OK, when I say dark times, I’m not getting all “Lord of the Rings”. I’m meaning simply that its January and February when most small animals are resting in the warm and “developed” species like ours are able to carry on working productively.

So, not much adventure to report, to be honest. I’ve spent several weekends and evenings, prepping the house, taking clutter to the charity shop and generally getting organised.

As it says in Don’t sweat the small stuff, on the day you die there will be things to do in your in tray.

That’s fine, but I want to use most of this years free time to go adventuring, and its easier to do that, if you dont have something nagging in the back of your head, that a cupboard needs clearing out or a pension fund needs transferring.

As part of my routine, I checked over all my equipment, oiled and sharpened penknives, checked the contents of first aid kits and just as important, check the stitching and suchlike on rucsascks and boots.

Once that was done, Nikki and I spent several weekends brainstorming this years adventures, culminating in a 2 day “hot house” session last weekend.

We’ve booked more than 8 weekends away in the UK, 4 days to do Hadrians wall, 5 days in Portsmouth and overseas trips to Morocco, Sicily and Namibia.,

On top of that, we’ve arranged to go and see multiple talks, comedians, trips to the theatre and films for the times in between when we cant get away.,

I still expect to do even more than this, but it’s a framework to get started.

Our next planned adventure, is a trip to the Snake Pass in for valentines weekend and 2 days of walking in the Peak District.

I first visited there some years ago with Lee, Mac, Caz and my brother David. I remember we played football down by a stream, then we all had Coke in the pub (I mean Coca Cola, none of us drank then, and the only hard drugs I saw in my youth were on the tv).

Inside they had black and white pictures from the 70’s when the pass was snowed in, and everyone was stranded in the pub for several days (apparently, they had to break up chairs and tables for the fire, to keep warm).

Well, all these years later I’m going back, and I’m really looking forward to it.

It’s also that time of year again, when my friend Tony comes around and ends up standing in front of a cream coloured wall in my house.

He sought my help on another adventure trip, this time to India and Nepal, and on top of other assistance, we had to get him a visa so it involved emailing pictures to the embassy.

From everyone here at johnsunter.com, we wish Tony and his friend a good time on their trip, which should give them plenty of chance to practice swearing.

In the last couple of weeks, I’ve been helping out a friend at work called Matt, with an adventure trip to Morocco.

After various conversations, it got me to thinking. Are there 10 useful adventure “tools” that cover most of the spectrum of adventure from a cultural weekend in Rome, the lake district in winter, to the Namibian desert.

Purely to assist discussion, I’ve picked my 10. Please remember that this is not meant to replace specialist equipment like a first aid kit.

1. Waterproof Jacket

Getting wet is not nice (and remember even if its not raining, a waterproof will stop cold wind, which a jumper probably wont).

I prefer a really light one that you can fold down to the size of a tennis ball.

Get one that extends to the upper thighs and is a nice colour (a waterproof is very usefull in the hills, but a stylish waterproof can be worn in the hills and for traipsing around New York, in the rain.

2. Headtorch

The usefulness of a torch, doesn’t need to be explained here, and in mountain environments can be the difference between life and death.

A torch, is just a torch, but a headtorch can be worn on the head for hands free work or produced from a pocket and held in the hand to find dropped keys on a walk back from the pub.

I’ve always preferred the Petzle brand and ht’s that run on 3 AAA batteries you can get almost anywhere in the world.

3. Orange bivvi bag

An orange bivvi bag should be taken on every walk. At the very least it can be laid out on the ground and used to sit on while eating sandwiches.

In an emergency, it can be used as a waterproof/windproof shelter and its reckoned for their weight they have saved more lives than rescue helicopters.

4. Swiss Army Knife

For some adventure environments more specific tools like parangs or sharp fixed blade knives for skinning are better.

The Swiss Army Knife (the one above, isn’t an original Victorinox by the way, but the picture is good) is a do everything tool from opening parcels to repairing spectacles and sharpening pencils.

Large blade, small blade, tin/bottle opener and screwdrivers are generic across the range.

My preferred additional functions are saw, scissors, tweezers and awl. Some newer ones have replaced the corkscrew with a cross head, avoid this at all costs, as a Philips can be improvised much more easily than a corkscrew.

