Apologies for not updating the site for a little while.

Between the Black Forest trip and Orkney, I’ve been home for 3 days in the last 3 weeks.

I’ve decided to write this weeks entry about Orkney. Why ?. Its a dull lonely Island in the middle of nowhere, like something out of Father Ted isn’t it ?

Well that’s what I thought it would be like, but it was completely inspiring and I got to do 2 fantastic things from my 2nd bluelist while there..

Nikki’s parents wedding anniversary. They could go anywhere they wanted, chose Orkney and the whole family went along.

I was invited as well 🙂

It actually took 2 planes to fly to Orkney.

The first plane was quite small, had propellers and flew to Aberdeen.

In Aberdeen airport, we had some breakfast and they had some art work for sale.

I saw this picture and instantly recognised where it was.

The Camasunary bothy on the Isle of Sky, with Bla Bheinn in the background.

It put me in a good mood, which was important, as our 2nd plane was like a reliant robin with wings.

Once onboard, they didn’t serve any alcohol on the flight and our right hand engine was struck by lightening :(.

I did my “dentist thing”, closed my eyes tight and imagined I was somewhere else, doing something completely different 🙂

But we arrive in one piece and are transported to our hotel.

Orkney is an Archipelago (which for those that dont know, means it isn’t just an Island, but a sort of “consortium” of small islands together).

Made up of 70 Islands of which 20 are inhabited, the area was given to Scotland as a wedding dowry.

We spent most of our time on the main Island called Orkney, and our hotel was located in the capital Kirkwall.

In fact we stayed in the Kirkwall hotel. A cracking spot with great views of the harbour.

It looked a bit rundown, but the service was top notch, our room had a bath, a friendly bar and served very good food.

The whole area was buzzing with people, there to celebrate the centenary of the battle of Jutland (more about that when I visit the Scapa Flow visitor centre).

The occupants of the Islands do not like to be called Scottish and describe themselves as Orcadian.

One thing I should mention at this point.

While away on a walking weekend to celebrate my birthday, I took a fall.

I hit my my knee, then bounced over and landed on my side. I only realised later, that my camera was in a pouch on my belt and when I landed on it, I bent the frame and destroyed it.

So for the first time, every photo your going to see on this section of johnsunter.com was taken with a mobile phone (my Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini).

Our first morning, and we make plans for the day.

Orkney has several “interesting” Neolithic sites and we set out out to see them.

On the way I saw a unique looking military ship in the harbour and I was fixated. There’s only 1 type of ship in the British navy that’s designed that way !.

Brilliantly, as The Battle of Jutland was being celebrated, there was a Daring Class Destroyer moored in the harbour that you could go and see.

HMS Duncan is the newest of the 6 The Daring Class Type 45 destroyer’s

I’d read loads of stuff about them and I was fascinated to finally see one.

It’s the most advanced ship of its kind in the world. In simulation tests, it can outperform 4 type 42 destroyers (which it supersedes) combined.

It’s radar guided weapons systems can track 1000 fast moving targets the size of cricket balls, all at the same time.

I’d only been on Orkney a few hours and already felt like I’d achieved something pretty amazing.

We continued on to visit 2 fascinating Neolithic sites.

This is johnsunter.com so instead I’ve put up a picture of the Orkney Brewery where we had lunch.

I’ve included links to The Standing Stones of Stenness and The Ring of Brodgar for those interested.

The RSPB gave an interesting talk on local birds.

I was more interested by local livestock. There are 20,000 people on Orkney and 100,000 cows.

I’ve always enjoyed Aberdeen Angus Burgers from Tesco.

While we passed a field, I got to see some for the first time. They can be instantly recognised, as they are black.

We continue on, and visit one of the oldest village sites in the world (older than the Pyramids, Stone Henge and the Great Wall of China) Ness of Brodgar.

It had a little visitors centre with some multimedia presentation and souvenirs.

From here you can wander outside and see the actual structures and buildings. With my bushcraft experience I could see how the buildings had been organised and constructed to compliment each other.

It was also a beautiful day and one of the staff commented it was the nicest day of the year.

This is one of the buildings with its roof removed.

You can see the fire hearth in the centre, and stone bed emplacements around it (foliage would be added for comfort, fire would provide warmth and the sod roof would protect the occupants from wind and rain.

Interestingly at the front is a sort of sideboard for storing tools and ornaments. All of the buildings had this same “cupboard design” and its been adopted as the symbol of Ness of Brodgar.

