I'm a Celebrity but Keep Me Here

For our next 2 days of Lake District walking we had some better weather ... followed by some worse weather.

After another fine cooked breakfast at the Langstrath Hotel, we ventured out to encounter dry(ish) weather. We could have taken a short cut, by crossing the bridge just before our hotel, to join the shared Cumbria Way and Coast to Coast path the far side of the beck, but we decided not to, and to retrace our steps back to Borrowdale and rejoin the C to C path there. We were having such a good time that we didn't want to miss out on a single step.

The net result of our purist approach, was that after nearly an hour's walking we were back where we started, just the other side of the beck.

We were in no hurry though, and we made the most of the dry spell, lingering to take in the views and snap a few pictures to share with you, and those of our Bears Unlimited colleagues who were missing out - someone has to keep the wheels of industry turning after all!

Mid morning we passed a men's walking group coming the other way. They seemed to want to scare us by warning of a tricky climb up Lining Crag just ahead of us. They told us the path had been washed away by storms in 2010, and would be a challenge - talk about cheery chappies! Was it? Not at all - either we are better walkers than we think, or they thought that Coast to Coasters are real novices who have never been to the Lakes before. Probably a combination of both possibilities is true.

After a short and easy scramble we were at the top. The only problem we hit was the wind which, on the exposed high ground, was very strong. Our female minder's rucksack cover blew off and we had to hot hoof it to catch it before it went too far. That dash got the heart rate up more than the Lining Crag scrabble did.

As we descended towards Grasmere, the wind got even stronger, meaning our lunch stop was very brief. We couldn't find anywhere sheltered enough to linger. Grasmere took quite a while to finally appear, but it was a lovely stretch of path so we were in no hurry to arrive, although we did end up walking past our B & B without knowing it. We were on one of those paths which take you off the road to walk behind a hedge. We must have walked nearly a mile further than we needed - all the way into town - only to turn round and have to walk back again.

Our night out in Grasmere was o.k. but nothing special - too many hotels and not enough pubs we thought! Our B & B was comfortable though, with charming proprietors.

We'd heard a bad forecast for the next day and it turned out to be amazingly accurate. We lingered until 10 o'clock as it was only a shot hop over to Patterdale, but we couldn't put off starting for ever. We had to wait for a big herd of cows to pass the front door before we could get under way ...

... and they did look pretty wet. It was wet, but we were all properly equipped and, in truth, the rain did little to dampen our spirits, although it did stop us taking the alternative route over St Sunday Crag. The cloud was so low at the Hause and visibility so poor, that we failed to see Grisedale Tarn until we had all but stepped in it.

Adverse conditions do however bring out the best of British, and found our fellow travellers very friendly. One man walking on his own, shared his Werther's Originals with us, which impressed us no end, as our party was so big, he had to give most of his sweets away.

As we dropped down towards Patterdale, the rain stopped - hurrah! We slowed our pace to enjoy the rest of the walk and to give me a chance to chat to the local sheep.
 

Much to my surprise, news of my record breaking attempt to be the first sheep to walk the Coast to Coast walk seemed to have gone ahead of me - news travels fast on the sheep grapevine - and the local sheep were queuing up to see me and seeking the best vantage points for a good look.

I felt like quite a celebrity.

Patterdale was great, with a very special B & B, and is worthy of its own post - coming next time.

Lots of love, Wooly, Gio, George and Yorkie xxx

Into Borrowdale

For the first part of our trot alongside Ennerdale Water, our top halves stayed dry but it was very wet under hoof, as streams were running along the rocky path. Then, as the path got drier, it started raining, so one way or another we were destined to be stay wet. But that's the Lake District for you, and the wonderful scenery and sheer joy of being in the Lakes, more than made up for a slight dampness.

We were grateful to the Ennerdale Youth Hostel which allows walkers in to make a cup of tea or coffee  and have a rest to dry off. It was very civilised.

