A Blog on the Landscape!

Wellington Pt. 2.

2012-02-12T20:15:00.000Z

Walking from the top of the Funicular, through the Botanical gardens back down into Wellington, the first point of interest that we came to just happened to be the oldest cemetery in Wellington.
Known now as the Bolton Street Memorial gardens.

This cemetery was quite unique for the period. It's first burials were in 1841. The unusual thing was it was for all denominations. Until 1850 most graves were only marked by wooden grave markers and many of the original plots are now lost. More can be read here.

Old Chapel entrance

The plaque in the Old Chapel of William Wakefield.

Wakefield was an English Colonel and part of the original colonizing expedition of New Zealand. By all accounts he had quite a colourful life.

Walking now into town we visited the Cathedral. I wasn't keen on the design. I much more liked Nelson.

However inside it was quite spectacular if a little too modern.

Increadable organ pipes

One of the many stained glass windows.

The New Parliament Building

And the Old Parliament Building.

The Trio with Statue of Richard John Seddon MP and a previous Prime Minister

Adjacent to the Old Parlament building is the Parliamentary Library. For me this was

the best building in Wellington. Just stunning.

Government Offices.

A bit of arty Justice.

Another fantastic building is the railway station. The station was opened by Viscount Galway on 19th June 1937. Mahatma Gandhi must have been waiting a long time for his train.

The station ceiling architecture

And Harry Potters Platform 9 3/4.

What you need to do after all this site seeing.

More Rubbish

2012-02-12T15:30:00.000Z

I was reading Robin's fine blog (Blogpackinglight) about Rubbish that had been discarded by mindless morons on the beautiful Peddars Way. It makes me cringe that human beings can do something like this. Then i remembered that i had taken a photo of a similar kind of mess that had been dumped in Hamilton, New Zealand.
Fortunately we never saw excessive mess in New Zealand, but i'm sure that was more luck than anything else.

Anyway, here's my photo.

It goes to show that the mindless are illiterate too

and whoever is doing the monitoring needs a bit of training.

Wellington Pt 1.

2012-02-08T16:59:00.002Z

We were now a group of four and we had a day and a half in Wellington before having to pick up the hire car and heading North to see some friends.
Debbie had arranged the car which was a Ford Falcon XR6.

Similar to this one.

Wellington, named after Arthur Wellesley, the 1st Duke of Wellington, was also named 4th in the top 10 best cities to visit, says the Lonely Planet capital guide. Saying it’s the coolest little capital in the world.

Well it was certainly “Cool” this morning as we set off to find the start of the funicular railway that goes right from town up to the Botanical gardens and Carter Observatory. It was a real windy day and cut you through. I was so pleased i took the Rab Boreas hoody.

We found the station quite easy as there are lots of information boards in many of the streets. Fortunately the queue was only short today as we had been told it can get very busy. Maybe the windy weather had put some off. There is some real history on show here which i was more interested in than the actual ride up the hill.

In coming tram

View from the top station overlooking Wellington

The railway construction started in 1899 and was completed and opened to the public in 1902. Designed by James Fulton. Some of the original carriages were converted horse drawn trams which had now been made redundant.

One of the original beautifully renovated old grip carriages.

By 1912 the passenger numbers had reached 1 million per annum and in 1933 the original steam engine was replaced by electric motors.

I tried to find the original steam engine but failed. It doesn’t seem to have been restored which is a shame.

There is still plenty to occupy the mind though.

A later grip carriage where passengers sat outside. Probably to get away from the driver who looks to have had a few to many in this shot.

As i was now in the midst of 3 O’Connor clan members, they were very pleased that one of the railway pioneers was one Maurice O'Connor

Also, as well as the railway history museum there is the Carter Observatory astronomical unit and a first world war German field gun.

The 1907 Krupp 135mm field gun

We had wandered around the museum for about 1 hour or more and it was starting to get a bit busy so we made our exit.

Instead of getting the railway down to town we decided to walk through the botanical gardens and then visit some of the wonderful buildings that Wellington has to offer.

That will be in part 2.

And so to the ferry

2012-02-06T10:41:00.000Z

After what was a delightful few days in Nelson, we headed off again for Picton where we catch the ferry to Wellington. Sheila and Dorothy are especially looking forward to getting into Wellington due to the arrival from Sydney of Sheila’s sister Debbie, who they have not seen for 6 years.
I had wanted to do a days walk on the Queen Charlotte track and then spend a night out somewhere around Portage on the Marlborough sound but the ferry was booked and excitement was high about the meeting.
The minor road to Portage is not that far off the highway to Picton and so it was decided to have a drive there and just take in the atmosphere of the area.

The road into Picton from Havelock is especially beautiful, and although steep in parts, it’s not to be missed.

On arrival at the motorhome park in Picton the lady in reception was a bit surprised that we had taken the large vehicle along that particular road, but i didn’t think it was too bad to be honest.

It was a really noisy night with our sleep broken many times by freight trains and HGV’s heading to and from the port. This happens to be my 4th night spent on this site and it had never previously been so noisy.

We woke to a very grey day with the surrounding hills invisible by the low cloud. Having checked the weather forecast it was pleasing that our crossing to Wellington would be under improving skies.
It was also the day that we returned Manuka back to the hive.

Once on the ferry we headed for the private lounge that we had booked. Don’t get any ideas here, it wasn’t that much more money and it included extremely comfy seats, NO KIDS, and free food and drinks. Worth every dollar.

Another 30 mins after docking and Manuka was back with the rest of the hive having a well earned nap.
We were quickly greeted by staff from Britz who had been reading the blog and so knew the problems we had been having. Compensation was agreed Mr S. and in a fair way. But and there is always a but isn’t there. A sting in the tail was to follow.

Once the refunds were put back on the card we were asked if we would like to take the shuttle bus back into Wellington. We said "yes that would be great". We were told it would only be a few minutes and it would arrive right here. Brilliant.

A very pleasant chap dropped us to our hotel 20 minutes away and we thanked him. I was about to tip him when he said that’s $50 please. What! we couldn’t believe we had been so stupid. We thought it was a Britz free shuttle bus but it was just an everyday taxi but without the taxi signage.
I think Britz need to make this clear to customers in future as it could have been very embarrassing if we hadn’t got $50 at that moment.
The driver said “ No it’s not free from them (Britz), they are not like the others”. What ever “like the others” means. Anyway a lesson learned. I hope Britz read this too.

So, we met up almost straight away with Debbie, who had got a taxi from the airport at a cost of $10. Now that sounds more reasonable and had a very pleasant evening catching up.

Nelson City.

2012-02-04T11:57:00.000Z

No it's not a football team. Nelson is a small "City" on the north shore of NZ south island.
On our travel with Manuka back to Picton for the ferry, we decided to have a few days at Nelson.
This is one of the oldest places in NZ, being named after our very own, great Admiral.
All, or I should say, a lot, of the streets are named after Nelson's battles or acquaintances.
http://www.nelsonnz.com/things-to-do-see

When Sheila suggested a city break i thought the worst, not being a fan of busy places or city motor home parks i wasn't particularly looking forward to it.

The drive to Nelson included a trip down the coastal scenic route which included Ruby bay, and as we sat in sunshine we watched the rain sweeping in along the coast to Nelson. Just our luck we thought.
Fortunately it cleared as fast as it came and left us with a good view across to the surrounding hills.

Ruby Bay.

Our arrival in Nelson was in wall to wall sunshine and blue skies. We found the motor home park very easily as the city uses a grid road system and we were very pleased with our first impressions of a very tidy site.
In the reception we were given info of what to see and do in and around Nelson and i admit, there is far more to do here than i ever imagined. I couldn't wait to get going but that would have to wait a day as we needed to get a few bits and bobs from the supermarket and generally tidy up the van.
The walk back into the centre was about 15 - 20 mins but not at all boring.

The following day was another day of contrasting weather as we woke to quite heavy rain, but at least it was warm rain. We had set our sights on a walk called the Centre of New Zealand which although quite steep shouldn't pose any problems for Dorothy to do.

A lovely walk along Hardy St, (from the kiss me Hardy fame), we came to the Botanical gardens where the uphill starts and Jesus was with us as Dorothy likes to bring him along whenever there’s a steep bit.
Due to the recent bad weather there were numerous land slips and fallen trees along the track which had led to some sections of the route being closed but enough had been cleared to give access to the top. Thankfully.

The above photo's are from the lovely walk along Hardy St.

A local chappy told us that this calm river Maitai was monstrous just 4 weeks ago during the floods and very hard to visualise now that it had all subsided.

The name of this walk, Centre of New Zealand, reflects the work of John Spence Browning the Chief Surveyor for Nelson in the 1870's. He used the top of the hill as the central survey point for doing the first geodetic survey of New Zealand when earlier isolated surveys where combined.
A survey in 1962 did locate the centre of New Zealand as 41deg. 30min S., 172deg. 50min E., which is a point in the Spooners Range in the Golden Downs Forest. The survey did not include the Chathams.

We very soon came to a closed path, at first i thought the council must have heard that Sheila was on her way but it turned out to be the problems from the landslip. The huge trees had been chain sawed to allow access, but not removed completely. When you see the size of these trees they must have made a frightening noise on the way down. I hope nobody was in the vicinity at the time.

Just one of the many fallen huge trees on the way up to the summit lookout.

As we gained height the wonderful views across the Maitai valley opened up and shows what a lovely

area this is.

One trail leading of into the Maitai comes out at the river where there are some wonderful swimming pools along the way.

Once at the summit, which is gained well within the hour the 360 deg views across to the mountains which include peaks such as The Devils Thumb and The Twins are well worth the effort.

The Centre of New Zealand pinnacle.

The way down, due to the landslips had to be a reverse of the way up but this area has lots of possibilities to spend a few days hiking here.

We had time to spare and the day was very warm so i took some photo’s in the Victoria Garden.

Francis Trask Mayor of Nelson,was instrumental in the Gardens being dedicated to Queen Victoria’s 50th jubilee celebrations. He did a great job. They are very peaceful and also include an eel pond.

Nelson surprised us quite a lot. It’s a beautiful place to live and has easy access to some tremendous outdoors life. The climate is amongst the best in NZ with the most sunshine hours.

The Cathedral is also spectacular and worth a visit alone.

We havn't gone AWOL

2012-02-03T11:44:00.000Z

Sorry folks but the lack of posts recently has been due to me being completely frustrated with chasing the internet.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing and you learn as you go along. For anyone considering travelling New Zealand then buy Telecom not Vodafone as we had Sheila's sister with us for a week and she had no trouble at all with purchasing and using a Telecom sim.
Our Vodafone on the other hand was like feeding a one armed bandit with a mask on. That was when it had a signal which was not too often.
Also there are numerous local free internet sites to use for short periods of time like Tomizone in Auckland or Zem-bu for examples and the purchase of further bandwidth is a reasonable price. So check them out before splashing out as we did on a dongle.
Well i have lots of posts in draft form that i will revamp and then release when we get home. Cheers.

Abel Tasman Walkway

2012-01-26T04:14:00.001Z

After a delightful few days at Cable Bay we fixed the puncture in Manuka's right front and set off for the Able Tasman National Park.
We had been talking to some locals who suggested that Kaiteriteri would be a good place to start although it would be busy. Not as busy as England though we were humourously informed.
The road through the landslips posed no problems and then we were on the highway to Nelson and then through some beautiful vineyard country.
The approach to our destination was a very steep ascent and descent for a motorhome with some very sharp bends and dodgy cambers.
Then we came to Kaiteriteri, OMG, it was like Ibiza on steroids. We found the massive motorhome site and was told that all 400 powered sites were full. Finding out that there was another site a few miles further on we were relieved to say the least.
Another twitchy road into Marahau but what a delightful place. Camp sorted and a boat trip booked it was time for a laugh and a beer, maybe not in that order and then bed time.

Marahau

I wanted to spend some time in this area as it was missed on our first trip to New Zealand 14yrs ago.
The Abel Tasman National Park is the smallest of the parks here, but the most popular. Probably due to the kind climate. It was opened in 1942 which is 300 years after it's Dutch namesake first visited the area.
He didn't have it all his own way though. When he stopped to take on water his crew was attacked by Maori and a small number on each side were killed. He actually called Golden Bay as it's known today, "Murderers Bay".

The Walk.

Well it's hardly the most challenging and in some ways a little disappointing and over hyped walk you can do here but it is beautiful and well set up for visitors. It is only 54.4km long but can be extended to include the walk into Golden Bay and more. Maybe do the Heaphy Track as well.
All the main streams are bridged but there are a couple of tidal inlets which need to be crossed a couple of hours either side of low tide.
Generally speaking the walk can be completed in around 3 days but if you are in no hurry then take more and enjoy the surroundings.
It can be walked starting from either end but huts and campsites have to be prebooked. There are 8 huts and numerous camp sites. Water is abundant but filtering or boiling is recommended.
Only lightweight equipment is required for this one. Sandals and cossy optional!

Note, at the time of writing the Golden Bay end, around Tarakohe some roads are cut off due to landslips. According to the locals it is going to take an awful long time before it has full road access again. All access at the moment is by sea. (Check local info for updates.)

This walk consists of 2 main things, high forested headlands and wonderful white sandy beaches. Due to the frequency of use, the path is wide and clear.

