We Feel at Home

There isn't actually a lot to do on Bere/Bear Island unless you like walking or cycling, which fortunately we do. This is actually a good thing, as it keeps the island quiet and unspoilt, just as we like it.

As you can see from our next picture, it was only a short hop from the ferry port to pick up both the Beara Way walking route and the Beara Way cycling route.

The walking route certaintly goes to town on this, its namesake island. There are 2 loops at either end of the island and we did the whole of the longer one at the east of the island. A very fine walk it was too.

Because the ferry has a long elevenses break, the crossing we took was a lunchtime one (it wouldn't have been a proper holiday if we'd had to get up early to catch an earlier crossing. This meant that we hadn't walked very far before we all started to think 'what's in my lunchbox?'

We found a lovely sunny spot, with a great view over the sea to the mainland, to check out what was in our lunchboxes. Personally I was a lot more excited about the sandwiches I found in my lunchbox than about the 2 small bears who had taken up residence inside. 

After lunch we made great progress on our island promenade and visited the lighthouse and climbed the first of several hills. We were always in sight of one of these Beara Way route markers so we could relax and enjoy the scenery without having to keep a nose stuck in a map. In case you're wondering, the minder's hand getting ready to catch me, was not due to me being unsteady because of lunchtime Guinness drinking, but because there was a brisk breeze blowing.

After some wild and hilly walking the path took us back to the harbour along a quiet country road. If you look back to our first picture, you'll see that the emblem of the Beara Peninsula (more than just Bere Island) is a fushia. it was the perfect choice, as everywhere we went, the hedgerows were full of fuschias and honeysuckle. Here I am admiring a typical roadside hedge of fushia, that would go on for what seemed like miles. It was rather lovely and gave us the impression of being somewhere very temperate, tropical even.

We had planned our walk round Bear(a) Island perfectly, so we had enough time for a glass of Murphy's before re-embarking on the ferry returning to Sli na Mara for a relaxing evening.

Lots of love Patrick and B.U. friends xxx

Our Blog Needs You!

As you know, our vist to Menorca was very early in the season which, on the plus side, meant we had the island almost to ourselves, but on the minus side, did mean that the weather hadn't settled down to a pattern of uninterrupted sunshine.

That didn't matter for us though, as we were there to walk, not to sunbathe. We were actually very lucky with the weather as we had only one day which was windy and overcast. It was still a shorts and t-shirts day for our minders, which they were pleased about; it didn't matter for us as we wear our all purpose fur whatever the weather.

That was the day we explored the headland of Fornells. A fine walk took us up high to some exposed cliffs surrounded by sea.


It was very bleak without the sun and very deserted. There were a lot of old buildings and gun emplacements telling us that this had once been a military outpost, but the soldiers were long gone. Can you see us in our photo sheltering from the wind on the shelf of an old gun site. Being so light, we had to be careful that we didn't get blown off the edge of those high cliffs. Our minders were especially worried as they thought they'd never see us again if that happened, but they don't really know how resourceful bears are.

Also at this headland was something we'd been looking for, for quite a while: a trig point. As they are getting harder to find, we've been keen to start of series on the subject of 'bears on trig points', but we were struggling to find one to start us off.

So here we are on the trig point (or Spanish equivalent of) at Fornells, having to be guarded in case there was a sudden gust of wind.


What we're hoping is that bearkind throughout the world, will take themselves and their cameras out to their local trig points, take a picture and email it to us, telling us who they are and where they are. We'll then publish it on our blog.

We do actually have a trig point near to our Norfolk home, so we'll be sharing it with you soon.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Lots of love George & Yorkie xxx

P.S. You can email us @Googlemail.com using "Blogging.Bears"

Twitcher Bears

After our glorious swim and a laze in the sun, we rejoined the walk which once again took us on the trail of the bee-eater.

You may remember us telling you, a few posts ago, that we had been walking in bee-eater breeding territory. We were really keen to see one, having read the guide book description of their beatiful blue, orange and yellow plumage.

We were quite confident we would see one when we came in range of S'Albufera, a large freshwater lagoon which is reported to be a favourite breeding ground.


When we found ourselves with a view of the lagoon, we found a pleasant spot in a grassy meadow full of wild flowers, to do some birdwatching. The view was a bit distant so we had to get our binoculars out.

Patience isn't a bear's strong point and after about 5 minutes with no sighting, we began to get restless. We dug out our sandwiches and scattered the odd crumb as we munched, in the hope that they might attract a hungry bee-eater. They didn't.