Talking of Youth Hostels, when we got to the famously isolated Black Sail hostel a few miles further along the route, it was rather different to how our female minder remembered it from 18 years ago, when she stayed there on her previous Coast to Coast walk. It was undergoing some serious refurbishment, and for the benefit of Aunty and Uncle G, we're including a picture ...

We're sure it will be very nice when finished, but wonder how much of its unique character it will have retained.

There is a critical turn up Loft Beck, a little after Black Sail, and we had read that it is often missed by Coast to Coast walkers resulting in a number of Mountain Rescue call outs to lost walkers. It is interesting that on the C to C way-marking is inconsistent. When it's fairly clear where to go we found we'd be getting a way-mark, but when it wasn't, there'd be nothing to help.

We had no navigation problems though, and I just followed my nose, overtaking lots of walkers, making hard work of the ascent of the Beck. The other chaps weren't far behind with our minders just behind them.

At the top, as we headed towards the Honister pass, we got some fine views over Buttermere and Crummock Water through the clouds.

We were heading for Borrowdale and once we'd hit the road at Honister, we didn't think we'd have much further to go. How wrong we were! It seemed to take forever to get there although it was fine walking. When we did eventually reach Rosthwaite, we realised our accommodation was at  Stonethwaite, a mile further. However, our destination for the evening was worth the extra mile ...

... we were staying at the Langstrath Hotel, which was a nice place to stay and meant we had a relaxing evening with a good meal.

Lots of love, Wooly, George, Yorkie and Gio xxx

Getting Into Our Stride

While we enjoyed that initial coastal stretch, there were a few dodgy moments where the blend of wind and crumbling cliff edge path didn't mix too well.

3 3/4 miles later. the footpath signs told us to leave the coast and start heading east. Psychologically this felt better, as walking north for well over an hour, pleasant though it was, wasn't exactly taking us any further towards our easterly goal.

Shortly after midday, the rain started and it continued, more on than off, for the rest of the day. Sadly this meant there weren't too many photos. We ate lunch in a bus shelter then, after Cleator Moor, at 8.5 miles, we entered the Lakes proper. I began to feel really alive and, being a Lakeland sheep I was completely at home. I raced up Dent Fell, our first summit, and was surprised to see George, Yorkie and Gio quite a long way behind - they seemed to think the climb was hard work and they didn't seem too keen on the rain - it didn't bother me though, but my wool does contain lots of lanolin.

It was a scenic walk to our first night's accommodation at Ennerdale Bridge, although very wet under hoof and it didn't take us long to realise that Wainwright miles are surprisingly long.

Good accommodation at the of a day's walk soon revives you, and the Shepherds Arms Hotel met all our needs in full, especially when we found out they had fine Herdy mugs to drink our tea from, and also that we could take beer up to our room.

We were raring to go the next morning to spend our first full day in the Lakes. However, you can't hurry a full cooked breakfast so we decided to spend some time in the hotel anticipating the day ahead.

As we set out for Ennerdale Water we were pleased to see some good way marking with special AW (Alfred Wainright) logos. We wondered whether the weather would stay fine enough for a swim (well George and Yorkie wondered, as sheep aren't keen swimmers). 

More about our crossing of the Lake District next time. 

Lots of love Wooly, Gio, George and Yorkie xxx

Sheep on the Move

Back in 2007, I, Wooly, became the proudest sheep in the country. This was because I achieved the honour of being the first sheep ever to walk the Cumbria Way. A full account was given in this blog at the time. That walk was especially exciting for me, as it took me the length and breadth of my beloved homeland of the Lake District, and I enjoyed it no end.

In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I'd been pestering the chaps to consider walking the Coast to Coast path as a Bears Unlimited adventure. This would give me the chance to walk through my beloved Lakes again, this time West to East, rather than South to North, but also I wanted to become the first sheep to complete the Coast to Coast walk. At 192 miles this was a walk on a far bigger scale than the Cumbria Way, and it was a challenge I was eager to embrace.