We did a 17km day walk starting at Marahau. The good thing about this walk is that you can walk as far as you want to and then be picked up by water taxi from numerous bays and be returned to the start. So you don't have to carry more than a day sack if thats the way you would like to complete it. Don't overstretch the time though as the taxi's won't wait too long after the pre arranged arrival times. Check up at the taxi offices prior to starting.

One of the many big loads people still carry.

Porters bay

The wide walkway

One of the many waterfalls

I havn't managed to find the name of the above tree yet.

One of the many beaches along the route

Leaving Anchorage Bay by water taxi.

Lightweight Backpacking has not quite arrived in New Zealand.

2012-01-22T08:13:00.000Z

This country needs your influence a bit more Rob!

you would think these peeps were heading off to find the source of the Nile.

(I know it's been found already)

Cable Bay to Glenduan

2012-01-20T23:05:00.002Z

Sorry folks for the lack of postings over the last week but the Hotspots have been few and far between. Even using Sheila's phone as a hotspot has not been too successful. We have bought a Vodafone dongle and this has helped some. Downloading text is ok but as soon as pictures are being loaded it cuts off.

Anyway we are now in Ruby Bay and we have a good signal so i have been able to post this walk.

This is a lovely day walk, quite steep too when the temperature is high. We set off at 8.30am and it was 21 degreesC.

We thought it would be a doddle but it proved harder than we thought. Time wise for the whole trip is 6 - 7 hours with a lunch stop and obviously photographs.

We didn't do the descent into Glenduan as we had no way to get back. We stayed high and returned pretty much the same route as we came.

View on the way up to the first top.

The view of Cable inlet and Pappin Island just got better and better as we gained height and once at the top the seascape and views across the Tasman Sea were stunning. We checked to see if we could spot Whales or Dolphins but no luck.

The ridge ahead was quite a whale back so with some contempt we made our first slight descent to a good track. Ahead we could make out some bovine characters that had Sheila crossing her fingers that they were actually off track. It didn't work.

The big fellow with his Mrs of the moment.

It was getting quite hot and we were glad that we were getting closer to the bush. Quite a large area of natural bush. We slowed down to listen to the birds and the sounds of the Cicada inscects.

It was delightful walking for about 1/2 hour before coming to the planted forestry where silence took over. The sounds in the natural are amazing. But one photo in the bush is the same as another so i have done a short video so that you can hear the sounds.

It took 55mins to upload this vid so you can tell how bad the signal is. So i hope you think it's worthwhile.

Coming through the bush area, more wonderful views across to Abel Tasman could be seen.

We stopped for lunch and before long we had company.

She must have liked the smell of our cheese and onion butties.

The return leg took a bit of a detour. The track split at a NO THROUGHFARE sign but we didn't fancy the steep incline again so we chose the naughty route.

We guessed by it's direction that we would come out at Cable Bay farm buildings and as we were staying there we thought we might not get into any bother.

This proved correct.

Just before taking the naughty route we were passed by 2 fellrunners. They must have been fit if they do this route on a regular basis.We just sat down and watched them go by.

Well the perseverance has finally paid off and i can end this post. More to follow.

Landslip

2012-01-16T06:58:00.000Z

The last couple of days here in Cable Bay have been beautiful and we have some walks to post. The previous few days we had torrential rain and as we came down Highway 4 we were lucky not to get caught in the landslips.

So now that we have found a spot to post some pictures this is what almost stopped us getting to Cable Bay. Some folks have been very badly affected and have had to move out of their homes. It must have been a very frightening experience.

Today we woke up and found our Manuka had a flat tyre. Anything else for God's Sake.

The wheel nuts had been put on with an air gun and i had a right job with some assistance from a friendly local to get the wheel off.

The guy then offered to take the wheel into Nelson for us and get it fixed. How good is that.

We are now back up and running and are off to the Abel Tasman National Park tomorrow.

The place that time went backwards.

2012-01-15T07:11:00.000Z

We are now in a lovely spot for a few days. The road has been washed away and it was a bit hairy getting in. I will video the way out.
The temperature today for our Cable Bay walkway was in the high twenties and it's a superb walk. Very steep in places but worth the effort.
I say "The place that time went backwards" because we are at the place where the telegraph cable first came ashore in New Zealand South island. Today there is neither a public phone or a mobile phone signal. You may well be thinking how is he doing this post. Well we have searched out a cove on the beach where we must be just in range of the town of Nelson.
There is not enough bandwidth to post images so i will have to adjust the camera settings to enable me to post them. I am learning all the time.
But how bad is it that the first place of communication here now has nothing.
More later.

Waikawa headland

2012-01-13T02:56:00.000Z

Believe it or not but the weather deteriorated last night. Torrential rain, thunder and lightening and high winds.
Our plan is to go to Nelson but the next 24hrs is not good for a high sided vehicles with winds predicted to be 140kph. We have a sheltered spot in Picton Motorhome site and this is where we will be staying.

One good thing is that usually most travelers use Picton just as point of departure, either North on the ferry or south by road. This has given us the chance to walk along the "Snout", a narrow peninsula running NNE from Picton.

The peninsula reaches a high point of 185m above sea level overlooking the settlement of Waikawa. A public walkway follows the ridgetop of the peninsula, connecting the Snout headland with Picton.
The eastern landform enclosing the bay is more substantial than the Snout. It is a broad hill separating Whatamango and Waikawa Bays. The main ridge reaches a height of 518m east of the Waikawa settlement and terminates as a small low headland, Karaka Point, in the north.

We began as usual in rain, along the shore of Picton Harbour.

We chose the path through the forestry which was being severely shaken by the strong winds but fortunately the rain was easing and was becoming quite warm.

It was quite a slippery path but it wasn't too long before we came to Bobs Bay. This would normally be a nice secluded spot but today it was quite windswept. We had a short break here and then carried on.

A rising path leads on to a lookout spot and then continues along the "Snout" path with great views out to the sound.

The guide board for this walk says 2 hours but we took about 3 1/4 with the stops for photo's etc. It was good to get out in the sun even though the wind was fierce at times and we had a few showers.
On the return we stopped off in Picton for a deserved piece of cake and a coffee. The wind is picking up again and people are walking with a forward lean. We have just seen a lady holding onto some fencing so as not to get blown over.
A couple of backpackers have just passed us with huge packs. It makes you wonder just what do they carry. It's like they are moving house.

Waikawa

Picton

Manuka's Operation

2012-01-11T22:23:00.000Z

Well after a fitful night we gently held Manuka's steering wheel and led her cautiously into operating pit 2 at Merc Wellington at 7.30am.
As we entered the pre-op waiting room we were met by Tony Hiener who tried his best to put us at ease. Copious amounts of tea and coffee were put at our disposal as well as a distracting video of some new operations working well.
The parts for the transplant had arrived safely on the overnight courier from Auckland.
We all stood at the window as she was led away by Tony's skilled team, the surgeon dressed in a red and grey coverall, computer in hand, wires trailing gave us the thumbs up that all would be ok.
We sat down to wait. We had been upgraded now into more salubrious surroundings as we were unsure just how long the anesthetic would take to wear off.

Sheila was becoming a bit panicky as Manuka came out of surgery only to be rushed back in. It looked like she may not make it. However 1hr later,sweating and smiling Tony came to us with the post op results.
All's well he said. We smiled a smile of relief. We signed the release papers and were taken to be reunited with our poorly soul.
We hit the accelerator and she bounced with glee. The team waved as we said our goodbyes and headed back to the Motorhome park for breakfast and chill before we move off to the Picton ferry terminal.

All our thanks to Phil Wheelans and his guys who did us proud and got us safely on our way. Especially Tony for his support.

Mercedes Wellington

2012-01-11T09:03:00.000Z

This post should say something like. Wow how great today has been now that we have arrived in Wellington. But that is not the case. Due to a faulty part on the Motorhome we limped into Wellington sweating that we might not get there.
Our dear Manuka is now at the doctors or better still in dry doc having her more intimate parts looked at.
We have been well looked after by Mercedes, who eventually decided that it couldn't be repaired and a new part was needed. Unfortunately this part was in Auckland. They just about managed to place the order before the deadline time for next morning delivery.
We have now escorted her sorrowful and aching motor back to the Hutt motorhome park for geriatric 4 wheelers to shelter from humiliation.
She's looking forward to a food free quiet night before surgery in the morning and hopefully she will be all pumped up, back on all fours ready for the sea crossing.
Lets hope she doesn't suffer from sea sickness. We might be in for a restless night.

Manuka in dry doc at Mercedes in Wellington.

Me, waiting for a decision from the surgeons on whether the problem is terminal or not.

Oh the joys of motoring.

NZ Weather- summer eh?

2012-01-09T07:12:00.000Z

I know the weather has been bad in UK but let me tell you it is no better here in NZ. We got the Motorhome sorted and then headed for Taupo via Hamilton overnight.
It absolutely poured down most of the afternoon and all night. We moved on into Tongariro National Park and took a quick but eventful walk around the Lake Rotopounamu.
It was raining quite heavy as we set off but within about 15 mins the wind picked up and became quite strong.
The lake had flooded quite a lot of the track and barred our path. As we turned to return we heard a tree come crashing down. The wind was howling through the canopy and was quite scary.
We hurried back to the van as more branches were tumbling.
We decided to head for the motorhome park where the Alpine crossing starts. 2 big trees had just come down at the front of the park and all hands were clearing the way. Gary who runs the place told us where to put the van so that it didn't get blown over. The wind was 130kph.
More trees were crashing around and more people were pulling in.
After about 4 hours it started to ease. Thankfully we were all ok. Gary said that was the worst storm in the Tongariro for at least ten years. I will post some pictures when we get a better internet connection.

Waipu

2012-01-06T08:11:00.001Z

Thursday PM, 5th January.

On our enforced trip back down to Mangere we took advantage of the coast road instead of the main highway and came across Waipu. It turned out to be an absolutely beautiful drive. As we passed through this trendy spot we noticed quite a few old tractors parked up so we had to stop and go for a look see. Obviously the first one to catch my eye was an old Fergie 35. Probably built in the very late 50's.

The owner knew very little about the machine and so we had a good chat about it for 5-10 minutes. He only used it to tow his boat into the sea.

He had recently paid NZ$800 for a new tyre and had the rear hydraulics fixed which had been seized up for ages.

I told him that if he needed anybody to fix it for him i was available to come over from UK at short notice, any time. (As long as he pays of course). He said he would bear it in mind.

Me with the MF35

And he kindly let me have a go.(That's a Leyland in the background)

So after the joviality of the tractors, we headed for the stunning beach. The sun was hot, as was the sand. Paddling was a pleasure. It reminded us of nothing at home.

The beach stretched for a few miles and all in all there were very few people taking advantage of such a wonderful day. What a shame we were just passing through as we would have liked to stay here a couple of days.

Oh well, back to the van.

Whangarei Lookout.

2012-01-06T03:54:00.001Z

Thursday 5th January 2012

This is Whengarei basin and it shows our objective for this morning. It is the forested peak in the left background.

Starting our walk we were overtaken by a Monarch Butterfly. (I think that's what it is). They are quite a fair sized thing, about double the size of a UK Red Admiral.

At a point along the River the path diverts and becomes the Drummond Track. Drummond is a renowned Painter and Poet from these parts.

Typical of many sad aspects of humanity. Graffiti on the commemorative stone.

The New Zealand Fern.

The steep walk up to the lookout is all natural and dense forestry but it holds a beautiful array of design and colour.

Like yesterday the paths are well kempt.

Visibility and scenery through the forestry was very limited and therefore photographs of one section of the walk looked very much like another so i have limited the reader to just a couple of shots as we made our way higher. Dorothy was told by a fellow walker that she was very brave to attempt such a steep path. I was thinking it might be too much but she did it with only the odd pause for a drink and a breather.

At the lookout the views were extensive if just a little hazy. It was very humid now but all the effort was worth it for the scenery spreading out before us. The camera just doesn't do it justice.

There are numerous paths which lead away from the lookout and the day can be extended to what ever time you have available. We had to be heading back unfortunately, towards Auckland, as we have to return the van for it's MOT certificate. DOH.

Me and She at the Lookout.

She and Me at the Services Memorial.

We had been granted permission to stay on the campervan park for an extra hour so that we can do the walk and then return for a shower. Which was very kind of them.

This afternoon we will drive south along the coast to Orewa, where we plan on stopping so that we have a short drive back to Mangere the next day.

Whangarei Falls and Hatea river walk.

2012-01-04T08:19:00.002Z

Wednesday 4th Jan,

The sun shone strong today and blue skies dominated. All the negativity of the last few days was shelved and our planned walk was started at around 10.00am.
We had been told the track could be quite muddy and slippery especially with all the rain we had been having and also the track deviates from the map due to some new civil works being carried out.

The track starts in the suburbs of Whangarei alongside some beautiful tall palm trees.
A short distance down the track we met a chap who was looking for a safe place to release about a dozen ducklings and their mother. They had strayed from the safety of the river and into town where they could have been on the menu for cats.

The track riverside is maintained by the local council and they do a good job. Many of the trees, some absolutely huge are all named for info.. Ferns abound, some i recognise from our local garden centre and cost a fortune, but here they grow wild and free.

The path turned out to be quite dry and although we stopped often to take photo's we made good progress.

