The end of another year is here, so that means that it’s time for my annual “Year of Travel” post. Below you can find out where I was fortunate enough to travel to in 2014. You can also see where I traveled in 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013.
This was a very busy year for me. I’m hoping that I’ll have a little more time for blogging in 2015. The Geology Word of the Week is returning soon!
I spent January to March residing at my home base of Cape Town, South Africa:
Cape Town’s beautiful Table Mountain, viewed from the sea.Another view of gorgeous Cape Town.
In late March my husband and I went on a week-long holiday to the beautiful, tropical, volcanic island of Mauritius:
In June and July my husband and I went to the US for three weeks. We visited family and friends in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maryland, and Washington, DC:
A forest view, New Hampshire.Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC.
From July to October I spent much of my time working up in Namibia:
Sunset at sea, offshore Namibia.A church in Lüderitz, Namibia.A sand-filled building in Kolmanskop, Namibia.
In between my Namibia trips I had some time off, which I spent in the greater Cape Town area:
Ziplining in Ceres, South Africa.Sitting in a very old tree in Kirstenbosh Gardens, Cape Town.
In late November I went to visit my parents in New Hampshire again since I had quite a bit of leave from my time spent working in Namibia. I enjoyed seeing some snow and ice while I was there:
Snowy scenery, New Hampshire.Icy lakeview, New Hampshire.
On my way back to Cape Town from New Hampshire, I had a one day layover in London. I explored a few of the city sights:
A London Park.Posing with some Egyptian artefacts at The British Museum.
Currently, I’m back in Cape Town awaiting my next trip. Cape Town is not a bad place for a home base:
Cape Town city center.Cape Town city center viewed from atop Table Mountain.
I also travelled to Johannesburg a few times for work, but I’m afraid that I didn’t take any pictures. I mostly spent my time in offices and conference rooms, anyway!
I’m looking forward to another wonderful year of travel in 2015. Happy New Year, everyone!
The end of another year is here, so that means that it’s time for my annual “Year of Travel” post. Below you can find out where I was fortunate enough to travel to in 2013. You can also see where I traveled in 2010, 2011, and 2012.
Beautiful Hout Bay in Cape Town, South Africa, viewed from Chapman’s Peak Drive. Picture taken September 2013.Sailboats in Hout Bay, Cape Town, South Africa. Picture taken September 2013.A view of some of Cape Town’s winelands from the Constantia Nek Contour Path, Cape Town, South Africa. Picture taken December 2013.
I feel very fortunate to live in such a beautiful city. This year my husband and I made more of an effort to explore Cape Town and its surrounds when our busy schedules permitted.
In April I went for a few days to Grahamstown, South Africa to visit my husband, who was studying for six weeks at Rhodes University. Unfortunately, it rained the whole time that I was in Grahamstown, but that didn’t keep us from exploring the area, including the Big Pineapple in nearby Bathurst:
A very big pineapple in Bathurst, South Africa (near Grahamstown). Picture taken April 2013.
In June my husband and I finally went on a honeymoon (only a year and a half late). We visited the beautiful island of Zanzibar (off the coast of Tanzania) for a little over a week:
Stone Town waterfront, Zanzibar. Picture taken June 2013.Beautiful Chumbe Island, Zanzibar. Picture taken June 2013.A woman gathering seaweed on the beach, Zanzibar. Picture taken June 2013.
A few weeks after our trip to Zanzibar, my husband and I went to the United States for two months– from mid July to early September. Most of the time, we were carrying out field work in Nome, Alaska:
Jackie and I exploring a road outside of Nome, Alaska. Picture taken July 2013.
Before and after our work in Alaska, we also visited my family in New Hampshire:
The view from the Mervine Family lakeside cabin, New Hampshire. Picture taken July 2013.A family of loons on a lake, New Hampshire. Picture taken July 2013.
In September my husband and I spent several days hiking with friends along the beautiful Tsitsikamma Trail in the Eastern Cape, South Africa:
A double waterfall along the Tsitsikamma Trail, South Africa. Picture taken September 2013.
Jackie and I posing in front of SALT. Picture taken October 2013.
We may or may not have worn Star Trek uniforms during our visit.
Last but not least, earlier this month we flew up to Johannesburg, South Africa to visit friends and my husband’s family. We also spent a few days in nearby Secunda and Dullstroom in Mpumalanga:
Antelope by the forest in the early evening, Dullstroom, South Africa. Picture taken December 2013.Dullstroom sunset. Picture taken December 2013.
