The Beat Goes On ....

Hi everyone, Chelmer Bear here. I've been fairly quiet on the blog so far but I'm sure you'll recognise me from a number of pictures I've popped up in, particularly those taken on the rambles earlier this week.

Like most of my Bears Unlimited friends I've got quite a few diverse interests and hobbies, but I am unique in that I'm the only serious drummer in Bears Unlimited. I've got drumming in my blood and there are few things I like better than to settle myself in front of my drum kit and crash out a few rhythms (I've learnt not to do this too early in the morning though!)

Of course, drumming on your own isn't as much fun as playing with a band. I'm in the process of getting the Bears Unlimited band together and up to performing standard, but we're not quite there yet. I was, therefore, particularly pleased when my friend Wade invited me along to a gig his band was doing last night.

Wade is the drummer with a band called 'The Usual Suspects'. They play some great rock numbers and it is sometimes hard to tell their renditions from those of the original artists - not bad when we're talking the likes of Elvis and the Stones. Here I am with Wade giving him a hand and about to get the full force of the music (it was very loud!)


During the first half I impressed Wade so much with my musicianship that he let me do a guest drumming spot in the second half. I had sole control of the drums for King of the Road and Ride around Sally. The adrenalin really flowed and I had the time of my life.

At the end of my spot I was parched so downed a large beer in record time. I hope I can do it again soon (both the drumming and the beer).


If you live in Norfolk look out for The Usual Suspects appearing at a venue near you. If you don't live in Norfolk, it may be that I've got the Bears Unlimited band up to scratch for a spot in the Performance cafe at the next Greenbelt. Keep your eyes and ears open.

Lots of love, Chelmer xxx

We Recharge our Batteries in the Countryside

Confection, of the Midlands branch, makes a very good guide and yesterday he took us to the outskirts of Coventry for another calorie busting walk.

Early on in the walk he showed us some of the new footpath signs that the Midlands branch have helped to put in as part of their philantropic work. Confection is passionate about getting people out of their cars to enjoy the countryside under their own steam, so this is one of his pet projects and he is setting a very high standard of workmanship.


The weather was even better than the day before and yes, we even got some sunshine which made our teddy bears picnic in the woods even more enjoyable. Yes, we know that having sandwiches as big as, if not bigger, than ourselves, is not the best way to shed calories, but the left over turkey and ham was really tasty and we did have a healthy clementine for pudding.


After lunch we came across a big holly bush really laden with lovely red berries. Even though Christmas is now mostly over, the 12 days of Christmas are not up, so Noel bearfully braved the prickles to gather some for us.

We hope your day was as lovely as ours.

Love the bears Unlimited ramblers xxx

My Lords & Ladies ...

We were going to ask our readers to tell us where we are in this photo but we realised that we gave the game away yesterday when we said we drove over to Warwick.

There are no prizes, therefore, for guessing that we are looking at Warwick Castle, or we would be if we hadn't turned our backs temporarily to pose for this shot. This bridge provides a great view and we shall certainly be recommending a visit to this viewpoint in the budget traveller's section of the Warwick chapter of the Friendly Planet Guide.

Our perch on this bridge was a little precarious as if we had fallen backwards if would have been a long fall into cold river waters. We therefore clung on tightly and angled ourselves forward. After all, Isaiah's mishap was enough for one day.

We thought we would save a visit to the inside of the castle for another day as we were enjoying being outdoors and our lovely walk so much.

We've got another great walk that we did today to tell you about tomorrow.

Love Chelmer, George & Yorkie xxx

Off his head ... but not through drinking too much!

We hope you had as good a Christmas as ours. The Norfolk and Suffolk branches of Bears Unlimited joined with the Midlands branch at the Midlands branch HQ. We always have a riot of a good time when we all get together. We simply can't stop chatting and we often forget to go to sleep as we are enjoying ourselves so much. In fact one of our number talked so much he didn't exactly talk the hind legs off a donkey, but he did talk his own head off (more later).

We ate and drank to our hearts content yesterday which was great, but today we felt a brisk walk and some energetic exercise was called for. We drove over to Warwick in the bearmobiles and spent the day walking along a canal and a river path, exploring a big park and crossing a racecourse and golf course.

The park had a excellent play area which included a bear assault course. We were all up for the challenge and our pictures will show you just how energetic we were. Sadly George's brother Isaiah suffered a bit of a mishap at the picnic table. All the talking he did yesterday, followed by the pre-lunch athletic activity led to the loss of his head as his minder was reaching in her rucksack for a coffee cream. We don't know whether it was her or Isaiah who was the most shocked when she retrieved a bear head rather than a coffee cream!

We don't want you to worry too much about this mishap though as the Midlands branch has excellent medical facilities and after a quick operation and recovery period in the airing cupboard, we are pleased to report that Isaiah now appears to be as good as new and has been pronounced fit to travel back to the Suffolk branch HQ tonight. We'll sure he'll send us a picture in the next day or two to assure us all that he is none the worse for his ordeal.

You will note however, that if you play spot the difference between the before and after lunch pictures you will see that Isaiah fails to appear.

Lots of love, all branches of Bears Unlimited xxx

In The Bleak Midwinter ...

