The House(s) of Fran_mart

We purchased a pair of Hobie Outback kayaks in about October last year.  We when for a couple of spins in them and then the weather got too windy; I got a dose of Shingles; recreational boating was banned etc etc.  So we haven't used them for a while. But we were feeling fairly frisky today, the temperature was excellent and the wind light.  So we hitched the trailer on to the Pajero and headed for an informal boat ramp near Bucklands.  Apart from an outbreak of incompetence in fitting the seats (they are removed for transport as they are highly aerodynamic at at $700 a pop one doesn't want to lose them) it was a hoot.   We pedalled up the Narrows to the entrance to Captains Creek and returned.  Google Earth reckons it was about 6.6km return. As you can see the weather was lovely. There were quite a few fisherpersons around.  Some we recognised as locals,some were undoubtedly visitors.  They were by and large quite considerate in not generating huge wakes and the kayaks are rec

I realise folk who don't do Facebook won't have seen the original set of pix so here they - and the text  - are. Day 1 of the travel photo challenge after being nominated by Rob Ey. 10 days, 10 travel photos and and each day nominate someone to take up the challenge. My opening image is a Pit Viper from Sri Lanka. It doesn't have a tour guide in its jaws.      Our first stop outside Colombo was in the Sinharaja Biosphere Reserve. One of the Big-ticket items here was the Serendib Scops Owl only discovered in about 2000. So at a known site we wandered off a road up into the jungle and peered for the owl, pl aying back its call a couple of times. Nothing. As we got back down to the road our guide Hettie pointed out this beautiful snake coiled up in a bush. That is the one in the photo. Fast forward a few days and we were at Kithulgala which is famous for (1) being where the Bridge on the River Kwai was filmed; and (2) being a site for this Owl. Our first adventure this d