Later on in the walk we came within a stone's throw of the lagoon. It was a birdwatchers paradise, but sadly for us, bee-eaters were strangely absent that day. We wished the mosquitoes were as elusive as the bee-eaters though as they swarmed all around us.

Lots of love George & Yorkie xxx

Small is Beautiful

By now you should have a good idea how lovely many of Menorca's sandy beaches are. However, in the case of Menorca, it is definitely the case that 'small is beautiful' and the beaches that we fell in love with were the small sandy inlets that we found on a walk close to the small town of Es Grau. We'll show you what we mean:


We've said it before, but we'll say it again, don't you just wish you were there?

Our rock was great to perch on after a swim and allowed us to dry in the sun without getting our wet fur too sandy. We don't want to think that we're fussy and fastidious, but we knew we had a lot of walking ahead of us and gritty fur can cause chafing!

Talking about swimming, we're sure we'll tempt you even more when we show you where we'd been swimming just a few moments earlier ...


Our guide book used the word 'exquisite' and we couldn't agree more. And the real bonus was that we had it all to ourselves. Mind you, had there been anybody else about we would simply have moved onto the next beach as there were more than enough to go around!

Lots of love, George & Yorkie xxx

Cami Pioneers

Our walk book wanted to limit us to just a peek at the sea. We were supposed to take a few steps along the coast and then head back inland. We weren't too impressed with that, as we are beach loving bears and like to keep the sea in our sights.

However, we spotted a bit of cleared path continuing along the coast and so we decided to explore. We quickly realised that we were on one of the new parts of the Cami de Cavalls, which we introduced a few posts ago.


It looked as if it had been very recently cleared and we were thrilled to be some of the first bears to set paw along this path. We realised that the creators of this stretch were very bear friendly, as they had left miniature palms which were perfect for providing small bears with shade and a place to rest - they were no good for our minders though.

We enjoyed the Cami while it lasted, but sadly it stopped short of our return point of Cala Morell. We were able to return to the walk detailed in our guide though, by spotting the large gravel pit mentioned in the instructions, and making for it.

Moments after rejoining the official walk, we were heading for a headland with high cliffs and a development of luxury houses.


It was quite rocky underfoot, but we found these plants which appreciated the rocky growing conditions, and really brightened up the area with this fantastic splash of colour.

They made a nice soft bed too!

Lots of love George & Yorkie xxx

On the Trail of Bee Eaters

One of our favourite Menorcan walks was the one we did in the north west corner of the island. We set off from the small coastal town of Cala Morell, which is famous for reasons other than walking, as you'll find out soon, but first things first and our account of the walk.

We had a bit of an unpromising start when it seemed as if the guide book instructions were for a completely different walk, to the one we were doing. However, once we what we were seeing on the ground and reading in the book came together, it all began to get rather lovely.


This was the track through the wood we found ourselves walking along and it was rather delightful. We were both keeping an eager eye out for the colourful bee eaters which are supposed to breed in this area. We thought that with their bright colours they would be hard to miss, but either we missed them or they were not at home.

In our next picture you see me (George) not only spotting the sea, but also looking out for the next form of wildlife that the walk writer reckoned can be seen in these woods ...


... I was looking out for wild tortoises. We'd have loved to have seen one, but again, we were disappointed.

At least the scenery didn't disappoint, nor the lovely coastal views when we got there. Here's what we found ...


Don't worry, it wasn't a sheer drop behind us.

Lots of love George & Yorkie xxx

Burro Talk

One thing we like about walking in the countryside, is that you have good opportunities to chat with the locals. This is especially important when, like us, you're studying Spanish at an evening class, and need lots of practice. We're learning Spanish in preparation for the big trip later this year, which we've hinted at previously, but not yet unveiled. Don't worry, all will be revealed ... but not just yet.


This fine burro that we came across was very talkative and spoke not a word of English. He was therefore a great candidate for Yorkie and myself to practice on. While Yorkie was still rifling in the rucksack for a dictionary, I got stuck in, with my 'ola senor burro, que tal?'.

We had mixed success. We could chat away happily to the burro and he would answer us back, but in truth we only caught about one word in three of what he said. We therefore had to make a lot of assumptions and as a result the conversation didn't exactly flow, and he must have thought us a bit mad. In the end we found that mime was equally productive, and ended up having a great game of charades.

We tried again later when we met this fine snake basking in the sun ...


