Cotswolds

In the bird sanctuary

I'm surprised we have been in the UK this long and yet still hadn't visited the Cotswolds.  It's this region off to the north east from London, it's not really a county itself, but takes in bits of other counties.  It is meant to be full of these lovely medieval type villages of stone, which have been largely untouched from modernisation thanks to the Industrial Revolution. They used to be a massive textiles area and were incredibly wealthy in medieval times, thanks to all the sheep they had round there, and their great wool. The area was known for their yarn and such like. With all that wealth came stone houses and prosperous villages.

When we started to get into the Industrial Revolution, when things might have gone bad for the Cotswolds, most people ended up leaving the area to go work in factories elsewhere. This meant the villages were never really "updated" and the great stone houses and tiny little lanes still survive. It's definitely an area you need a car, though there is the Cotswolds Way, a long distance walk, through the area.  I'm not sure what it would be like in the height of summer, it is an incredibly popular area, I imagine the driving can be fairly busy in August.

A pair of the cranes - viewed from a hide

Flamingo stretching in the sun

I unfortunately got a bit sick during this visit, so there were less outdoor adventures than there usually are, we did manage to find this great bird sanctuary, seriously if you are in the area you have to go.  It was called Slimbridge, near the river Severn, basically you just keep driving along smaller and smaller roads until you come to this wildlife reserve.  They have so many birds there, I was blown away, it's mainly water birds. They even had black swans from WA.

There were some otters there, though they weren't being very otter-y the day we visited.  Mostly hanging out the back of their enclosure.  That was about it for animals, they had a little reptile enclosure, mainly full of amphibians. Really it was all about the birds.

It's a real bird watchers hot spot, with heaps of hides around the edge, full of people with massive cameras. They were very proud of their cranes. These birds used to be native to the UK but then seemed to disappear for 400 years or so. They have recently started to recolonise parts of the country, and this place has got some funding to help breed some. The baby cranes are hand-reared, but everyone has to wear smocks and crane heads, so they don't get used to humans. We didn't see any of that, though we did see some crane pairs, which was pretty cool. Even if you aren't into cranes there are so many other birds there, a lot of ducks and swans. I didn't realise there were so many species of swans. There were an awful lot of flamingos too, that was probably the strangest bird. You don't often see flamingos against the backdrop of the gentle English landscape. None of the birds were in aviaries or anything, so they could always fly away if they wanted. I don't think their wings were clipped, that probably would go against the whole point of this place if they did that. I guess they just liked hanging out here, I'm not sure what happens during their migratory periods, perhaps the enclosures are really bare during winter.

Ducks and flamingos chilling together

I would have liked to see some more of the neolithic remains that they have in the area. There seemed to be a lot of barrows and even some passage tombs, that didn't seem to be as well advertised as what you might think it should be. We did a little visiting around the villages, I think the villages in the northern region are the more famous Cotswold-y ones. They were still nice, I just wasn't sure what you were meant to do with them.

Big skies in the Cotswolds

The weekend turned into more of a wildlife adventure, especially after we found the bird sanctuary. I also saw my first ever road kill in action, it was a poor little squirrel. We were coming towards another car and we saw a squirrel run across the road. At the time we were happy that it had got across, because it was a little close, and then straight after it, it's little friend squirrel started to go to. We even heard the bang as the other car hit it. At first it looked ok, it was still moving as we drove past. But this was basically the entry and exit road to where we were staying so there was a lot of driving up it. The next time we went past, we saw the little squirrel lying there. And then every time after that we had to see it. It was a bit traumatic seeing a little animal killed right in front of you. 

Spring time is here

Apart from that the weekend went well, it's definitely a nice area if you want to relax. I think I would avoid the height of summer, unless sitting in traffic jams is your idea of relaxation.

Duck about to lose it on the falling seeds

Bedgebury 10km

A couple of firsts for us this weekend.  Our first experience driving in London and our first visit to the Bedgebury Pinetum.  There was a 10km race through the forest, all on trails.  It was a really great race, one of the best organised ones I've ever competed in.  Everyone was split into 8 different waves, so even though there were a lot of people competing, it never felt busy, since you would only start with maybe 100 or so people at the most.  The course was really well marked, with drink stations, and heaps of marshals around.  I got the best entry shirt I have ever got at one of these events.  The price was high for a running race, I mean parkrun does weekly races for free after all. But the quality of the course and the organisation was definitely worth it.  It was a tough 10km as well, quite hilly, and a lot of the downhill sections were on really rough single track, so there was never much of a break. It would be good to go back to this forest, there looked to be a lot of mountain bike trails throughout the forest which were well signposted.  It didn't look like you could hire bikes there though, so it may be a little while before we are back.

The driving in London was an interesting experience, it was better than what I thought it would be. At least leaving London was pretty easy, driving on the M25 was a slightly different matter.  You have three lanes of traffic all moving at incredibly different speeds, that always makes it fun to change lanes.  The way they merge here is also pretty different, you have cars trying to join the 110km/hr motorway with basically no merging lane, they either get in first try or are stuck at the entrance. It's an unusual approach to road safety.

Miranda Hart

We got ourselves along to the O2 centre for the first time.  It's this massive arena at the very end of the peninsula of North Greenwich, it's actually really easy for us to get there from home. There is a bus that stops right outside our house that goes there.

Miranda Hart has been a bit of a revelation for me over here. I guess she's been around for a while and has been on a few TV shows already, but it's only here that I discovered her, purely through her own TV show. I find it so funny, but I guess I like that slightly slap-sticky humour. I'm guessing that it's not for everyone.