Keen walker Gio, veteran of the Camino de Santiago, was a staunch supporter and so, just over 3 weeks ago we found ourselves at St Bees in Cumbria dipping our paws in the sea and gathering at the official start for team photos ...

I'm sure it will be no surprise to learn that joining in me on the walk were travelling bears George and Yorkie, chief writers for the Friendly Planet Guide ...

and of course Gio, whose paws are most definitely made for walking ...

We're posing in front a new information board featuring the walk and its creator Alfred Wainwright. This board was unveiled just this year to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the publication of Wainwright's A Coast to Coast Walk. It was clearly an auspicious time to do the walk.

The forecast for the first 2 days had been pretty bad and featured double rain drops. We were therefore pleasantly surprised to be starting off in the dry. Would it last? You'll have to keep reading to find out.
One thing we can say was that it was very windy when we set out along the cliff path. It was 10.30 a.m. on 16th September and we were on our way. Robin Hoods Bay, here we come.

Lots of love, Wooly, Gio, George and Yorkie xxx

Tommy's Busy Green Paws

Our blog has been quiet of recent, but don't worry, it's just a sign that George and Yorkie are leading a party on another classic Bears Unlimited adventure. They will be back soon, bursting with news to share and pictures aplenty, but in the meantime, I, Tommy, will bring you some news from the Bear Cave garden.

The season got off to a good start when a kindly local lady gave me lots of broad bean plants.  At the time, I was planting my broad bean seeds straight into my raised veg beds. I admit I was a little late with my planting, but the happy result has been that we have had a long broad bean season with good pickings.

When it came to podding, I was surprised and intrigued to see quite a few of the beans were red, rather than the traditional green. They looked great and Chef Oakley was pleased as he thought they would make some of his culinary creations look extra special.

Our French beans got off to a very shaky start. I planted them from seed 3 times, before I ended up with plants which survived to maturity. That old saying that 'if at first you don't succeed, try and try again' is definitely true of my experiences in the garden. My third planting has given me the best crop ever. The plants just keep producing more beans. I can't help but be reminded of that Duracell bunny!

I'd been on the look out round our village for courgette and squash plants to buy, but only managed to source 2 squash plants and lots of tomato plants. As a result I ended up planting courgette seeds weeks later than I should have, but my logic said that if they got sun and water they should grow and they have. Unfortunately George & Yorkie have gone off with the B.U. Camera, so I don't currently have a picture, but there may be one soon.

The leek plants I'd brought on from seedlings are now in the ground and I'm now thinking long and hard about autumn planting. Any suggestions?

Lots of love, Tommy xxx

And the Best of the Rest ...

I could talk about sailing in Greece forever, but my B.U. colleagues have been politely encouraging me to wind up this marvellous adventure, so they can take their turn at reporting some of the other exciting things we've been up to this summer.

And so, I have to try and give you the rest of our adventures in a nutshell.

The last few days were spent sailing between different ports on those 2 wonderful islands of Kephalonia and Ithaca. We all love them both, but as Ithaca is a bit quieter, it gets our top vote.

We continued to have lots of fun, in particular when it came to helping our male minder celebrate a special birthday. We'll let you into a secret, it was his 50th! This doesn't seem so old to some of our more venerable members such as Jimmy and Ungi, but to youngsters such as myself and Louis it does seem quite old, although our minders don't appear old at all.

It wasn't a coincidence that we were on flotilla for the big birthday, it had been planned that way, as our minder couldn't think of anything he'd rather be doing on this auspicious day. A great day it was too. While we were strolling round the harbour after breakfast, our boat was boarded and decorated with the led crew's birthday flag (seen above flying with our Norfolk flag), lots of balloons and banners.

We had a race on leaving harbour, which we didn't win, but who cared?, then a fairly slow sail, searching for wind, and a pleasant hour or two at anchor in a delightful bay swimming and sunbathing. We moored that night at Big Vathi and, at the group meal that evening, the lead crew presented the birthday cake they had made. We were thrilled to see it was in the shape of a bear - clearly in honour of us bears ...