... but it turned out that we knew more Spanish than he did. He had a few words of Menorcan (which was different from our Castillian Spanish) and apart from that he spoke parseltongue, which we knew all about from our Harry Potter readings, but sadly can't speak. We therefore didn't get as far as deciding whether he was poisonous or not, but we thought it most unlikely, as he seemed a pleasant chap.

There was still plenty of holiday ahead of us to keep practising our Spanish, so we weren't worried.

Lots of love George & Yorkie xxx

Table Talk

The next day we were well into our stride and set out on a much longer walk. We had to keep covering the ground to get round, so spent less time looking round and taking photos.

Our walk took in another great pre-historic village, this time that of Torre Trencada. It was even bigger than yesterday's, not only in terms of area, but also in terms of the size of the monuments. Have you ever seen a bigger picnic table than this one ...?


... or was it a fosillised giant mushroom?

Yorkie was shimmying up by the north east face to layout our high-rise picnic, while I took the picture. I was a bit surprised, therefore, when he came back down, complete with food parcel. I asked him what was wrong, and he told me his imagination had gone into overdrive while he was up on top the table, and he had had the awful thought that in pre-historic times this table (taula is the proper archaeological term) might have been used for sky burials.

I could see what Yorkie was getting at. With that rather gruesome possibility - however far-fetched - at the front of our minds, we simply had to go elsewhere to eat our picnic.

There was a delay while we recovered our appetites, and we used the time to read up about taulas in our guide book. It didn't really help to read that nobody knows what they were for, although the most popular suggestion is that they are idols, rather like totem poles. Secretly I thought Yorkie's idea of use for sky burials, was more plausible.

Lots of love, George & Yorkie xxx

Very Satisfied Bears

Remember those characterful Menorcan gates we told you were a speciality of the island? Well we found an even better example on this great first full day's walk. Here it is ...


We thought these gates would make a great entrance to our bear cave. There were two problems though: firstly we didn't see any for sale and secondly we thought we might have problems getting them onto the plane when we came home. Maybe someone will see our picture and be inspired to make us a pair.

It seems as if we've blogging about this first walk of ours for ages, and in fact we have, but there were so many interesting sights we simply had to share them with you. You will probably be surprised to learn that all these sights came in a walk of only about 8 miles duration. As a result, we finished before we were ready to go back to the apartment. Our handy Sunflower walking guide came to the rescue, and told us that there were other walks in the area and we didn't even need to move the car.

We voted for a walk up to the hermitage of Santa Maria, as this involved quite a steep climb and we thought we might get a good view of the island. The view was good, although a lot of it was of the town of Ferries where we'd started from. It wasn't that scenic (modern buildings and an industrial estate!) so we'll show you a picture of us sitting outside the hermitage instead.


It was definitely a bear sized church, but like so many nowadays, sadly it was locked, so all we could do was peer in through the windows.

We romped back down the path to the hire bearmobile in record time, with thoughts of a cool beer on our patio occupying our thoughts.

We'd had a truly great first day.

Lots of love, George & Yorkie xxx

Whose Wedding?

As we were hungry bears after our morning's walk, our priorities were food first and exploring second. We were very impressed that we could get up close and personal with these ancient monuments and there were no barriers or signs saying 'don't touch'.

When we got to the high point of the settlement and looked all the way down to the valley floor ...


not only were we wowed by the view (don't look for us in the picture, we weren't hang-gliding), but we took our metaphorical hats off to those ancient talyot peoples as we appreciated their strategic choice of defensive position.

Not far from our lunch spot, we came across some more interesting constructions of indeterminate age. They certainly weren't ruins, as you can see from our next picture showing the one we passed closest to ...


... but there again they didn't look much like modern constructions. We decided they looked just like tiered wedding cakes - typical of Yorkie, he was disappointed that they weren't edible. Both of our romantic illusions were quickly shattered when we consulted our guide book, and read that although they looked like Babylonian ziggurats (we hadn't though of that one), they were cattle sheds known as ponts. We chuckled to ourselves as we read on, to find out that some of these structures have recently been built to provide homes for people, rather than cattle, since they don't require planning permission.

If we were living in one we'd want a few more windows!

Lots of love George & Yorkie xxx

Prehistoric Bears

Some of our readers will be familiar with our 'What's in our Lunch Box' series of posts. In Menorca, the emphasis was more on 'Where's our Lunch box?' than 'What's in our Lunch Box?' as we had our picnic in some very interesting places.