Make a small lanyard from paracord, so you don’t drop it in cold weather. Should be regularly oiled and sharpened, and obviously when travelling on a plane needs to be stowed in the hold.

5. Whistle

I’ve worn one of these around my neck on adventures for the best part of 30 years.

On a recent talk by Ray Mears he said you should buy several whistles and put one in the pocket of every jacket you might wear while adventuring outdoors.

I quite like the lifeventure whistle, its a fiver but if your ever in trouble, you’ll be glad you spent the money.

The six bursts for emergency and 3 bursts reply (for those that remember it) has been superseded and its important to know the difference.

3 short bursts on the whistle every 60 seconds means I need to be rescued.

6. Lighter

If you’ve every carved a firebow and made fire from friction, you’ll know how rewarding it is…

… and how completely impractical it is for normal life. Stick by the axim of survival school and always make fire (if you need to make one) by the simplest means.

4 for £1 represents the best value in outdoor equipment I think I know off.

If you staying in bothy’s or shelters or something like that, might be worth taking some tea lights as well.

7. Mobile phone in a waterpoof bag

In a bar with wifi, get messages home, confirm flights, check emails, post pictures to friends.

On a boring flight, games like chess and interesting fiction and films to keep you going.

When exploring a new location, maps, travel podcasts and lists of places to see if you haven’t had time to buy a guidebook.

Acts as a backup camera and can save weight as a substitute walkman (a personal stereo to those born in the last 10 years).

Using a mobile in emergency’s has saved lives before and almost certainly will do again.

I have heard daft story’s where people went hill walking and left a map and compass behind, relied on the GPS on the phone (which didn’t work) and then relied on the phone to contact mountain rescue when they got into difficulty (which also didn’t work). Keep one handy, but NEVER really on it exclusively as your emergency plan.

Always keep in a waterproof bag and have a power monkey in your kit if on a long trip.

8. Money belt

Nothing inspires me more than watching Ray Mears walk into a forest and build shelters, light fires and all sorts of stuff like that using just his skills.

However, in most of the world that I occupy, money is pretty essential too (especially when your in countries where people earn a dollar a day – they don’t have a surplus to feed you if you’ve lost YOUR money.

For that reason, I really like the lifeventure money belt. It’s a brilliant belt in its own right and unlike leather, isn’t affected by getting wet, insects or direct sunlight.

It’s plastic so it won’t set off metal detectors in airports and has an internal zip compartment to store cash (best folded lengthways into thirds).

9. Paracord

Hundreds of uses, and in emergency’s you can use the inner core for fishing line and for sewing.

Always worth learning important knots and practising re-tying them (which can speed up a long train journey).

10. Cereal Bars

If something goes wrong and you miss your breakfast or you find yourself somewhere exotic and there’s nothing that you want to eat…

… or if your sat in a snowhole and you need emergency food.

Cereal bars. They rock.

The End

What do you think, are there some things you’d include/remove or some things I’ve listed you think are just plain daft.

Either way, give me a shout, and let’s hone this list to perfection.

Near and far, the search for adventure continues…

If any of the stuff you read on this website clicks, then get a piece of paper now and write down 10 adventures (no matter how small, but be as ambitious as you can) you will do in 2017.

In your search for adventure you may find the following groups and resources usefull. It was, after all, Isaac Newton who said “If I have seen farther it is by standing on the shoulders of giants”.

You don’t have to learn everything by mistakes and re-inventing the wheel, most people I’ve met on my adventure journey willingly gave their time and assistance.

The Chester and District Walking Group.

The Chester Globetrotters.

The Walking World website.

The Youth Hostel Association.

I’ve got loads of stuff I’m planning in the next few weeks, and the format of the website is going to change slightly as an experiment.

Instead of putting up pictures and words about places I’ve been and things I’ve done, I’m going to write articles about how to plan a trip, what to take and stuff like that (thanks to Matt at work for this suggestion and best wishes with his Trans-Europe and Morocco trips).

