The great outdoors

A carpet of tiny Irises covers The Israel Trail near Jerusalem

Tiny iris ( Moraea sisyrinchium)

Recently I met a very interesting person, a tourist from Canada that isn't Jewish and came to visit the area out of curiosity and a sense of adventure.  I got to meet him through a friend we've acquired a couple of years ago on our great tour in Canada. Since the guy arrived just before Passover the DH and I took it upon ourselves to explain our non-suspecting visitor what happens in Israel come Pesach. We met him for beer and conversation in a Jerusalem pub. Although he is Quebecois he speaks very good English, far better than my pitiable French. We had a very nice evening, discussing many issues in history, geography, politics and a lot of explaining about Pesach, especially in Jerusalem. We've also recounted our own visit to Canada. I described to him my awe and wonder from the size of the country. The huge impression all the woods and running water made on me, coming from this arid corner of the world. I tried to explain how liberating it was to be in empty huge wilderness, as I'm not used to so much open space.

He was very attentive but didn't really get what I'm talking about.

He kept traveling here in Israel and in The Palestinian Authority, went to the Galilee and Golan Heights, enjoyed the night life of Tel-Aviv and before he went on in his travels he came to celebrate Independence Day with us. I believe he now understands a lot more about the complexity of the situation here and comprehended better the reality of life here for both Israelis and Palestinians. But what he understood best was the size of the country.  He was amazed that his hike in The Tel Dan National Park ended in an hour and was crammed with people. After telling me that, he said: "I now get the way you feel about traveling in Canada, you live in a very claustrophobic country, no great outdoors."  I just smiled.

Our guest has left for the great Turkey and its splendor. 

We're still here. Yes, it's crowded and there is not much open space left but we are trying to make the best of it. Those past months we went outdoors as much as possible. Not doing great hikes or challenging treks but rather picnicking, relaxing, and taking lots of pictures even in the weirdest of weather. 

There is great beauty even in the smallest of places as hopefully you can see in some of my photos.

Not to mention my DH who is a wonderful cook, in and outside the house.   

Having a picnic at Hirbat Saadim in The Jerusalem Mountains- we were freezing so a nice fire kept us warm

Carpets of cyclamens near Jerusalem

Green almonds

Anemones blooming 

Sunset on Lachis

Strider -Walking Wadi Barak, in the southern part of Israel

Happy campers-having breakfast in Wadi Barak camping site.

A new year with snow

2012 passed so quickly. There was so much to do, so many new things to learn and new people to meet some of which were amazing but not all unfortunately. There were a lot of dead-lines to meet till it seemed sometimes I just moved from one project to the other. There was a lot of good food this year that was mostly home cooked.  The current economics kept us mostly dining home and less in fancy restaurants, even though here and there we treated ourselves to some old favorite places. It was a year filled with happy moments with family, friends and work. I had many challenges to face this year but I think I handled them quite well. I circled the world this year and was in many places abroad not in all of them for recreation and fun. These are experiences that I didn't have time to process yet even though they were emotionally very taxing. 

A new year brings with it contemplation followed by resolutions.  I want to write more and take more pictures this coming year. And I do hope it will be a good year for us all on our lovely blue planet.

The Israel Trail in The Meron Region 

The Israeli symbol- Sabre (cactus) covered with snow

Since the first week of the New Year has begun with a spectacular storm I thought it is a good omen. Not only my hopes for rain were fulfilled but as a bonus it snowed on the top of the mountains here in Israel. As snow is extremely rare in these parts we skipped work and school took the kids and went for our won snow day in the North of Israel. It was an amazing experience, and the first snow my 4.5 old boy ever saw.  
Happy new year.

Rainbow over The Golan Heights

The Golan Heights in the storm

I'm only happy when it rains

After a very long summer finally we were blessed with stormy weekends. As my loyal readers know, my favorite season is winter. Unlike most Israelis I adore gray sky, thunder storms, wool scarves and sweaters. Most Israelis love the beach at summer but I on the other hand try to avoid it as much as possible. When winter arrives I love to take long strolls on empty beaches taking pictures of the roiling sea. Since weekends are the only time left for hiking and photographing, I wasn't deterred by weather forecasts and went traveling with the family. One weekend was spent in the old Crusaders fortress of Apollonia (near Herzelia) and another in the city of Acre.  I'd like to share with you some of the lovely images of sea at winter.