It's quite a popular walk and also there are a couple of access points where people with cars can get into the area, so you are never that far away from civilisation. But because of the dense forestry and steep banking it feels very peacefull.

It was warming up nicely, probably very high 20 deg C. so having the forest canopy kept us cool but once out into open land it was quite draining and we took a number of stops wherever we could.

The flora and fauna was beautiful all the way, although there wasn't much wildlife about apart from the birds which we mainly could hear but not see. Then we were visited by a cheeky New Zealand Fantail, that stayed with us for a short distance.

Long before we came to the falls the noise could be heard but we didn't expect the beauty which came before us. There was a bridge ideally positioned to get some good photo's and many people were taking the opportunity. I had to wait a while until i got a clear shot.

There is a circular path that goes right or left up and around the falls which leads to some viewing platforms at the top.

The return journey follows more or less the same route as going. We covered about 10 miles and it took us about 4 hours. It could be done much quicker or it can be extended to include other trails.

All of it was stunning and i would post more pictures but the band width is narrow and so loading pictures takes an age.

I will post more at a later date.

Osprey Hornet 46.

2012-01-03T18:35:00.000Z

One of the things i managed to do when in Auckland was check out the Osprey Hornet 46 rucksack.
Many months ago i tried to get hold of one in the UK without success.

As it proved out i was fortunate not to order one on line because i was very disappointed when seeing it in the flesh.

It is indeed very basic, hence the rather interesting weight of around 600gr.

Basically its a nylon tube with a lid and some poorly positioned straps and belt. Features are few and far between. Probably suitable for challenge runs etc but not for backpacking in my opinion.

However one piece of kit which interests me is the Mammut Creon light. I will check out more later.

I was very pleased that i didn't take the plunge on the Osprey. It goes to show that photographs can be deceiving and the wallet can be easily swayed.

Manuka and Whangarei

2012-01-03T07:30:00.000Z

Tuesday 3rd Jan.

This was what we classed as the holiday proper.
It amounted to taxiing to Britz campervans HQ, picking up the "Van" and then pleasantly driving north to Whangarei.
We arrived early at Britz and started the process of hire. Then just as the form filling etc was complete, there was noticed a short pause of breath from the lady. It turned out that the van designated had not been taxed and it was due to run out in 3 days.
We were shown an alternative but it was not up to much and would have been too tight for the 3 of us. We said we wanted the vehicle we booked and payed for last May.
There was lots of worried discussions going on and after about 1 hr not much had happened to get us on our way.
Eventually, because they were not resolving it, and frustration and annoyance was creeping in, i suggested to them that we take the van and return it in 3 days so that we could get the required documentation and test cert.
They looked pleased and said that it would only take an hour if we were prepared to bring it in.
Well we didn't have much of an option as far as we could see, without losing a couple of days holiday anyway.
We watched a video of the vehicles technical bits and then as we set off we realised that it was a completely different video to what we had. I was not going back to watch another video so off we jolly well went. We quickly Cristened the van "Manuka" because she's a honey.

"Manuka" in all her glory

Whether it was just frustration or stupidity we ended up going the wrong way. We were heading west towards the coast and not for the Highway 1 north.
I asked for directions and eventually got to where we were intending.
It rained a bit and then a lot, and then a lot more.

We arrived in Whangarei and just for a few minutes it stopped raining. Then the fun started, trying to get everything on the van connected and powered up when we didn't have a clue what did what or where anything was located..
Anyway most things we have now got sorted.

We went for a walk, at last! Although yes, it was chucking it down. Nothing exciting, just getting our bearings and looking for food and the start point for a couple of walks that hopefully won't tax Dorothy too much, so we will do that tomorrow.

New Years Eve - Auckland CBD

2012-01-01T22:40:00.001Z

New Years Eve, well early New Years Day morning actually. Sat on our balcony overlooking Auckland Harbour. It was quite cold and raining very hard. But the champers had to be tested. A pair of socks for gloves and the Rab Boreas came in handy.

Again a view in the morning from our balcony with the Sea Princess arriving in port and the sun is just about out. 22 degrees C.

Singapore Airlines relegated

2012-01-01T19:22:00.001Z

We flew to New Zealand with Singapore Airlines because having been with them before we regarded them highly.
It's a journey of two halves. The flight from Manchester via Munich to Singapore was fantastic with great attendees. We wanted for nothing, in fact it was too much at times.
Having landed at Changi airport, we found out that we were late and our connecting flight to Auckland was on last call and was leaving from 10 ports away.
A mad dash to the desk was not taken happily and we din't even have chance to go to the loo.
As soon as we were on the plane was away.
We then had 11.5 hours of the worst attendees ever. It was so bad as to be almost non existent.
Apart from when the meal was brought round we were not offered a drink and the attendants were rarely seen.
We eventually got up and went to the galley and asked for a drink. She brought one and not three.
The water that we brought with us had been thrown away at desk check in by security even though we had not been outside passport control. What's that all about, we had nothing to drink.
Towards the end of this nightmare journey the captain announced that with it being almost midnight on New Years eve that there will be Champagne distributed.
When it got to cattle class people, there was non left. We were offered apple juice or orange. What a laugh.
So Singapore has gone down hill in our estimation.

At the airport departure was swift as we had no hold luggage and we were straight through without a hitch.
Sheila's sister who lives in Australia had arranged a limo to pick us up and take us into the city. How kind of her was that.
Auckland was being lashed by heavy rain on our journey and thankfully the apartment at Quay West had a fully stocked fridge. We emptied it over the next 3 hours. Well it had to be done.

We watched the fireworks over the city and went to bed at 3.30am. 31 hours flying time and it might be the last long haul trip we make. I don't think i can stand all the screaming children ever again and the lack of service.
It would be nice to do business class but at £13,000 for the 3 of us, it's impossible.

Sorry no pics at this time. More later. Happy New Year each.

New Zealand awaits

2011-12-29T13:44:00.000Z

Well it doesn’t seem so long ago but it’s 18 months since we first started to plan our trip to New Zealand.
Many things have happened in between, some good and some not so.
The time seems to have passed so quickly because it is now time to depart.

We are mainly going to be covering the North Island but we do want to visit Abel Tasman park on South Island that we missed last visit. We also want to walk in and around Marlborough Sound, Queen Charlotte Track and others in the surrounding area.

We covered quite a lot of South Island on our last visit, that included a trip to Mitre Peak which is shown on the laptop pic below.

But to be honest we could spend a lifetime there and still only scratch the surface. What a beautiful country.

With the packing done all that’s left to do is print off the boarding passes.

Have a great New Year everybody and i will post entries as and when it is possible and of course read your exploits and gear reviews too.

All the very best for 2012. Alan and Sheila.

Have a wonderful Christmas

2011-12-25T11:02:00.001Z

Merry Christmas to all. Hope you have a great time.

Lightweight shoe

2011-12-22T12:21:00.002Z

Over the last year i have found a number of lightweight shoe’s that i thought would be of interest to readers with an interest in backpacking.
The other day i was reading Gear Caster and they had found another pair which i hadn’t come across before.
So i take no credit for the post as i have also read about them on Light and Ultralight Backpackinging blog.

The shoes are from a Spanish company called 01M One Moment.

Shoes in packed condition. Ideal for the backpack.

Made from a natural 100% biodegradable plastic, The 01M barefoot shoe’s are made from an injection moulding technique that enables a 1mm thickness for the body and 2mm for the sole.

They have an anti slip sole which the companies description says provides a gecko like grip on slippery surfaces.
The company also says that the material does breath and therefore you don’t end up with a sweaty foot mess.

I contacted the company for information and the response was immediate. So that’s a good sign.

Weight wise, EU size 42, UK 8 weighs 160gr. The cost of the shoes is a fantastic €10.
The Company website is Here

Read more @: http://www.thegearcaster.com/the_gearcaster/2011/12/biodegradable-barefoot-shoes-for-outdoor-activities.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheGearcaster+%28the+GearCaster%29#ixzz1hGRqGMKy
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution Share Alike

More Softshell, RAb Boreas.

2011-12-19T15:53:00.002Z

A few weeks ago, i was reading Alan Sloman’s blog about his recently acquired Rab Exodus softshell jacket. Here.
I already have the Rab Cioch jacket which is very similar apart from the hood.
I admit that i have never been a big fan of Soft shells for backpacking as they are just to big and bulky and most of the time they are in the pack and not worn.
But a comment from Gibson, AKA Afootinthehills, about the Mountain Equipment Astron had me scurrying into Manchester to have a look at one for my pending trip to New Zealand.

Mountain Equipment Astron.

Just as luck would have it. Nobody in Manchester had one in stock so apart from taking the odd mm off my Inov-8’s, tramping around the streets, i came away empty handed.
But what i did notice and was very tempted by was the Rab Boreas pull on. Completely different spec to the Astron but i liked it.

The Rab Boreas Pull On

The next week after reading some very good reviews on it, i went back and purchased one. So i have been wearing it in and i like it very much. Ideal for what i want for this trip.
The Boreas is not a jacket, it is not waterproof and has no DWR finish. However that can be resolved somewhat with a washing in Nikwax. (To be reviewed later).
Rab market this as a Mid Layer for both warm and cold conditions and has good sun block qualities and good wind resistance.

I think, conditions depending of course, that you could wear this in all 3 guises, base layer, mid or outer as it breathes very well even directly next to the skin.

The top is lightweight at 250gr for this medium size.
It’s very stretchy, 86% Polyamide and 14% Spandex. It has a Lycra feel.
The cut is generous rather than athletic.

The arm length is longer than std and ideal for the walker/climber or visa versa where quite a bit of stretching is called for. It’s also easy to roll the sleeves up with the material being so stretchy. It doesn’t have thumb loops.

The 2 zips are YKK, the main central zip being a good length for ventilation and the other closing a small chest pocket. There is no depth to this pocket but width wise it is reasonable, going across to the sleeve seam. The top will pack away into this pocket when not needed.
All the seams are flatlock.

The hood is close fitting low profile with the zip coming well up the chin. Surrounding the collar area is a soft fleecy material that feels really nice when it’s fully zipped up.

The tail length is slightly longer, so it should stay in place when worn with a hip belt or harness.

So far i am very pleased with it, it has become my must wear item this last couple of weeks. I am certainly going to enjoy it in the warmer climate down under.

To complement this top i purchased a pair of Rohan Fuzion trousers. 100% Polyamide. 385gr weight and only 3 hours drying time. I have not had time to do a first review as yet. (To come later).

Order of the boot.

2011-12-17T16:15:00.003Z

I was in Rohan this morning buying a pair of trousers. I had initially gone in to buy a pair of Rohan Bags but i couldn’t find a pair to fit. My athletic physique is obviously different to the Rohan man of the 1970’s.

I also wanted to have a look at the Striders and the Trailblazers as well, and then make my choice. I actually settled for a pair of Fusion after trying on about 10 different pairs.

But what caught my eye was these Lapka boots. Rohan’s own with Barricade waterproof liner. £125 a pair.

They caught my eye because i had only recently been looking at a pair of Brasher Lithium GTX, also funnily enough £125 as below.

Now it may be a co-incidence or my poor eyesight but don’t those 2 boots above look very similar apart from a bit of colour.

So do i take it from this then that Rohan’s Barricade is actually Gore-Tex GTX? (XCR)

I can’t imagine doing a badging exercise would change the internals of the boot. But i could be wrong obviously.

So now that it looks to me that Rohan boots are actually Brasher’s i thought i would see what prices i could find. Well i was staggered to say the least. At Farlows above they are a 5p off £160.

At Field and Trek and also Sports Direct, which are one and the same company now, you can get them for £65

Or £59.99 at Pack your Bags including free delivery! Wow.

I actually found a company selling them for £49 but they had no stock left. Why am i not surprised.

Lesson, Shop around, don’t buy the first ones you see, and the name, well it could be anything, don’t go off the badge.

The Invasion of Hartington.

2011-12-13T12:13:00.000Z

Sheila and I were very pleased to be invited on "A Christmas Walk" by Martin and Sue Banfield. AKA blogger Phreerunner. Postcard from Timperley.
It was to include a walk taking in Wolfscote Dale and part of the Tissington Trail in the White Peak area of Derbyshire.
Lunch was organised at the Charles Cotton Hotel in Hartington, approximately mid way.

It shows how well people appreciate Martin and Sue's walks because all 31 persons, including the two of us, who said they would attend, actually did.

There was already a small number of cars parked in the layby just North of Alsop en le Dale on the A515 when we arrived at 9.45am and it didn’t take much longer for the whole brigade to assemble.
Greetings over, Christmas cards swapped , car keys lost and found, gear donned we set off across the A515 towards the old railway track which forms part of the Tissington Trail. Anybody looking down from above might have thought Noah’s Ark was close by.

The old track belonged to the London and North-Western railways and ran between Buxton and Ashbourne. It was opened in 1899 and closed in 1966. Fortunately in 1971 it was bought by the Peak National Park and Derbyshire County Council.
Part of the old line, just south of Buxton is still used for quarry freight today.

Two by two they marched to Hartington.

Leaving the Tissington Trail for a while. We ploughed on through intake land which proved to be very muddy, the clay sticking to the boots making them feel ten times heavier than normal. The troops were revolting.

Once we had slithered our way down to the River Dove, which was a kind of a ski slope without snow, it seemed to warm up a bit which resulted in the removal of a layer.