Tonight the Bears Unlimited choir (which is all of us) has been doing some carol singing. We started off outdoors where we sang all the cold outdoor carols such as In the Bleak Midwinter and Good King Wenceslas. One neighbour was very appreciative and brought us out some mince pies and mulled wine which we thoroughly enjoyed. We think everyone else must have been watching the Strictly Come Dancing final as it as very quiet out on the streets.

We came indoors a little while ago to warm up by the fire and sing some more of our favourites. We have been singing ''now bring us some figgy pudding'' very loud but our minders haven't brought us any yet, although we have been told there is spaghetti bolognaise on the way which is an acceptable substitute in our eyes.

If only we had sound on our blog spot you would be able to hear us all singing to you, ''we wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New year''. Even though you can't hear us it doesn't diminish the sentiment.

Happy Christmas to all our readers.

P.S. Teddy Bear Bill says do you like his shepherds's outfit?

Love all at Bears Unlimited xxx

Busy Paws in Norfolk

What a busy week we are having. Our paws have been working non stop getting ready for Christmas. The biggest task is proving to be wrapping all the presents we have bought for each other and all our friends. We are spending several hours a day wrapping and still we haven't finished. Mind you, for us little bears managing metres of wrapping paper without wrapping ourselves up at the same time is quite difficult and some of us, who still have fur, have lost some of it to strips of sellotape which have seem to have a mind of their own.

It will all be worth it on Christmas Day when we get to start the serious business of unwrapping. However, we will enjoy the giving part, and watching our brothers and friends faces light up with pleasure, as much as we will the receiving.

One of our present tips, if you still have some to buy is the 'Crisis' Christmas pudding . Your loved one gets a fine Harrods Christmas pudding and you get to support the great work of Crisis including providing someone with a Christmas lunch!

Love the present wrapping crew xxxxx

Addition to the Norfolk Fleet

Amidst all the excitement of reporting George & Yorkie's Indian adventures we did not get round to telling you about the new addition to the Norfolk company fleet, which coincided with our return from India.

Sadly Bearmobile no.1 had come to the end of her life. She was a much loved car and had been with us many years, but after over 165,000 miles it was time for her to retire. It was very sad to say goodbye but we were pleased to welcome the replacement bearmobile 1 to the Briston bear cave.

The new Bearmobile 1 is a silver Astra estate and she has been receiving some loving attention from Chief Mechanic Blue Bear. Blue Bear has done a fantastic job of valeting and polishing and as a result BEAR M1 is looking really good.


The cold weather is not causing Blue Bear to neglect his duties and in today's photo we see him showing off the 2 spangly clean and shiny Norfolk fleet vehicles.

Lots of love from all at Bears Unlimited xxx

Christingle Time

One of favourite events in the run up to Christmas is the Christingle service. In fact this year we've been to two! We were especially impressed by the giant Christingle the Vicar used as his visual aid and it was certainly big enough to be seen from the back of the church. It was a medium sized pumpkin - very ingenious we thought. The Christingles which were lit and handed out to us all were, however, the traditional oranges.

We battled with temptation (to eat the sweets or not before we got home) throughout the service and are pleased to report our halos remained intact i.e. we resisted temptation. The ladies at Briston church, however, understood our dilemma and thoughtfully provided loose sweets at the door to keep us going until we got home.

Our first Christingles have shrivelled up but provided a fine aroma when burnt on our open fire. The second ones are still going strong and, as we wrap all our presents, remind us of what Christmas is really all about.

Lots of love Bris, Woolly & Noel xxx

O Christmas Tree ......

We're all in a Christmassy spirit today as this morning, after our regular aquarobic session, we went to pick up our Christmas tree. We trundled our tree home in the bearmobile trailer, then after a few critical measurements, we had to chop a bit off the bottom (sorry Christmas tree) as he was nearly 8 feet tall and therefore a bit tall for our lounge.

We got our tree inside just after lunch and had a lovely afternoon dressing him up. We all helped and the smaller bears did a lot of tree climbing to get some decorations right to the top.

We have some extra decorations this year as we bought some hand painted tree decorations while on holiday in Kerala last month. In our second picture you will see George & Yorkie, helped by Chelmer, hanging our 3 new Indian decorations (the camel, star and shooting star).



We are very proud of our tree and think he looks really fine. Mind you he'll look even better when he starts getting a few presents round him. We're getting very excited already!

Lots of love Ungi & the decorating team xxx

Yummy Yummy Yummy ...

We did say that reports from India had now finished but that doesn't mean that India is now a closed subject. I, Oakley Bear, am having a great time cooking with all the spices and recipe books that George & Yorkie brought back with them. Many of us at Bears Unlimited have a speciality country for cooking and mine is India.


The other day I spent all day conjuring up loads of delicious dishes. In the picture you can see me at the planning stage before it got all chaotic as my creative flair was exercised. The kitchen took quite a bit of cleaning afterwards but all my dishes were quickly despatched and I took the empty plates to be a sign of appreciation.

I did have 2 slight problems with my menu. My vegetable pakoras were supposed to be keeping warm in the top oven but instead they cooked for a second time and ended up rather black and burnt. Then my coconut ice cream set so solid that we couldn't get it out of the dish. We had to sit it by the fire for a good long while to allow it to soften.

We looked at photos and watched George & Yorkie's video as we ate our food and everyone declared it to be a great evening.

