Second weekend in a row of uniformed adults having adventures in the woods! But this time, we’re not pretending to be Scouts and the neckerchiefs aren’t a festival costume; we’re the real thing – Girlguiding adult volunteers and the neckerchiefs were mostly Region ones. Try Inspire Qualify is an adults-only event run by Girlguiding South … More I made a knife at Try Inspire Qualify 2026
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?
This is usually either the first or the second post of the year but here we are in the last week of February because I had the bright idea to document our Christmas Adventure on film this year. I’m not very good at taking 36 film photos in a single day, so it took until … More Christmas Adventure 2024 at Hurst Spit
A sensory deprivation tank, or a flotation tank or even REST (restricted environment stimulant therapy) as they call it in this century, was something that had been on my to-do list for a while but going into the New Year, I decided to get it over with. It’s supposed to be pretty much a cure … More I tried a sensory deprivation tank
This is an idea I had six or eight months ago but I didn’t have time to do it in the autumn or winter but today, at last, come and join me for my no-cruise cruise! I’m not a cruise person. I never will be. First, emetophobes and long boat journeys don’t mix. Second, I’d … More Come with me on a no-cruise cruise!
It’s three and a half weeks since I walked the South Downs Way and I guess it’s time to switch my brain on and do a little analysis. I knew what this post was going to say, word for word, while I was limping through the countryside but when I got home and tried to … More What I learned about myself, long-distance hiking and kit on the South Downs Way
Not all of it! I didn’t walk the entire length of the South Downs Way. I didn’t even walk the entire length of what I had planned. But I managed 28km of it, which is 17.5% and that’s not bad. My plan was days one and two as given by both the South Downs Way … More I walked the South Downs Way!
Sparkle & Ice is my favourite of Girlguiding’s large-scale events. That’s partly because I’m a polar bear and I like things that are meant to be cold and/or wintery and partly because I like the weirdness of it. We don’t generally camp in the winter, because we’re not tough enough and the girls certainly aren’t … More Sparkle & Ice 2022: the warmest Sparkle ever!
That’s a total clickbait title – for the first time, I deliberately didn’t book a qualification at Try Inspire Qualify because there were none I wanted to do that I haven’t already done. Try Inspire Qualify has a lot in common with Camp Wildfire, actually: a lot of adults taking the weekend off being responsible … More I didn’t qualify at Try Inspire Qualify!
Santa Specials – Father Christmas and mince pies on steam trains – have been a staple of the season at least since I was a child, and for decades before that, probably. But that’s not really feasible in 2020 and so the heritage steam railways of the country have had to come up with some … More Steam Illuminations on the Watercress Line