Packrafting the River Tamiš

August 6, 2021

In July 2020, in a brief respite from the worries of the covid pandemic, I had the good fortune to be able to escape for a little adventure, spending 3 days paddling down the Tamiš river in northern Serbia, in my packraft.

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Gently Down the Stream - Sunday Packrafting

December 10, 2018

I don’t know anything about river management. However it is always frustrating how difficult it is to paddle for any distance on my local river; the Great Ouse.

I didn’t run into any other waterborne folk which adds its own kind of charm and what I lacked in speed I made up for in birdlife; six geese, five swans, four herons, three kingfishers, two cormorants and a partridge in a …

Yesterday Was a Perfect Day

September 25, 2017

“CAN WE GO IN THE PACKRAFT DADDY?”

It is hard to express in words the special joy that permeates throughout every fibre of me when I hear such a question. I am delighted my daughter is showing an increasing interest not only in getting on the water but in actually doing some paddling. Today she showed me she understood the basic principles that keep a vessel straight.

Summer Road Trip 2017 - Packrafting Mountain Lakes

July 17, 2017

There is something about a mountain lake that draws you in. It is in a sense the ultimate in doing something simply because it is there. Paddling out into the middle of the lake is often largely pointless, it is not wide enough to pose a physical challenge and it doesn’t take you anywhere, in the way that a river might.

It does however offer a genuinely new viewpoint and I think it is this which is so attractive to me. I have always walked around mountain lakes in awe of their beauty but it is only recently that I have discovered the true joy that is to be found on the water.

New Gear for Review

June 21, 2017

Its just a few day before I go off to the Alps for the best part of a week, reacquainting myself with the glaciers and ridges of the mountains that inspired my love of the outdoors.

It is surprising how long-lasting a lot of outdoor gear can be, even when left unattended. So I have scraped a bit of rust off my crampons and we are good to go!

Actually I have taken delivery of quite a few new bits this week, as I prepare of our adventure road trip in Serbia, Bosnia and Montenegro. Below are a few which I shall be reviewing over the summer.

I am not used to requiring waterproof covers for everything but if I have learnt anything since buying the packraft it is the value in keeping everything in one dry bag and the phone well and truly safe. I have a 20l dry bag and two phone covers to try out in some white water in July!

The last time I filtered water was using tablets which was difficult to stomach, but things have moved on since then and Water-to-Go seems to provide a reasonably-priced option for water-filtration. I think that will get a lot of testing over the month of July.

My GoPro is never far from me and since my last mini grip tripod broke in two places whilst I was in the Cairngorms in April I have been looking out for a new one at a reasonable price. The Fantaseal® Robust Octopus seems to fit the bill, we shall see how it performs.

I have never used a solar charger but with the profusion of devices that my family seems to have amassed I felt it made sense not just for myself in the mountains but also for all of us on the road. I will also be blogging on our trip so would hate to be without power! I have the Anker PowerPort Solar Lite (15W 2-Port USB Solar Charger) which should give plenty of power!

I will start posting reviews in early August for these items and some clothing... now back to #30DaysWild.

4 Days Wild - P is for Paddling [Video]

June 4, 2017

Day 4 of 30 Days Wild saw us make the most of the sunny weather and go on a packrafting expedition!

There is not much to say really except we had a fabulous mini-adventure, although the swans were not exactly happy to see us. The whole thing was spur of the moment, took little organisation and we back home for lunch!

Anyway WATCH the VIDEO...

A Load of Old Rubbish.

May 15, 2017

Every time I go for a walk I see rubbish. Every time I go for a walk, I Pass rubbish and I tut, in a sort of self-satisfied way.

I regularly ask myself; how could people be so crass as to drop litter? Why don't they pick it up?

The question I never asked is; why don't I pick it up?

How to make a GoPro packraft Mount [Video]

March 20, 2017

One year - when I was seven years old, if memory serves me right - my brother and I set sail on a home made raft made from branches and planks nailed and lashed together with twine and strapped over some large plastic jerry cans.

We drifted out into an often limpid pool that was only a few metres across, but in doing so we lived out an adventure that few children did. We translated our imagination into reality. Alright, we had some grown-up help in the construction of this vessel but the Swallows and Amazons fantasy we lived out was all ours.

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Cleveland Way - Scarborough to High Hawsker

In October 2020, my friend Dave and I walked a section of the Cleveland Way in Yorkshire over a couple of days. We started from Scarborough and walked to Ravenscar (18 km). The next day we walked to High Hawsker (15 km).