On this wonderful walk we had our lunch among the prehistoric ruins of the ancient settlement of Son Mercer de Baix. They were really old - as they would be being prehistoric - and they created a wonderful atmosphere and a real feeling of history.


Can you see us perched on one of the supporting pillars of the famous Cova des Moor. The historians and archaeologists call this structure a room shaped naveta, but we're less romantic and would simply call it a cave. It was quite large and therefore required 3 stone pillars of the type you see us perched on at the entrance. It was truly amazing to think that this settlement was first inhabited between 2500 and 1800 BC, but even stranger to think that our lunch of ham and cheese bocadillos might not be that different to the lunches eaten all those years ago.

Lots of love George & Yorkie xxx

Nature Loving Bears

With each mile, our walk continued to delight. All along the path were lots of pretty wild flowers providing lovely fragrances and a feast of colour for the eyes.


We particularly liked the fine stone walls such as the one we were sitting on. It had even been warmed by the sun which was a real treat for our bear bottoms.

You can see more of these rather lovely stone walls in our next picture.


You can rely on us to sniff out the vines, which you also see in our picture. They were still quite small and there were no grapes ready for harvesting yet. We shouldn't have seen these vines really, as we were lost when we came across them. It was only a minor deviation though, and we were soon back on course.

Our favourite encounters with nature that day were the ones we had with the local pigs. First we watched them out in the fields doing a spot of sunbathing (this time we're easier to see than the pigs) ...


...and then, were lots of oooohs and aaaahs as we came across the following scene in an open air barn ...


You may need to look closely to see the sight which had warmed our hearts. We simply loved that little piglet flopped out on the calf's back.

Lots of love George & Yorkie xxx

Climbing Bears

The next day, the first full day of our holiday, was a fine day (shorts and t-shirt weather for those who wear clothes), but there was a bit of cloud cover, so we decided if would be a good day for exploring the interior of the island, to see what Menorca is really like, outside of the resorts.

We'd only gone a short distance when we found a great climbing wall.


As you will know from earlier posts, bears love climbing and cannot simply walk past a climbing opportunity. It calls out to us and begs to be climbed. Bears are also quite competitive - in a friendly way - so Yorkie and I are always trying to arrive at the top before the other. On this occasion, as you can see, Yorkie was ahead of me (I blend in rather well with the rock), but he did start off a few seconds ahead (that's my excuse anyway). He did spend so long admiring the view at this half way point, that I thought I was going to be able to sneak past un-noticed ... but then I sneezed and gave the game away.

It was only about 10 minutes more walk, until we had a surprise find. We came to a row of huge monoliths (also suitable for climbing). As Menorca is an archaelogical treasure trove and contains lots of talayotic remains (prehistoric if that doesn't mean anything to you) we assumed that these megaliths dated from this period.


The ancient nature of these stones left us with a bit of a dilemma. Would it be disrespectful and anti conservation, to have a climb. We thought not, after all we are so light and soft pawed, that we couldn't possibly do any damage, so up we went. This time the tables were turned and I stole a march on Yorkie - on a much more difficult climb I might add. This time it is Yorkie who is the more camouflaged, but he is there if you look bottom left.

What a great start to the walk. We were less than half an hour into it, with 2 great climbs under our belt. We we really looking forward to the rest of the day.

Lots of love George & Yorkie xxx

Happy New Year

We'd like to wish all our readers a very happy New Year and much happiness, health and fulfilled dreams in 2009.

We are now back home, having enjoyed a lovely couple of days with the Suffolk Branch, who offer great hospitality (as in fact do all the branches). We had great fun spending New Year's Eve trying to master W.I.I. sports, which us Norfolk Branch members had never tried before and had a few problems getting our paws around.

We nearly missed midnight as we were so engrossed in our W.I.I. golf tournament. It was lovely to be playing golf in a warm house, with a glass of fine wine at paw's length - although this might have explained why many of us, normally sporty bears, were over par!


This morning we blew away the cobwebs with a fine New Years Day walk in the lovely Suffolk countryside around Newbourne. It was quite cold but we walked fast and we felt much better for our outing. We are pleased to report that on this occasion Isaiah's head stayed firmly attached. For the benefit of new readers, Isaiah did - literally - lose his head on a post Christmas walk a couple of years ago. We did report the event at the time, and the success of his surgery, which was of such quality, that he has fortunately had no troubles since.

We'll be back to pick up the next instalment of our Nepal trip soon, but first we have our much awaited AGM.