Lots of love, Chef Bear Oakley xxx

Closing Credits

Sadly we've come to the end of our tales and pictures of our Indian holiday. We hope you've enjoyed them and got the feel of what a fantastic holiday it was. We can't recommend southern India highly enough. Thank you to Explore for putting together such a great tour.

Our final picture shows us with Andrew our tour leader and the staff of the Rockholm hotel, Kovalam, on the last evening of our holiday. We tried to smile but it was very sad to be leaving.


The good news, however, is that our brothers in the Ipswich branch have recently returned from their holiday to New Zealand. We hope they will be able to share some of their photos and holiday experiences soon.

Keep reading the blog though as life is never dull with Bears Unlimited. We'll be taking a back seat as you've heard a lot from us recently but our friends have lots to tell you.

Lots of love, George & Yorkie xxx

Leech Attack!

There was one incident on our holiday that caused us bears particular amusement. We don’t have a laugh at our minders expense too often as they are very good to us, but there are occasions when it just can’t be helped.

The occasion in question was a ranger lead walk in the Periyar national park. We had to meet the ranger bright and early in the morning so as to have the best opportunity for animal sightings – we were particularly hoping to see a tiger. As it was the end of the monsoon season it was very damp and steamy in the park: ideal conditions for leeches. Our minders were therefore issued with some very peculiar leech socks, which completely covered them from knee to toe. They then put their shoes on which made them look really strange. We thought how lucky we were to have stuffing rather than blood and so be of no interest to leeches. We didn’t want to miss out on a photo opportunity though so we posed alongside a pair of leech socks.


We’d only taken a couple of steps and hadn’t even been rafted across the lake to the heart of the park before the leeches struck the humans. We found it fascinating watching them arching their way over our minders’ shoes looking for a way in through the laces.

It wasn’t long before we discovered the disadvantage of leech socks: they don’t cover the upper part of the body. Our female minder said she felt a tickling sensation on her stomach and when we had a look we discovered a leech had crawled up the inside of her shirt and firmly attached itself to her stomach. There was another two and a half hours of the walk to go which would have given the leech time to get very fat, so we thought we had better put a rescue plan into operation. We checked available resources and settled for a DEET (mosquito repellent) spray. This worked a treat, although we did feel a bit sorry for the leech! He soon let go and we were able to pull him off. Bears to the rescue yet again.

That was actually the most eventful part of the walk as there were few animal sighting – mainly just monkeys. When we got back to base our minders found the leech socks had worked a treat and their legs and ankles were leech free but their shoes were full of leeches. There were a tense few moments getting all the leeches out, but after we gave the ranger his tip he was very attentive and did a great job of clearing our shoes. Clearly all part of a day’s work if you’re a park ranger in India, but we’re not sure we fancy it.

Lots of love, George & Yorkie xxx

Tea for Two

Seeing how tea grows is of course only half the story and we saw little resemblance between the cuppa we enjoy several times a day and those healthy green bushes you saw us sitting in yesterday.

When we found a tea factory that was open to the public to visit we were therefore first in the queue to find out more about how tea leaves become tea. In fact as you will see from our picture we were there before the gates opened (yes you do have to look quite hard to see us but we are there).


We thought the Connemara tea factory sounded a bit Irish but it was definitely tea they were making not Guinness! It was a very noisy, dusty and hot process and we were a bit intrigued by all the fermentation going on - we didn't think tea had an alcoholic content!

Sadly there wasn't any tea sampling at the end of the visit but we did know a lot more about manufacturing tea than when we started.

Lots of love, George & Yorkie xxx

More Tea Vicar!

We think our bear radar might have detected a few readers asking, how come they've been all that time in India and not mentioned tea once?

Well the time has come to talk about tea. We like drinking tea almost as much as we like drinking Wherry (it all depends on the time of day) so we looked forward to visiting tea country on our trip. Our overwhelming impression was that tea bushes are very fortunate as they get to look out on some stunning views and spend their days soaking up the sun. Our cycle ride through tea country took us over the Western Ghats and boy did we want to store those fantastic mountain views in our minds to recall on cold, wet and dark days (like today). A second memorable thing about tea bushes was that we had never seen anything similar growing at home yet we've drunk Yorkshire tea on many occasions. Now, just where are those bushes growing in Yorkshire? We will have to look harder when we next visit.

The third memory we took away from our cycle through tea country was the chink chinking sound of the tea pickers' sheers providing a musical accompaniment as we pedalled along. The tea pickers, who all seemed to be friendly ladies, had some very innovative sheers. They had containers attached to them that the snipped tea leaves fell into so they didn't have to stop very often to collect what they had snipped.

We thought some of our readers might not have seen a tea bush growing so we thought we would take a picture of ourselves in a tea bush about to lend the ladies a hand with some tea leaf picking.


Love George & Yorkie xxx

Back Afloat Again

While it was great to try out some truly Indian forms of transport, a visit to Kerala is, more than anything else, about seeing the backwaters. As the backwaters stretch for about 1,000 km and there is so much to see on them - birds, animals, local industry and people simply living out their lives - you simply cannot spend too much time exploring and how better to explore the backwaters than by boat?