I’m looking forward to another good year of travel in 2014. Happy New Year, everyone!
I am very fortunate to be able to travel often, both for work and my personal life. Like 2010 and 2011, 2012 was a busy year of travel!
January: Sultanate of Oman, United Arab Emirates, and South Africa
In January I was mostly in South Africa working on my PhD thesis. However, I also traveled to the Sultanate of Oman to attend a geology conference. After the conference, I traveled to the United Arab Emirates for a few days to visit my good friend Karima and her family.
The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi.
February to Early May: Cape Cod, USA
In February I traveled back to Cape Cod, where I frantically worked to finish writing, submit, and defend my PhD thesis, which I successfully did on Friday, April 13th. I finished up my revisions by early May and then was DONE!
My advisor Susan Humphris and I after my PhD defense.
May to Early June: New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Florida, USA
After finishing up my PhD, I headed up to New Hampshire, where I spent some time relaxing at my parents’ lakeside cabin near my favorite glacial erratic.
My post-thesis relaxation view.A close-up shot of my favorite glacial erratic.
Shortly after I handed in my thesis, my good friend and fellow geoblogger Dana Hunter came to visit me in New Hampshire for a long weekend. We had a great time hanging out at the cabin and exploring some local geology.
Dana and I on a hike at the Chesterfield Gorge, New Hampshire.
In mid May I was reunited with my husband Jackie, who flew over from South Africa for a few weeks to visit with family, go on a short Florida vacation, attend my 10-year high school reunion, attend my PhD graduation, and also participate in a second wedding ceremony. We had our first wedding in South Africa in October 2011, but many of our US family and friends were unable to attend, so we had a second celebration.
Jackie and I went down to Florida to enjoy the beach:
One of Fort Lauderdale's beaches.
And also to visit with our good family friend James Randi:
Visiting our good family friend James Randi in his Florida home.
In early June we had our second wedding celebration with friends and family in New Hampshire. The weather was terribly cold and rainy, but we huddled in our tent and had a good time anyway. I wore rain boots with my wedding dress.
At our second wedding celebration... in jeans, warm clothes, and rain boots!
Also in early June, I went to my PhD graduation ceremony at MIT. Jackie, my mom, and my dad were also there.
Finally! A doctor!
Mid June: Scotland
Shortly after my graduation, Jackie flew back to Cape Town to go back to work. On my way back to South Africa, I flew via the United Kingdom and stayed for a week in Ballater, Scotland to visit with a wonderful 86-year-old geologist named Dr. Ken Glennie. In the near future, there will be some blog posts about this Scotland trip, so stay tuned!
Dr. Ken Glennie and a giant book on geology.
July: Cape Town and Robertson, South Africa
After my visit to Scotland, I headed back home to South Africa. Mostly I just enjoyed being back in beautiful Cape Town. However, my husband and I also did go on a small geological excursion to a place called Gnoem Gnoemskloof near Roberston.
Jackie and I at Gnoem Gnoemskloof.
End July to Mid September: Alaska, USA
When I returned to South Africa, little did I know that about 6 weeks later I would be heading back to the United States. In July I received a job with AuruMar, a marine gold exploration company. A few days later I was on an airplane to Alaska to participate in a sampling campaign offshore of Nome. My husband works for the same company, and we were both sent to Nome for the campaign.
Jackie and I sitting in old dredge buckets in Nome. Yes, I am wearing a hat in August!
End September: Johannesburg, South Africa
At the end of September, Jackie and I flew up to Johannesburg for Jackie’s sister’s wedding. The wedding was beautiful, and we also enjoyed visit to a theme park known as Gold Reef City. I’ll have to write some more about Gold Reef City sometime.
A mine shaft and a Ferris wheel at Gold Reef City.
October: Durban, South Coast, and Wild Coast, South Africa
In October my husband and I took a week’s vacation to Durban, the South Coast, and the Wild Coast of South Africa for our one-year wedding anniversary, which was on October 22nd. Unfortunately, the weather was quite rainy, but we did have one nice beach day. The other days, we went exploring in the rain or stayed in our hotel room and read our books.
A view of Durban with a purple jacaranda tree and the stadium built for the Soccer World Cup in 2010.One of the South Coast's beautiful beaches.A rainy boat ride along the Wild Coast.