From Herzelia to Hedera

Tel-Aviv and stormy sea

Acre marina

Cloud over the Old City of Acre

We discovered a small but charming national park in the North. Ein-Affek is an attempt to restore the original marshland ecosystem of the Haifa Bay area. The dried up water holes were filled with water and the fish, birds, and turtles followed. Even buffaloes which once were abundant in the area and disappeared were restored. It's nothing like the rivers and lakes we saw in Canada but it's pretty and it's ours.

Cormorant, buffaloes, water lily and herb tea in Ein-Afek National Park

Sun sets over the Mediterranean 

Going home

No light or my new ND filter

Banisas stream from the Hanging Trail

June has been hectic. Our lives are quite hectic all year long but June is quite different. The abundance of school ceremonies, farewell parties, birthday parties and general deadlines are overwhelming. The last 4 weeks were a blur of perpetual celebrations. These are of course good things but can be more than a little tiring. With all the festivities going around I didn't photograph much expect for my own kids at this or other merriment. 

Banias stream

It's a bit of a shame because I now have a much coveted piece of equipment: neutral density filter. It's a filter that reduces and/or modifies intensity of all wavelengths or colors of light equally. The purpose of a standard photographic neutral density filter is to allow the photographer greater flexibility to change the aperture, exposure time and/or motion blur of subject in different situations and atmospheric conditions. In other words I can photograph waterfalls! Israel isn't rich in water sources or in great waterfalls but we have some and they are exceptionally beautiful.

Banias waterfall

I had the opportunity to spend a short vacation in the North of Israel where most of the abundant water sources happen to be. I've walked the Hanging Trail over The Banias stream in Banias National Park. This year's winter was kind and rainy, so the northern streams were full of raging water, as you can see. Although the lighting was very intense since it was late morning and Israeli sun is very harsh, the ND filter enabled me to reduce shutter speed in a way that captures the effect of the moving water. The next day I took pictures of the Tanur Waterfall in Wadi Ayun National Park, and shot some "smeared" photos. I like the water effects very much, it creates magical landscape.

I am posting a few photos of my very primary attempts. I need to go out more to practice, maybe summer holiday will provide the opportunity. 

Tanur waterfall in Ayun Wadi

  

On the road to nowhere

2 minutes before sinking in the sand

The car made a bizarre "woosh" sound and stopped. We were stuck. All the attempts to step on the gas pedal resulted in sinking deeper in the sand, and raising clouds of dust. The temperature outside was hitting 40 centigrade. After frantic digging in the scorching sand, we had to admit: we're going nowhere. Were we to 

spend the rest of Shavuot Holiday stranded a few meters from the Jordanian border?

It all began when we decided that we don't want to spend Shavuot holiday at home when our eldest daughter is away in Paris with her grandma. We wanted the younger kids not to be too jealous and have fun while their sister will ride rollercoasters in Euro Disney. Though Israeli summer is already here and the heat is on we decided we'll head south to the desert. I've already confessed here my affection and deep connection to the wilderness so it seemed natural to me, instead of Paris, The Arava region.

Lovely view of the desert and ibexes

We booked a guest room in Moshav Hatzeva. Hatzeva is an agricultural community not far from the Jordanian border. The settlers in the area found earning a living solely out of crop growing difficult so they turned to tourism and many have guest rooms for hire. The place we booked was lovely, a cute rustic styled room with comfortable beds and a kitchenette. There was a big yard that was arranged like a Bedouin tent with colorful rugs and cushions, a bit tacky but picturesque. We all found ourselves relaxing, slowing down to the pace of the desert. It was too hot to do anything.

Guest rooms complex "Shvilim Bamidbar" in Hatzeva

Once the air started to cool we went to some hiking in the area. We walked a short walk to Ein-Yorkeam, a wadi where naturally occurring water cisterns create a pretty oasis. The cisterns were still full of water though it's already the height of summer.

Tristram's grackle 

 From there we continued to fill bottles with colored sand and ended the day at the view point watching The Small Crater (Maktesh Katan). Going back to the room we stopped in the middle of road (it was very empty) and watched a herd of ibexes climbing the cliffs above the motorway.My kids reminded me of the notion that my name assign me a mystical connection to these animals (ibex in Hebrew is Yael) because whenever I travel to the desert I'll always see an ibex. We ended the day with a great meal cooked by my Dear Husband and went to sleep like farmers at nine pm.