The weird thing is, unlike other comedians she never got her start doing stand up. One of her first stand up shows was at the O2, which is quite incredible when you think about it. It was packed, it was a sell-out and she had to keep putting more shows on to keep up with the demand. She did pretty well for her first stand-up tour. I think she started in the smaller towns first, it would have been incredibly intimidating to be facing the vastness of the O2 arena as your first live comedy show.

It was great, she was probably a little nervous in parts, and the best parts were definitely when she deviated a little from her script. Then it felt a bit more natural and way more funny. I'm hoping she does some more tours, and relaxes more, at some points it felt a little like watching her TV show. The crowd was so genuinely supportive, they really wanted her to succeed, no hecklers for Miranda. It was a great night and I would see any show of hers. If you haven't already, definitely give the boxed set a go.

Skiing in Japan

On the slopes - about to fall off a cliff - with the volcano in the background

Dave and I had our first ever skiing holiday this winter.  And yes, we went to Japan to do it. Perhaps a little crazy, given that we are next to the French Alps, and there is even some skiing available on the same island as us. But would I make the same choice again?  You're damn straight I would!!  We were staying in Niseko, which is a ski resort on Sapporo, the island up the north of Japan.  And it was like this winter wonderland.  This must be what skiing is meant to be like, coming from Australia it was always kind of hard to understand the fascination. I think I'm a total convert now.

On the slopes

This resort town is completely Anglicised, all the ski instructors speak English, as do all the restaurants, and yet the food is all Japanese, yummo!  There was 15 m of snow in the town, yet people were still driving around, the roads had just been carved into the snow.  Walking along you have these massive walls of snow next to you, far higher than you can see over, it's incredible.  They are meant to get something like 30cm of powder every day, a local we met was whinging because we had only been getting 15cm. As you are skiing you have a view across to an active volcano, which looks almost exactly like Mt Fuji. Thinking back on it, it's incredible that a place like this exists, you would not change a thing about it.  The skiing is so good, they actually have to put signs up saying that you aren't allowed to ski through the town, just because there is so much snow that you could easily ski from the slopes to your room.  Unbelievable.

Lovely, lovely slopes

Couldn't ask for better weather

There are 3 resorts on this one mountain, and if you are really experienced you can actually catch a chair lift all the way to the top and then ski down to another resort. We are a long way from that standard, but luckily we are catered for as well. In that there is a free shuttle bus that drives between all the resorts. So if you are finding it too difficult where you are, you can just jump on the bus and go somewhere else.  Or if you go bored with the same runs, you can just try a different part of the mountain. They even have a mobile app showing you all the runs, their level of difficulty, their length, and the maximum and minimum steepness.  The last two numbers were really the most important for a beginner.

We did make the mistake that I think all beginners make at some point, of thinking we could tackle a particular run. Our instructor had warned us against it, but we were growing confident, and it was still marked as an easy run. Oh boy, were we in for a massive confidence crusher. This thing was like a cliff, you come up to the edge, and you can't see where the run goes, it's that steep. It was way too steep for the snow plow, it came down to the old side step, though to be honest I actually took the skis off and walked part way down. It took a long time to get down that run. Then we decided to go back up to the super easy part, and I had the worst stack ever. Smashed the back of my head on rock hard ice getting off the ski lift. Not a good end to that day. Lucky I was wearing a helmet, I don't think I would ski without one, after that experience.

Our last resort of the holiday

We had two days of lessons, and man that was such a good idea.  Next time skiing I would go for a few days longer, and intersperse the lessons with skiing by myself and rest days.  The fact that we were there for only 4 days meant that we really wanted to get in as much skiing as we could, so we were out on the slopes all day, every day.  Our first lesson was so good, it was just 3 of us with the instructor.  We started off on tiny little slopes, and there was even a magic carpet, so you didn't have to battle with the ski lifts straight up.  I think the ski lifts were definitely the worst part of the whole ski trip. Though to be honest, I even managed a terrible fall on the magic carpet, the assistant had to stop the whole ride and help me up.

But once we had mastered the little slopes and the good old snow plows, it was up the mountain. There was this great little stretch which was almost perfectly flat, with a whole heap of powder, that we could just go down and up on.  Over and over again, it was the perfect start to skiing, since even if you fell over it was into a massive snow drift.  Though I don't think I managed to get off the ski lift properly at all that day.  I think the trick is to wait until the absolute last minute before standing up, but even then it's a bit touch and go.

Looking down from almost the top of the mountain

We did another full day lesson the next day, that was a much harder day, the weather was a lot better, the day before we had been skiing whilst the powder was falling.  But this day was clear blue skies.  There was a whole pack of school kids learning snowboarding too, they were really scary to share the slopes with. They were total beginners.  Perhaps I sound like a ski snob, but snowboarders were by far the most scary people on the slopes. I got hit twice, when I was just standing waiting for the lift.  Both times were by snowboarders. One of them actually grabbed hold of me and started to pull me along. I had to shake him off, holy cow, get some lessons before you go round smashing into people!  The sound they make when they come up behind you is really scary too, as is the fact that they have a massive blind spot.  I just tried to give them all a really wide berth.

I will definitely be back to this spot.  I might try a bit of skiing in Europe first, to see if it's as good. I have my doubts. If you like skiing, get yourself to Niseko, you won't be disappointed.