Late October to Early November: LASI V Workshop, Port Elizabeth and the Karoo, South Africa
Immediately after our week of vacation, I attended the LASI V workshop in Port Elizabeth and the Karoo. I’ve already written some blog posts about LASI V, and there will be more coming soon!
On the Karoo field trip, posing in front of a dolerite dyke.
End December: Port Elizabeth, South Africa
Last but not least, recently Jackie and I– and our two cats– drove 8 1/2 hours from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth to spend Christmas with good friends. Among other things, we spent a day driving around Addo Elephant National Park. We had a great day and saw many amazing animals.
Elephants taking a bath in Addo.
Overall, 2012 was a great year, and I did some wonderful traveling. I’m not completely sure yet what 2013 holds, but I’m sure there will be some fun trips and adventures!
The “Year of Travel” meme has started upagain, so I thought I’d join the fun and recollect my travels over the past year. This has actually been a very busy year. For the first part of the year, I spent many, many hours in lab working on data collection for my PhD. For the second part of the year, I worked on data analysis, thesis chapter writing, and also had a few big events in my personal life– I moved to Cape Town, South Africa, and I was married. Later in the year, I’ll return to Cape Cod for a couple of months to defend my thesis. However, after four years of maintaining a long-distance relationship between Cape Cod and Cape Town, I’m very happy to be living with my partner (mostly) full-time.
Without further ado, here are a few pictures my year of travels:
I spent most of January-June in Cape Cod, mired in labwork. Fortunately, Cape Cod isn’t such a bad place to live:
A sailboat off Martha's Vineyard, 2008.
In April I took a two week break from my thesis to visit my then-fiance in South Africa. While I was there, we spent a few days hiking in the gorgeous Cederberg Mountains:
The Maltese Cross in the Cederberg Mountains, April 2011.
In June I moved to Laramie, Wyoming for the summer to work on data interpretation with one of my thesis supervisors. I was too busy working on my thesis to spend much time outdoors, but I did go on a few wonderful trail runs under the big Wyoming sky:
Big Wyoming Sky, Summer 2011.
Over the summer, I also managed to take two quick weekend trips. The first was to Bozeman, Montana where I had the honor of meeting Jack Horner:
Jack Horner, a fake sauropod bone, and I in Montana, June 2011.
The second trip was to The Amaz!ng Meeting 9 in Las Vegas where I saw my good friend James “The Amazing” Randi and also took a quick trip out to Red Rock Canyon:
Red, red Las Vegas rocks, July 2011.
In late August I moved to gorgeous Cape Town, South Africa. I’m really grateful that my thesis supervisors have allowed me to do my last few months of thesis writing (mostly) from overseas. Thank goodness for Skype! However, after my move I did have two trips back to Cape Cod: one in late September for a committee meeting and one in late November to finish up the very last little bit of labwork for my thesis. The trip between Cape Town and Cape Cod is fairly long and exhausting… although you do accumulate some serious frequent flyer miles! Fortunately, I just have one (longer) visit to Cape Cod ahead of me until I (fingers crossed!) defend my thesis later this year. I’m really loving my new home here in Cape Town. I’m looking forward to wrapping up my PhD this year and settling down more permanently, hopefully finding work as a geologist in the Cape Town area.
Gorgeous Cape Town, April 2011.
In October my husband and I were married in the South African winelands near the town of Robertson:
A wedding in the winelands, October 2011. Photograph by Christine Watters Photography.
For those of you who remember the interviews about the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant disaster that I conducted with my father earlier this year, here’s a picture of my father and I just before the wedding ceremony:
My father and I, October 2011. Photograph by Christine Watters Photography.
Since the wedding, I’ve been trying to keep busy writing this thesis of mine. These last few months are tough and tiresome, but I’ll persevere and (hopefully!) finish this darn PhD of mine!
I have a busy few months ahead of me, but I’m looking forward to a little bit of travel in the near future. The day after tomorrow I fly to Muscat, Oman for the International Conference on the Geology of the Arabian Plate and the Oman Mountains. After the conference, I’m going to spend a weekend with good friends of mine in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. I really enjoy visiting Oman, and I’ve never been to Abu Dhabi, so I’m looking forward to the trip.
Hope everyone had a happy, travel-filled 2011. Best wishes for 2012.
Georneys 