Brexin

 

In the world of stamps, you sometimes see overprinted stamps. This is where the country has taken a previously issued stamp and altered it to celebrate an event. This stamp shows the Coralita, or coral vine, a colourful flower from Mexico that is common in the Caribbean and Bermuda. The stamp has been overprinted with 'HEATH-NIXON DECEMBER 1972'. This refers to a summit between the two leaders where the US President voiced concerns about trade after Britain joins the European Union. If only they knew what 2020 would have in store!

Japan, land of contrasts

 

Japan. I wouldn't ordinarily have a page of stamps from Japan, but then again I have been there. Three times. Always to the same place. A night stop in the town of Narita. A fascinating one street town with a gorgeous temple and gardens at the far end. It is an airport town and has a transitory feel to it. But I hated seeing, in one of the shop windows, the grotesque sight of an old man skinning eels alive. Done almost like a tourist attraction. There is so much that is good and interesting about Japan, but there is so much horror too. These stamps were given to me by my colleague Michael Oakes, a kind and gentle man who worked with me for a short, much too short, period time. Thanks Mike! 

I don't have many photos from my three trips to Japan (although oddly I do have a video of the eel killing man). This is a snap of one of the market stalls in Narita high street. 

Beautiful Flatts Village

This stamp is special because the postmark is from Flatts Village. My favourite place on the island. We stayed here every time we visited Bermuda. I have so many happy memories. Not least of which is sitting on the dock at Flatts feeding the fish. Seen here sporting my new and trendy (or so I thought) LA Gear trainers.

 

 

80s aircraft

 

Now, this was my era at Gatwick. The late 80s. Here we have a BAC 1-11 and a Handley Page Herald. I definitely worked on the Herald. The BAC 1-11 was the first aircraft I ever flew on (Laker Airways) pictured below, getting off after landing home from Majorca. Wearing a very 70s blue velvet jacket. With my mum and a souvenir sombrero hat.

The stamp is from Jersey. We only went there once, on Dan Air standby, to visit the Gerald Durrell zoo. For Sue, the main attraction was to see the critically endangered St Lucia Parrot (bottom photo)

Libster, lobster, labster, Lee

 

1987 and our first holiday in Bermuda. We stayed at a hotel in Flatts and regularly went snorkelling at Shelley Bay. On the right side of the bay was a rock formation, the home to Lobster Lee. We visited him nearly every day. Named after the Spike Milligan poem which goes:

Libster, lobster, labster, Lee
Living in the deep blue sea
Libster Lobster where are you?
Gone to lunch, back at two.

Lobster Lee's home is represented in the red dot here:

Moonmen

 

This was a phase I went through! One day, while searching for an American flag to use in a PowerPoint deck, I stumbled across a website that described, in great detail, the process of putting the stars and stripes on the moon. I decided there and then, as I do, that I wanted to meet someone who had walked on the moon. The next few years were spent tracking down the Apollo astronauts. These old men had the most incredible story to tell of their part in mans greatest ever adventure. These are the guys I got to see talk:

Apollo 8 - Frank Borman, William A. Anders, James A. Lovell Jr

Apollo 11 - Neil Armstrong*, Buzz Aldrin*

Apollo 12 - Alan L. Bean*, Richard F. Gordon Jr

Apollo 13 - James A. Lovell Jr., Fred W. Haise Jr

Apollo 15 - Alfred Worden

Apollo 16 - Charlie Duke*

*walked on moon

 A photo I took of Neil Armstrong in 2006

The Hibiscus

 

One of the (many) things I loved about Bermuda was the narrow lanes lined with hibiscus plants. So much so that I described it to my friend Athalie who I worked with. A few days later, she'd gone down the garden centre during her lunch break and come back with a hibiscus for my garden. I loved that plant. It has lived in a pot on my patio for at least 25 years but sadly came to the end of its days last year.

