Sledges & Kayaks

I do seem to transport my ever expanding waistline around Europe on a large variety of vehicles, and the past couple of weeks have been no exception.

I may not have posted for several weeks but that doesn't mean that I haven't been busy. I stated in my last post my desire to change jobs in 2008, well I can already cross that off my list of "things to do". Despite not having a job to go to, I actually wrote out my resignation on 27th December following an altercation with Head Office earlier in the month which made my mind up that leaving was more preferable than staying. As Christmas & New Year is such a terrible time for job hunting, my plan was to have the resignation letter sitting on my desk until such time as the job market picked itself up. Once it had, and when I was sufficiently annoyed at work, I would walk it 3 doors down the corridor to the HR Department, a estimated 10 seconds from my desk. This plan clearly meant that I was only ever 10 seconds from resigning which was hugely comforting. I lasted less than 3 weeks as I resigned on 14th January and left the company on 14th February; although with outstanding holidays I stopped turning up for work from the 5th of February. In the meantime I had been offered a new job commencing on 6th February with an Internationally recognised company which meant that for a week and a bit I was being paid by two employers. Ker-ching !

In early February I went to France for a weekend. I flew out on a Saturday morning - as usual I found myself overlooking the wing - and discovered that I was on the same flight as Natalie, a friend of my brothers friend Anne. Anne was in France for the evening with her job and Natalie was flying out to spend the evening with her. As it was, Mark, Sheila and the children were with Anne and we all met up at the airport before retiring to Annes hotel for a round of drinks and a chat in the bar. This turned into an impromptu party at Marks house which entailed squeezing 7 of us into a 5 seater Renault Scenic. After a particularly notable trip to the local supermarket to purchase party drinks and nibbles, made eventful due to some Olympic standard skating on the frighteningly well polished supermarket floor, we arrived at the house. The evening was a great success and much wine flowed, food was eaten, songs were sung, dances were performed and all to the backdrop of a roaring log fire. By the time I got up the following morning, the girls had already left due to Annes requirement to be back at work by 6:15am ! As it was we were all up fairly early as today we were going to the mountains.

The ski resort of L'Audibergue is located in the Monts d'Azur area of the Alpes Maritimes department in the French Southern Alps. It is the most southerly resort in the French Alps being located less than a hours drive from Cannes on the Cote D'Azur. From the summit the Mediterranean and the uber-posh town of Cannes are clearly visible. It appears that neither Mark nor Sheila had been to L'Audibergue before, but Matthew had been once with his school. Now our school trips were never as exciting as that. We were generally sent to a local muddy, stony and oil filled beach to look at rock escarpments and to admire the graffiti. However my younger Brother once had a trip to Martin Mere Bird reserve which must have been one of the greatest educational school trips in Scholastic history. He returned from what must have been no more than 3 hours onsite - which most likely involved an hour to eat his packed lunch - with an encycleopedic knowldege of all things avian. Bill Oddie isn't as well informed as my Brother was after that trip. For seemingly years afterwards he would quote facts and figures about birds, their habitat, their feeding and procreation habits, migration routines and an assortment of other dubious nuggets of information, always stated with the confidence that "I know because I've been to Martin Mere". Anyway, I digress. The drive up to the resort was uneventful and thanks to the continued delights of satnav, went without any navigation disasters. On the seemingly endless uphill climb we did however pass a car that had left the road after a bend and was lying on its roof. It had only been stopped from falling the hundreds of feet into the depths of the gorge below by some sturdy shrubs and trees. We decided to stop and ensure that there wasn't anybody dead or dying in the car and in need of immediate assistance. Thankfully there wasn't but I do admit to approaching the car with a sense of dread and intrepidation.



L'Audibergue, when we got there, seemed to be very little other than the ski resort. There may have been a village somewhere but we didn't see it. There were a large number of ski runs, each serviced by drag lifts. As usual, there was an array of ski rental hire shops, cafe's, hotels and chalets. We parked the car, put on our remaining ski wear and hit the slopes. I wasn't too keen on skiing as I was starting my new job later that week and I didn't want to be lying in a French hospital with broken limbs. We therefore spent most of the day sledging as can be seen from the photos and the two audio-less videos that I've included. Click on the videos to play them. If you can't see the video's, you'll need to download the shockwave flash player from here


One point of note with the video's, in each of the movies the footage was shot by the cameraman (Sheila in the one above and my good self in the one below) sledging backwards down the slope whilst filming the action. Certainly not a ride for the faint hearted !