The village had ultimately been abandoned, and nobody knows why.

Included with the admission was a visit to the nearby the Skaill house.

A stately home with loads of old artefacts like military clothing from the Peninsula war, old portraits and a book case with a secret compartment.

After lunch, we drive to the other end of the Island and a place called Stromness to visit a museum there.

Like many of the museums we saw it was very quirky and with a disparate collection of artefacts.

I found them all interesting, but in honesty I felt like instead of starting with a theme and setting up a collection, they just got hold of anything they could and put it out on show.

Above for example a chap on board ship had his fiddle destroyed (he’s said to have entertained the crew with it, but perhaps someone didn’t like his music 🙂

While at sea, he had no conventional means to repair it, so made this replacement from tin.

In another section were 2 stuffed Otters which someone had run over by accident and donated !.

I was fascinated by all the stuff on Dr John Rae, a local born physician turned explorer.

he made extensive use of early inflatable boats (pictured above using a plate as a paddle).

He spent much time in Hudson bay and learned to live off the land from the natives.

His extensive books and papers catalogued various skills and resources, and here notes on constructing an Igloo.

From here we travelled to a small Island called Lambholm.

Many of the Island were connected by a causeway called the Churchill barrier.

They were constructed to limit submarines ability to enter an area called Scapa Flow, a large expanse of water in the middle of the Orkney Islands after The Royal Oak was was sunk at her moorings there.

The Churchill barriers were built by some prisoners of war (they were able to get around the Geneva convention, saying they were to assist with inter Island communication).

One set of prisoners tried to make their time as comfortable as they could. Italian, they began by constructing tables and chairs so they could enjoy meals outdoors in the Summer.

Later they asked for some utility buildings. Deeply religious, they used artisan skills to convert it into a Chapel.

Above you an see what it looks like inside, even to this day.

When shown from this angle, you can see that its basically a store room but remarkably made up like a chapel.

One thing that surprised me, was how the Italians were so comfortable there and wanted to settle in.

As the war came to an end, several of them asked to stay to complete the Chapel before they were “forced” to go home 🙂

Back to our hotel and get ready in my best Rohan Clothes.

It’s the actual evening of the 50th wedding anniversary, and everyone is really excited.

We had out to an incredible restaurant called Foveran.

Amazing food, wine and attentive (and well informed) staff with spectacular views across Scapa Flow.

Next morning, up early and onto the ferry.

We’ve decided to visit another Island called Hoy, where I’m going to pursue a project I’ve had on my mind for close to 30 years.

When we arrive, the Island is pretty much like the one in Father Ted !.

We drive around, and are able to locate our position on the map using picnick area’s as in many cases there is literally nothing there. But, the excitement is building up.

We find the spot were looking for and park up (there’s a small campsite and hostel and you can park your camper van for 7 days for free !).

The weather has improved now, and I see the first sign of the thing I’ve come to see.

We set off up hill.

Its steep at first but then flattens out onto a clear path across the hills that soon become cliff tops.

From here, the views of the cliffs and the ocean are spectacular.

I’m reminded (if it was ever needed) why I love hill walking so much.

And then, there it is.

The Old Man of Hoy, the iconic sea stack in Rackwick Bay.

449 feet high and 180 feet from the mainland (where this shot was taken).

First climbed by Chris Bonington in 1967.

I saw it on tv one Sunday afternoon when I was 13 (The famous Joe Brown and his daughter Zoe were climbing it together).

There is even a Tupperware container on the top, with a book inside for people to sign when they’ve climbed it.

We walk back in a contemplative mood (I’m especial glad I saw it, as experts say it probably wont be there in 15 years).

Places to get lunch are thin on the ground in this far flung place.

We were heading to the SFVC anyway, so we headed for their excellent 40’s themed cafe which I’d highly recommend.

They had lots of large weapons and vehicles and hundreds of fascinating articles and historical photographs.

As well as the main building, they had this massive oil container which had been emptied out and is used as part of the museum.

Inside it was lit up and like something from the X Files.

Loads of different vehicles and displays and a 30 minute video that explained the full the history of Scapa Flow and its significance in the first and 2nd world wars.

There was also an old air raid shelter that we walked around.

The battle of Scapa Flow happened in the First world war and remains the largest warship battle in history.

The circumstances beggared belief.

A ship might sink and 600 people on board would drown with only 3 survivors !.

At the end of the battle. The British had lost 6000 men and the German Navy 2000. However neither side could claim victory and the German navy stayed out of the area for the duration of the war.

