2010

Well, as you can see it's been ages since I have wrote what I have been up to. So instead I will promise to update before Christmas. But for now it's some ironing and the Christmas shopping...

New page in the book of life...

6 months, been and gone, and that's the end of the World Challenge chapter in terms of full time work. Working over the winter as a centre assistant/trainee instructor flew past so quickly and though the main work included hanging up wet tents, folding dry tents, organising stores for the training expeditions, there were the perks towards the end that got me involved in the delivery of training. It was stressful and full on but after going out on the third one, I was running it all by myself with an instructor shadowing me incase I missed out anything. I came back in from that weekend on such a high as the group were really receptive to the training, really positive and I had great feedback including a thankyou card. The teachers had been made aware that I was in training but thought I did really well :-)

So before I knew it, I was moving out of Buxton and heading South East to a village outside of Derby called Spondon where I am now based. It was originally going to be a 'rent a room' situation but turned out to be the case of a relationship blossoming. That guy is none other than my 'boyfriend', Ned, someone who has helped me a lot over the past few months with my climbing, not only someone I have worked on and off with for the past year, but someone who has been a little less than totally amazing to me.

So I have found myself moved into a new house and this is coupled with a new full time job (until October) with the company that started off all of my work within the outdoor sector, Peak Pursuits. I had been pestered for the past few months about working full time for the company as they lack female full time members of staff within the Duke of Edinburgh department and so an agreement was proposed that I take the seasonal position with a month off in the summer to go to Malawi on expedition with World Challenge. It was a big decision as I had been totally convinced with the idea of going freelance with different companies but after a few weeks mulling over the pro's and con's I went with taking the job for some security and experience with the 'behind the scenes' side of DoE. It's not like it's a permanent job as it is only until October and I can reassess the situation when I get back from Malawi.

In terms of life, I'm really not sure what I want anymore. It's not like I'm bored with the outdoors or anything, but only being a ML (in terms of qualifications) there are not a huge amount of avenues to go down at the moment. I may be just blind, and stuck in my ways of DoE but I hope to find something new for this winter or 2011. I aim to get my SPA (climbing award) sorted by the end of the year which may open some doors and hope to start paddling this year which could mean I aim for some water qualifications as well but I'm at the stage where I feel I have had a none stop life for the past 4 years and want some time out.

Yeah ok I'm only 22 years old but I want to get out travelling without a group of kids tagging along/in front of me. My brother has just made the hard decision to defer University and go out to Australia for a year to travel and maybe work. A friend of mine has done the same thing, got a camper van and is travelling throughout New Zealand. That would be awesome, but I'm a sociable person (most of the time) and don't think I fancy doing things like that on my own. I like to talk to someone and share the experiences of travel. Even if I was to go out on my own, I could potentially meet people on my travels but who knows if they are idiots or want to do the same things as me. I can be a right grump at times and I do have ties to the UK now. Job, meh, I can quit that worst case scenerio, a house, I can leave that and dump things in my parents loft, a boyfriend, a little harder to 'deal' with. That sounds very negative, which I really am not about. I haven't been this happy in a long time, not that I have been unhappy or lonely, but I so enjoy spending time with Ned. I think it's merely the fact that I have completed University, where I had a lot of time to play around with and could work when and where I wanted, had some excitement with going to Bolivia and India then going straight into a 6 month placement/job for the winter and straight into another 6 month job interspersed with work in Africa. Non stop but I do get bored just on days off.

So for the next few months it's going to be preparation for Malawi, getting through all the DoE expeditions around the UK (and abroad now with the possibility of going to Spain in August) and job hunting for my next challenge. I could easily just continue with DoE but it's not challenging anymore (depending on the group of course). And with that, I will pack for a gold practice in Scotland :-)

Snow snow snow

When it first hit I was dead excited. We haven't had snow like this in ages, to then be told England hadn't had snow like this in over 20 years or so, I knew then that it was exciting! That was until every morning at the centre we would be clearing snow for over an hour and gritting half a football pitch. Some good snowmen, sledging and fights were some of the highs but now it's just getting riduculous.

Practically all the roads in and out of Buxton are closed because they are getting so dangerous. Thankfully I wasn't too bad getting into Buxton on Sunday night just gone but I doubt I'll be able to leave for at least a week. Bummer! So much for the climbing sessions on Tuesday evenings in Sheffield, not happy.