Lessons in composition on The Peace Road

We woke leisurely the next day and since the heat outside kept rising our solution was the Moshav's swimming pool. The water slide provided a most satisfying substitute to Disneyland's rides.  After lunch we headed back home but we decided not to drive on the main road but rather take a scenic route called the Peace Road.  The Peace Road is actually a service road the farmers of the area use which passes through the hothouses and fields. Since the peace treaty with Jordan it was renovated by the JNF and was added with viewpoints and scenic hiking routes. Like in the famous poem we took the road less traveled by and drove north on the Peace Road. There was really nice desert scenery, and in one of the turns we decided to get off the paved route and drive what seemed to be a fine dirt road. At first all was great, the views were exciting, I shot some pretty pictures, the kids were asleep at the back, and suddenly "whoosh" and we stopped. 

After 15 minutes of futile attempts to rescue us, my Dear Husband spotted a tractor in the distance driving towards the fields. He run and yelled to them like a madman, but it worked. The blue tractor driven by a Thai worker and a Landcruiser driven by his boss pulled us out to safe ground. All this time the kids sat in the air-coned car munching crisps, amused by all the occurrences.  They had something interesting to tell in class.

The voyage home was very conventional, no more adventures off the beaten track with a company car.

Views of the Dead Sea

Photography workshop

Views of the Sachne National Park

Finally my hopes were fulfilled and after a long while winter has arrived. The weather is chilly even cold sometimes, the rain is coming down and the land that is usually yellow and dusty becomes lush green. This is the time of the year that lots of wild flowers come out and their bloom decorates hills, mountains and even the sides of the road to my house.  This time of the year is very short so in order to make the most of it we take advantage of the weather and go to many hikes and tours around the country from North to South.

 A couple of weeks ago my friend Sarah the famous food blogger, and I went to explore the North-Eastern part of Israel, around the Beit-She'an Valley and the Gliboa Ridge.  We started our hike in one of the prettiest places on Earth (in my opinion), Gan-Hashlosha, or in its more popular name, The Sachne. It is a national park of fountains, and pools, the stream crossing it emerges from a fountain that holds water temperature of 28 centigrade all year long which enables swimming even in the coldest days. In the weekend the place is packed with so many people that if you arrive after 10am, the parking lot is already closed. A wintry weekday though, left the park empty and all to us. We didn't go swimming but rather pacing along the park looking for great shooting angles and correct composition for our photos.  We tried to capture nature's beauty in our cameras; you'll be the judge if I succeeded.

The park is not only about nature, people acknowledged its beauty and fertility since ancient times. A small museum of archeology sits at the edge of the park and it presents the finding discovered in the area as early as 5000 years ago.  In the 1930s of the previous century a Kibbutz was founded near the park called Nir-David and the historical site where it was founded is now restored and can be visited.

Human settlement in the area

We left the park and went exploring the Gilboa ridge, driving on a scenic route that has many viewpoints looking down at the valleys of Jezreel and Beit-She'an. Clouds were gathering and the temperature dropped.  But the cold didn't hinder our efforts to take the best picture of a cyclamen or an anemone, or even a shoot of wild asparagus. Sarah tried to teach me about apertures, shutter speed and other technical terms that once were a mystery.

Asparagus growing wild on the Gilboa 

Chives blooming

 After taking about a 1000 pictures of blooming forest ground we discovered we were famished. We went to eat in a local restaurant called Havat Hatavlinim (The Spice Farm). As we slowly defrosted, we tried several angles of indoor photography. When food arrived we didn't have a bite until we took pictures of the dish from every possible angle.

It was a great day; I took some very nice pictures, had great company and a lovely meal.

Food for thought at Spice Farm restaurant.

Winter in the Desert

Look at my DH taking pictures of the lovely view of Nitzana Hillocks near the Egyptian border. It is a beautiful area that we visited for the first time this year in our annual winter desert vacation. 

