we came but due to time we opted to go straight from Devil's Bay back to the visitor's center via the Devil's Bay Beach Trail. The trail seemed to have less batholiths along the way that the trail we took on the way down but we did see more of the pretty blue tinged cacti.

Back at the top if you are in the mood for some food or drinks you can stop at Top of The Baths for some dining with wonderful views. There is a small freshwater pool as well as some gifts shops there.

Even if you are not interested in getting anything to eat I would strongly recommend taking a peek of the view from their verandah over The Baths and out across the sea to other islands in the BVI. It is really spectacular and a nice way to end a visit to The Baths.

My sister and I had a wonderful time visiting The Baths and our only regret is that we didn't have more time to enjoy them. It is a truly amazing place to visit and quite an amazing natural wonder. If you find yourself in the Virgin Islands, I would definitely recommend making a concerted effort to visit.

Note: The Baths are located in the British Virgins Islands which means that if you coming by way of the US Virgin Islands you will need a passport to visit. American travelers only need their driver's license to enter the USVI or Puerto Rico, so don't forget to also pack your passport if you also want to make a stop in the BVI.

Picture of the Day: Pathway Through The Baths

The Baths National Park
Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands
11.26.2012