Even though it hadn't risen as it should (something to do with confusion over flour types in Greek) but there was plenty to go around and it was truly scrumptious, except for the ears which were made of cardboard. It was our first taste of a yoghurt cake and was a taste we must experience again (note to self - talk to Chef Oakley).

The next highlight was our evening rafting up at Polis Bay. There is nothing there except peace and quiet and nature at its best. See what we mean ...

We started the evening with a blindfolded race on upturned dinghies which we won by miles! In the absence of a taverna we all rowed ashore for a beach barbecue, with the most fabulous array of salads, and one of our favourite competitions, the best cocktail competition. This time we learned from our mistakes of our previous attempt (3 years ago). We kept the ingredients simple, but the decoration fancy (thanks to turtles Zak & Stavros for starring), and this time we won, although our re-used name of 'Bear with a Sore Head' and enterprising story to go with it, may have swung it for us.  None of the cocktails did very well on the flammability test!

From Polis Bay it was time to return to base at Sivota to clean our boats and pack to go home - big sigh! Still we had our final evening and last group meal to enjoy. At the customary awards ceremony most of the crews were presented with signed pirate flags, but not us. We got the Colgate award for always smiling, whatever befell us, and we were presented with a marvellous wooden bear, aptly named Ellie, after the lead boat's name of Elpida.

As you can see I also got a big hug from skipper Liz, so I was very happy. 

All good things come to an end though, and the next morning we piled into coaches to head for the airport and home. We'd all had a splendid time, so thanks again to all the marvellous people at Sailing Holidays. It was more a case of saying Au revoir, rather than goodbye, as one thing we do know, is that we do intend to be on another Sailing Holiday's flotilla before too long (D.V). 

Lots of love, Eddie and the all the B.U. crew of Analipsi xxx

Being Busy Resting

Spending a rest day in Fiskardo is no problem at all as there is so much to see and do, and that is without my favourite past-time of boat and people watching.

We bimbled about a bit in the morning writing postcards, relaxing in the sun and trying the fresh pies from the bakery (the marrow pie was a great hit)

After an early lunch we went exploring on paw, and were soon off the beaten track and away from the tourists (in truth there weren't as many about as the local shops and tavernas would have liked).

We climbed up to an abandoned village. We could see evidence of lots of abandoned houses, but it was such a lovely spot, that none of us, especially Greek bear Louis, could imagine why anyone would want to leave.

Mind you, we did note signs of regeneration amongst the ruins and could imagine that it won't be long before this is a thriving community again.

The village was on a high point and it was a lovely downhill romp to the bay of Dafnoudi for a swim. This was a real gem and only reached on foot by a lovely stoney track. It would have been a long way round the top of the island by boat, but on paw, crossing over a narrow neck of land, it was no more than a hour's walk.

Back in Fiskardo we enjoyed a frozen yoghurt ice with as many fruit and chocolately toppings as we could manage, then we looked round some of the back streets away from the waterfront.

There was still water though, but looking at how well these Koi carp were doing, it certainly wasn't salt water. The frog statue was great even though he wasn't spouting water. Patrick wondered whether there wasn't a slight resemblance between his dapper profile and that of the frog - any thoughts readers?

All us bears appreciated the artistic merits of the lumps of old olive wood and the old olive press. We all took care to stay topside of that heavy plate which could easily crush the stuffing out of us if it dropped.

Before we left, there was one time honoured tradition which needed to be observed. This was a visit to the old Venetian lighthouse, sitting on the headland which marks the approach to Fiskardo.

We climbed to the top, a journey we'd made twice before and looked out to sea for ships and to check for pirates. You can always tell me, Eddie, from my big eared profile.

The coast was definitely clear so we could go off duty and enjoy another fine evening of wining and dining at Nicholas' taverna.

Lots of love, Eddie and the crew of Analipsi xxx