At the conclusion of the war, and as a condition of teh armistice agreement the German Hochseeflotte (high sea fleet) was escorted to Scapa Flow to be interned.

The bulk of the crew were sent home and the ships remained in “parked”in Scapa Flow.

Details are unclear, but at some point, Admiral Ludwig von Reuter got hold of a copy of the Times. Realising his government had resigned and concerned that the ships would be made available to the British, he ordered the fleet scuttled.

With their Sea cocks open, 52 ships were sunk within a matter of hours.

years later, the ships were raised and the metal harvested for various projects.

During the 2nd world war, the Royal Oak sunk was sunk at its moorings by German submarine the U-47.

This damaged moral and resulted in the Churchill barriers being constructed.

The wreck of the Royal Oak was designated a war grave, but a recreational diver took its name plate without permission.

It was returned 20 years later from Canada and here it sits in the Scapa flow visitors centre.

Ferry back to Orkney, Italian for dinner and an early night after such a rewarding day.

Our final day in Orkney and we explore around the area local to our hotel.

The Orkney wireless museum has more radio equipment in it in one place then I’ve ever seen in my life.

It was amazing to see the transition of radios over the decades through valves and transistors.

The proprietor explained that radio communication in the early days had been driven by the navy for obvious reasons.

Best of all, I got to try out a crystal set. I had a go at making one some years ago from instructions in a scout anual but never got it to work.

This one worked fine, and I was listening to Amy Winehouse on BBC Radio Orkney.

I had a brief look at Orkney museum, then headed across the road to visit St Magnus Cathedral.

A remembrance service had been held the previous Sunday and there had been lots of well behaved sailors staying in our hotel.

I’m not very religious and churches look much the same to me.

However, this one featured a memorial to the explorer Dr David Rae who I’d seen at Stromness museum.

It showed him resting for the evening on the ground with his blanket and rifle at the ready

And before I know it, its 2pm and time to head back to the airport and the flying coffin that will take me home.

I have one last look at the harbour I’ve grown to love and off I go.

I’ve decided from now on, I’m going to celebrate my birthday with a quiet weekend away – as befits someone of my increasing years (not really, I’ll still act like I’m 14, I’ll just get to spend more time in the countryside).

This year, there was need for a transition, so last weekend (the week before my birthday) I did my “normal” birthday thing of an afternoon around Chester with friends.

The day begun as always with me reviewing my memories box (I do this on my birthday and on New Years day).  Followed by scrambled eggs for breakfast (my mum used to make them for me on my birthday, and its a tradition I’ve kept going).

With a few hours before the main celebration begins, Nikki and I drive to Winsford and have a nice relaxing walk along the river.

Returning to Chester, I hooked up with my friends and did the usual run of the Mill, The Lock keeper, The Temple Bar and finally a meal at Hickory’s by the river Dee at 5:30pm.

And just like that, its over.

It’s the 17th consecutive year that I’ve celebrated this way, I’d like to thank all the people who have joined me over the years 🙂

This weekend I’m off to Ambleside for the weekend, so a new chapter of adventure begins.

Above, is an artists impression of my new kitchen (I’m also having a lot of work done on my living room).

It will involve a new floor, new ceiling, completely new units, completely new appliances and a lighting and electrics refit.

The reality.

For the next few weeks, my home will look like something from the 3rd world !.

It’s been a disruptive time, but as you can see, the fish have coped well with their move into my bedroom (I didn’t want any plaster dust getting into their tank.

But the fish aren’t the only casualty.

johnsunter.com has been forced to temporarily relocate. Corks Out in Chester have kindly lent us some “office space” to continue our work.

On the adventure front, some good walking in the Lakes this weekend.

2 weeks later, were doing an InnTravel walk to the Black Forest.

In a couple of years, I have a birthday with a 0 in it, so I’ve decided to do a trip to Antarctica. It will take a lot of planning, years in advance, but after all the other things I’ve done, it will be the trip of a lifetime.

Were at home this Christmas (we go away every other year) but we’ve decided to do something cool for New Year. With the rule that wherever we go must be less than 90 mins flying time, were looking seriously at Amsterdam or Paris

Things at work continue to go well.

I can’t talk specifically about our technology on my website, but above are some servers I’m repurposing, I’ve been involved with a Juniper networks firewall.

I continue to learn more and more cool stuff about VM Ware (and I thought I knew a lot about it before I started here).

I attended a talk on health and safety.