Happy New Year from everyone here at johnsunter.com near and far, the search for adventure continues…

Well, the last 8 weeks of 2016 were mad busy with holidays and trips and stuff going on at work.

Back down to earth now and a catchup on johnsunter.com – quite a lot here, but I’ve tried to let the pictures do the talking and keep my rambling to a minimum (well, verbal rambling that is).

Above are some of the fantastic presents I received for Christmas.

The new Ray Mears book, Out on the Land, a small keg of Budvar lager and 4 mugs which Nikki bought me, with pictures of me in a sort of seven ages of man/four ages of John Sunter format.

For no reason in particular, my old mate Ganders (who’s “proper” name is Andrew Ganley) mentioned a tv show from the 70’s we both remembered called Shoestring.

In it, a former computer programmer has a change of life and becomes a detective for a local radio station (and he’s nicknamed the private ear).

I commented that throughout the series, he was treated with mystique and awe for his super intellectual skills on account of him previously being a computer programmer.

Funny, I’ve worked in various fields of IT for 25 years, and nobody “down the pub” has ever treated me that way 🙁

Well, the first hit of my adventure episodes was a meet up with my old friend Sarah.

I’ve always been grateful to Sarah, who I first met at the Chester Globetrotters. After my first visit there, a few of us went for a drink and she told me about a pretty smart walking group.

That was the CDWG where I’ve done more than 100 walks, I’m on the committee, have made loads of really good friends and I met Nikki there.

I’m known locally as a flash bastard, so we met up in the cafe in Asda in Ellesmere port, near where I work.

She brought here lovely daughter Eva, who was actually born on Christmas eve.

At work the company committed to match any contributions made by employee’s to specific charity’s so I volunteered as charity champion for the Woodland Trust.

Our main income stream was people wearing Christmas pullovers and paying £2 each time they did (hence this billy can I setup in reception with little pictures of jumpers on it).

I raised a respectable £139 which I’m quite pleased with, and I’d like to thank my many colleagues at work for their contribution.

At work on the Friday before Christmas.

Everyone was in a festive mood, and we ordered Pizza for lunch.

Because of the way the days fell, I was able to have 2 Christmas eves.

The first one, on Friday evening, was some “me” time, where I had a buffet of food which Nikki described earlier as a “heart attack in a bag”.

I also had Call of Duty ready to play, all sorts of appalling music that I really like and my train set.

I finished the evening with a medley of my favourite opening scenes from James Bond and Mission Impossible.

All washed down with a nice Rioja.

Next day its Saturday. Up early and scrambled eggs for breakfast.

I wander into town, meet up with Nikki, do some shopping then some nice wine in Corks Out and dinner at Urbano 32.

Back to Nikki’s house and we spend Christmas eve with Fi and Jed and their lovely daughter Amy.

In the morning its Christmas day and we go out for a walk.

Nikki’s sister and sisters husband Vic are staying over so we head for Wepre woods.

I gave them both a present I thought they’d like.

The previous day, I’d bought some para-cord (as though I dont have enough lying around the house) and 2, Fox 40 howler whistles.

I made them up with 2 double fisherman knots, so they had 1 each and could wear them around their necks for emergency’s.

Not expensive gifts, but I hope really useful.

Where did I get the idea ?

As you can see in this picture from my youth (sent to me by Nadiah, thanks Nard) , I got into the habit of wearing a whistle around my neck for emergency’s some years ago.

Back at Nikki’s house everything is getting ready for Christmas dinner (and some silly nonsense about opening presents in the late afternoon rather than first thing in the morning, but Nikki’s house, Nikki’s rules).

Another tradition of Nikki’s parents is to watch the Queens speech. I must confess that I have never previously watched it from begining to end but I was able to do so this time as I set the tv up for them to watch it.

I’d also bought a DVD about Spitfires for Nikki’s dad to watch (he is fascinated by aeroplanes, was in the RAF and used to design them at British Aerospace). He seemed to enjoy it and then we all watched Frozen which I’d heard loads of good things about from Amy.

Years ago, I did several courses in Bushcraft and survival. Lots of people have asked me about this, but pictures done really capture it.

I got a DVD by Jonny Crocket from Survival School, where he demonstrates how to light a fire, put up a hamock and stuff like that.