At every gate, stile or wall, we formed file and it seemed to take ages getting everybody through.
Then, just as it started to rain Martin dropped his rucksack and suggested that it was time for coffee.
Well why walk in the rain when you have coffee to drink.
Caramel fudge cake and chocolate brownies being offered out to all by Martin And Sue.
It was a nice spot to picnic, just where Wolfscote Dale joins Biggin Dale.

A very pleasant walk onwards to the footbridge at Beresford Dale. Lots of social chit chat about gear and good places to walk and overnight. All extremely Sunday.
It was good to meet up with Mick and Gayle who’s walking trips makes ours pale into insignificance. We had kept up with Gayle’s writing for some time but we had never met.
We also found out later that another set of bloggers were on the trip but unfortunately due to the high turnout we didn’t get chance to talk. Helen and Colin.
You can catch their blog HERE.

Pausing for a few minutes at yet another stile, it proved a good spot for a group piccy.

And yet another as rain got heavier.

We marched on until the rooftops of Hartington came into view. It had been raining quite heavily and it was a wet army that needed food and drink as arranged at the Charles Cotton Hotel at 1.15pm

Upon arrival, the 31 rucksacks, jackets, overtrousers and pairs of muddy boots were found houseroom without complaint from the management.

We were shown to a very nice suite for lunch and all was ready as Martin had arranged previously. The food was excellent and the staff very accommodating with nothing too much trouble. Many of us wondered if it would be possible to have a little snooze before setting off again as the portions were substantial but it wasn’t to be.

A portrait in the Ladies Powder room on the perils of “Fly” fishing.

A fine bunch of lunchers.

During the frivolities, it absolutely lashed it down, the rain was bouncing. Again perfect timing to avoid a soaking. But we had to set off. So with the bill settled we were allowed to proceed on our journey. The invasion of Hartington sadly left behind us.

We headed off through the village and passed the beautiful Youth Hostel. Turning onto aptly named Leisure lane. It was raining still but not too heavy.

Obviously lunch was taking it’s toll as the legion got a bit spread out on the way to Dale End.

Then as we passed through Dale End the result of the torrential downpour that we had managed to avoid had to be surmounted. It was quite deep in places but it was passable on the left banking.
We watched a couple of cars plough through it without a care for the vehicles engine or the bow wave that it made.
Passing through lovely Biggin village and Greenhead farm we soon met up again with the Tissington Trail which was followed back to our start point. It was unusual to see twin lambs at this time of year too.
Darkness was falling and due to the ease of walking on the old trackbed progress was somewhat rapid.
We was hoping that it would be dark enough for head torches before we finished the walk because 31 torches would have made a good photograph. However, this wasn’t to be and it wasn’t until we got back to the vehicles that darkness fell.

We had really enjoyed todays walk and we must say a big thank you to Martin and Sue for organising it, also to the management and staff at the Charles Cotton Hotel who made lunch a pleasure and to everybody on the walk. Thank you so much.

A little history:-
Charles Cotton ( April 28, 1630 – February 16, 1687), lived at Beresford Hall, now demolished, wrote, with his great friend Izaak Walton, a remarkable book about 17th century rural England called ‘The Compleat Angler’. No other English language book, other than the Bible and Book of Common Prayer, has been reprinted more times. He shared his time between an extravagant life style in London society with the quieter pleasures of his home and the Peak District. That is when his creditors were not chasing him - then it is said he hid in a cave in Beresford Dale. The fishing lodge he built still remains on private land in Beresford Dale, but can be seen from a distance when approaching the dale.

Sheila and I had stayed in Hartington the previous night and when we arrived there on the saturday afternoon it was a completely different view. A few inches of snow which disappeared overnight.

Not a great image as it was taken from a moving vehicle.

Hartington village pond.

We stayed B & B at the Hayloft and can thoroughly recommend it and also the friendliness and good food at the Devonshire Arms.

Aw what a shame, its too windy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-12-08T20:15:00.002Z

Waterproof Hiking coat

2011-12-06T13:07:00.005Z

I always read fellow blogger Alan Sloman’s posts because they portray quite a lot of what i think about the outdoors but he puts it much more eloquently than me. And his latest post “Being warm and dry” was no exception and can be read HERE..
I was posting a comment on Alan’s blog when i realised it was far too long and that it was better to put my thoughts as a post and link it.

We, in the Outdoor Hiking world, i believe, have been hoodwinked for years. I tend to side with the comments made by Gordon Green that the perfect material has been developed but it daren’t be released because that would be the end of us buying new “Waterproofs”.

The words relating to the jackets themselves defy what they actually mean. I am as guilty as anybody out there when i say, i want a new waterproof jacket but it has to be breathable. Waterproof and Breathable? Please!

Well to what degree do we want this phenomenon. 100% Waterproof and 100% breathable, that’s what we require.
Or as near as i can get it we later admit.
And there we have the first contentious point, you cannot get a hiking jacket with those statistics so we succumb to as good as we can get, and i am sure that in some cases we might not even realise what we have. This leaves massive areas of manufacturers graphs on hydrostatic head, breathability, tear strength, seam sealing, etc, etc. that you can look at if you really want to, but not here. This is just an experienced and practical posting.

Many people buy a waterproof because that's exactly what it says on the tin or label. They have no idea to what degree that waterproof statement relates to.
What is the material, what is the layering, there are so many different materials to choose, to name a few, Gore-Tex, eVent, Drillite, Aquafoil, Paramo’s Nikwax, but there are many many others to consider. The thing with all of them is that they are not water PROOF only water Resistant to a figure determined by it’s hydrostatic head. The greater the number ie 10,000 mm the better the water resistance to leakage than 1000 mm.

What is hydrostatic head? It is the pressure of water required to penetrate the said fabric measured in mm. Heavy or wind driven rain has a higher pressure to light rain.
Waterproof jackets with a material head of 1000mm or less can only be regarded as shower resistant.
1500mm suitable for summer walking and so forth until you get to the likes of 10,000mm which is a minimum suitable for winter high altitude walking. 20,000 mm and even 40,000 mm being as good as you could get currently. See HERE for some comparative figures.

Then there is breathability. This is the ability to transfer warm moisture vapour through the layers of the jacket.
It’s measured in grams per square meter over a 24 hour period. Or g/m/2/d. Typically you want the water resistance say 10,000 mm to equal breathability 10,000g/m/2/d.
But, the practical issue here with breathability is that the fabric allows internal warm moisture vapour through the microscopic holes in the fabric which are such a diameter as they will not allow rain to get through but will allow the warm smaller molecules to exit.
The problem is we all have different metabolic rates. Some of us can walk at a good pace up hill and hardly break sweat whereas others will be wet through and if it’s raining as well then the jacket gets deemed not waterproof by the owner.

Also, it depends on how many layers you like to wear under the waterproof outer. Too many layers will result in the warm vapour loosing it’s heat before it reaches the jacket and therefore it cools and cannot escape, this then condensates on the inner surface and is then transferred back onto your mid and base layers.
The term bomb proof, i take with scepticism when talking jackets and tents as it depends on so many important scenarios many relating to the individual and again you cannot get 100% waterproof and breathable.

Another important issue is the strength of the outer fabric. If your backpacking or daypacking the jacket outer material must be able to withstand the riggers, the abrasion of carrying the weight you take. Many jackets mix materials in high stress areas when a jacket has been made for backpacking but others don’t, especially the lightweights. Once the outer material starts to show signs of wear in these areas, ie shoulders, back and hipbelt, the chance of it staying waterproof are nil.

Now, hiking gear has seen a transformation of late and gear has moved into the realm of the fell runner. If he can wear trainers, windproofs and lightweight waterproofs on exposed runs in adverse weather so can we.
But the trouble is he doesn’t carry a hikers backpack, he’s constantly on the move/run and therefore he/she stays warm and more often than not the exercise only lasts for short periods of time. So you must take this into consideration when buying lightweight backpacking gear if you want it to last more than one outing or at worse fail on a trip.
Of course you get the multi day challenges like the OMM and similar and also overnight orienteering where this light gear is used but it isn’t anywhere near used or abused as it would get on a long backpacking trip.

Another important issue not to be forgotten is the actual design of the jacket. How well it fits you, how good the hood is, if you don’t climb in it then don’t buy one that says hood compatible. It will fit like a sack and leak like a sieve.
The hood is extremely important and it is surprising how often this gets overlooked.
Check accessibility of the pockets and pull chords against what you will be carrying.
Make sure that the cords don’t wick water back between the layering of the jacket and make sure rucksack harness’s don’t rub the zip material.
Don’t buy one with masses of stitching which then has to be sealed with tape which with time will deteriorate and start to come apart.
Look at the zips! There are more and more water resistant zips on outer gear now. This has lead to the elimination of rain gutters and wind deflectors that used to be present behind the zips. A big mistake in my view as any water ingress in these resistant zips is transferred onto your inner clothing directly.

Unfortunately cleaning your jacket is important to it maintaing whatever standard of waterproofing and breathability it started life with.

There is so much to take into consideration when talking waterproof jackets there isn’t a definite answer that will suit everybody but hopefully my post will at least give others food for thought and realise that being waterproof is not entirely what it seems..

The only thing that is waterproof and breathable is an umbrella.

More very interesting reading on the subject can be found Here.

Top of Leach in a Gale.

2011-11-30T08:32:00.005Z

Having parked up at SD 871-158 and just managed to hang onto the door as we got out, we headed off on a windswept day heading for Top of Leach at SD859 - 178.
There was plenty of blue sky around and thankfully the views excellent.
It was quite a biting wind and it was straight in our faces as we made our way up Rooley Moor Road.
Height is quickly gained and turning around out of the wind we managed to keep the camera steady for some photo’s.

The track we are on has lots of history attached to it and the more that you search the more interesting the story becomes.
The route was built for the cotton industry and the old original cart tracks can still be found in a number of places. An example of which is below. This dates to pre 1860 and is known as “The Cotton Famine Road".

During the times of the American Civil war when the Union blocked the Confederate ports, cutting off cotton shipments to this area, it obviously caused great hardship and was called a famine. This may have had something to do with the many Irish folk that had come over to find work during there own “Potato Famine" a generation earlier.
Some work had to be found for these poor souls and an enhanced road was built using quarried sets and again is still clear today and in good condition.

Even through the hard times the people here backed the Union and the abolishion of slavery and when that event happened a letter was sent to President Abraham Lincoln and which was given such significance that he replied within 2 weeks.

A much better account of events can be found here.
During a period of quarrying and also for the land owners, a pub was established called the MoorCock Inn. Unfortunately only the basic footings of the building and the gate posts remain today.

The MoorCock Inn gate posts.

Keeping on track we came to the Trig point which is Top Of Leach where today we could make out Whernside, Penyghent and Pendle Hill.

It was bitterly cold now and fortunately for us there was a wind break in just the right place.
Lunch was taken fairly sharpish if a bit late and off we went back.

We headed south towards a (BS) boundary stone marked on the map. (Sorry no map as the printer has decided to take a short break). We were not watching where our feet were going because next thing Sheila slipped, but she held onto my hand firmly and with the momentum of the slide threw me bodily over her shoulder just like a professional wrestler. We lay in a puddle for what seemed like 1 minute but was probably no more than 20 seconds. Bruised but not broken thankfully.

The sun had moved further round towards the west and gave us less hazy views south where we could make out Manchester City Centre and the Beetham Tower. Unfortunately the photo was not good enough to print. So here are some sheep and cows instead. Much better we think.

It was just over 6 1/2 miles and a pleasant afternoon.

Sleeping mat.

2011-11-22T15:11:00.001Z

L - R Std Therm-A-rest. Getting on a bit now but still a likeable mat. Weight with sac 460gr.
TrangoWorld Skin Micro lite foam filled. Very comfy. weight with sac. 375gr.
Big Agnes Mummy Weight incl bag 560gr.
Therm-A-rest Neo Air. Weight incl sac 265gr.

Like a lot of people we plunged into the market before the initial dust had settled and bought the Neo Air.
There were quite a few rave reviews and so this was the original stimulus to buy.
Within a short period of time, probably around about 7 nights use, Sheila decided that it was uncomfortable and she went back to using the Std Therm-A-Rest. Then a while later we found the TrangoWorld mat and now this is Sheila’s and possibly my favourite.

I, on the other hand stuck with the Neo Air, not so much to do with comfort but just purely weight.
However i found so much wrong with the NeoAir in my opinion, that i wanted to find something else.
This is very unlike me as i hate spending money twice.

What did i find wrong with the Neo Air you might ask.
Well, i keep falling off it. I turn over and away it goes. I put beads of silicon on the underside but it didn’t stop the problem.
It deflates quite considerably overnight too and i have never slept well on it.
Apart from the pack size and weight there is not much i like about it to be honest.

I decided to buy a cheap longitudinal tube mat, something of the Multimat Adventure type. Not too expensive if i didn’t like it and at 440gr not excessively heavy either just to do a comparison test.

But just as i was about to order it, i had been internet speaking with Maz, who’s excellent blog The Journeyman Traveller is here.
He very kindly offered to loan me his Big Agnes Mummy Mat for appraisal of the opposing tube direction to the Neo-Air. How brilliant and trusting is that. I had never met Maz and we did not know each other apart from reading each others blog.

