Dede Sophie

Late August and early September, I embarked on a 10 day monsoon motorcycle ride through the Western Ghats of India. I had gone on a couple of day rides to lesser known Hoysala temples after the lockdown, but this was my first long trip since 22nd March. And boy was I happy! Monsoons happen to be my favorite season of the year. I love the rains, the freshness in the air, the lush green views, the richness of ecosystem and most important of all, I love getting wet. And what better place to enjoy the monsoons than the Western Ghats. My 2000 kms motorcycle ride took me to the following places in the Western Ghats of Karnataka over 10 days. There was a lot of walking, trekking, getting wet, eating traditional foods and sleeping to petrichor in between all the motorcycle rides. 1) Sirsi – Yellapur region: Unchalli Falls , Magod Falls , Sathodi Falls , Bilihole Falls , Sonda Vadiraj Mutt 2) Kumta region: Devimane Ghat, Mirjan Fort 3) Karavali coast: Maravanthe Beach , Kota, Kallu Ganapati

Most cold-hardy, tropical-effect, exotic gardens look pretty poor during the spring but there is one that arguably offers a spring master class in how to bring colour and lushness to an otherwise desolate time of year and that is Arundel castle gardens in West Sussex. Join us as we walk around arguably one of England’s least known, best exotic garden and check out the techniques, design queues and plant choices that the gardeners here have put in place for superb effect. If you would like to see more content like this then check out our YouTube channel ‘Walking Talking Gardeners’. It is absolutely free to subscribe to and you can unsubscribe immediately at any time. Don’t forget to to click onto the notification ‘bell’ icon. That way you will be notified whenever a new video is published.