Flypast

We went to Exeter today to take our daughter for her intermediate ballet exam. We managed to park near the studio and dropped her off. When she was ready, we went for a walk while she did the exam. We went around the walls and had a quick look at the catacombs. Unfortunately it was only from the outside, as the gates were chained shut. We then went into the Guildhall Shopping Centre for a coffee and then walked back around the walls.

We had just got back to the bit of the wall over the car park when my wife noticed a formation of planes across the rooftops of Exeter. As we watched, they flew along the valley, started their multicoloured smoke trails and then turned - all in an amazingly tight formation - and then went back the way they had come. Needless to say, it was the Red Arrows giving us a quick free performance.

Disappointingly, I only had the 17-105 zoom on, but the jets can be seen quite clearly. I did have to crop it quite severely to keep the planes big enough in the frame, which meant I had to lose the rooftops.

Then we picked up the daughter, walked back into the shopping centre and had lunch at Bella Italia. After lunch, it was walk round the shops time - my wife is not one to waste the chance of an afternoon shopping in Exeter. Jen, my daughter, had managed to twist her ankle during her exam, but bravely continue shopping - in and out of clothes shops and shoe shops, despite my trying to persuade her that her ankle was much too painful for such activity and that we should go home.

After hours and hours of it (well, an hour and a half) they finally decided that they had had enough and we headed back to the car. Hopefully her exam went well. She didn't really have much idea of how she might have done, although her friends was quite positive. We now have to wait until around September for the result.