Everyone seemed to enjoy it and then it was time for dinner.

We sit down, and here you can see my “emergency chair” of Peter Kay fame.

A lovely relaxing evening with ace food including Yorkshire puds and some nice wine.

Off to bed, another Christmas day over.

Not wanting to waste the holidays, we woke on Boxing day, bid our farewells to Lyn and Vic and then headed for Llandegla Forest to do a walk we’d seen on the walking world website.

The sun shining through these trees was spectacular.

Later we stopped by some picnic tables for lunch next to a lake.

Here Nikki poses with the rucksack I bought her as a Christmas gift (it’s an Osprey Talon 33, far and away the best rucksack in its class in my opinion).

The following day we’d planned to meet up with my friend Frank (he’d travelled from Thailand for a surprise visit to see his parents). Due to some train nonsense, we weren’t able to meet up.

We went walking again, and in the evening, met up with my old mate JK off Borneo and Morocco fame 🙂

In this picture, I’m not being ignorant. I have a new camera with an amazing feature. Instead of a timer for group shots, you set the camera up and then run an app on your phone that shows you what the camera can see. When your ready, you press a button on the phone and the camera takes the shot.

Only thing is, you need to remember to look at the camera.

I spent some time before Christmas practising my cooking.

Here, my interpretation of Singapore Noodles.

I bought some of these “mini chip pan’s” that are popular in a lot of pubs now, for serving chips in.

Three programs I was really looking forward to were Dr Who, Jonathan Creek and Sherlock.

I really enjoyed Jonathan Creek. Not the best episode, but a return to form considering some of the rubbish they were putting out about 2 years ago.

I think I’ve completely gone off Dr Who, considering how much I used to enjoy it and I think Sherlock is terrible (John Watson’s wife as some sort of super spy/commando never worked and still didn’t this time).

MAGALUF

Another plan before Christmas was to have a bit of a winter break in Magaluf.

I’d booked 2 days off on the Friday and Monday, flights & accommodation booked and I’m raring to go.

So, after rushing around all that week to get things ready (going away, the week before Christmas was never going to be easy) I find myself sitting in my living room waiting to be picked up and taken to the airport.

The time ticks by and I’m starting to get nervous. Then, I’m wondering if were going to make it and finally I get a text saying my friend had woken up with his alarm and then fallen back asleep.

We’d missed our flight and our trip was cancelled. I was fuming.

So I did what I normally do when I’m in a bad mood (which interestingly is the same thing I do when I’m in a good one)…

… I went for a walk.

As I wandered through Dukes Drive in Chester I remembered 2009, the darkest time in my life.

A year of unemployment, each day I did my job search, had a cup of tea and went for a walk here.

Once you leave the path, you can wander for hours in the forest.

I sat down and started to think. There were 4 people who were with me constantly in 2009. Not all of them are around now, but I’ll always be massively grateful for their assistance.

Back then, just having enough money for something to eat and worrying about losing my house were all that occupied my mind so sitting there in the forest, with sound financial support and a day off work really put things into perspective.

My failed airport pickup was one of those 4 poeple. I decided there was plenty to spare in the emotional bank account and no need to go overdrawn.

I decide that in my whole life, considering the number of adventures I’ve been on, it’s only the 2nd time I’ve missed a plane which is good stats. Within an hour, without a word, he’s put all the money lost into my bank.

With 4 days to myself I get loads of stuff done in the house and a chance to really relax at home.

BARMOUTH

Barmouth is a place I’d heard fantastic things about, and in summer its impossible to find a parking space there, let alone accommodation.

So, it’s winter and I’ve put on a walk in the CDWG program and off we go.

My first sight of the place is this car park, which is a bit of a let down but I keep an open mind.

Another walking world route, we meet Brian at the station, and get the train.

From here, we wander along the coast and then inland back towards Barmouth.

As we reach the bridge back into town, we meet up with Sue who has driven over to meet us.

Sue and Brian were the first 2 friends I made at the walking group, so along with Nikki, it makes for a pretty smart day.

We find a nice tea shop, and have Tea and cakes.