Freaks and errors

 

Just watched, and hugely enjoyed, the movie about stamp collecting. It's called 'Freaks and Errors: A Rare Collection. They talked about the quality of the engraving and printing of old stamps and showed a lot of close up images. Thought I'd have a go at a close up photo of this beautiful stamp from Barbados. 

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside

 

Malaysian crustaceans. How I love a Malaysian crustacean. It's always a joy to reacquaint myself with the ghost crabs on the beach at siburesort.com 

Sergeant Major 2

 

It's time for another fish. This is one of the Sergeant Major collection. Grenada was next on my list to visit when COVID struck. I hope that one day I will be able to see one of my fave fish at this intriguing Caribbean island.

The equator

Nanyuki, in Kenya. On the equator and on route to one of our most spectacular holidays where we saw, for the first time, wild dogs. We stayed at Sosian Ranch in Laikipia before heading down to Mombassa for a chill by the coast. The airport at Laikipia is particularly cool. I flew there in the copilot seat of a Cessna Caravan from Wilson Airport Nairobi. Real bush flying with a picture postcard cafe at the airstrip.

High jinks and helium

 

I’ve just finished reading the excellent book Caesar's Last Breath: The Epic Story of The Air Around Us I was fascinated by the story about the Siege of Paris which took place in 1870 – 1871 and in particular the story of Pierre Janssen who was the only person allowed to leave the city, in a hot air balloon, to study the sun. He co-discovered helium on these risky ventures! That’s got to be worth a stamp or two. 

High towers

 

Kuala Lumpar International Airport. Our first visit there was in October 1999. It was our first flight east. At the time Virgin Atlantic had a codeshare arrangement with Malaysian Airlines and we bought confirmed 'Mates' tickets. Loved flying on the MH 747 with its 70s style plush comfortable seats and heavy china crockery meal layouts. One thing I learned about Malaysia is they like to be in the record books. Head into town and you'll find the worlds tallest flagpole. Or just hang out at the airport and gaze in wonder at the world's tallest control tower. 

The Bermuda Bathysphere

 

    

Diving, history and Bermuda, all in one gorgeous stamp. Read the extraordinary story of the Bermuda Bathysphere here. On researching this stamp I discovered that the bathysphere I saw at Bermuda Zoo when I was there in the 80s is a replica. The real one is in a New York Museum. See stamp collecting can be a downer. Still, a fantastic story.

Bill Beebe inside his bathysphere in Bermuda!

Hong Kong and a 130 year old virus plague

 

Here’s a virus themed post. Searching for a bit of Hong Kong history I chanced upon these fine Queen Victoria stamps, one of which was posted on December 19, 1894. Whilst sat at home on furlough from the horrible coronavirus outbreak I decided to find out what Hong Kong was like back when these stamps were used. Turns out they were going through a similar thing. This article explains and talks about how the plague can still be felt 130 years later.  

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/hong-kong-bubonic-plague-1894

It could be Sue!

Another crossover stamp. 1987 was our first trip to visit Geoff in Bermuda. We'd just sold our house in Mannings Close and bought our house in Copthorne. The whole transaction had been a bit more profitable than we expected so we had a bit of spare cash to splash on a holiday. I'd gone via New York, (my first ever flight on Virgin Atlantic), while a very nervous Sue took a direct flight with BA.

This stamp shows a BA Tristar approaching Bermuda over its turquoise seas. Exactly as Sue would have experienced it. Always a great part of a holiday. The meet up in arrivals wasn't so great!

Sue's boarding card (notice she sat in the smoking section) with a photo showing her with Geoff in the bar at Bermuda airport and a table full of 'green meanies'! 