As we are boating bears, we were very happy to get back afloat. We didn't get to go on a traditional rice barge as none of our boat trips involved overnight stays which they are geared up for, but we were very happy with the boats we travelled on, especially when the masters of the vessels let us have a drive. We were pleased to find there aren't any speed limits like on the Norfolk Broads at home, but while we couldn't resist an occasional burst of speed (just to see what she could do) most of the time we drove like the responsible bears so as to get the best sightings of kingfishers and fish eagles.


The boat in today's photo had very thoughtfully provided safety straps to stop bears unwittingly slipping overboard. We thought this was a very nice touch.

Lots of love, George & Yorkie xxx

Travelling in Classic Style

When, earlier this year, our minders told us they were going to take us to India we started imagining what it would be like and doing some internet research to find out what to expect.

As we like to think we share personality characteristics with James Bond (I'm sure you can spot them) and the Top Gear presenters (we're sure we'll be invited on the show any day) we always pay particular attention to the car chase sequences in James Bond films.

After watching the James Bond film Octopussy, we fell in love with the Hindustani Ambassador and since then it has been our ambition to ride in one. We thought the chance might just come our way on our India trip so did a Google search on 'Hindustani Ambassador'. We just adore one of the quotes we found in someone's blog - the author was talking about a ride in an Ambassador.

''It is like traversing a crazy golf course on your granny's sofa, with added obstructions coming from flitting auto-rickshaws, wobbly, cycling Sikhs and toiling bullock carts''.

After reading this we made a pact that we wouldn't leave India without riding in an Ambassador. We hadn't bargained for there being so many around - they were everywhere and every single one was white. How we longed to take a can of spray paint to one of them to make it different! Was the ride worth waiting for? Yes it was. These are just such cool cars that we have yet another business venture to research for Bears Unlimited.

Love George & Yorkie xxxxx

On yer bike!

While our tuk-tuk driving was great fun we were keen to try some other authentic forms of Indian transport to maximise our travelling experiences. Also we weren't sure our nerves could stand too much more tuk-tuk driving for a while.

We had noticed that not many people owned cars but lots had small motorbikes. To blend in with the locals which we were keen to do, to experience the real India we thought we would try a day on a motorbike.

What we found wouldn't have done our image much good at home but it was perfect for India where practical considerations win over style. Had we had the bike for longer we would have liked to paint it a more vibrant colour but we compensated by putting on some bright clothes when we were ready to go. We also put on our cycle helmets as we weren't too sure about the Indian practice of riding without a helmet.

The bit we really liked about the motorbike was that we were able to go fast enough to keep us cool, this counts for a lot in a country as hot and humid as southern India.

Love George & Yorkie xxx

"Driving in my Tuk -Tuk"

One thing you should know about us members of Bears Unlimited is that we always keep our promises. We have therefore, not forgotten that, a while ago, we promised to report on our tuk-tuk driving lesson. If you've been waiting for this report your patience will now be rewarded.

As we've told you, our tour leader, Andrew, was very kindly disposed to bears. He appreciated that we couldn't do quite as much cycling as the rest of the group in view of our rather short legs, so arranged a number of alternative forms of transport for us to complement our cycling.

We simply loved our tuk-tuk driving lesson - really we should call it an auto rickshaw as that's what they're called in India, but we prefer to call them tuk-tuks. We simply cannot understand why they are not all the rage at home as they are such fun, and we are seriously considering importing them as a new Bears Unlimited business venture.

Most of the tuk-tuks in the area were black and gold in colour but we got to drive in a special blue one, complete with L plates. We got our vehicle started fairly easily and checked the horn was working, as our instructor told us that the most important tip he could give us was to use the horn at every opportunity as most drivers don't obey any rules of the road. As we took to the streets this became quite apparent and we began to wonder why every driver in India doesn't have L plates as most don't appear to have had any lessons!

Mastering the tuk-tuk controls didn't take us very long and once we had established that the best way to get anywhere was to drive like a maniac so we would fit in with the traffic flows, we were well away and left our cycling minders far behind. In fact we had finished a bottle of Kingfisher in a local restaurant before they caught up!



Lots of love, George & Yorkie xxx (beep beep!)

Our Award for Great Headgear

We had another encounter with a man in uniform on our holiday. This time it was at a coffee shop which we pedalled past on our way to Vanilla County.

We weren't too impressed by the coffee served to us, even though it had probably been grown locally and therefore was probably very fresh, but we thoroughly enjoyed the ice cream which was recommended to us as being the speciality of the house.

One of the reasons we had to make this stop at the coffee house was to give our bus driver time to pop down the road to buy 2 days supply of Kingfisher beer, as while Vanilla County didn't sell beer, we were welcome to take our own. We discovered that we and our minders put in the biggest order of the group but then we do like our beer.

We had originally thought about climbing aboard our waiter friend's tray for the photograph but on closer inspection it was a bit wet from coffee spills so we settled for keeping our bottoms dry!


Lots of love George & Yorkie xxx

Food Glorious Food ...

We mentioned our love of food in our last blog - as if you didn't know this already! You therefore probably won't be surprised to hear that when we heard there was a cookery demonstration going on in one of the hotels we were visiting, we made a beeline - or should that be a bearline? - for it, reckoning there should be some free samples if we smiled our winning smiles at the chef.


