Being both a keen Guide and a keener traveller, you’d think I’d be an INTOPS regular- that is, Girlguiding’s shorthand for International Opportunities, or trips abroad. But no, I’ve only in the last two years really come across INTOPS and I’d never thought about going for it myself. But now I have and this intersection … More What happens at INTOPS (International Opportunities) adult selection?
I enjoy the Boat Race. There. I said it. I’m not a fan of sports – not of watching it, anyway. I’m still not accustomed to the idea that I myself could be a participant in sports but archery & fencing are both in the Olympics and therefore sports, and kayaking is indisputably a sport … More In defence of the Boat Race
The second part of the Switzerland 2014 post to get rewritten, because the photos had broken, is our day trip to Our Chalet. Quick recap: this is a Girlguiding trip; it’s a county adults trip with no selection process other than being the first twelve or so to send a deposit and we went to … More Switzerland 2014: Our Chalet
For reasons that might become clearer later in the month, I was looking at my old Switzerland posts the other day and discovered that all the photos had broken in the first two posts from our county trip in 2014. So rather than just repair the photos, I thought I’d rewrite them altogether because it’s … More Switzerland 2014: Anita’s B&B
Did you know you can kayak in London? Central London, that really busy bit with the thousands of Clippers and tourist boats and all the other chaos? Whether I could take my own kayak and do it myself, I don’t know, but there’s certainly a company that offers the experience with an expert guide and … More I kayaked across central London
I watch a reasonable number of Ring Road vlogs and apart from the fact that there are a load of things that infuriate me (mispronunciation of any and all names, neglect of Þingvellir, non-existent flicking through of guidebook – for crying out loud, the last one I watched knew about “Diamond Beach” but had no … More How to travel Iceland on a budget
When I was at school, I did the Bronze level of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. It was introduced at my school in my last year so we were the guinea pigs for it. I didn’t know I could continue it at uni or through Girlguiding or through local groups, otherwise I would at least … More I did the Bronze level of four award schemes. How do they compare?
“The Cave” is a ludicrous way to start this but it’s the way the landowners are marketing their lava caving trip into Víðgelmir, Iceland’s biggest lava cave – or at least, the biggest one discovered that it’s possible to go inside. I have a hypothesis that a lot of things in Iceland are very self-explanatory … More Visiting The Cave, Iceland’s biggest lava cave
Since I’m on the subject of pools, I’m going to carry on and introduce you to the revamped geothermal pool at Húsafell in the west of Iceland. Not that I ever went there pre-revamp so I can’t compare it to what it used to look like but it’s been on my to-do list for years … More Visiting Lindin Húsafell
On Monday, I talked about the best swimming pools in Reykjavik and today I’m going to go over how you actually use a local swimming pool in Iceland. When you arrive, they’ll ask “have you been here before?” and even if you say you have, they’ll still ask “So you know all the rules?”. If … More How to use a swimming pool in Iceland
I Am A Polar Bear 