Having now slept on it a few times i have come to the conclusion that the vertical tubes of the Big Agnes suit me far better than the horizontal tubes of the Neo Air. I find it suits my body shape better. The air movement is better within the vertical tubes and therefore the mat rises and falls in the right places supporting me and providing a comfortable sleep.
This Big Agnes is a mummy shaped mat tapering off quite a bit at the foot. I would not go for this style by choice, as i found my feet were on the floor quite a bit. But i must say what a quality mat this is.

I am now considering my options.
Currently i fancy the Vaude Norssken which also has larger diameter tubes on the outside which, in theory should keep you on the mat better. But it is a touch on the heavy side.
Decisions, decisions.
Thanks ever so much Maz for your assistance.

Lost Suunto Vector black watch.

2011-11-18T19:09:00.000Z

On the way down from Greendale Tarn (Near Nether Wasdale) on Saturday 29th October 2011 i inadvertently lost my Vector watch.
It was lost roughly at the point where the Greendale Tarn path joins the fell road at Greendale Farm.

I post this just on the off chance that somebody has found it and happens to read blogs.

Well, here's hoping. Cheers.

Whoosh - Coming to a hill near you!

2011-11-16T18:26:00.002Z

I was keen to get out today so, i checked the weather forecast last night and it was good.
Today I drove up the A680 Edenfield Road and parked up in the lay-by close to Ashworth reservoir.
I had no grand route planned, i just wanted to be out and wherever the legs took me well that’s where i went. Well it would be difficult not to wouldn’t it.

The last time i was up in this neck of the woods it was cold, misty, some ice and not much of a view. Although today the visibility was good it wasn’t as clear as a bell and the low watery sun was not an ideal partner for photographs.

When i left home there was still a redness to the edges of the cloud and i was hoping for something better from higher up. I had taken the tripod so that i could take longer exposure shots. if i got the chance.

Unfortunately the sun had climbed a little too high and it was right in my face as i made my way up to Knowl Hill.

Knowl Hill and Scout Moor Turbines in the shadow.

Looking back to Ashworth Reservoir from the Approach to Knowl Hill.

The turbine site has gouged this landscape and cut 10 metre wide gravel tracks through it’s heart. Today there was little wind and the continuous noise of the extractor fans amplified by the 60 metre wind pipes, could be heard even louder than the intermittent whoosh of the triple 40 metre blades.

There are 26 turbines in all but it looked like 3 of them were not working.

The path had quite a few boggy sections and i had to make a couple of detours to avoid wet feet. At one point i thought i had come across a builders tarpaulin but it turned out to be quite a large tent that some poor souls had taken a battering in. They had obviously had enough and made a quick escape and left the bedraggled gear to fend for itself. There wasn’t much left.

Once at the top of the hill i was bathed in sun. Bright but not that warm enough for sun bathing. After all it is mid November. It was still delightful and i decided it was a good place to have a cup of tea.

I donned my outer jacket which up to this point had remained in the rucksack.

Tea time. (Jasmine Green tea)

I set the camera for a timed shot and only just got into the frame as the shutter operated.

If i had only waited a minute or two maybe the chap in the background would have taken a photo for me.

I sat in the windbreak for about 10 minutes just appreciating my surroundings. Also within the windbreak was empty bottles, crisp packets, tea bags, remains of somebodies lunch. Why do people leave litter. It beats me what kind of a brain they have.

I touched the trig point as i always do to prove to myself that i have actually been to the top and surveyed the panorama.

Views to the North and North West from Knowl Hill.

Brew over, 3 running types came up from the east side and went to the trig point for a 10 second stop and pointing session before carrying on in a South West direction with a “Good Morning” as they past me yawning.

I also headed east and headed for Dixons Brow. It was quite a drop off here which i didn’t particularly want to do, so i decided to contour round to pick up the gravel track near the mast. Looking at the map there is also a mast at Higher Hill off in a North Westerly direction which looked ideal for what i wanted to do. So off i went with the sun behind me. It was so bright at times the blades stood out like stars.

Not far along the track i got fed up of it and wanted to get off road. I could just make out the mast on Higher Hill in the distance and just went for it. A straight line job.

Well this proved not such a good idea as it was 1 step forward and 2 steps back. Bogey being an understatement. The map shows a ditch running NNE and i thought i could follow it as it went in my direction. Retracing my steps i again ended up on the gravel track more or less where i had started.

Oh well at least it wasn’t raining.

One thing for sure is that you can certainly pick up speed on these tracks and in no time at all the mast was in sight ahead.

Higher Hill Mast.

Another 15 minutes and i was there. I sat down on a raised bank and had my lunch of Cheese and Onion on Brown Bread and another brew. A group of 3 others passed me looking as though they were heading for Whittle hill. They didn’t see me at all and i was no further than 30ft away.

Checking the map i wondered about going over to Cowpe Low but decided it had been a good test for the calf muscle and not to push my luck. I decided to call it an afternoon.

Towards Whittle Hill

View back to Knowl Hill from near Cheesden Edge.

It had been a pleasant walk even though the turbines blight the view.

I got back to the car and heard this screeching, bird screeching. Then i saw this chap with a hawk at the back of his car. Approaching with caution i eventually got within a few feet and had a chat with the owner of what turned out to be a Harris Hawk. It’s name was Skye and was 4 years old.

By all accounts it doesn’t like cars or people and the owner brings it out here to hunt.

It kept looking at me all beadily like so i took a few pictures and then retreated to a safer distance.

7.3 miles in total.

A short walk along the Oldham Way.

2011-11-12T17:16:00.000Z

Today the light was a bit special, the clear skies and the sun being low and bright. We headed off towards Royton and picked up the Oldham Way which we followed for most of our 6 mile walk.

The colours of the Autumn foliage is amazing and this is without doubt my favourite time of year.

I spent most of the walk faffing around with my camera settings and thankfully it was a warm day so Sheila and Dorothy didn’t get to chilled whilst i pretended to know what i was doing and taking shot after shot of trees, fungi, shadows and of course the odd sheep.

I am going to let the photographs do the talking here so i hope you enjoy the journey through the lens.

Walna Scar Shepherds meet. Cumbria

2011-11-06T16:05:00.001Z

What a stunning weekend in Cumbria. With a clear cloudless blue sky and the superb autumnal colours it was every outdoor persons dream weekend.

Top of the Park Head track looking at Harter Fell (left) and Bowfell (just right of centre).

Sheila and i were invited to spend a weekend with friends Tina and Alan in Seathwaite, Duddon Valley.

The agenda included a 4 course dinner cooked by Amanda at the Coffee shop in Ulpha followed by an evenings entertainment at the BrowFoot Rooms, also in Ulpha, with a French female singer, guitarist and comedienne Flossy Malavialle.
Saturday was Walna Scar Shepherds Meet with lunch and entertainment in the evening.
Entertainment Itinerary at the Brow Foot Room.

Although we had not heard of Flossy before it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening with the house full and plenty of beer and wine flowing. She is an English teacher who came to England on a teacher swop in 2002 from the South of France.
She said that it wasn’t difficult to find people to swop with her and live in the South of France. However she ended up in Darlington. Life can be tough.
That more or less finished her English teaching career in France, because now her English language includes colloquialisms for example “I ain’t dunit like” and Yerr Right Like.
All her sentences now end with the word “Like”.

Thanks must go to everybody involved for a really good night.

Saturday we were going to Torver near Coniston for the local shepherds “Meet”. We have been going to this event for many years. It is good day out especially with the wonderful weather this year and the evenings entertainment which is mainly a sing song by the farmers was a little quieter than usual.
Most of the singers are from the older generation and it would seem that the younger ones are not as keen to keep the singing tradition going. It would be a shame if this part of the day came to an end.

What is the Shepherds Meet?
Before the era of the telephone and motorised transport, the business of returning stray sheep to their owners was communally organised.

Each fell area had their own shepherds' meets which were held twice a year - in July for clipping time and in November for tupping time. Stray sheep were gathered together to be identified and claimed by their rightful owners and the meets were also occasions for much socialising.

Shepherds’ Meets today mostly take the form of a traditional agricultural show and/or social occasion. Their function of returning stray sheep is much reduced but still occurs, usually agreed over the phone and picked up by the owners by trailer.

There is also hound trailing events.

The Walna Scar Meet rotates between The Newfield Inn Duddon Valley, The Blacksmiths Inn Broughton Mills and the Church House Inn in Torver.

The Church House Inn is 15th century and lies in the shadow of the Old Man of Coniston which today was looking close and clear. It still has the open fires and many original rustic features.

Good cask beers are served and the food is excellent although in my opinion it is a bit pricey. Restaurant prices in a pub setting.

There is also a decent campsite adjacent to the pub.

The Old Man of Coniston

The Church House Inn

Here are some photographs i took from this years Meet.

The breeds of sheep in this area are predominantly Herdwick and Swaledale. The overall champion of show was won by my old mate Anthony Hartley from Turner Hall Farm. That’s him in the 4th picture, on the left with Andrew Birkett on the right. They are showing Herdwick Tupps.

On leaving the show we drove back to Seathwaite via the top fell road and i took a few more photographs.

Overnight the clear skies resulted in the temperatures falling rapidly. The gauge in the car on the way back from the evening social was showing 2.5 ℃. This morning the grassy areas in the shade was covered in a layer of white. It looked beautiful. The first for me this year.

Wallowbarrow Crag.

Grey Friar can just be made out in the background.

A cold and hungry visitor.

Thanks to Alan and Tina and all at the Shepherds’ Meet and Ulpha for a wonderful weekend.
The entire album of pictures can be found here

Sad, Sensible and Greendale Tarn. Oh, and a bit of gear.

2011-10-31T17:06:00.001Z

This weekend we motored up to Dorothy’s, (Sheila’s mums) in Gosforth West Cumbria for the last time. We were to bring her back to Manchester to live. It was a sad occasion as we had all made a lot of friends in this small village and we will miss the local crack (conversations/humour) but we will endeavour to go back a couple of times a year.

It is a sensible decision as the winter can be hard and Dorothy doesn’t drive. So getting into towns like Whitehaven or Workington is a day out on the bus.

Also, for us it means that we can free up every third weekend and it will obviously save us what is quite an expense.

But most important is the daily contact that Sheila will have now, ensuring that her mum is ok.

During the previous weeks i hadn’t been out due to an illness and now over training has resulted in a pulled calf muscle. Last saturday Sheila and i went out for a run and i had only done about 1 mile when a sharp pain in my right leg brought me to a sudden stop with a bit of a hop.

It had to be my right leg because this calf muscle was the same one as i torn badly about 10 years ago playing squash. I have never played squash since and occasionally, it does ache a bit if i have had a long days walk.

However fellow blogger Old Mortality, bless him. On his fine blog Here was casting aspersions about other fellow bloggers becoming chair bound and so i thought i had better get a walk in this weekend, take a few pictures and chuck some words about.

The problem was that the leg still ached, so i had to find something not very taxing. I chose Greendale Tarn near Nether Wasdale as the likely contender for this bimble.

Sheila and i drove down to Wastwater first, (well i drove actually but you know what i mean) to check out the scenery and although the cloud was quite low it was still stunning and atmospheric.

It was a bit chilly lakeside as we parked up and headed off for the sheep trod skirting Middle Fell and picked our way up towards Greendale Gill. We reached the 150 metre contour and was enveloped in thick mist and the rain was becoming heavier. Fortunately the mist cleared a little and we got a view across the valley.

East side of Greendale Gill looking towards Irton and Nether Wasdale

Greendale Gill

A soggy pair.

Where the track levelled out at the tarn the mist closed in on us, rendering our efforts for a view of the tarn and some photographs hopeless. We had a sit down and a drink but there was no wind around to move the mist. The tarn sits in a deep bowl so there was little chance that it was going to clear any time soon.

For Sheila’s benefit and for others who have never seen the tarn here is a photo taken on a better day that i downloaded very kindly from Mick Garratt.

Boulder near Greendale Tarn

© Copyright Mick Garratt and licensed for reuse under thisCreative Commons Licence

Just as i stood up and started to head down i felt my calf pull again and so it was a tentative descent for me. About 10 yards further and Sheila disappeared down a Sphagnum bog. Disappeared is a bit of an exaggeration but she went down to her bum in the stuff and was a bit upset with me because i was laughing. Ooops! Silence and dripping wet through.
Another 100yds and all was ok.

As we came out of the mist i thought this would be a good spot to photograph my gloves. Sorry gear haters.

Now these gloves are new. This was the first outing and a complete experiment. I have never been happy with “Hiking” gloves and i am determined to find something that works.
I went to a local diving shop and told them i knew nothing about diving gear and explained what my perceived problem was with my gloves and does their sport offer anything better.
A very nice chap showed me all the range of diving gloves and explained the properties of each pair. There are so many options, Kevlar, 10mm, 5mm, 3mm, long, short etc etc.
He spent a lot of time with me and i eventually chose a pair of soft stretchy 90% neoprene/10% nylon gloves that have a fine fleece lining and are very light 3mm thick. They are very much like wet suit material. They are made by Fourth Element and you can read about them here if you wish.