In the room, you could see myself and the other attendee’s look from one to the other in a “knowing” fashion. We couldn’t have been more wrong!.

The speaker set the scene early. He put up a table of statistics, said you’ve probably heard all sorts of daft stories about H&S and children not being allowed to feed ducks.

He continued. If you look at the screen, you’ll see 133 people died at work last year due to accidents – 133 people never came home from work. 133 family’s devastated and all of this is avoidable.

He the put up the picture above which he’d found on the internet.

A fascinating talk. All I can say, is I personally take H&S a lot more seriously now.

I don’t know what’s going on with TV at the moment, but everyone must have heard of the Game of Thrones character who was “definitely dead” and now isn’t. Why did they think anyone would be surprised.

And in Madam Secretary, a show I’ve grown to love, Dimitri is alive. Did anyone genuinely believe he wasn’t coming back ?

Well, that’s it for this time. Its been a bit of a quiet month on the adventure front but the weather seems to be improving, so get out there and enjoy it.

Near and far, the search for adventure continues…

 

OK, so everyone’s heard about the Queen’s birthday, the main thing  I want to mention here, is mine.

Its starting from 12 lunchtime at the Mill Hotel in Chester, on Saturday the 30th of April !.

It should be a far more low key affair this year, as I’m spending my actual birthday in the lake district.

That said, a day around town in Chester is pretty fab, and something I’m really looking forward too.

Another thing I’d like to point out is on the right hand side of the page are some “open outs” which list some of my pages of the amazing countries I’ve visited.

If you click on Europe for example, it will list most of the pages about places I’ve been in Europe.

I say most, as I’m still catching up on the 9 other places I’ve visited and not got around to putting up yet (I’ll be doing 3 of them this weekend).

I absolutely love this video about the Royal Navy.

One of the few regrets I have is that I never joined up when I was 17.

That being said, the escalation of the advert is a bit of a stretch.

Well its Easter time again.

That usually means 2 things.

1. I get lovely Easter Eggs like the ones above.

2. Its time to use the time off and plan an exciting break away for a few days.

We stayed at place called St Davids in Pembrokeshire.

We found a nice hotel and were joined by several friends from the walking group.

It was quite a drive down there, and took 5 hours (we stopped for breakfast on the way at The Starling Cloud in Aberystwyth to break up the journey). We normally use the day/afternoon of the first day to “acclimatise” and see a bit of the town, visit some shops and get a drink.

The weather for the trip didn’t look good, but it was ok at this point.

After briefly stopping at the visitors centre for advise, we headed straight out.

We walked from Solva -> Porth Clais.

During our 3 hour walk, we actually ran into Sue and Aled who’d had the same idea but were walking in the other direction when they met up with us.

Back to the hotel, got cleaned up, then dinner and drinks for the evening.

The following day, the main walk is cancelled due to appalling weather (and I mean appalling, storm Katherine was passing over and was tearing roofs from buildings !).

So we wandered around the town and visited the Cathedral (where we had some nice lunch in the refectory, a local dish called Cawl).

Not much to say about this day, apart from the inside of several pubs were visited.

Day after we do the long coastal walk we’ve all been looking forward to, from Abereiddy -> Rhosson.

The views of the coast were incredible, although it was still quite windy.

On the way back, we stopped at White Sands and I saw the campsite I’d stayed at with Fairbridge Drake almost 30 years earlier.

After completing the walk, some fish and chips from a local chippy and a quick pint.

In the evening we’ve booked dinner in the Bishop restaurant in town. Although packed inside, the food is excellent.

Completed:

• Hockenhall Hobble

To do:

I went to see an event about Alan Turing at Manchester Home: (I’ve mentioned it before, so wont bang on about it again, suffice to say, it was really good).

As we had drinks in the lounge, I saw this poster. I don’t know what it was advertising, but it shows Manchester right after the IRA bomb.

Really took me back. I was actually at work that day in the City Centre. I remember the police came into the Andersen building and told us we had to leave (I remember distinctly noticing that they were wearing overalls and tactical belts and vests !)

Its hard to describe the injustice I felt (and still feel) about that day, but peace only comes about when people move on, and I think I have.

Since we were in Manchester, we decided to get lunch in Rusholme’s famous curry mile.

The curry mile on Sunday afternoon/evening is legendary (and quite chaotic).

We chose a Lebanese Restaurant called Beirut and just as you’d expect, the food was amazing (competition there is cut throat).