We managed to get seats on the front row of the audience and immediately caught the chef's eye - off to a good start we thought as we gave him a smile and a wave. Unfortunately having two bears in the audience was clearly an unusual event for him and put him off his stride as very early on in the demo he put what looked to us an alarming amount of garlic in the pan and then seconds later admitted that he'd added pineapple instead of garlic and so had to start all over again. Being the helpful bears we are we ensured he had a fresh supply of pineapple even though this required us to pop outside and harvest one - good job we had our swiss army knife to hand!

After that our chef friend recovered his composure and cooked two lovely dishes. They had some technical Keralan names but we forgot them immediately and all we can remember was that there was a fish curry and a pineapple curry. As we had helped out with the pineapple replacement we got to have first taste and have to admit we didn't leave too much for the rest of the audience.

We had a long chat with the chef who shared with us a number of tips for cooking some traditional Kerala recipes which we are now trying out on our Bears Unlimited colleagues to much acclaim - Wherry consumption is going up which must mean we're making them hot enough!

Hope you like our picture taken with our chef friend. Please don't ask what I (George) am doing with my leg though.


Love George and Yorkie xxx

Gone Fishing ...

After our splendid lunch at the German Bakery we decided to take a stroll along the beach so we could work up an appetite for tea (as you can tell we like our food!)

As is usually the case in India, there was lots to see and lots of people watching to do (we bears do find the antics of humans fascinating). It was great to see huge numbers of the locals out enjoying themselves and they were so much more colourful and attractive than the western tourists. We were a bit intrigued though that all the young ladies we saw were going into the water fully clothed. We think they thought they were only going for a bit of a paddle, but with surf as big as that of the Arabian Sea it is difficult not to get soaked. We mused on the possibility of a marketing opportunity for Bears Unlimited in supplying Victorian style bathing costumes and bathing machines so all modesty was preserved, but before we pursue this idea we would need to consult with Raj of the Midlands branch over local customs.

Also on the beach were a fascinating variety of fishing boats. Being boat loving bears we thought we would climb aboard (with permission of the owners of course) and cast a professsional eye over their build and seaworthiness.



The first boat we tried out had loads of character and we were impressed by the craftsmanship. It was basically a canoe made out of two coconut palm trunks lashed together. As our only canoeing experience is on calm waters we thought it might take a bit more experience than we'd got to take it out through the surf so we moved on to check out a rather bigger boat.


If we'd fitted the whole of this boat in the picture we'd only have been small dots, so we settled ourselves on the prow for our photoshoot. This splendid boat was also made of coconut palms but in plank form, and the planks were stitched together and the gaps sealed with coir. We know all this thanks to the friendly fisherman owner who was on hand to tell us all about his boat - he'd never had a bear audience before. In fact he was so taken with us, that he offered to take us out with him on the night's fishing trip. The prospect of fish for tea was so great we jumped at the opportunity and had a most enjoyable evening.

Love George & Yorkie xxx

A Spud Has Never Tasted So Good

We found it hard to tear ourselves away from such a beautiful beach. And so, when it was time for lunch we decided we would have to go somewhere overlooking the beach. The German Bakery was highly recommeded so we paid it a visit. They had a great menu which included dishes from all over the world, but still no nutella sandwiches! While we are curry loving bears, we couldn't resist the opportunity to have a jacket potato and cheese, as a change from rice and chapattis. Boy did they taste good, but then, what food and drink wouldn't when served up with a view such as this one? I know I (George) am looking particularly smug, but on this occasion I did have every reason to be.


Love George & Yorkie xxx

A Bear's Way to Relax

What better to follow on from a great view, than a picture of another fantastic view. This time the view from our hotel balcony in Kovalam. As we sit at the computer on a cold, dark and miserable English night we really wish we were back at the Rockholm Hotel and sharing this view with the rest of our Bears Unlimited friends.

Not only was the sea just a few feet away we could hear the pounding surf all night. The sunshine and the coconut palms gave a lovely tropical feel. Sheer bliss! Then, when it got too hot all we had to do was to pop down the steps to the side of the hotel and we were running across a sandy beach and into the surf.


Have we made you envious?

Love George & Yorkie xxx

An Inspirational Sunset

While we weren't entired convinced by our elephant friend's toddy shop recommendation, his suggestion of a great place to view the sunset was a different matter entirely. He couldn't have chosen a better spot and he is very lucky to live just a short hop down the road from this remarkable place.

Our new friend urged us to hurry and we arrived just as the sun was beginning to redden the sky. We settled down to watch the majesty all around us. Even before the sun began to set, we had the amazing sight of layers of cloud below us gently blanketing the land between our high point in the Western Ghats and the coast many miles away.


As the sun dropped below the horizon the display of colour just got better and better and we were lost for words. We identified with our friend Naughty Bear who recently posted a blog called Sometimes bears like to sit and think in which he said 'sometimes being a bear is thinking about being a bear in front of a very nice view indeed'. We couldn't agree more, great words from a great friend of ours.

Love from George & Yorkie xxx

Down at the Local

Our friend the elephant gave us lots of tips about the local area including the best place to see a sunset - which we'll show you tomorrow - and the best place to go to sample the local brew.