After Sue and Brian leave, Nikki and I go for a long walk along the beach, get some chips from the chippy and then find a nice pub.

From here, we head to Kings hostel where were staying for the night.

A superbly run establishment, and our room is like a cabin in the woods.

Next morning we’re up and drive down the country lane to our next walk (we find out that the path running from the hostel in the other directions goes to Cadre Idris – I make a mental note, that info will be good for next summer).

Arriving at Penmaenpool bridge we set off on the Mawddach trail to Dolgellau as featured in Julia Bradbury’s railway walks series.

After about 90 minutes, we arrived at Dolgellau, have some coffee, see a bit of the town and then walk back to the car and head for home.

Another fab weekend over.

WALKING GROUP CHRISTMAS WEEKEND

My sixth walking group Christmas do, and this year it was at Grassmere in the lake district.

I selected the first days walk to a place called Sargent Man. For practical purposes I let Brian lead the walk as he’s far and away the best navigator in our group after several years in the army.

Nice to be up in some real mountains and as you can see from the picture above, there was snow on the tops.

We stayed at Grassmere YHA, and in the evening had dinner together in our Christmas jumpers.

The following day we decided to walk to Ambleside along the coffin route (in years gone by, Grassmere had a church, but no graveyard so once the service was complete, a coffin would be carried across the foothills to Ambleside to be buried).

Throughout the weekend, although cold, the weather was perfect.

NEW YEAR IN AMBLESIDE

Final trip of the year, and were back in Ambleside.

It was my 5th weekend in the lakes this year and we drove their straight from work.

Just time to check in, go out for something to eat and then a few drinks around the town.

The hotel we stayed in did a continental breakfast. That would normally be fine, but for a day in the winter mountains, a full English was needed.

From here we headed up to Red Screes.

Although the weather looked fab it was actually really cold and the wind was howling.

So cold in fact, that I struggled to put my gloves on.

Back off the hills, its now New Years eve. We had a dinner reservation later that evening at the Thai Restaurant, Jintana.

We wandered around the shops, and Nikki bought me a smart new Rohan Jumper (a Microgrid Stowaway, for those interested).

We had time for a few drinks in Fino. They have Morreti beer on draft and a dizzying array of red wines. No wonder its our favourite watering whole in the town.

Once again, a spectacular meal at Jintana, then back to Fino where we count down the New Year.

The first walk of the New Year.

We head out across Loughrigg fell towards Elterwater (no specific route, just walking in the general direction following various paths).

At Elterwater, we have a drink in the Britannia pub. Hilarious scenes inside, where 17 people are queuing in 1 line to be served and some lunatic is ordering food, reading aloud from an ipad.

Had our drinks outside, wished everyone happy New Year and then headed off.

While there, we completed an official walk from Pub Walks in the lakes, so I was able to get a member of staff to sign the appropriate page in my book and then I circled the pub in the chapter heading.

I had the same book some years ago, but I’ve bought a new one now and I’m determined to do all the pubs in the book (there are 25 in total, in the 1 year I’ve been doing it, I’ve completed 9 pubs. I’m pretty good with lists 🙂

We carry on to Great Langdale, then circle around and walk back to Ambleside (Italian for dinner at Zeffreli’s this time).

Following day, we check out of our hotel.

Some things been bugging me. I’d been on the Rohan website before the trip and had a look at some of the items in the sale. I’d dismissed a £30 red jumper as I thought the colour was awfull.

When I’d seen one inthe show a few days earlier in the flesh, I really liked it, but they didn’t have one in my size.

They were good enough to find one for me in Keswick, but it would need to be picked up.

So off we drove to Keswick, where unfortunately, it was too early in the morning to go to the Old Keswikien chippy.

Once our purchase complete, we head for Whinlatter forest for the days walking.

There are mountain bike tracks there, but lots of good walking country as well.

Inside the forest, you can see it stretches for miles.

After about 5 hours of walking, we’ve also seen several hills in the distance, which we’ve earmarked for future trips (Keswick was the first place I ever visited in the lake district and after Ambleside its my favourite.

As we drive home, I reflect on 2016 and what a fantastic year its been. I can only hope that 2017 will be half as good.