This is the third year we are heading south of Israel in January, when the heat is bearable for some hiking and  relaxing.  We stay just for the weekend, at the same hotel in Mitzpe-Ramon where we go out to our various excursions exploring the desert. The small quiet town of Mitzpe-Ramon sits on the edges of the Ramon Crater (Maktesh Ramon), a worldwide unique geological phenomenon and a great spot for family treks.

 Photos from 3 winters in the Negev area including ibexes, fossils, birds and great view.

 The desert provides the best opportunities for getting away and really reconnect with your family, yourself and of course nature in all its beauty. 

My kids  love these annual getaways. A weekend without TV but with a lot of birds, lizards and of course many ibexes (local mountain goats). Whenever we hike in the desert we meet one or more ibex and my kids are convinced it's all because of me, that I have a special bond with those animals since ibex in Hebrew is Yael.

3 winters of girls climbing on hills and trees.

This post is mainly about pictures, of family and nature. Going out with my favorite people on Earth to a place that might seem blank and lifeless but actually is full of adventure is one of my favorite things in the world.

How to bring up a hiker.

Indiana Jones style family in the old Nabbatinan city of Nitzana

Basic training

The pretty girl peeping behind the tree is my eldest daughter. And the tree is a palm. It's a burnt palm tree that we stumbled upon while wondering around the area of Ein-Mata. There we found the curious sight not typical at all to this area: a palm plantation. Actually the palm trees were only slightly scorched because the fire didn't harm them just singed their bark. So a curious pattern emerged of orange bark with black scorching marks, an opportunity for some "artistic" photos.  

Ein Mata is a small fountain in the Judean Hills not far from Beit-Shemesh. It is an area of the country that we consider our back yard and go hiking there quite a bit (check out http://yaelruder.blogspot.com/2010/01/weekend-of-food-and-comfort.html), so in one of those hot and sunny November Saturdays we went hiking to that little fountain. I liked the spot because it enabled us to take my youngest son, not yet 3 years old for a training hike. Finally he got down from the baby carrier. We are attempting to turn him into a trekker with his own tiny back pack and walking boots. Since hiking is one of our favorite activities I'd want my boy to like it as much as I do.

This specific track suited us perfectly, because it's just a short walk down a slope and then up again. A huge eucalyptus tree bent over the fountain was a great playground and there were even water running that made my son very happy because he could throw stones at them.

Usually the area in this time of year should be lush and green but because there was hardly any rain and the weather keeps being dry, a lot of the trees were consumed by fires. But here and there we could encounter flowers, overwhelmed by the strange weather but still holding on. The little hike ended with a lavish picnic in a nearby forest with a panoramic view of the Judean Hills.

I wish next Saturday we won't be able to step out of the house because there would be a raging rain storm.  

Kangaroos, Koalas and Good Food

It is the middle of November and the temperature didn't go down below 25c since August. Personally I find this fact more than a little depressing but there is nothing to do against the forces of Nature. So if you can't make it rain, have fun. Last Saturday was a warm, sunny day with no hint of it ever raining in our area. We decided to take advantage of yet another beautiful day and take the kids to Gan-Guru. It is a zoo near the Kibbutz of Nir-David in the north/east of Israel. It is a very special zoo where only Australian originated animals are presented and one can pet and feed kangaroos and very lovely parakeets.  It turned out to be both fun and educational way to spend the Shabbat.  Of course kangaroo petting was the the kids' favorite. The koalas were sleepy and looked like a stuffed animal stuck on a tree, they didn't get a high score form the kids.

Sleeping koala

A very sleepy kangaroo

The park is not very big but it's spacious and even though the place was packed with people it wasn't bothersome.  We fed the parrots with apples and my youngest was almost bitten by a very eager cockatoo. It just made him laugh.

Have an apple

Modelling for the camera

Feeding all those animals made us very hungry. We continued to a lovely place in the Jordan Valley just off road 90, called Rutenberg. it is a tiny bistro in the historical site of Gesher Hayeshana (old Gesher). The bistro is named after Pinhas Rutenberg, the pioneer of electricity production in Israel. 

Rotenberg restaurant: lovely bistro on the border with Jordan

We had a very good meal that included crab bisque and lamb burgers among other very tasty dishes. The place and service were very pleasant and the view of the moon rising above the Jordan Valley was enchanting.

We even met a couple from Germany who informed us that the rain just doesn't stop where they live. 

No justice on the world is there?