We had been in the rain and mist for about 2 hours and my hands were lovely and warm but a little clammy. The outer material has sealed seams so there is no water penetration whatsoever but obviously they don’t breathe.
My thoughts at this moment in time is that i would rather have warm clammy hands rather than the usual wet and cold hands. I turned the gloves inside out when we got back to Dorothy’s and they were dry in a few hours. I am going to try them with a very thin liner glove the next time i wear them and see if there is any difference.
I could also operate my camera with them on and working the zips on my camera bag and jacket proved to be easy. So operating a 2 way radio on my fell race stewarding duties will be ok.
They can also be repaired if they get cut or show signs of wear by applying Black Witch. Readers might find this useful for other outdoor gear.
As i say, these gloves are experimental and only by using them more will i be able to give a better assessment but i am pleased with them so far. (Oh and i won’t mention the new jacket).

On the descent back to the car the mass of cloud cover was easily discerned at about 250 metres along the entire length of the Screes and Illgill Head

Although it looked to be clearing out towards Ravenglass.

Was i right to let Old Mortality get me out of the chair? I’m not too sure it was a good idea, it will be another 2 weeks to recover.

Mens Merino wool zip top.

2011-10-25T17:07:00.000+01:00

For the last few weeks i have had some time to search around for a Merino wool top.
It's getting to that time of year when we need a bit more warmth from our gear and that was one reason why i wanted to buy a new one but i also wanted a zipped neck top which i could take on an up coming trip to New Zealand and wear not during the day but as the evening temperature falls.

I currently have 3 Icebreaker crew necked long and short sleeved versions in 160gsm material and i remember buying my first one in a small outdoor shop in Oban. When i saw the price of £45, and i am going back about 8 years, i was in two minds if i should get it or not. I thought it was so expensive for a base layer, but i bought it.

Having now got used to wearing Merino base layers i find the properties of the material suits me just fine.
Merino has good warmth to weight and wicks moisture really well. And the important thing is that you can wear it for days without it ponging unlike other lightweight materials.
Depending on the time of year you can also just wear this baselayer directly under a waterproof without the need for a mid layer.

So i was going to wait and get a new Icebreaker Merino top when i arrived in Auckland but when i checked out the local outdoor shops that i had been advised to try by fellow blogger Rob who’s fine pages can be found at Lightweight Tramping Gear, they were actually a little more expensive than what you can get them for in the UK. Strange.

I eventually found a Merino 100% ultra fine wool long sleeved zip top in 200gsm for the cheap price of £25.76 and £3.95 P&P.

Straight out of the packing i saw the thumb loops which was a bit of surprise because they didn’t show this on the web page. A plus point.

And then, trying it on another plus point was the length. As you can see from the above photo of moi. it covers the cold spots and therefore it shouldn’t ride up when carrying a rucksack. Excellent.
You can also see that the top of the zip is just slightly off centre which makes up for the lack of a zip guard which i still would have preferred to have.

There are no seams across the top of the shoulders and all of the stitching is flatlock and good quality.
There are no pockets, after all this is a base layer not a mid.

They also do a ladies version which is here and costs £25.32 +P&P. I think this is very good value for money.

Unfortunately the Mens version has had a price increase since i received mine and doing this post. It is now £33.72. which is still very much cheaper than many other similar style tops.

For example the Icebreaker Mondo 200gsm LS Zip neck top is Here at £62.99. And Amazon are selling it for a little less Here at £56.00

Recovery Road

2011-10-18T11:52:00.000+01:00

The last 2 weeks i have been running at the football pitch’s adjacent to Oldham’s football ground. The circuit is 1k so it’s easy to keep a tally without all the Garmin stuff.
So today come hail rain or shine i was going to get out and do another 5k.
Well that’s exactly what i had, all three conditions within 40 minutes. And yes i know that’s slow for 5k.
I’m not a fast runner and i know there is a bit of weight i need to shift but i am working on it, honest.

It also gave me a chance to try out a new pair of gloves. I bought them at Aldi store in Whitehaven on Friday and they seemed too good not to try them. At a cost of £4.99 what was i expecting. Well miracles of course.

Picking them up i was impressed just how light they are and very comfy as well.
The label says they are Waterproof and Breathable and made from Hipotex. I’ve never heard of it either but that’s what it says.
They are also cycling gloves but i wasn’t bothered about that. If they keep me warm and dry that’s all i ask.

Inside, the label reads.
HIPOTEX, This special membrane prevents the entry of rain and melting snow but allows the passage of the body’s natural moisture vapour. (That’s perspiration to me and you.) The result is a remarkably comfortable glove that is waterproof and breathable.

In the photo above they look like they have done a good few miles but i assure you i have only worn them for 40 minutes and about 20 of those minutes was during rain. Heavy rain.
Well i can guarantee that this pair of gloves are not waterproof. I am so pleased i tried them out under short duration. I would have been a bit annoyed if i had to be wearing them all day.

Well, i know the old saying, “if you buy cheap you buy twice” but how do they get away with selling outdoor gear, supposedly breathable and waterproof when it’s not. What ever the retail price.
I must admit though i think outdoor gloves are probably the worst bit of kit, even expensive ones. I have never found a really good pair and i have had quite a few different makes and paid over the odds.
I just want a pair that keeps you dry and warm, with seams that are leakproof and with an outer material that doesn’t soak up the water. How hard can it be.
Water resistant probably would have been nearer the truth for these Aldi gloves, but even that is pushing it.

Another item of gear that caught my eye recently is the Gerber Steady. Gerber make good quality knives and Multi Tools.

The Steady is a Muti tool and it has a cleverly designed built in camera tripod for compact cameras. Ideal for the solo hiker who usually has both pieces of gear in the pack.
It’s not been released in the UK yet but i am reliably informed that it will be available in March 2012. Just in time for the TGO challenge. I don’t have a UK price as yet.

MYOG Windsheilds

2011-10-06T11:06:00.000+01:00

I make quite a number of stoves and windshields and over the years i have used some odd bits and pieces that started life as household items.
Windshields for example, i have used foil roasting tins, take away cartons, baked been tins etc etc.
It gets a bit silly at times, before Sheila throws anything out now she usually shouts me and asks do i want this “Packaging” before it goes in the rubbish bin.
All well and good but to get these items exactly what you want can take a bit of ingenuity with a rolling pin and a pair of scissors or even more if you want to make a cone shape.

Then i remembered that we used to use foil to make templates and prototype parts during my working days and i wondered if i could find out where it came from. Not std kitchen foil, but similar, just thicker and less tear resistant.

It surprised me when i was searching, just how little of it was available nowadays. But i did find one suitable item in the US.
It was in the St Louis craft shop and as well as aluminium, they do copper and brass too.

The aluminium foil is 1ft wide and in various lengths and 36 gauge thickness. That’s 0.005" or 0.127mm. It’s called Maid-O-Metal.

Then by a chance search i found a site in the UK. Fred Aldous and i couldn’t believe it was in Manchester.
It turns out that it is the exact same product as i originally found in the St Louis craft shop.
I ordered it at around 3.00pm and it was delivered before noon the next day. Fantastic service.

I have since found it available on Amazon, search "Aluminium Tooling Foil” but it is still shipped from Fred Aldous in Manchester.

I hope you MYOG people find this useful and put it to good use making your own shields, bases, pot/pan lids etc.
It can be cut with a good pair of kitchen scissors and holes punched in with a standard paper hole punch.

Tilley reply to my Zem shoe Amendment.

2011-10-05T11:32:00.000+01:00

I emailed Natasha Wright who is the Marketing co-ordinator at Tilley UK about the lack of visibility of the Zem shoe on the high street.
The response from her is below. I would like to thank her for that quick response.
People who have read my post and have been interested in the shoe like myself, must make up there own minds on how they want to proceed.

Dear Alan,

Thank you for your email.

ZEMgear is a brand that has just arrived in this country and all our Tilley retailers have received information on ZEMs and have been invited to consider stocking them but it is their decision, we can only encourage them.

Initial responses have been extremely positive and we hope to see many more points of sale in the UK in the near future….In the meantime ZEMs are available online and by mail order, and sizing has not proved a problematic issue so far.

If you are unsure then we can send you a couple of pairs to try and whichever pair does not fit you can return for a refund.

Regards Natasha

Amendment added at end of post on Zem shoes.

2011-10-04T17:49:00.000+01:00

Shoe post here

Zem Lightweight Shoes

2011-09-26T14:52:00.003+01:00

This leaflet dropped through my door the other day and i found it was interesting and so i thought i should find out a bit more and pass it on via the blog page.

These light shoes which i am informed weigh between 70 and 80 grams depending on the model are ideal second shoes for backpacking as they fold down completely flat and weigh so little.
As the leaflet below says, they can be used for travel, which is what initially caught my interest and pretty much anything else to do with the outdoors scene.

With them being sold in Europe by Tilley the hat people the quality must be good or else they wouldn’t have anything to do with them.

Click on the image to zoom.

Now i know a second pair of shoes is not every backpackers cup of tea but, Sheila and I like to have something else to put our feet into after a walk. (apart from a cooling stream that is).

Over the years it is amazing how things have changed.

From just an old pair of trainers weighing almost as much as a pair of boots do today, down to crocs which are light but bulky and not that packable to Vibram five finger shoes (below) which should have been called five toes surely. The Inov-8 190 sandal and the Saucony Hittori light shoe.

Vibram five fingers

And now the Zem shoes.

The Zem1, 2 and 3 are being offered in Europe through Tilley Endurables.

Link.

Zem1 is £24.95 with the split toe.

Zem2 is also £24.95 and has a std round toe.

Zem 3 is £29.95 and is same shape as Zem2 but has a little more padding for travelling.

Apart from plain black, other colours are available, blue, pink and white stripes.

ZEM 1

ZEM 2

ZEM 3 with additional padding.

Hope you find this of interest.

Update 4th October 2011.

I went in search of a pair today in all the shops that Tilley show on their website located in the Manchester centre area.

None of the retailers had them in and most had never heard of them.

I can only suggest at this moment in time that they are only available over the internet which is a real pain because you need to try them on unless you don’t mind the fuss of sending them back if they don’t fit.

I will contact Tilley and find out what’s going on.

Cuben Rain Mitts.

2011-09-19T20:52:00.000+01:00

Black Rock Gear are due to release a pair of Cuben Rain mitts. Weighing in at between 8 and 12 grams depending on size.
How ridiculously light are these.
I think you will need to get the orders placed quickly if you are interested. They will fly.
You can find them here.

Here is a snippet from the site.

Last Weekend, An explanation.

2011-09-15T14:03:00.001+01:00

Last weekend was a time i would prefer to forget. It just didn’t go well.
It’s not often bloggers posts are written of bad times but this is one.

It all started after the Duddon Valley Fell race back in June this year. Sheila and i were marshals on Swirl How as we have been for the last few years.
After the event we had a message asking if we would help out at a inaugural charity fell race to be held in September for the Alzheimers Society.
We agreed.

In the meantime, as you will be aware i got Shingles. This was mid August. It immediately sent me into a bit of a panic about whether i would be ok or not to do the fell race.

September arrived and at the end of the first week i had a phone call to check that i was ok to do the check point. I said yes. The Shingle blisters were on the mend and i had only a small patch remaining on my Kidney area. I thought another week and i will be fine.

So last thursday i was in the loft sorting out the camping gear for the weekend when the phone rang. It was Tina in Seathwaite offering us a bed for the weekend at their house. Considering the weather forecast
we accepted gratefully.

Friday morning we set off. First stop the petrol station. The car hadn’t moved for the best part of a month and it needed fuel.
What did i do? God forbid! I filled it up with unleaded instead of diesel. Well you can imagine the utter bewilderment at why the hell did i do that!
I still havn’t got a clue, but i know i am now £250 lighter for doing it. It will not happen again i know that much.

Anyway, we got to Seathwaite.

Saturday morning i felt fine and although it was a shocker of a day with rain and low cloud we were optimistic that it would be good.
Getting our winter clothes out and picking up the radio, number boards, pens etc from Race Control we set off to Three Shire Stone at the watershed of Wrynose pass. We arrived to find we were the only vehicle around which i must say is very unusual, but it was a lousy day.

Occasionally the murk would clear for a few seconds and gave us a bit of a view as we donned our gear and set off up Wet Side Edge.

Pike of Blisco in the gloom

After only about 150m of ascent i began to physically shake. Just like you do when you are very hungry or exhausted. I had only breakfasted about 1hr ago so i wasn’t hungry. I was a bit worried.

A little further on my legs were wobbly and i thought i wasn’t going to make the ridge top.

I could see Sheila knew there was something wrong because she was overtaking me and looking back saying are you all right. Yes i said i’m fine, i’m just a bit unfit, first time out for a while and all that.

Eventually attaining the ridge i sat down. Sheila was worried now and said "come on this is not you what’s up". I said i had no energy. She plied me with a Snickers bar but i couldn’t eat it. I felt sick.

I knew i had to go on and get to Swirl How, people were depending on me to be there for them.

I moved off slowly toward Carrs. I felt just like i had altitude sickness. Nausea, headache, tired, aching,

i could hardly lift my feet. One step, then slowly followed by another.

I had the voices on my shoulder. "You shouldn’t be here you know, go back down". Then the other one saying “come on you can do it, not far to go now”.

Sheila was holding on to me like i was in my 90’s in the snow. I tried to reassure her by saying “I am ok”

Sheila took this photo, i look and felt like a doddering old fart.

If you wonder what the blue things are on my hands, it’s what i have found to be best on fell races, a pair of liner gloves with surgical latex gloves on top. It makes writing and operating the radio far easier as well as keeping your hands warm.

