Ellie & I have just completed a two-day Outdoor First Aid Level 3 Award Training Course with AM Outdoors (£100pp). I had been following Aaron Mitchell, the owner of AM Outdoors, on X for some time. He’s an interesting dude. Former medic with the British Army, served in Afghanistan and around the world, then spent a year and a half riding his motorbike around the world, seven years ago, before settling down back in Old Blighty. MAKING A PROPER WEEKEND AWAY OF THE OUTDOOR FIRST AID COURSE (LEVEL 3) The course took place at Summit House in Gillingham, near Rochester in Kent. Normally Gillingham station is a mere 40 minutes by train from London, and would have been easy to commute to. However, the trains had been having plenty of hiccups on this route lately, which is why Ellie & I had decided to make a proper weekend away […]
The Joker’s Trap at Breakin’ Escape Rooms, London – Soso
Three good friends of ours joined Ellie & me recently for The Joker’s Trap at Breakin’ Escape Rooms in Islington. There had been a mix-up with the bill at the near-by Italian restaurant where we had enjoyed dinner just before the escape room experience, so instead of 15 minutes before the official start time, as recommended, we only rocked up 7 minutes before then. Our bad, of course, and definitely a no-go, that had not happened to us, before. STRAIGHT-FORWARD INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE JOKER’S TRAP AT BREAKIN’ ESCAPE ROOMS The staff were quite relaxed about our faux-pas and didn’t make a big fuss about it. We did not get the impression that they rushed the initial instruction, and there was still enough time to put our coats and jackets into lockers. The instructions were very straight-forward, perhaps shorter than at other escape rooms, but overall very similar. Don’t use force […]
The RGS Explore Symposium 2024 Expedition Workshop
Over the years Ellie & I have occasionally attended events at the Royal Geographic Society here in London and always enjoyed them. Recently, at Ranulph Fiennes’ Transglobe Expedition series of events, I got to chat with the RGS’s Expeditions and Fieldwork Manager, Tom Allen. This is how I learned about the RGS Explore Symposium 2024, in essence, an expedition workshop for anyone who is interested. There is no other requirement, no previous experience necessary, you don’t even have to have a plan to do an expedition in the future. At £125 per person, with discounts available for students and others, the event is very reasonably priced, too. TURNING ELLIE INTO AN EXPLORER, STEP ONE Almost a bit to my surprise, Ellie immediately agreed to join me at the Royal Geographic Society, when I pitched the Explore idea to her. I was rather pleased (and still am!). It is my […]
Northwest Passage Expedition – daily update 19 September 2024
Missed the last update (16 September)? Click here. From last Tuesday morning to Thursday morning I flew from Paulatuk via Inuvik, Whitehorse, Vancouver and Montreal to Heathrow. I took some footage along the way. TRANSFORMATOR TO BE FIXED In Paulatuk we had to wait for electricians to hop off the incoming flight, fix a transformator in town, then hop back onto the outgoing flight. All other flights delayed or rescheduled, too. HYDRAULIC ISSUES WITH THE PLANE At Inuvik our plane had to be replaced because of hydraulic issues, leaving us passengers stranded in a Breakfast Clubesque situation throughout the night at this Arctic outpost. BREAKFAST CLUB IN INUVIK A bunch of construction workers ended up playing cards with a 70-year old Inuit lady and her 15-year old grandson. Three ladies were playing basketball. Two kids and one of the construction workers were chasing a chihuahua […]
Northwest Passage Expedition – daily update 16 September 2024
Missed yesterday’s post? Click here. On my first full day back on land, I got up at around 9am. Then I bought vast amounts of food at the Northern store on the ground floor, just below our hotel rooms. I had just paid and walked out of the entrance of the supermarket, when I bumped into Gavin, who told me that the police needed us to drop by and have pour passports scanned. POLICE STATION So I dropped all the food in the kitchen, went to the room to tell Mike about the news, then the two of us walked over to the police station, less than five minutes’ walk away. Leven and Art were already there. (c) BerkeleySqB, except pics w/police (c) Art Huseonica OFFICERS JOSH AND SCOTT Officers Josh (the station head) and Scott (holiday cover for the sergeant that normally is the only other policeman in […]