Lots of love, all at Bears Unlimited xxx

Standing on Top of the World

After my two adventurous interludes, the rest of the day settled down into the pleasant pattern I would expect from a day's hillwalking. We challenged our bodies (but not too much) with some good climbs, we marvelled at the stupendous views, enjoyed good conversation and soaked up the sun.


We were enjoying ourselves so much that it was almost too soon when we arrived at the Old Man summit. As you can see from the blue skies in our photo, the weather was simply perfect and we could see for simply miles, not just Lake Coniston but right across Morecombe Bay.

This was Patrick's first Lakeland fell and he declared it as fine as anything in Ireland which pleased me no end, as I really wanted him to fall in love with the land of my birth.


As we sat on the summit we really enjoyed watching people struggling up the last steep stretch of the tourist route. I never use this route as it's steep, eroded and uninteresting. I much prefer the ascent we took via Levers Water, the Prison Band and Swirl How especially as it gives a fine ridge walk.

Talking of fine ridge walks, we all thought it too soon to head down, so continued on our way to the Walna Scar Road via Dow Crags, Buck Pike and Brown Pike. We hardly saw anyone on this leg of the walk and enjoyed a wonderful sense of freedom and well-being. That's the effect walking has on you.

Once back in Coniston we ended our day out in one of the finest ways possible: with a pint of Bluebird in the Coniston Black Bull. The other chaps said I had really earned mine and I couldn't help but agree.

Lots of love Woolly, Patrick, George & Yorkie xxx

Woolly's Great Adventure Continues

I thought I'd pick up my tale myself as I don't often get a chance to Blog. As Fred's Mum correctly stated in her recent comment, us Lakeland sheep are a hardy breed, and I didn't really know what all the fuss and concern was all about. It's nice to know I've got friends who care but, I'd only really been for a swim, albeit with a rather unorthodox way of entering the water.

And so, it took me no time at all to recover from my adventure. I spied out the path ahead and led the way forward: keeping moving was the best way to get dry anyway.


Patrick, George & Yorkie kept an eye on me to check I wasn't suffering from any delayed concussion or similar, but I wasn't. However, when they proposed a mid morning cheese scone stop, I thought it was a great idea as, having suffered a bit of a shock, I needed to keep my blood sugar levels up.


I was about to take my first bite, when a big black dog came bounding up. Naturally I assumed he was after my scone so tried to move to protect it. Boy did I get a shock (my second of the day don't forget) when all of the cheese scones were ignored and the dog's target turned out to be myself. The dog took me in his jaws and lifted me off the rock. I was too stunned to do anything more than offer a distressed bleat. Fortunately George, Yorkie and Patrick responded with lightening reactions. Patrick reached for the dog's collar and George took a flying leap and landed astride the dog's neck, from where he could reach over and prise me from his jaws.

Fortunately the dog was acting on retriever instincts and was simply retrieving me, rather than helping himself to an easy meal. He was therefore carrying me with a soft mouth and I wasn't hurt at all.

And so I had my second miraculous escape of the day. Once again though, I wasn't prepared to recreate the experience for the benefit of the camera. Can you blame me? It was a pity we didn't have Black Doggy with us, so he could speak dog, and tell that over enthusiastic animal that he should leave sheep well alone or risk getting shot!

Lots of love Woolly, George, Yorkie and Patrick xxx

Birthday Lunchbox

We ourselves had no need of the tea shop (at that point), as we had a delicious birthday lunchbox packed. We had to do a bit more walking before lunch though. We didn't mind, as it was lovely scenery, all new to us, and it is always good to work up an appetite. Mind you we were exercising our jaws, catching up on each other's news, as much as our legs.


When a break for lunch was called, we bears all eagerly gathered round to see what was in the lunchboxes. We were very pleased to see chicken tikka sandwiches and, one of our favourites, cheese with the famous Aunt Jessie's marrow chutney. This really makes a bear's mouth salivate (recipe available from chef bear Oakley for anyone who is tempted). In the lunchbox, we also had Aunty G's lovely buns (although it was very hard deciding between fruit or chocolate), Nutrigrain raisin cake bars (kindly provided by Fred's Mum and very good walking food) and some very juicy and rosy red Braeburn apples. Definitely a feast fit for a bear and very soon there was much happy munching.

Fortified by our lunch, after a fur raising trip across a golf course trying to avoid flying balls, we climbed up to two of the landmarks in Bradgate Park, the memorial and the Old John Tower, a local folly dating back to 1784.


We were too close to it to get the whole of Old John in our picture, and you can probably see more of the view of Leicestershire that we had, than you can of us. Some of us are there, but you'll have to look very closely, in true 'Where's Bear' fashion.