On the way back, we pop by the old Fairbridge Drake building where I worked as a volunteer so many years earlier.

I don’t regret getting old. As I always say, its not the number of years, its what you did with the years.

That said, youth has the advantage of simplicity, the world is so black and white and the solution to all life’s problems so obvious 🙂

I’ve always been a fan of Ray Mears. Bear Gryls is a well documented phoney (just google it) where Ray is an expert bushcrafter of world renown.

Although I’ve trained with various bushcraft and survival instructors (including a few who have worked for Ray) I’ve never actually met him.

He was giving a talk in Liverpool so Nikki and I decided to attend – Tales of Endurance. An unforgettable evening of stories from the edge.

He basically told 3 stories, 1 about exploration and 2 about war time heroism. all were excellent, but I couldn’t help wondering what the relevance was (things like this are on TV most evenings).

I had expected him to talk about himself and his own adventures. I thought I would get 2 hours of the stuff that didn’t make it onto his tv shows. Overall a bit disappointing and went on longer than needed.

The evening was rescued by a brief section where he answered questions and demonstrated some rescue equipment.

Some of the rescue equipment was very high tech, but I was most interested in the whistle and the mirror and their use in emergency situations.

He commented that whistles had saved countless lives. Five hundred metres from help when your in a forest with a broken leg can feel like five hundred miles. He said since they were so cheap, just buy a few and put them in every jacket you own.

I’ve worn a whistle around my neck on every outdoor trip since I was 19 (I’ve even added a small torch to it now).

He then talked about what to do if you hear a whistle while outdoors.  Stop whatever you are doing and point where the sound came from.

Then, mark your position and the exact direction where the sound came from (if you have a compass take a bearing). Really good advice and well worth remembering.

I have 2 really good quotes/poems framed at home that I look at every day.

“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing” by Helen Keller and “Don’t quit” by Edgar A. Guest.

I recently saw this knocking around on Facebook.

I liked it that much, that its now joined the other 2 on my shelf.

Bellow is a less philosophical picture from my Facebook trawl, but quite funny all the same.

Near and far the search for adventure continues…

Well, two weeks at home and pursuing adventures, then I started my new job. Its been a pretty exciting and busy month.

The picture above is taken on the Rock of Gibraltar where I retraced the steps of James Bond in the 1988 film – The Living Daylights.

Years ago I had a Ninja suit and found the deluge of 80’s films fascinating. Last year I visited feudal castles in Japan where Ninja grappling hooks must surely have seen action. I saw this article, and for a brief moment considered applying for the job !.

My new boss is a keen fan and participant of Rugby. I read this article about someone who’d suffered a horrendous mauling during a Rugby game, but just got on with it.

As a plain speaking man (if you know what I mean) the BBC have had to substitute some of his phrases with the names of vegetables. Hilarious.

This year, I’ve decided to go away for the weekend to celebrate my birthday and I’ll be doing some more pub walks in the Lake District.

I’m still going to have a bit of a day out around Chester, and I’ve decided to hold it on Saturday the 30th of April.

If anyone is around then, it would be fab to see you.

Talking of things happening on a Saturday, this Saturday is the Chester Globetrotters talk.

This week, there are 2 different talks about Africa. It costs £3 for 2 talks and tea/coffee (in most of Chester its £3 just for coffee, so a real bargain).

Best of all, this time, Nikki will be the compere which should make for a smooth running and interesting afternoon.

On Sunday, I’m going back home to Manchester for the day.

I’ve always wanted to see the new theatre/cinema/cultural centre called home: which is on a road called Tony Wilson way.

I’m really interest to see a 3 part creation by some guys called Al & Al.

Off special interest is the middle section is called the Creator. It tells the story of intelligent machines from the future who travel back in time to meet Alan Turing near the end of his life.

Made me think. If you believe (as I do) that intelligent machines will evolve beyond humanity, one day, won’t they “naturally” want to know something about the person who created them ? (although whether they’ll have “cracked” time travel is another matter 🙂

You can read what they’ve said about it here.

I knew all those years ago, when I started working in IT, that the jet set life was just around the corner. Visits to the worlds most exciting places would be simply another day at work.

Well, not exactly. I remember spending a week in Hickory while working at Corning. You may not have heard of Hickory, but put simply, its where the phrase Hick Town comes from. Grim.

I’ve done several site visits since I started my new job (the company I work for really is massive, competing in 9 major markets on a global scale).

Last week, we spent 3 days in a place called Grangemouth, in Scotland.

