Being 'The Stig'

Chelmer and I were quite pleased that What Car supported our own thoughts, which were that we should be looking out for a Corsa or a Fiesta. We wasted no time in arranging test drives for both types of car, which we needed to do as we've never owned a Corsa, and there weren't many of us around the last time our minder bought a Fiesta (which was 17 years ago).

The Fiesta was good to drive and was a distinct possibilty for our new Bearmobile. However, it was pipped at the post by the new Corsa. Of course this was partly due to the fact that it was the new Corsa model that we test drove, and this model has not been out for long. It drove very well and looked really good, especially in air blue, as you can see.


I did half wonder whether Chelmer was biased towards the Corsa because, being a bit of a ladies bear, he took rather a shine to the attractive young sales lady who took us out. Mind you, this worked in my favour, as while Chelmer kept her talking, I was able to concentrate on the car and how she drove.

Our test drive took place in the dark, so Chelmer and I went back a couple of days later to take a closer look at the car in daylight, and to show her to the rest of the Norfolk Branch and see what they thought.


She certainly passed my intense scrutiny. I looked hard for any signs of wear and tear but I couldn't find any. Although just over 6 months old, she looked just like a new car. The other guys gave the thumbs up, so as soon as we could, we went back to secure the deal.

Keep reading to see how we got on.

Lots of love, Blue Bear, Chelmer and all at the Norfolk Branch xxx

From Paw Power to Horse Power

With all the rowing practice I had, I'm sure you won't be surprised to hear that I won the rowing regatta. I got a great treat as my prize. The lead crew let me have a go in their rib, which had an outboard with some serious horse power - or so it seemed to me. It certainly seemed very fast compared to rowing speed. Here I am waiting to ferry the lead crew back to their boat before taking a spin round the bay.


I had to be careful not to create too much wash when I was in the area where George & Yorkie were Croc sailing as I wouldn't have wanted to knock them out of their Croc.

But of course, we were really on holiday to sail, so we wasted no time in getting back to some sailing. As always there were a lot of jobs for me to do. I particularly like working the winches as they make sailing quite a big boat possible even for a bear of my size. Here I am preparing to loose the tension from the anchor rope as we were about to depart.


Hauling up the anchor from the seabed wasn't quite so much fun though. It was very heavy and my fur got very wet and muddy, so I had to have some help from my minders. While I was wet and muddy I thought it would be a good time to practice the bear overboard drill. I would leap overboard and get clean, and my crew could practice rescuing me. As I'm currently writing this entry you can tell that they did pretty well and I was quickly rescued. In fact I could have done with a bit more time in the water as the Ionian sea is so clean and warm. Sadly everyone was too busy doing their part in the drill for any photos to be taken.

Lots of love, Eddie & the crew of Spetses xxx