The Vicarious Traveller: 2009

Brown algal fuzz balls, Cagliari, Sardinia

While in Sardinia recently, we saw a beach littered with some little fuzzy brown balls, and the beach itself covered in a fibrous brown mat.

From Sardinia

It turns out that its an algae, from an answer here http://it.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080902051857AA7Z1iN, translated rather badly here http://translate.google.com/translate?prev=hp&hl=en&js=n&u=http%3A%2F%2Fit.answers.yahoo.com%2Fquestion%2Findex%3Fqid%3D20080902051857AA7Z1iN&sl=it&tl=en&history_state0=

"Si l'answerino well above says .. we call balls marine or marine potatoes ... it is full also of the coast and all the Arborea Oristanese. Are simply aggregates of algae, I think fragments of Posidonia, underwater plant, which the waves and underwater currents have worked to make them spherical. Are not only aesthetically damaging and ruining the beach a bit. In fact, in the beginning of the season means the mechanical harvesting and crowded. From little ones was a fun play in these huge piles of balls marine"

Little bit of botany here www2.units.it/~galilei/Tavole/tab123.htm "Posidonia oceanica 3-6cm, Fanerogama"

Hoover Dam

From Hoover Dam

One of the engineering achievements of the 20th Century, I won't bore you with stats on it.

Rock Stacking and Balancing in Zurich

From Rock Stacking and Balancing in Zurich

I've seen folks balance and stack rocks before, and it never ceases to make me look twice. I once accidentally knocked one off, so I know there's no glue or anything, just pure balance.

Burkiplatz Flee Market

From Burkiplatz Flee Market

I just love walking around flee markets! Such random stuff.. old bikes next to antique watches, car wheels next to records, postcards next to old trainers.

Zion National Park

From Zion National Park

Wasn't intending to go to Zion, but people said I should, so I did. I'm glad I did. The scale of the place is enormous. I did the Emerald Pools trek and went up the valley as far as the path allows. I will go back, earlier in the year to d Angel's Landing.

Bryce Canyon

Went to Bryce, another box ticked.

What a place, or as Ebenezer Bryce said 'its a hell of a place to lose a cow'. Yes he really said that.

What surprised me was the variability in the colour of the limestone. Here's a movie, made from Picasa's movie making feature.

The State of Real Estate

Its not a good time to be real estate. Mark Twain may or may not have said "Buy land, they're not making it anymore", but he also said, in 1898, "No real estate is permanently valuable but the grave".

So there I was driving through Lockeford, CA and here's a real estate office.

Its also on StreetView

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Fohn Effect in the Bay Area of San Francisco

My two favorite meteorological phenomena are the Fohn Effect and Arctic Sea Smoke.

Known as either Fohn / Foehn / Föhn effect / wind, and described in detail in this book, it occurs when cool moist air is forced over a line of hills, and comes down the other side warmer and dry. In the Bay Area of San Francisco, you can see it in action very often.

This is because the arctic current causes the sea to be very cool, cold even in the summer, when I tested it! Inland the sun warms the ground and this draws the air up, which is replaced by air from the Pacific. The air moves up and over the Santa Clara mountains, cooling as it does so. It soon gets to its dew point (ie is saturated so the air gets cloudy / foggy), and as it continues to climb it continues to cool at 2°C / thousand feet.

When the air comes back down the other side it starts to warm, and soon is no longer saturated. From then on it warms at 3°C / thousand feet.

So imagine air leaves say Half Moon Bay at 15°C, becomes saturated immediately and then climbs 5000ft. At the top it will be 5°C ie 15 - (5 x 2). In the Bay Area, after descending 5000ft it will be 20°C ie 5 + (5 x 3).

Thus around Skyline Boulevard, on the Pacific side it will be cool and cloudy, likely foggy, while inland in, say, Mountain View, it will be warmer and the sky will be clear.