Not exactly Florida, but a really interesting project and the accommodation, food, drink and local people were excellent.

Well, I’m off to Pembroke with the Chester and District Walking group over Easter.

I’m really looking forward to it as the area has some of the best coastal walking in the world.

Were based out of St David’s, a place I visited many years ago with Fairbridge Drake.

There are still places available if any of my friends want to come.

* this is a stock picture I found on the internet. If you join the walking group to meet this girl, you’re going to be disappointed (although there are lots of other nice people in the group).

In between leaving Moneypenny and starting at SGS, I had 10 days off.

The first weekend, Nikki and I visited in Hayfield in the Peak district and did some fab walking there.

The 4 days of the following weekend, we visited an area of Spain and spent time in Gibraltar.

I’m going to do a more thorough write-up about Gibraltar, but for now I just wanted to say a quick Thank You to Nikki’s sister Lyn (picture left, at a tunnel on the way up the Med steps).

I’ve visited Gibraltar previously and had a big list of interesting things I wanted to see.

As a native of the Island, Lyn had organised a really smart tour and in an exhausting day (well for me at any rate) I got to see all the things I’d planned.

On a school trip, we travelled on a coach through the Black Forest.

Since then, the only Black Forest I’ve come into contact with, was served after a meal !.

I was delighted when Nikki and I booked a 10 day walking trip there in May. I may even eat Gateau while I’m there.

I always enjoy meeting Nikki’s parents.

I know I’m supposed to say that, but honestly, its true. Nikki’s father was in the RAF and afterwards designed aeroplanes and can tell you anything you want to know about just about any kind of aircraft.

I’ve been invited to go on a family holiday to Orkney. A relaxing couple of days and a chance to connect with people ?

Well, years ago, I watched a program that inspired me. A guy and his daughter climbed this massive rock obelisk somewhere.

I now know that guy was the famous Joe Brown and the rock was the Old Man of Hoy, first climbed 15 years earlier by Sir Christ Bonington.

As well as all the family stuff, I’m really looking forward to visiting the Old Man (there’s a walk around there, I certainly wont be trying to climb it 🙂

I got a call from my friend Tony a couple of months ago (former landlord of my favourite pub and good mate).

I wasn’t sure what he wanted. He’s originally from down south, so he may have wanted to go out for a curry, come round to my house and practice swearing together or perhaps print emails, since he doesn’t have a printer.

But then I remember. A few weeks before, Tony asked me what my plans were for this years “big trip”.

I told him Thailand (to catch up with Frank) , Laos, and Burma (which has been closed to tourism for 20 years and represents a real adventure opportunity).

A couple of weeks later we meet up and he tells me he’s going on holiday. I’m fascinated by travel, so instantly ask him where he’s going.

The cheeky bastard has stolen my entire trip, and he and some “press ganged” mates are doing the whole thing several months before me.

When he finally arrived that evening, it turned out he needed to get a visa.

I found a suitable wall, took his picture and organised the visa.

He’s back home now and had a fab trip.

Tuesday night, I’m going to the Chester film society to watch X & Y with my ace friend Dave Emonds.

The picture above, isn’t actually the cinema, its us at the Snowdon Ranger Youth hostel several months ago.

On Wednesday night, its one of my favourite places, Urbano 32 (on Bridge Street, Chester) for wine tasting.

Its  20 quid for 4 courses and 4 nice glasses of wine (that would be good value if it was being served in my back yard).

Their website is here, its well worth a look.

Before signing off, I just wanted to take a moment and flag up some annoying people I’ve experienced while travelling.

I don’t know their names (and have no wish too) so I’ve made up my own.

Plane arse (pictured above) decided to stand up for the whole of my flight to Spain.

Despite being asked several times to move by the hostess’s who were trying to serve drinks, he didn’t seem to care.

Here, Train nob thinks its clever to lie down on a parcel shelf.

Look closely at the picture. His friends, the “kids having harmless fun” seem to think it’s hilarious.

Now look at the woman holding a toddler, who had to move due to concerns over safety.

I deeply regret taking this picture. I wish I’d just yanked him of the shelf and watched him land on the floor 🙂

Well that’s it for now, the search for adventure continues…

Well, main news this time, is that today is my last day at Moneypenny and I’m moving on for pastures new.

It’s a shame, as I’ve really enjoyed working here, and met some fantastic people.

The next generation of my career is beckoning, with an offer I honestly can’t refuse.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Rachel, Ed & Glenn, everyone in my team, everyone in the dev team and all the people in sales and support.