Tiny had to retire from the picture as he'd just had an accident falling into a muddy puddle (Norfolk branch minder to blame) and was in the process of being cleaned up.

As we descended from this high point, we spied the tea room again, a long way in the distance. This time, it beckoned to us, so we took a cross country route to get there. On the way we passed some lovely old trees which made a great playground for us with a soft carpet of bracken to cushion us if we fell off.


As we sat resting on this old tree, we wondered if it had been around at the time Lady Jane Grey was born in the park, and whether it had watched her grow up. We're sure that at least that stage in her life must have been happy, given how beautiful these surroundings were.

We didn't dwell on these thoughts for too long though, as our need for that cup of tea became even greater, so off we went.

Lots of love, once again from all 3 B.U. branches xxx

4,000 Years of History

It's time to engage your agile minds again, as we're heading back to Ireland. You can tell what a great week it was, as the photos are still coming. There were just so many interesting places to visit and photograph even in the middle of winter. We simply must go back in the summer, when everything will look even more splendid and, more importantly, the water will be a better temperature for surfing!

Anyway, the day after the Giant's Causeway visit, in the interests if variety, we decided it was time to explore inland again. And so we spent the day in the Ballypatrick Forest.


This was a good time of year to walk in the forest as we had it all to ourselves as the forest drive (for cars) wasn't open. This meant we could sit quietly and enjoy the birdsong and commune with nature with no disturbances, other than the chatting of our minders who had linked up with friends and were catching up on all their news.

Our pointy perch wasn't too comfortable, as you will appreciate from our picture, and this, along with the background chatting, meant that although it was a lovely spot, it wasn't the best place for a bit of shut-eye (Patrick had kept us up late enjoying Guinness and good craic, so we were feeling a little tired).

Yorkie was the first to notice that this wouldn't have been a good place to sleep anyway, as it was a burial ground and we might have been taken for dead and accidentally buried if we'd been found. In fact, as we went to investigate, we found this was no ordinary burial ground. It was a 4,000 year old burial ground, dating back to the megallthic (note not megalithic) period. No, we haven't suddenly become culture vultures to know all this, we simply read the sign that was kindly provided.


Mind you, looking at the sign, we reckon it had probably been around a few thousand years. We took great care not to get any of that green slime on our fur. The risks we take in the interest of keeping our blog readers entertained!

Lots of love, George & Yorkie xxx

Chilling Out Time

After all the excitement of the party we felt we needed to do something relaxing to finish off the day. And so we all piled into Bearmobile 2 and drove to a local beauty spot for a walk down to the sea.

The route we took was one of our favourites. We walk over some beautiful heathland and along sandy tracks the lovely views of the sea becoming ever closer.

We spent a bit of time on the beach and had a stone skimming competition which was won by Jimmy with a 6. However, now that the clocks have gone back, there wasn't time to linger as we would have liked, otherwise we would have been walking back in the dark.


As we turned our backs on the sea, we found we were looking at a setting sun and a lovely golden sky.

Could there be a better way to end a great day? - not for us anyway.

Lots of love, all at Bears Unlimited xxx

Dilly Behind Bars

There are an awful lot of good dog walks which start right from our house. However, when time allows, we always enjoy heading off to the coast or one of the local estates, for a really long walk. There is nothing like a bit of sea breeze for really blowing the cobwebs away.

The only problem is that we have to hitch a ride in a Bearmobile to get to these more distant places. Bearmobile 1, being an estate car is dog friendly. We have plenty of room to move around in the estate area and 360 degree views of the roads we are travelling along.

It does mean we have to sit behind a dog guard though. Dilly wasn't used to this as she normally travels in the passenger footwell of her owner's car.


The first time she travelled with us and found herself behind bars she thought she was in prison. As you can imagine she wasn't too happy until we explained to her it was all about her safety and she hadn't done anything wrong.

When we arrived at our favourite walking spots and she saw where we were taking her she soon agreed it was all worthile and she soon got used to the prison van travelling.

It was great to have the extra company and 3 noses are much better than 2 when it comes to sniffing out some wonderful smells, such as odour of dead rat, that we dogs find particularly fascinating.


We found the woods in the grounds of Blickling Hall were particularly good for canine games. We played tag and hide and seek and lots of the old favourites. We think we might have annoyed our minders a bit as they just wanted to get on with the walk.

Lots of love Black Doggy, Jock & Dilly xxx