We followed the map the elephant drew us and arrived at the local pub - the toddy shop. Now there is a big difference between our favourite tipple at home - Norfolk Wherry and toddy. Toddy is tapped twice a day from the flower of the coconut palm and becomes alcoholic when allowed to ferment. It is drunk in half pints and looks like watery milk.

We were shown to the V.I.P lounge while we waited for our toddy to be tapped. It felt like we were in a cattle shed made of breeze blocks but we were happy as we were getting an authentic local experience. Sadly we weren't so happy when the toddy arrived and we got our first taste. It's obviously an acquired taste and we weren't around long enough to acquire it. Our photo shows that we did ourselves proud by draining our glass (more than our minders could do) but we can safely predict sampling toddy won't be a recommended activity in the Friendly Planet Guide.


Love George & Yorkie xxx (Hic!)

Perfect Day Out

We could extol the virtues of Vanilla County for ever, but we will make this our last entry as there are other things to tell you about.

While the great accommodation, hospitality and scrummy food (including homemade peanut butter and banana jam) makes you want to linger at the breakfast table, when we found out about all the activities on offer, we couldn't wait to get started.
A real must is the guided tour of the plantation where we got to see lots of the lovely foods we enjoy every day growing: pepper, vanilla, cashew nuts, cocoa, nutmeg tapioca and more. We picked some lemon grass on the way to rub on our fun that evening to keep the mosquitos at bay. We also had a go at rubber tapping and viewed the biggest worms ever seen (bigger than me - Yorkie) in compost houses.

The tour ended at some fantastic rock pools where we stopped for a swim. The water was very fast flowing and kept sending us down a natural slide. It was very hard for our little paws to make it back upstream so we had to jump on a minder's back. As they helped us out we'll let one of our minders appear in our rock pool photo.


The sun was so hot we dried off fairly quickly then leapt onto our bikes to pedal off to visit the 900 year old palace the King (the Maharajah) used to live in. Word had clearly got around that bears were in town and the Maharajah asked to meet us. We felt very honoured and went to see him in his new house. He was 83 years old and very charming and he told us all about his days as an elephant trapper, including the time when he got pinned between the tusks of an elephant and had to be rescued.

Talking about elephants, in the afternoon we went off in our minibus to track down an elephant at work logging. He took a bit of finding as we was in the heart of the forest but the tracking was well worth it. We were astounded at the size of the tree he was dragging. It was about more than 100 Georges long and about 50 Yorkies wide. We thought it best not to stop the elephant while he was working but when he finished and was having his tea we joined him for a chat, and of course a photo.


Love George & Yorkie xxx

5 Star Accommodation

Yesterday we promised to tell you about our great accommodation at Vanilla County.

While most of our group stayed in the plantation house we were given private quarters for our exclusive use. While the house was really lovely, our quarters were completely unique and provided a really fun adventure.

We got to camp, but in a very civilised way. We had a huge tent with a proper floor, beds, a table and lots of room to move around in. As it was so warm we didn't need to shut the tent up at night and we could lie in bed looking at all the stars, then, when it began to get light, all the flowers on the hillside outside.


But the really amazing bit, that made the experience for us, was our bathroom. We had our own bathroom in an adjacent building. The toilet and washbasin had a roof over but the shower was completely open air. The shower fittings were built into the rock face, we stood on a floor of pebbles and we shared the shower with a giant fern. It was fantastic, even though the shower was bracing (no hot water, but there again Indian showers are about cooling down, not warming up).

We got a bit of a shock when we went to use the toilet and found a big frog inside. I suppose it went with the open air washroom experience! We were racking our brains trying to think of a few words of frog to ask it to leave, when it decided to jump out. We could then uncross our legs and use the facilities.


Love George & Yorkie xxx

We Hear from Rajah

Those of you with good memories may recall that the Midlands Branch have a member with Indian ancestry - Rajah.

Thanks Raj for the following comments - Love George & Yorkie

''Rupert & I from the Midland Branch have been following your India trip with great interest, particularly as I joined the firm just after our minders returned from a wonderful holiday in Nepal. We know thats a long way from Kerala but it's still India sort of, isn't it?

That was a wonderful photo of Emile & Evelyn. What was the name of their well proprtioned bear?

We were surprised that your posh bikes caused such a stir locally. Was this Explore's first cycling trip to Kerala? Fancy getting on T.V!

It must have been very frightening having to abort your landing at Muscat at the last minute. Rupert & I would have dived for the sick bags.

You tour leader Andrew seems a great guy. Our minders say they quite fancy the trip but Mummy Minder is not all that keen on cycling.

Looking forward to the report on the tuk-tuk driving lesson.

Wish Vanilla County was not so far away - makes our tummies rumble.

Love Rajah & Rupert''

Bears Can't Have Too Many Friends

We consider ourselves very lucky to be able to make new friends so easily. Maybe there is a lot that humans can learn from bears (our thought for the day). We rate India as one of the top places for making friends, as we shall say in the Friendly Planet Guide when we publish it.

You've already met some of our new friends, but there are two more we simply must introduce as they played such an important role in making our holiday so fantastic. Here we are with Baby Matthews and his wife Rani who kindly allow people to stay at their amazing plantation, Vanilla County, beautifully situated in the hills of the Western Ghats.