Most of all, I’d like to thank the 400+ PA’s who I’ve tried so hard to help over the last 18 months, who’ve treated me so well and made this duty a pleasure to perform.

Of Moneypenny as a company, all I can say is that I’ve seen what they do first hand. They are excellent, set the standard within the industry and I couldn’t recommend them more highly.

Well, Valentines came around again and as usual I bought Nikki some nice flowers, and a practical present.

We aren’t much for the chutzpah of dining out on Valentines, so as usual, we stayed in and cooked (good food and wine are part of the very fabric of our relationship, so it seemed appropriate).

Sunday evening seemed a daft time to celebrate, so we chose Saturday instead.

I promised Nikki that we’d do anything she wanted on the Sunday of Valentines day (a decision I’d later perhaps regret).

Nikki chose for us to join the walking group on a 3* walk to Moel Pearce and Cadair Brownwen (extremely challenging for me, as I’m not that fit).

Good company and the snow on the tops made it a fantastic day.

Unfortunately, I got mild hypothermia on the way down ! (I’m OK now, and was back at work by Monday morning :).

On the subject of the outdoors, I’ve got a week or 2 before I start my new job.

A couple of weekends ago, Nikki and I stayed in Edale and did some walking around some places I’d always promised myself I’d revisit.

Whilst walking through Hayfield, we liked it that much, that once we returned home, we’ve booked a long weekend there for next week.

I’ve got great plans for 3 days of fab walking and evenings with open fires and restaurants with nice food and wine.

One thing I’m really looking forward to is having lunch in the Lantern Pike pub pictures above.

Apparently, one year the whole town was snowed in, everyone congregated in the pub and occupied themselves as best they could.

One chap called Tony Warren started writing a screenplay. Not something I enjoy but its international fame is beyond debate.

He wrote the first 6 episodes of Coronation Street !

A few jobs around the house and then the weekend later, I’m flying to Malaga with Nikki and some friends.

I’m not an around the pool kind of guy, so I’m intending to get the bus around a see a few different places (Tracey at work as been helping, as her brother lives there).

One special project, is Gibraltar. I’ve only been there once, had the chance to climb the rock, didn’t and have regretted it ever since.

It’s not all adventure.

My house is almost complete and just 1 more thing to do before I put up the hand carved “Weltevreden” sign outside that Glenn bought me as a Christmas gift.

Only thing is, that 1 job is the kitchen, which is about 100 jobs all mixed in together.

Its said that the art of buying a car is: Get the right car -> Get the right price

I’ve worked out my own system for kitchens: Get the right kitchen units -> Get the right appliances -> Get the right person to put it all together

I’m still a long way from success, but I’ve been looking at appliances this week. I found this amazing Samsung oven, that can literally clean itself.

I also saw a microwave in John Lewis that seemed specifically designed for men. Among its many control’s and buttons, it had 1 that said “reheat curry” and another that said “reheat chinese”.

More kitchen adventures in the next blog entry (if it ever ends…)

I’ve got 8 people joining me on my Easter jaunt to Pembroke and St David’s.

It promises to be a fantastic trip, with some of the best coastal walks (and pubs) in the country.

If you’ve not got involved yet, pipe up, it would be fab to see you there.

I’ve not been to the theatre much recently, but I’ve got a packed itinerary over the next 6 weeks.

One thing I’m really keen to see, is The Creator at Manchester’s Home: arts centre.

I’m excited about seeing the building on Tony Wilson way, which I’ve not seen before, but most of all, its the performance I’m looking forward to.

It’s about intelligent androids from the future who travel back in time to speak to Alan Turing on this death bed.

I’m also going to see Comedian Adam Hill in Crewe (the first time I’ve been outside the railway station in that city).

A return to Wrexham and Ed Byrne will complete my comedy duo.

Although I’ve attended dozens of courses taught by his students, I’ve never seen Ray Mears in person.

Nikki and I are going to see a talk by him at the Liverpool Philharmonic.

I’m expecting sycophants everywhere, but I’m still really looking forward to it.

I’ve been spending a lot of time converting the country pages over to this site (with the rush to upgrade, it didn’t happen when I wanted it too).

If you scroll down, on the right you’ll see something that says countries (I’ve added another 20 recently).

If you open it out, you’ll see some of the countries I’ve visited (and ultimately, it will show ALL the country’s I’ve visited, once I’ve finished.

