In a week’s time I’ll be halfway through my 2017 trip to Edinburgh and Tom wants to go up Arthur’s Seat so let’s go back to my 2015 climb. Right in the heart of Edinburgh is a volcano. It’s an extinct volcano and it manifests itself in two places – Castle Rock and Arthur’s Seat. Castle Rock … More The Volcano Adventures: Arthur’s Seat
It’s August, it’s Edinburgh so first up in a series of special Edinburgh posts is Fringe 101, or “how to Edinburgh”. What is the Fringe? The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is a huge comedy festival. Well, strictly speaking it’s not just comedy – it’s theatre and dance and art and all things weird but the comedy part … More Fringe 101
I’m very excited to be writing this post because I have something very exciting to tell you that I’ve only told a very small handful of people in real life. I’ve written a book! Well, it’s not finished. But I’ve just had the proof copy of the sixth draft and I’m hoping that after a … More I wrote a book!
There we are in the blistering heat, a marquee up behind us. It’s taken us three or four attempts to figure out what shape the frame should be but it’s up. There’s me, most experienced camper of the lot and severely emetophobic First Aider. There’s Pixie, inexperienced camper doing her assessed camp for her camp … More Alice in Wonderland camp
You pick up a lot of skills as a Guide leader. Team work, leadership skills, First Aid, various outdoors abilities, admin, improvisation, children skills, public singing – and event planning. I was involved in my biggest event yet last weekend. I’ve planned multiple district events for 50-100 people, some of them all on my own … More Behind the scenes at a national Brownie event
I will start this post by pointing out that sea kayaking today involves a lot of things that frighten me and as I wrote this, I felt more and more like one of these people who’s scared of too many things to ever leave the house. Things I was scared of today, in no particular … More The problem with sea kayaking is the sea
When I was a kid and a teenager, I spent all of my summers on holiday with Keycamp – camping for people who don’t like camping, really. You arrive on a campsite to find your tent or caravan all ready for you to move in, fully equipped with plates and wine glasses and pillows and … More Eurocamping as an adult
Something very exciting happened two weeks ago. My Bronze DofE badge and certificate arrived in the post! For anyone who hasn’t encountered DofE, it’s the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, done in three levels (Bronze, Silver & Gold) and stereotypically involves two to five days of walking in the rain over inhospitable territory like Dartmoor. The … More DofE – as an adult!
I don’t know what it is about snowshoeing that has such a hold over me. I began wanting to try it when I was at the Altitude Festival in 2012 but I couldn’t fit it in my hectic schedule of snowboarding lessons, paraglides off snowy Alps and long evenings of comedy. I wanted to do … More Norway 2017: A snowshoeing triumph
Ice-climbing is the most physically demanding thing I’ve ever done. Harder even than extracting myself from the semi-vertical dog-leg squeeze I got wedged in at the bottom of Lionel’s Hole in the Mendips a few years ago. I was in Iceland, I was in Reykjavik and the bit of ice I was going to climb … More Ice-climbing: harder than it looks
I Am A Polar Bear 