From the moment we arrived we were treated like royalty. We had glasses of delicious fresh grape juice awaiting us which we enjoyed on the verandah. The accommodation was so good that it warrants a separate blog entry (logon tomorrow) and Rani's cooking was out of this world - we hadn't been expecting to put on weight in India but you can't stay at Vanilla County and not eat lots! There were also loads of things to do - you'll have to stay with us for the next few days to find out more.

To whet your appetite you can check out www.vanillacounty.in

Love George & Yorkie

P.S. we're having curry for tea!

New Friends (2)

A tour is only as good as its leader and we were lucky to have a very fine leader in the form of Andrew. Early on he showed his bear friendly qualities and soon became a firm friend of ours. He even managed to spy out some photographic opportunities for us that our minders had missed, and they are well practiced. He also arranged some special events just for us bears, for example a tuk-tuk driving lesson - more about that in a later blog.

Andrew works for Explore who provided our trip. To find out more about our trip and the hundreds of other exciting adventures on offer, check out their website at www.explore.co.uk

Thank you Andrew for looking after us so well and making the holiday a really memorable one for us. Hope you like the photo we had taken on the beach.


Love George & Yorkie xxx

Living With the Locals

While we enjoyed our first few days checking out Indian hotels, we were very excited when we discovered that we were due to spend a couple of days living with an Indian family in their house on the Kerala backwaters.

How lucky we were to stay with such a charming and hospitable family as the Jacob family. We had a great time learning some new Indian games and helping make chapattis for our evening meal. We were also able to observe all the comings and goings on the waterways from the front door.

We formed a special bond with Emile and Evelyn who introduced us to their Bear and gave us a lovely bear hug. Hope you like the picture we took.


Love George & Yorkie xxx

In Praise of Two Wheels

The great thing about cycling is that you are travelling at a speed that allows you plenty of time to look all around and take in lots of interesting sights (this is especially true when your legs are as short as ours are!). It also allows you to meet lots of interesting people and to go to places that cars can't reach. One of our favourite places that we pedalled to on our holiday was the cliff top viewpoint which you see in this photo.


While we cooled down with a cold drink, we looked out across the thousands of coconut palms to the sandy beach which was covered with fishing boats, some of which were putting out to sea. We wished we had a parachute so we could float down and order some fresh fish for tea - curried of course.

Love George & Yorkie xxx

Wagons Roll!

As our Indian adventure was primarily a cycle tour we thought the best place to start would be with a picture of us riding our bikes. These were quite a novelty in India where 21 speed mountain bikes are almost unheard of. We have a lot of respect for the Indian people who kept overtaking us on old fashioned delivery style bikes with no gears and rod brakes. However, if our bright yellow and red bikes generated a lot of interest our cycle helmets caused even more. They were greeted with peals of laughter and lot of pointing and we began to feel as if we were martians who had just arrived from outer space.


We were quite pleased though when the novelty of a cycle tour in Kerala got us not only in the local paper but also on local television. Actually we're not sure whether it was the fact that a cycle tour was taking place, or the fact that there were bears on it, which generated the press interest. Either way it was another first for Bears Unlimited.

Love George & Yorkie xxx

The Boys are Back in Town

Today we are safely back at home and re-united with our Bears Unlimited friends. We are regaling them with all our adventures so that they can choose the best ones for us to publish to you over the next few days.

As we travelled home yesterday we realised just how far away the south of India is. We got up at 4.00 a.m. Indian time (10.30 p.m. English time) to go to the airport and finally got home at 1.00 a.m. this morning. 27 hours without sleep is a new Bears Unlimited record.

We'd like to commend Gulf Air for their special seatback bear holders which we demonstrate in the picture below. This was a lot better for us than being restrained in the elasticated back of seat pocket which never has enough room in view of the need to share with duty free magasines and all the other flight paraphenalia.


One of the reasons it took so long to get home was because we had a 6 hour transit at Muscat airport. We had a heart stopping moment coming into Muscat when we thought we might not see ours Bears Unlimited friends again, as we had an aborted landing literally seconds from touch down! Just as we were bracing ourselves for the bump the nose went up and we made a rapid ascent. Apparently the previous plane took too long clearing the runway.

After landing, we saw our quick reacting pilot in the transit lounge and popped over to thank him for handling this drama so well. We then felt the need to release some tension so tried a spot of camel riding. It was great fun.


More news soon

Love George & Yorkie xxx

It's very hot today, how's it in England?

Today we are happy bears as we are having a good day and we've at last made it to an internet cafe with the right lead so we can include a picture.

The sunset cruise last night around the offshore islands of Cochin was lovely although we had to put our paws to work to help out the boat owners when they suffered a water hyancinth prop wrap. We dived down to cut the weed away and were pleased when we were rewarded with a big bottle of Kingfisher beer each.

The Kathkali dancing was amazing and we were especially fascinated by the eyebrow and eye movements of the dancers. We've tried it ourselves this morning but having heard it takes 7 years to master weren't too surprised when we struggled to master it.

This morning we were up at 4.30 a.m. to catch an early morning train back to Trivandrum. We think Indian trains are great especially when you're in an 1st class air conditioned carriage (probably the only time we'll get to travel 1st). Our picture shows us enjoying the view from the top of the seats - there was so much to see.