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Packrafting the River Tamiš

Interview with Emily Woodhouse - Founder of Intrepid Magazine

I recently had the pleasure to interview Emily Woodhouse, someone who is well known and someone who has been somewhat of a pioneer in giving a voice to many women in the adventure / outdoor sports world.

In this interview Emily gives me some insight into her whirlwind entrepreneurial journey and how much there is to learn from diving into a (business) adventure.

Not only has Intrepid Magazine provided something that was missing in the outdoor space but it is doubly satisfying to know it was the vision of someone who cares passionately about the subject matter, saw the importance of it and had the courage to go through with it… although I am not sure Emily herself see it as “courage”. As she says in the interview: “I looked at the hole in the magazine world and thought: I can do that”.

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Three Men in a Boat (to say nothing of the wallaby)

The loch was like a mirror as we set off from Luss on Friday to explore. Having walked to the high point on Inchtavannach to admire the views, and paddled around Inchmoan, watching the deer come down to the water’s edge, we agreed to spend the night on Inchconnachan for no other reason than it appeared absolutely idyllic as the sun began to sink and the evening light bathed the lake in a silvery light.

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Weekend Adventure - From lying in the sun to crying on a plane

I have mentioned a few times that my daughter is neither naturally sporty, particularly active or indeed fearless. She is perhaps the opposite. So I was especially proud that she decided on the Saturday morning, as we dithered whether to have an hour in the water at Buzz Active Cuckmere, that this was indeed the ideal opportunity for her to go solo in a kayak for the first time.

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Canoeing the Wye: Happiness V Social Media [Video]

I had so much fun this weekend that I didn’t tell anyone about it. Imagine that! The moment was way more important to me than broadcasting about it. Yes, I know it should be, but if we are honest with ourselves, it isn’t alway, is it?

I spent Friday and Saturday canoeing down the Wye with my 7 year old daughter, from Hoarwithy to Symonds Yat. It is the first time either of us has done this kind of trip and to share this adventure together was the sort of experience that makes me go all mushy and emotional…

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Wild Night Out 2019: The Whining

Travelling in ultra lightweight style (we only carried four cricket stumps instead of the full compliment of six) Emma and I marched along the coast path, over the dunes and onto the vast sands of our beautiful coast for a perfect Wild Night Out 2019, until the high-pitched whining started…

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30 Days Wild: Suburban Springwatch

One thing I decided to do this year was leave one corner of the garden wild. I don’t know how long it will last as pressure builds from within the family to “do something” with that corner but while it does last it has had a positive effect in terms of wildlife.

Perhaps the best aspect of this experiment is the fact that every night around 9pm we have a fat hedgehog who comes through our front gate, wanders through the garden to this unkempt patch of land and roots around for a couple of hours before waddling off to check out what the neighbours have to offer.

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30 Days Wild: Freshwalks: Networking in the Outdoors

This filthy-wet month, I am trying to spend time outside in nature during my working day as part of the Wildlife Trusts 30 Days Wild. I cannot pretend it has been as easy as last year’s sun-drenched June when gently swaying flower meadows and deserted Norfolk beaches called out to me.

However, recently a client of mine drew my attention to an innovative and inspiring initiative getting business people into the outdoors, for Freshwalks. The benefits of which might surprise a few…

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30 days Wild: Welcome to my office

“Can you repeat that please sir?” I could hear a slightly exasperated tone on the other end of the line.

This morning, a few days into June and woefully short of what I hope to achieve during 30 Days Wild, I ventured out into the meadow to make a few phone calls. I took my office outdoors! The helpful assistant from Barclays Business Banking went off for a few minutes to find out some information, and probably to curse me as my microphone was buffeted by the breeze, that bent the tall flowers surrounding me and repeatedly flicked my hood over my head.

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30 Days Wild: Switch off with Nature

We are just a few days away from June and the start of 30 Days Wild; the Wildlife Trusts amazing initiative to get people outside, enjoying and appreciating nature.

This year, as part of 30 Days Wild I will be focussing on how nature can help alleviate the stresses and strains of work and how to get more of it into the working day.

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Do you want to live more adventurously?

The decision to change my life and live more adventurously was utterly instinctive, borne of exasperation, a last resort. I was burnt out, suffering from anxiety, depressed.

How I got to the point of changing the direction of my life was a couple of years of mental wrangling and torture, until I stumbled across some inspiration.

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