One good thing about being stuck in the centre though was I finally organised and booked some holiday that I was due. I had been wanting to go out to Switzerland for ages now to see my God Mother Gillian. Probably a couple of years ago now, she had her own house built with her husband Bart. I still haven't visited so it was a perfect opportunity to go out there. So 4th Feb, fly out to Zurich, spend a night in Luzern by the lake and then meet Gillian on the 5th. Spend a long weekend at her's and then fly back on the 8th. Exciting stuff. I hope to get out and do some walking in the weather is kind. They have been having lots of snow by the sounds of things but the trains are still running so will be able to get from the airport to near enough her house.
I also booked off the half term week in anticipation of something exciting to rear it's head. Will see what happens but it'll be a week off so can get away and do something either way.

Then it's going to be some busy weeks as the last of the kids will be coming through the Leadership and Development Centre for their overseas training. I believe I will be on a remote course in Hexham in February so that will be a nice break from the centre. Not to mention going out with the groups in Buxton as well! Hopefully the weather will have sorted itself out by then and I can get out climbing working on the log book for assessment. How frustrating it is when you have time off but can't get out and do the things you want. Welcome to the real world I guess. I will have to just try harder with things....

Happy New Year

A new year, a new start and a whirlwind of excitement to come...

Bringing in the new year with a trip to Lincoln cathedral, beautifully lit with bell ringing, crowds of people and tea lights floating into the sky where a full moon enlightened everything in sight. It was a truely beautiful evening in the crisp cold after an exciting day of Mountain Biking around Carsington Water. I was a little dubious about the idea of getting back on a bike, especially when it was freezing cold, icy though sunny but we went with the idea. I had done the low level routes with my parents when I on holiday years before (but this time it was with Ned Needham, who doesn't understand easy!).

Unfortunately I had been ill the previous two days which was ominous, with having only ate a tin of soup and some toast. My energy levels were low but we whizzed onto the trails and there were hills! I can say I only had to push on one of them from exhaustion, the other two where because it was icy and I had no purchase on the ground. On Ned peddled, thankfully waiting for me on the flat. A nice lunch stop by the dam where we were pestered by a family who had a puncture. Then an absolutely freezing sprint across the dam where I lost both hands and feet to the cold and we were back to the car. I made it but can't say my bottom agreed with it though....

Now my week had obviously started off badly due to being sick, though I managed to squeeze in a meal with some old school friends on the Monday night so once I was feeling better on the Wednesday I was back on the road and it was to stop at my friend Ned's house in Derby. Easing in gently to physical exertion I had a 'fresh' walk around Darley Park to be surprised by a random water buffalo called Oink sitting in a field, finished off with a wander around Derby old town for a taste of culture. It was bitter cold so we head home for tea, though the house was really no warmer! Ned doesn't seem to understand the word heating. The following day, the weather was fantastic so we had our ride around Carsington followed by an amazing dinner and trip to Lincoln, finally crawling into bed very late.

New Year's Day, another amazing day of weather that was dedicated to a trip to Harborough for some outdoor climbing. What a way to start the new year and though there was snow still on the ground, I was thrown into climbing on Limestone. Some amazing views looking over the Peak District, I got myself two leads ticked off for my logbook. If my log book continues in this way then I will be having all types of rock types logged soon enough. Ned tackled a particularly tricky looking climb that I seconded. That was when my hands completely froze, not to mention the non-existent feet on the end of my legs. Painful as it was, I got to the top and we bailed for the 'warmth' of home.

After I found my feet my again, I was shocked to find that the heating was actually working in the house which was blissful. A evening of food and films finished a day well. Very successful!

Now it can't all be fun fun so a morning of getting up to date with things and some work, we then spent the afternoon at Nottingham Climbing Centre where my comfort zone was well and truely stretched with the introduction of fighting over hangs plus a play with twin/double/half ropes (don't ask me to explain or work out the difference as it was a 2am conversation that was only half taken in when it was explained!). The bouldering was pretty good though and I tackled some interesting problems but the day took it's toll on me thankfully co-inciding with closing time at 5pm. Some sore hands and a bit of demoralisation, we skipped off back home for a couple of hours to then go to see the new Sherlock Holmes film at the cinema which was very good. Thoroughly recommended with the character of Holmes being portrayed in a very quirky manner. The night topped off with a monster game of Yahtzee and cheese on muffins!

So a very exciting week and now I prepare to head back to Buxton for work tomorrow. Back on duty so 7 days of early mornings and late evenings. Apparently the snow is still up there but the roads are ok which makes my travelling a little easier. Clearing drive ways for non-existent members of staff coming in makes in a bit demoralising but hey ho, work work work. Let's hope the weather stays sunny and fresh for some afternoon climbing outdoors. And with that I head to Buxton...