Eventually through the cloud the large cairn of Swirl How came into view. I have never been so pleased to see it.

The visibility was around 30ft and it was howling a gale, 30 - 40mph with gusts at 70mph and the rain was lashing sideways. I collapsed at the back of the Cairn out of the wind and Sheila plied me with Green Tea and Mushroom soup.

I felt dreadful and wondered if i was going to become a Mountain Rescue statistic. Oh no!

I radio’d in to Race control telling them that we were in position and what the conditions were like. I told them how i felt. A voice i new came back. “Have you been drinking petrol”! was the reply.

Then on a more serious note they asked to be kept informed and if required a marshal off Grey Friar would come over.

I said i am here now and sat down so at least i will do the job.

Just prior to the first runners through, 2 runners came from Wetherlam. They were from Kendal fell runners, not in our race. They stopped for 5 minutes chatting. They were off to Three Shires and onto Langdale. They took a bearing and then set off. 10 minutes later they returned to us and surprisingly said oh S--t we must have took a wrong turn. That’s how bad the weather was up there.

A new bearing set and off they went. We didn’t see them again.

The runners appeared from the gloom with only metres to go to the cairn and then set off into the rain and headwind to Old Man Coniston after check in.

I called race control and let them know all runners were through Swirl How and that we were heading down. I was so pleased to be leaving. Sheila held me up and we set off downhill. My legs were like jellies and as soon as i exerted my self the nausea re-apperared.

Half way down Wet Side Edge we had our first break in the cloud and i had a sit down and took a couple of photo's.

About a minute later the mist wrapped round us once more and the view disappeared. Only as we approached the descent to Three Shires did it start to lift.

Back at race control, no runners lost or injured. Plenty of food and drink was laid on.
The winning time was 1hr 55mins 30 seconds. Won by Ian Barnes from Ambleside. 11 miles, 5 mountains and 3000ft of ascent.
For me it was a hot bath and a couple of hours sleep.
Thanks Sheila for getting me up there and back down again, it’s a feeling i hope never to have again and i must not be so stupid in future.

Unfortunately we had planned a walk with Mike Knipe and others in the Dumphries and Galloway hills very soon and i have had to pull out. Sorry peeps.

Turner Landscape Charity Fell Race.

2011-09-11T16:38:00.002+01:00

Hello,
Just wanted to say well done to Alan for all your hard work and effort getting up Swirl How to marshall the Turner landscape charity fell race in the Duddon Valley yesterday. I was very worried about you and clearly the shingles are taking their toll on you. I am so proud of you that you didn't give up getting to the top as you didn't want to let anyone down even though you were ready to drop down onto your knees and also be sick.
love you so much, your soul mate Sheila. xx

The South Loch Ness Trail

2011-08-24T11:38:00.000+01:00

I was very interested to read that the south side of Loch Ness has now been opened up for walkers.

So as my walking exploits are having to take a bit of a back seat for a while, i decided to copy the article from OutdoorsMagic and give it some more free advertising.

It’s certainly a great addition to the area and may be of interest to TGO Challengers during the planning stage of the walking route.

Click on the image to expand it.

Tarptent new models, Autumn 2011

2011-08-12T07:27:00.000+01:00

2 new offerings from Henry Shires at Tarptent are due out soon (Autumn), called the StatoSpire 1 and 2. (Click on the link for full specs and more photo's.)

The SS1 above and the SS2 below.

The SS1 will sleep 1-2, the floor does take 2 mats.

SS1 floor and bug mesh inner.

Weight is 0.9kg and uses your own trekking poles for support or trees can be used to suspend them.

The SS2 sleeps 2-3 and the weight is 1.1kg. Both tents can be erected within 2 minutes.

Costs are TBA. And it is not clear yet if there will be a solid interior released with the 1st production run. I would presume there will or maybe a half solid half mesh at some point. We will have to wait and see.

test photo post

2011-08-11T15:00:00.000+01:00

Just a test post.

Thanks Maria it worked eventually.
I appreciate your helpful guide to getting the image on the blog. Now i need to fix the path in my head so that it becomes second nature. That might take some time.

No rain today Pt.2 Great Burney

2011-08-08T11:37:00.000+01:00

Friday turned out to be a very warm sunny day so we set of for a walk in the Woodland Valley in South Cumbria and go up Great Burney where the views are stunning on a day like today.
It was not a long walk by any means and more of an amble.

We parked the car at the No Parking sign just off the A5092. The sign looks like it’s been shot at, run over, but significantly nobody has taken any notice of it for years.

The first half a mile or so is a single track road walk with good views out to the estuary and across the Woodland valley. Today we could see for miles.

Just past Burney farm we took the footpath which heads off in the direction of Knittleton on a very heavily fern ridden path. Ideal tick country.
Passing the small Burney tarn on our left and gaining an insignificant rise before hitting the single track fell road.

Easy walking for another half mile brought us to the T junction with the fell road to Broughton. We carried straight on across the road and had to be careful with our footing as it was a bit boggy in places. The view of Great Burney filling our view to the south.
Prior to reaching Crooked Birch farm the path heading south is indistinct although many people have walked this way before. There is no chance of going astray though.

Great Burney

The Coniston fells

Very soon a better track is reached and this leads you all the way to the summit and trig point of Great Burney. On the way up the views just get better and better and it’s difficult to make progress as we stood and stared at the magnificent scenery in all directions. Black Combe, The Corney and Birker fells, Scafell range, Duddon fells, Dow Crag, The Old man of Coniston, Wetherlam, Helvellyn, Kentmere fells and on and on into Yorkshire, Ingleborough 30 miles away could be seen. Stunning today.

View North from the summit

View South across Kirby Moor with Ulverston in the distance. Double click the photo to enlarge it and the Hoad Monument can be seen (Centre).

Summit trig point.

There was a cooling breeze crossing from the west so we headed for a hollow on the east side of the Trig Point for lunch and made a coffee with the new Coleman F1 Lite.
As Gayle quite rightly pointed out in the comments of the previous post, the Primus wind shield is just a little bit short on the F1 and it leaves a gap under the pan. We reverted to a foil windshield which as well as being much lighter than the Primus does a better job of shielding the burner.

Lunch over we walked to the West side of the summit finding an unfortunate ewe that had been lunch for a fox or two, before heading down the very steep section of path South, back down to the car. We also spotted another walker making his way to the summit. The only person we saw.

Just about half way down i was taking a photograph of some Tormentil a few feet off the path and as i knelt down i spotted in the grass what i thought was a glasses case. It turned out to be a damp but still working Mobile phone alongside a whistle and a torch attached to a carabiner.
I checked the contacts and found Mum. The items are now on the way back to a lad who had lost them last weekend whilst out walking with his Grandad. The luck that i was off track, on all that open fell side, photographing a flower and spotting a phone that had only just recently been lost is uncanny.

Wainwright says in his book The Outlying Fells, that there is a small stone circle to the south but like him we never found it either. To be fair though the ferns were too dense to make any identification possible at this time of year.

How nice this walk is on such a lovely clear sunny day. Pity the weather changed again so soon. The weekend being wet again but with good visibility for quite a lot of the time. Only the high fells being shrouded.

More photo’s of the views/walk are available here.

No rain today

2011-08-05T20:41:00.001+01:00

We have had a great day with terrific 360 degree views. Woodland in Cumbria. More to follow.
Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

A milestone reached.

2011-08-03T19:36:00.001+01:00

I/we are not bloggers who take much notice of statistics. We don't constantly check up who or what is driving the blog forward. I/we post what we feel we want to share and that is the jist of it.
So it does surprise us that the statistic on show, the number of hits on the site, has reached the amazing figure of 30,000+.
We never imagined for one minute that so many would have checked out the site for one reason or another. There are some amazing blogs to read on the web so it's all the more of a surprise. Staggering in fact.

So can we just say a big thank you to all who have taken the trouble to visit and hopefully taken something of use away with them whether it be gear, retail or MYOG or a just short walking route.
Many Thanks

Regards
Alan and Sheila.

Coleman F1 Lite compact stove.

2011-08-02T14:23:00.002+01:00

I bought the Optimus Crux folding stove awhile back for summer backpacking when i wanted a change from using my homemade Meths stove.

However, it has never functioned as i consider a stove should function. That is that the gas should be able to be regulated all the way through the range from - to + without dying or spluttering.

So i had been on the look out for something else that wouldn’t cost the earth and hopefully perform better than the Crux. I had set a budget at £25.

As it happens i settled for this Coleman F1 Lite.

Now i had seen this stove many years ago but for some reason i never paid it enough attention. It was quite a surprise that i read it weighed 77gr. so i decided to go and have a look at one.

I think it came onto the market about 2002/3 so it shows that it has stood the test of time.

I walked into Manchester a few weeks ago along the Rochdale Canal and i called into GoOutdoors which is adjacent to the waterway. They had the stove at £25 funnily enough and less if you had the discount card. Unfortunately my card had run out of date.

As it felt a nice light weight stove i thought i would check out some others but keep this one in the back of my mind as No.1 contender.

I ended up leaving the store without a purchase although i could have spent a fortune in the nice new store.

A few days later i was checking out some stoves on the web when i found the F1 Lite for sale at the cheap price of £13.95 from Amazon via Outdoor Value plus £3.99 shipping.

I ordered one and it duly arrived.

Since i ordered it, a few days later it was and still is available from Amazon via the well known Winwood Outdoors for £11.50 plus £4.00 shipping.

So, still pleased with the price i paid i checked out what it weighed in reality.

77gr advertised, 74gr on the scales.

The pouch, which you may or may not want to carry it in, weighed 9gr against the 11gr advertised.

The burner assembly splits into 2 pieces for ease of storage under the gas cylinder. It actually fits better than my folding Crux.

At first attempt at assembly i thought it was a bit fiddly but having used it a few times the job is not that bad.

Make sure leg no.2, (they are marked) goes into the slot and the other 2 between the stop lugs and screw the two parts together. Then screw the assembly to the cylinder.

The good thing is that you cannot over tighten it as the regulator body acts as a stop. Very good.

The F1 Lite assembled

The F1 Lite split and stowed

Like all upright gas stoves you have to be careful with the set up tipping over on uneven ground so it’s recommended that the cylinder stand is used.

Also a wind shield will be required in most cases and it was good to see that the Primus wind shield fits ok.

The specifications of this little stove are quite surprising;-

Output 4,600 W. 16,400 BTU

(Now some web sites are showing output as 4,800 W but my instruction sheet shows 4,600.)

Usage rate 330g/h

That’s 50mins on high output and 2 hours on low. 227gr cylinder.

This stove has an alloy body and regulator with a plastic mount under the burner. Initially i wondered if it would cope with the heat. But it seems ok. It says it’s a technologically advanced material called Polyether ether ketone or PEEK for short which is capable of withstanding up to 320℃ and down to -60℃ and is also shock resistant.

The 3 legs/pot stands are steel as is the burner.

The boil time for ?L is 3 minutes and 5mins 40 secs if it’s windy.

No web sites, not even Colemans own site tells you what the volume is it will boil in 3 mins etc. Odd that no companies have queried this and amended the specs. Maybe they were going to come back to it but forgot.

I guess it’s 1L.

The regulator is excellent. Right thought the volume range from minimum to maximum. No problems simmering cooking with this regulator.

I have also used it when my gas cylinder was coming to an end and the supply and regulation hardly changed.

I have been surprised at the massive variation of prices that i have seen with this stove. Varying from £39.99 at the high end to £11.50 at the bottom.

Overall - Very impressed with this lightweight 3 season stove, especially for the price it is available at.

Gosforth to Nether Wasdale and return

2011-08-01T13:55:00.002+01:00

Thursday evening as we drove our usual journey to Sheila’s mums via Birker fell, it was raining. It had been raining for most of the day.
Everywhere else had seemed to be enjoying the sunshine. We certainly were prior to setting off.

We stopped, again as usual, to take photo’s of the Scafell range and around to Harter Fell. It doesn’t matter, raining or sunny it always worth a few minutes stop to take in the landscape.

Photo. 1 Looking across Eskdale to Scafell

Photo 2. looking across Eskdale towards Illgill Head.

Photo 3. Looking across Birker to Harter Fell.

We always go to our usual haunt (Gosforth Hall Inn) for a beer or two upon arrival. It’s the stress of the driving you know.
It was good to see the new build making rapid progress. A new 13 bedroom annexe is being built in beautiful red sandstone, cut from the quarry near St Bees head. (The one on the Coast to Coast route).

And then Friday was shopping day to Whitehaven and on return, a trip to Nethertown for lunch and a visit to the best Garden centre in the area.

It was quite a surprise then when Dorothy suggested we go for a walk on Saturday. There was no kicking or screaming, no gouging or biting either. Standing back in amazement i realised we hadn’t brought any walking gear. It was unexpected.
The only compromise was that she suggested the walk.
This was from Gosforth village to Nether Wasdale with lunch at the Scree’s pub. Sounds ok to me i said.

It rained quite heavily during the night but the day was a lovely sunny day with clear views of the fells.

The route is below and the balloons show the route and mileage in Km. (Click on the image to zoom in)

Photo 4. Taken from around the 3.04km balloon looking North East at Scafell Pike and Great Gable in the background.