While converting the pages about Moscow, I remembered the Church of Christ our Saviour I visited in Moscow.

It originally took 40 years to build. In 1931 it was ordered immediately demolished on the personal orders of  Joseph Stalin.

With only 3 hours, unknown people capture as much information as they can about the church and its construction for posterity.

As the building was levelled with dynamite, they must have looked at all that was left of it in a shoebox with its hand drawings, measured out pieces of string and samples of door handles…

In 1995 after the fall of the communist party, using the contents of the box and modern computer design tools, they were able to completely re-construct the church and it reopened in 2000.

People who had stood in the original, say it looks just the same.

Its not possible to live a life and never make mistakes (God knows, I’ve made enough and many of the people reading this could fill a book with my failures).

But I believe, and this story shows, that if you really try, you can put things back together.

Once again, thanks for reading, and near and far, The search for adventure continues…

Well, although the adventure season normally begins at Easter, I’ve decided to start early and this weekend were going away to stay at Edale youth hostel for 2 days of walking, good company and excelent food and drink.

Speaking of youth hostels, I saw this amazing adventure in Trail magazine:

In recent months, I’ve been re-connecting with my youth.

It’s not like I’m having a mid life crisis and I’m going to buy a motorbike and start wearing moisturiser !.

No, In my life I’ve done a lot of interesting things. While visiting some places I’ve promised myself that someday I’d go back there.

We all know that the path to someday is the road to no-where, so I’ve drawn up a plan.

My walk on Saturday, takes in a place called Hayfield in the peak district.

When I was 14, I heard that the local Sunday school were organising a camping trip. I joined and attended every Sunday for 5 weeks, so that I could go camping.

It was a fantastic 4 day trip where we stayed at Hayfield camp-site and went walking each day.

When we returned from the camp, I didn’t go to Sunday school again.

I’m not very religious.

On the 2nd day, we’ll be visiting a place called New Mills.

I was in youth group called 42nd Street and they had an away day there.

It was a cool day out and I realised for the first time, that I actually quite like baked potatoes.

I had a girlfriend called Adela at the time. The relationship lasted about 18 months and was in a constant flux of up and down (mainly due to my immaturity).

She was there with me that Sunday, and I’ve always remembered it as our happiest time together.

This time I’ll be going with Nikki, and I’m especially looking forward to the Millennium trail (above).

Later in the year, I’m off down to Ramsgate. There’s a forest in Chilham woods, where I built a shelter and lived in it for 4 days. I’m a lot better at Bushcraft now, but I’ll probably still stay in a hotel !.

A couple of years ago, I went to see Blondie live at Delamere forest (there’s an area there, that forms a natural amphitheatre).

Just heard from Nikki that the Kaiser Chiefs are playing in July, and we’ve got tickets.

I’m going to buy a T Shirt this time to get into the spirit of things.

My old friend Mike Delafield came down to Chester last weekend.

We spent some time catching up with the Chester Globetrotters and finished with dinner and drinks at Urbano 32.

While having dinner, it got me to thinking. In 3 years, I’m going to Antarctica, and its my intention to visit my 100th country. But that number only works, if I know how many countries I’ve already been to !.

Have a look at this website and do your own count.

New Year in the lake district was fantastic with me, Nikki and our 4 friends.

I didn’t arrive at Coniston youth hostel until quite late, with Dave E, but everyone had prepared dinner and there were cold beers waiting when we arrived.

The weather on New Years day was actually better then the picture above shows.

We did a 2nd night, and another days walking with everyone, before heading to Ambleside for a quiet night in a B&B in the town.

While there, I got chance to pursue a new project that’s been kicking around for a while.

About 10 years ago, I had a book called 25 pub walks in the Lakes.

My companion and I did a couple of the walks from the book.

Afterwards we usually had a drink in the relevant pub then got a member of staff to initial the page.

Sadly, the book fell by the wayside some years ago, forgotten.

About 6 weeks ago, I bought a new copy. I’ve decided to start afresh, and with the day we had free, was able to “bag” 2 more pubs so just 23 more initials to collect 🙂

The National Television Awards isn’t something that has me rushing to my settee with a glass of wine in hand, and the phone off the hook.

However, 2 breakfast time presenters, went out on the evening, won an award and stayed out late.

So late, that they had to go straight to work the next morning, very much the worse for wear.

I might feel differently if they worked for me, but honestly… RESPECT for having the balls to appear on TV like that 🙂

Near and far, the search for adventure continues… And these 2 certainly had 1 !.