The Deep

On Thursday we caught the train to Hull and went to The Deep. This is a marine-themed attraction with aquariums covering various marine environments - from anemones to the open ocean and jellyfish. The most impressive was the shark pool - with large sharks gliding past and my favourite exhibit - a sawfish!

One of the best features is the glass lift which travels up through the shark tank and pauses for a few seconds to allow you to see the fish better. The only downsides were poor signage (no signs to the "Monsters of the Deep" presentation) and noisy school parties.

Here are a few photos I took on our visit (click the photos to see them properly!):

Microchipping

This morning we had our cat microchipped - a new vet has opened in Scarborough and we took advantage of his opening offers to have the cat microchipped (free worm treatment was thrown in too - not bad for £12!)

Surprisingly, she was well behaved and quiet, even when the thick needle went in she never made a sound (unlike some animals!) She had a bus ride there and back, and, unlike the first time she went on a bus when she was making a noise the whole way, she was silent!

The only time she made any noise was when she was put into her carrying cage - then the miaowing starts and she sticks her leg out through the front of the cage, but she settled quick and curled up.

After all that she enjoyed her dinner when she got home!

AF447

This post contains links to the unfolding news story on the Air France tragedy. Only links will be posted in this topic, no photos or opinions.

Air France flight missing
Crash jet autopilot 'not working'
Missing Air France jet wreckage found
No sign of 'problem' with AF jet
'No wreckage found' in plane search
Two Britons among 228 passengers on Air France plane that vanishes en route from Brazil to Paris
Missing Airbus wreckage spotted floating in ocean as French refuse to rule out terrorism
Riverdance star and 11-year-old schoolboy among British victims on missing Air France flight
Air France received South American bomb threat days before Flight 447 disappeared over Atlantic
Doomed Air France plane's computer 'failed minutes before it plummeted into Atlantic'
Debris found in hunt for Air France jet is just 'sea trash,' say red-faced investigators. Search continues
Autopilot on Air France jet 'was not working before crash'
Five bodies and an Air France ticket found floating in ocean near where Flight 447 disappeared
Searchers recover 15 more bodies from Air France flight 447 as ships navigate through 'a sea of debris'
Pictured: Tragic family whose fear of flying together led mother and daughter to board Air France jet
Pictured: Air France fuselage found near to where Flight 447 disappeared as 15 bodies are recovered from ocean
Pictured: The heartbreaking moment passengers of lost Flight 447 finally reached land as searchers pull 24 bodies from ocean
Two passengers on doomed Air France jet had names linked to Islamic terror groups
The computer crash
Two passengers on doomed Air France jet CLEARED of links to Islamic terrorism
Air France plane broke up over 'number of minutes'
Air France crash: Brazilian ship recovers three more bodies
Air France crash: 'bodies hold clues to what happened'
More Flight 447 bodies found
Crash jet ‘split in two at high altitude’
Pattern of dead bodies from doomed Air France plane suggests it split up in mid-air
SPECIAL INVESTIGATION: What REALLY made Flight 447 disintegrate in mid-air?
Air France crash investigators: relatives must be patient
400 pieces of debris recovered from jet crash
Injuries of Flight 447 victims show plane 'probably split up in the air' as Air France jet is target of sabotage
Airbus computer bug is main suspect in crash of Flight 447
Autopsies suggest Air France jet broke up in sky
Compensation for air crash families
Air France to make £15,000 no-strings-attached payment to families of every victim of doomed Flight 447
Air France set to pay out to crash victims' families
Air France crash families get first compensation as investigators continue to sift wreckage for clues
Bodies from Air France Airbus disaster identified
Brazil identifies the first 11 bodies retrieved from doomed Air France jet
Air France crash: 10 bodies identified as Brazilians
Air France crash: 'black box signals located'
Hopes of finding Air France Airbus black boxes dashed
Crash jet black box alert was false alarm
Sounds detected under Atlantic are NOT doomed Air France jet's black box
Air France crash: sounds 'are not' from black box
Bodies of pilot and flight attendant retrieved from Air France crash site
Air France says pilot's body identified after crash
Body of Air France captain Marc Dubois found as crash inquiry begins
Possible crash link to new scares
Briton identified as body recovered from doomed flight
Search ends for bodies from Air France crash
Airbus could be asked to ground all long-range airliners
Air crash cause may never be known
Air France crash may never be solved
Airbus plunged vertically into sea
Doomed Air France flight slammed into the ocean belly first at top speed, says official report
Airbus crash 'not caused by breaking up in flight'
Air France flight 447 crashed belly-first into the Atlantic, investigators say
Air France jet 'not destroyed in flight'
Air France pilots blame safety agencies for crash of Flight 447
Plane crash probe could take months

Oostende for Christmas

Having spent the last two September holidays in Oostende, and the last three Christmas ones in Brugge, we are having a change for this year, and spending Christmas in Oostende. I will miss having a summer holiday in Belgium, this will be the first time I've not had a summer holiday there for years - we had our first in 2000 and have had one every year since.

Oostende is a great place to spend a summer holiday - on a summer evening it is very pleasant to walk along the sea front and the pier and watch the ferries, and the marina near the Mercator is also a nice walk.

I have very happy memories of our holidays in Belgium - the hot one we had in September 2006 when the heat hit you when you left the pub in the evening and visiting new places such as Veurne, Mons, Eupen, Lier and dearest Zeebrugge(!)

I have enjoyed each holiday I have had in Belgium - truly the most under-rated country in Europe, and certainly my favourite holiday place.

Air France accident

The news this week has been dominated by the crash of an Air France Airbus A330 which was on a flight from Rio de Janiero to Paris Charles de Gaulle. This appalling tragedy occurred when the aircraft had apparently entered severe turbulence but as yet there is no known cause of the accident.

My thoughts are with those people whose loved ones were aboard the flight, and I send my sincerest condolences. Though what makes me truly angry is the disgraceful behaviour of the photographers at CDG airport, who were ramming cameras into the faces of those whose loved ones had been on the missing airliner. Why can't they leave those people alone? Would the scum taking those photos like it if someone went mad to take their picture as they heard that their loved ones were on a plane which was missing? Those photographers would get their just desserts if someone turned on them and smashed their cameras into their faces, that is no more than they would deserve.

People complain about the press harrassment of Princess Diana, but she had encouraged photographers and publicity, not so the people whose families were on that airliner, and the victims (and their families) of so many other tragedies. No one ever complains about the press overstepping the mark then.