Photo 5. A Female Ringlet butterfly. Taken halfway between the 3.04 and 3.93 balloons.

Photo 6. A little unsure here but i think this is Feverfew. Anyone know for sure?

Taken at aprox 3.93km balloon.

Photo. 7 Getting a little arty. Taken at 4.20km balloon.

Photo 8. Meadowsweet Taken at 4.44km Balloon.

Photo 9. Dandelion taken at 4.44km balloon.

Photo 10. Taken 200yds west of 6.25km balloon. Scafell, Scafell Pikes and Illgill Head.

Photo 11. A big fellow. Taken at 6.25 Balloon.

Photo 12. Taken at the woodland between 6.44 and 6.80km balloon

Photo 13. Dorothy and Sheila at the 6.80km balloon.

Photo 14. Low Wood Hotel at Nether Wasdale

Photo 15. Lunch stop at the Screes Pub.

Photo 16. Leaving Nether Wasdale on same route back to Gosforth.

Photo 17. That big fellow still hasn’t moved. Must be tired out.

Photo 18. Meadow Vetchling.

Photo 19. Young fawn in escape mode. (centre, click to zoom). Taken north of 4.84 km Balloon.

Photo 20. The Old Bridge no longer used over the River Irt Taken at the 4. 20km Balloon.

Photo 21. Back in Gosforth Village for an ice cream.

The leaves are starting to get Autumn colours already and some

are starting to fall. Oh No.

Well we enjoyed the walk on a lovely sunny day, nice not to have to wear waterproofs, not that we had any mind you.
Mileage 14.50 Km there and back at a very gentle pace. Not much in the way of ascent. Plenty of stops.

Super Delios Water Filter Supply Update.

2011-07-28T15:31:00.002+01:00

We all are aware of the terrible problems that Mother Nature bestowed on Japan in March this year.
Well Super Delios have also been caught up in the aftermath of that tragedy.

After a few people had mentioned to me that stock was not available in the Uk, I contacted Miss Fujimoto from Delios Uk for an update on supply and timescales and below is the thorough response from her.

1st Re:- No UK Stock

Yes, Alan, it is true.

I have placed a notice on Delios UK’s website in early June.

Delios has been in overwhelming demand since the earthquake in Japan and we, both in Japan and UK, have no stock, except for several (12) Drip Delios here.

The partner in Japan notified me that the manufacturing facility we have been working for the last 10 years is having a problem, not damages from the earthquake, but overwhelming orders for production of various products, including Delios. It is a shame that they failed to prioritise our order on this occasion. However, I understand that the facility wants to deal with everyone equally.

As I noted in my previous Delios news letter, the manufacturing industry and household in Japan are also placed under electricity use restrictions, which is impacting production capacity further.

Therefore, the partner has been in the negotiation with other manufacturing facilities and they are now in the process of testing Delios filter. When you move to a new facility, you need to produce a new mold and have to go through a rigorous hygiene and safety testing process again.

I was told that it will take 2-3 months to get products for shipping.

We are having a very difficult time as we fully understand that people wanted to try Delios this holiday season.

However, we also understand that we are at the mercy of the Mother Nature.

Yes, I have no stock of Super Delios, only 12 Drip Delios left.

There is no stock in Japan.

Q2. Can you tell me when stock is due to arrive.

I am expecting Delios to be delivered in September or so. They are doing everything they can to speed up the process.

Q3. Robin Evans, replacement bottle?

Yes, I have contacted Robin last month and explained about the situation. He kindly sent me several photos of damaged bottled, which were also forwarded to the partner in Japan. He replied to me and kindly accepted the delay of Super Delios shipping.

I apologise for any inconvenience caused to you as well as your friends, who wanted to try Delios this summer.

It is a very difficult experience for us that we cannot deliver items at this moment.

In the meantime, however, please do let me know anything you think of Delios.

Thanks so much again for your email.

Your email is always appreciated.

Yours sincerely,

Yasuyo Fujimoto (Miss)

Super Delios Ltd.

I think i am right in saying that we the customer are very pleased with the product and wish all at Delios and in Japan a speedy recovery.

May i also thank Miss Fujimoto for a quick response to my questions.

Finisterre Tee shirt

2011-07-21T14:08:00.002+01:00

A few weeks ago Millets, the outdoor people sent me a Finisterre Tee shirt, they never asked me to review it but i thought i would because i do like Finisterre products.

Finisterre are a British Company based in Cornwall and as the location suggests they are more well known with surfers than mountain folk.
However there are overlaps and you will find from there product range numerous pieces of clothing that lends themselves to the hills.

Finisterre are a company that make environmentally friendly technical clothes from recycled or natural fibres, such as merino wool and organic cotton. They even have there own Merino wool sheep on a farm close by.
They also make clothes that last.

The Tee shirt above is organic cotton and there are numerous logo’s/pictures or plain available to choose from and a number of colours too. I chose the basic simple name.
The Tee shirt is soft feel and well made with no tough seams to rub when wearing gear on top. Although not a hiking Tee shirt it’s a nice piece of kit for everyday use, holidays or a trip to the pub.
It’s machine washable at 30℃ but i would treat it more like a wool mix than just cotton and don’t tumble dry it if you want it to stay in shape.

All the dyes are environmentally friendly and it has a GOTS standard, meeting toxicological criteria. Also as part of the STD at least 70% of the material is organic and that environmental criteria and social criteria has to be met along the entire supply chain of the product.

The STD also involves much more but that is not what the review is about. If you want to read more about it, it’s here.

All in All, it is something i like to wear and it will last some time.

A sign of “The Times”maybe.

2011-07-20T11:56:00.000+01:00

Last weekend as my last post shows Sheila and i walked the Duddon Valley or i should say a bit of it. We know the area very well and it’s a favourite place.

While we were there we came across this article by Christopher Somerville in The Times newspaper Saturday 9th July 2011.
It was a walk in the Duddon Valley from the Newfield Inn in Seathwaite.

Can you spot the three obvious mistakes above?

No! Well let me increase the zoom.

Spotted them now? Yes - No?

Ok for those who have given up.

1. Seathwaite has gained an extra h, where did that come from.

"Anybody can make that mistake”, i hear you say. Well yes i suppose, but this is “The Times” we are looking at here.

2. The photograph is Borrowdale and not the Duddon Valley.

How can this happen, who vetted the piece prior to it’s release to press?

And to make it worse.

3. The title on the photo is the Duddon Valley which the author goes to length in the first paragraph to emphasize that this is not Seathwaite Borrowdale but the other one in the Duddon.

My goodness who own’s this paper.

The author, at the end of the guide specifies that it is a moderate walk and boots are essential. What rubbish! Boots essential, i don’t think so. Good trail/approach shoes are all that are required and, ok boots if that is what you prefer to wear. But essential, No, not in the least.

Dear oh dear.

Thunder in the night

2011-07-17T20:20:00.004+01:00

From Grey Friar to Dow Crag a low rumble of thunder was passed around the combe and encompassing tops. Our wild campsite at Seathwaite Tarn that we hoped would be a calm, sunset evening was anything but. Fortunately no lightening just God re-arranging the furniture as my mum used to say.

We had checked the weather before setting off on thursday evening from home to Seathwaite in the Duddon Valley and although it said rain for the weekend it also mentioned, showers, intermittent, sunny spells, changeable. It will be ok we thought and set up a base camp at Turner Hall Campsite.

Our route basically, was to follow the River Duddon north up to Birks Bridge where we would then take the track through Pike House Close and head up to Seathwaite Tarn for a wild camp before hitting the heights and returning to Seathwaite via Walna Quarries, Natty Bridge, Stephensons Ground, Long Mire and the Park Head Road. All together about 15 beautiful miles.

Friday morning dawned, the day was calm, ever so sunny and humid, the campsite was quiet, no kids. We laughed at the weather forecast, they’ve got it wrong again. It has been a glorious week we had been told by our friends and residents of Seathwaite.
The River Duddon was slow running, the birds singing and all was good with the world.

The scenery following the Duddon is magnificent, with scree, broad leafed woodland, forestry plantations, open fell, hills, wild flowers, bubbling becks and the odd waterfall or two.
There are also lots of good swimming pools for days like today.

The River Duddon

Scree slope below Wallowbarrow crag

The views open out as you approach Grassguards Gill, Long Stand at the head of the valley can be seen and to the right Dow Crag, The Coniston Ridge and Grey Friar dominate.
Many Bog Myrtle plants can be found here and the leaves exude an aroma similar to eucalyptus when crushed in the hand.

Broad leafed forest at Grassguards Gill

Fickle steps with low water in the Duddon.

Still in the Broad leafed forest with the sun so strong we stopped for a minute or two at the waterfall at Wet Gill. Sparkling in the sunlight it’s a lovely spot to relax.

One of the many good swimming pools.

Not too far ahead we lost the lovely broad leafed trees and entered the world of the man made forest with the needle floor. Such a difference to the previous hour but not ugly in this instance as many forestry plantations can be.
Sheila took a bit of a tumble just a little further on, tripping over an exposed root. Fortunately she was able to carry on but her ankle is a bit swollen now.

Bog Asphodel

Birks Bridge

We could hear voices even before we arrived at Birks Bridge and the splashing as lads were jumping off the bridge into the deep pool below. It’s usually a busy place being adjacent to the fell road but today there were only 3 people there. It’s a good spot for a picnic and a swim.

We had lunch here, capitalising on the picnic tables which today were empty. The blue sky which had dominated the last couple of hours was looking fragile as the cloud cover started to blanket out the sun.

The odd rain drop noisily landed on the plastic map case whilst we demolished our mackerel and rye bread but it was just a threat.

We were greeted with a hello from a chap heading up Harter fell as we finished lunch, packed up and headed off up the road for a short distance before a right turn takes us into Pike How Close.

The clouds were mounting at a pace and the temperature was noticeably a little cooler. Still the rain held off.

North end of the Duddon Valley with Hard Knott on the left and Little Stand on the right.

As height is gained on Grey Friar’s lower slopes the splendid views of Harter fell and the middle section of the Duddon Valley open out.

Caw, (far Left) with Tarn Beck in the lush valley, High Tongue in centre and Whit fell in the distance.

Harter Fell in background

The good track starts to meander to miss the extensive boggy ground ahead which surrounds Tarn Becks exit from the reservoir. Otherwise it is a track with good views.

Ahead of us the blue sky was hanging on but the quantity of it was reducing fast. The dam wall came into view and a short shower greeted us to our first view of the reservoir. Not heavy enough for waterproofs but a warning non the same.

Seathwaite Reservoir dam, centre left.

North shore of the reservoir.

The original tarn was damned in 1904 and the navvies working on the construction rioted in The Newfield Inn, in Seathwaite village which resulted in one man getting shot and much damage done. A newspaper cutting of the event can be found in The Newfield Inn pub.

The reservoir was built to provide water to Barrow-in-Furness and it was also featured in the film Plague Dogs by Richard Adams.

We found a decent enough spot and pitched the tent, the mist rolling in encouraged us not to hang about. We had no sooner got things in place when we had our first taste of wet weather. Looking out across the tarn the hills to the south west were rapidly disappearing as the weather closed in. Fortunately this shower only lasted for 1/2 an hour.

We managed to get tea done and dusted. I had Wolf fish casserole and Sheila had Pasta Bolognese before the heavens opened once again. This time it rained heavily for 2 hours before we had a lull and we had the chance to venture out.

An all to brief venture out.

We had some wooly visitors, i think we may have pinched there spot.

Too quickly the rain started again so it was back to the tent. This time we said it’s in for the night. Nothing else for it but to call it a day. So an early night was had. 9.00pm.

We were woken up quite a few times before it dawned with some very heavy rain and low rumbles of thunder. The noise on the tent was like rapid multi drum beats and the tranquil stream of a few hours ago had began to increase in decibels.

It always goes through the mind at times like these. “Have we pitched far enough away from the beck if it overflows”? And this was no exception.

At 6.00am there was still no let up and looking out of the tent door the mist was very low and it was so eyrie, the tarn so dark and foreboding, just the rain and the stream to be heard, no birds, no sheep.

At 7.00am there was no change so we opened discussions on what to do. Do we wait a couple of hours and see if it improves or do we pack up now and head down.

We decided to wait until 8.00am and then make the decision. 8.00am came and the weather was getting heavier if anything. We decided to call off the walk and head down.

The rain was really heavy now and the wind had picked up, it was so bad that i wouldn’t risk getting the camera out of it’s dry bag to capture the event.

As we made our way back along the path to the dam, which was now flowing nicely we saw a shape come out of the mist. It was a fell runner, he came to the end of the dam and then retraced his steps back down.

Many new streams were flowing down the fell side, they were appearing out of the mist like great white tails. Before we got down to the bottom of the track we heard the cacophony which was Long House Gill. A tremendous noise of the power of nature. Photographs and words cannot express fully the sound.

Long House Gill

Sheila at the confluence of Long House Gill and the Walna Scar track.

We made our way back to Turner Hall campsite passing Tarn Beck
which also was noisy in spate.

And as we reached the campsite the heavens opened just to let us know that we had made the right decision in giving the high ground a miss today.

Believe it or not but we had had a nice time. The modifications i made to the Scarp 2 proved successful with no leaks what so ever. It stood up to the severe conditions superbly and that was without the additional pole set.

Number of ticks removed....1

Cannot wait to go back and finish what we started.