Our cycles awaited us when we got off the train and we had a hot peddle back to our seafront hotel at Kovalam. We have just dried off from an hour's boogie boarding in the surf of the Indian Ocean to come and write this blog entry.

Love George & Yorkie
xxxxxx

More News From India

Hi all

We haven't forgotten you but Grrowwwwwwlllll we still can't publish a photo as we are desparate to do, as this time the card reader won't read our card and our minders forgot to bring the right lead - we despair.

We won't say too much now otherwise we'll end up repeating ourselves when we eventually publish our pics. However, we still think India is great although we are getting a little tired of curries. We are currently in Cochin and shortly will be heading off for a sunset boat cruise around the islands off the old town. This will be followed by a Kathali dancing display and we are especially looking forward to seing the dancers put on their elaborate makeup.

Bye for now

Love George and Yorkie
xxxxxxx

Your foreign correspondents report in

Hi everyone, George & Yorkie here. Sorry we've been off-line for a few days but our holiday is proving to be quite an adventure and our travels so far have taken us well off the tourist trail and we have now been several days without a sighting of an internet cafe. In fact we're only able to report in now thanks to a kindly rubber plantation owner, whose house we're staying in, who has allowed us to use his computer. We can't post any photos today though as this home PC hasn't got the right connections, but don't worry we have been taking lots of photos so you will have something to see soon.

Anyway, where are we? We'll give you 3 clues: curry, bananas and rupees. Yes, we are in southern India where we are enjoying a cycle tour of Kerala. Over the last week we have pedalled away furiously in 35 degree sunshine and had lots of adventures which we can't wait to describe to you when we can post the accompanying photos. We've been elephant riding, temple visiting, boating on the backwaters, rubber tapping and today we even had a chat with a maharajah in his palace. It is all very exotic and we think it's wonderful.

Hope to be able to tell you more soon.

Love from a very bronzed & sore bottomed George & Yorkie xxx

Hooray, hooray, it’s a holi-holi-day!

Well our blog spot header details don’t say ‘incorporating the travels of George & Yorkie’ for nothing. Yes, you’ve guessed it, we are about to leave for another adventure which will allow us to do further research for the Friendly Planet Guide, while at the same time having a well earned holiday which promises to be great fun. It’s just a shame that other members of Bears Unlimited will have to stay behind in the interests of keeping the wheels of commerce turning.

We’re not going to say too much about our big adventure now, but all being well, and internet access permitting, you will be hearing more from us your roving correspondents soon.

Lots of love from a very excited George & Yorkie xxx

The Dumpling Speaks

Hi everyone, Dorset Dumpling here. I was slightly worried after out last blog entry, that you might have been a little confused about who I am and what I looked like. I’m guessing that not many people will have had a face-to-face encounter with a Dorset Dumpling. I therefore ordered a close up picture of myself so you can see me properly and get to know me a bit better.


As you will see I am quite hairy, some might call me shaggy and I have two beady bright eyes, good for instantly sizing people up, a button nose and pointy yellow ears, good for picking up gossip. I was acquired, strangely enough from Dorset, more years ago than I care to remember – it’s rude to ask a dumpling his age anyway. I’m not sure that we Dumplings proved a particularly popular sales line as I’ve never met another of my own kind and when I did some Internet research to try and trace some relatives the only thing that came up in the search engine was recipes for puddings and I assure you I would not make good eating, so no-one should try it. After all I do have a label on my underside saying ‘Dorset Dumplings, these creatures bite’. I haven’t bitten anyone yet but it is a good idea to keep on the right side of me. There is no need to feel sorry for me being devoid of the companionship of other Dumplings as everyone at Bears Unlimited has made me so welcome I am well and truly one of the family.

Bye for now.

Lots of love, DD xxx

Restoration Project

Has it been as wet for you today as it has been for us? It’s been a thoroughly miserable afternoon in Norfolk and we’ve not strayed very far. However, a few days ago the weather was better, and two of us, me (Jock) and Dorset Dumpling took a trip over to the marshes at Blakeney. We had a special reason for going there, in addition to the fact that we are partial to taking tea at the Blakeney Hotel. We were on the look out for a suitable new boat restoration project for Bears Unlimited. The marshes and creeks around Blakeney are a good place for us to search as there are a lot of wrecks stranded on the mudflats. All of us bears find it very sad to see what was once a fine boat with lots of character, abandoned and left to rot on a mudflat. We can’t save them all, but as we are all boating loving bears, we like to have a restoration project on the go at any time and we usually do them up so well, we can sell the restored boat for a high price and make a handsome profit. Isn’t it great to have a hobby that can make you money?


We’re not too sure about the boat in the photograph so thought we should ask our readers whether they think we’re up to this challenge or whether the boat is too far gone to be helped? If we do go for it, we will need to call in the waterways specialists at the Midlands branch to provide assistance. Let us know what you think.

By the way, I, Jock, am the cream coloured bear (not really a very practical colour really for clambering round slimy and muddy boats) and at my feet is, not a football or a cushion, but my friend Dorset Dumpling. Unfortunately he doesn’t show up too well as it was a bit overcast when we took the picture. However, Dorset Dumpling is from Dorset and he is a Dumpling, what more is there to say? It just goes to prove, as we have said previously, that Bears Unlimited is a very inclusive company!

Love from us all, especially Jock and DD xxx