Zambia

A stamp from Northern Rhodesia dated 1952 and featuring elephants and giraffe. Now known as Zambia it has become one of our favourite places on planet earth. The photo below was taken in the Luangwa Valley

Nudibranchs

The divers favourite. A nudibranch is an ornate sea slug like creature. There are over 2,000 known species so plenty to look for when diving in warm waters. Some great Nudibranch photos here - https://www.ranker.com/list/nudibranch-types/ranker-science 

Here's one I snapped at Sea Gypsy - 

Fred's stamp

This one is very special to me. 73 Sutherland Road, Thornton Heath, Croydon. My nan and grandads house. When I was a kid, I'm guessing about 7 years old, I was obsessed with this stamp in my grandads modest collection of about 30 stamps. I kept begging for him to give it to me. He never did! I suddenly remembered this precious moment in time from my childhood and went looking for the stamp that I loved so much.  Thank you the internet and thank you eBay for allowing me to find and buy a copy. 

Unscheduled stop

I couldn't resist this oddity. Quite why the Maldives issued a stamp featuring the Virgin Trains Pendolino is anyone's guess. I did attend the official launch of the Pendolino back in 2002 with Richard Branson and Pete Waterman! I also travelled on this magnificent machine on more than one occasion... 

Caravelle

The SUC Caravelle, with its triangular windows and sleek 60s cool looks. I flew on one such aircraft, to Sardinia and Rome. The Altair aircraft F-BNKG (below) was a regular visitor to Gatwick and thanks to the station manager I managed to blag a couple of flights on this aircraft, including our dodgy fake honeymoon to Sardinia. 

Bermuda Map

A map of Bermuda on a postage stamp. What total joy. This fascinating, historical, beautiful archipelago is not part of the Caribbean, but a remote nation positioned all on its own, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

Arrecife Coralino

Why did I never travel to Cuba? I suspect I'll always regret the fact that I had plenty of opportunities but never visited this fascinating Caribbean island nation. So stamps is the next best thing and if nothing else I have learned here that Arrecife Coralino is Spanish for coral reef. 

Johor 1949

Stamp and photo

From lovely Singapore, the Copperband Butterflyfish. This stamp was issued in October 2001 very close to when I was actually in Singapore.

Here's a photo I took of one while diving at Sea Gypsy Village:-

Rhino

And so to Africa and the fat grey unicorn. Our first trip to South Africa together staying at  Lion Sands and an unforgettable Rhino encounter- 

The Florida Keys

One of a fine set of stamps from the USA, this one featuring coral in Florida which is located off the coast of the Florida Keys. This is the only reef found in continental USA (Hawaii also has coral). 

The only time I dived (as opposed to snorkelled) in the Florida Keys was an interesting affair. We were staying at the Ocean Reef Club (it's posh, look it up) where Greg was a chef. One day Greg arranged for us to go out on a boat with Rick (the resident dolphin trainer). He told Rick that I was a qualified scuba diver. I wasn't. Rick took this at face value, I was too embarrassed to admit the truth. Rick took me out on his boat, strapped me into a scuba rig and threw me overboard. I lived. Just. 

And here he is on that fateful trip. Rick Trout the dolphin man. His departure from Ocean Reef and life thereafter turned into a drama to rival Tiger King. 

Hamilton, 1952

#

Another beauty of a cancellation. This time, posted in Hamilton, the capital of Bermuda. Somewhere we have fond memories of. In fact, decades after our first visit we stall have a sticker we bought on Hamilton main street on our front door. 

Random but nice

Vying for the honour of being the most random stamp in my collection, and indeed the inspiration for a new category of 'random stamps'. This was, I assume, sent to me by mistake.It arrived in the post with another stamp I'd ordered. Anyway, I like it. So it stays. At first I was puzzled by the words that seem to reference the Antarctic but show a polar bear alongside the Adelie Penguin. A bit of time on Google and Google Translate and it turns out that Max Douguet was a distinguished French sailor who spent time at both poles. The stamp was issued in 1991.  

An exquisite squid

Look at these beauties.An unusual addition to my collection as they are not reef fish, I don't collect this country and the stamps are mint not my preferred used. However, that squid (bottom right) is exquisite. And the Congo is one of the most fascinating places on Earth.