We stopped briefly for a packed lunch, meticulously prepared by Sheila and then we hit the slopes again. This time we headed for another slope, this one less populated and twice as steep ! Even walking up it required a break after every 100 metres. Oxygen and a defibulator at these stops would have been an added bonus. The sledging on this slope was pretty hairy at times and jaw droppingly quick. As the afternoon wore on, It started snowing and the visibilty dropped significantly. The mountain tops disappearing from view completely at times, with just the occasional tantalising view of the summit to be had as the clouds rolled in and out. We continued sledging whilst Matthew attached himself to some skis for the rest of the afternoon. As the light started to fade, we finally came down off the slopes and went for a crepe - well, we'd had a large lunch ! :o)



The following weekend my best mate Andy paid me a visit. I hadn't seen Andy for over a year, something I'm rather embarressed about. Despite this Andy, who lives in Hampshire with his wife and kids and to his eternal credit, made the effort to come up North for the weekend. It was great to see him again and it never fails to amaze me how we just get on with the conversation, the jokes and the general banter as if we've never lost touch. I just know that I may not see him for another few months and yet it'll be exactly the same again when we do meet up. That's the sign of a great friend.

The weather was absolutely tremendous, a stunning Spring day despite it being only early February. Saturday morning was bright, sunny and warm with barely a cloud in the sky and hardly a breath of wind. Our plan today was to go kayaking on the River Dee. We loaded the car, put the hardshell kayak on the roof and the inflatable in the boot and set off. The river was high and the water was running quite fast. We headed off upstream. Me, in the inflatable and Andy (above) in the hardshell. Andy soon got the hang of it and once we'd finally lowered the skeg, a small fin that hangs below the hull increasing the stability and directional control of the kayak, Andy was able to paddle pretty well. There wasn't as much wildlife to be seen as I had hoped, just the occasional duck on the water and crows and rooks flying overhead, although we did have a solitary red tailed kite fly past on our return trip. The trees and shrubs were bare and the light was soft from a low Winter sun. The upstream paddle was a great opportunity to have a good catch up and put the World to rights. The sun beating down on us to such an extent that I actually caught the sun. After around an hour we reached the bridge that carries the A55 into North Wales and we turned around for our return leg. The last 20 minutes in particular had been especially tough as the current was flowing against us with some considerable force. At times I was paddling as hard as I could but was making little, if any, progress. My inflatable is a fantastic craft but it does tend to sit 'on' the water, rather than 'in' it, which can make paddling quite difficult in these conditions. We reached the bridge and turned around.
Immediately we were picked up by the current and were literally carried back downstream to the public launching jetty where we started, in a very short time with barely a paddle stroke between us! We duly arrived back at the car park, changed and packed the gear away and then did what all blokes do after some sporting activity, we went to the pub ! The Red House is a fine establishment with an enviable position on the River Dee. The entire rear of the property is glass and on such a splendid afternoon as this, it makes for a fine view of the river and of the various crafts that navigate it. The Red House rather bizarrely is cream in colour these days having undergone a refurbishment around 18 months ago. It is now an uber trendy establishment with mood lighting and a stylish ambience which is a far cry from the olde World pub that it once was. It is however still a very agreeable place to spend an afternoon. The beer garden especially, which reaches down to the river itself and ends at a small jetty for passing thirsty sailors to use, is a haven particularly in the Summer and is well worth a visit.

We eventually dragged ourselves away from The Red House and headed back home where we unloaded the car and after a cup of tea, went to the pub (can you spot a theme here?) for a meal and another beer or two. A fabulous weekend.


Over recent weeks I've been listening to a lot of Howard Stern on my truly delightful Internet Radio. My radio is so fab I lick it clean every night ! Howard Stern is a World Famous American 'Shock Jock' from New York. He became notorious on FM radio - where his show was syndicated across America - for his honest views on all manner of subjects, mostly of an adult nature. He is the highest paid personality on American radio - so presumably the World's highest paid - and is also the Worlds most heavily fined personality in radio broadcast history ! These fines, and the censorship he had to work under, led to him leaving FM radio for the unregulated Sirius Satellite radio platform where he could wax lyrical about all manner of subjects without fear of fines or censorship restrictions. People who maybe have never even heard his show dismiss him as crude, tactless and offensive. I myself have often ignored his show when visiting the USA, preferring to listen to the more contemporary "Top 40" stations. However whilst surfing through my internet radio the other week I came across his station "Howard 101" and listened to him for a straight 4 hours (His show lasts 5 hours and apart from the occasional commercial, doesn't break at all for music, news, travel reports or any other interruption). It was 4 hours of the most incredible, interesting and honest radio I've ever heard and my feeling towards him and his show changed completely. Since then I have listened to him morning and evening (his show is repeated daily) and I have to declare that I am now a confirmed fan and that he is truly an incredible broadcaster.

Things I've learnt this week:-

1. That paying £90 at Vision Express for "frames" when the glasses are frameless, doesn't make any sense.
2. That Howard Stern is a broadcasting genius.

Things that have made me smile this week :-

1. Ricky Hatton on the Al Murray show "I hate midgets, my girlfriend left me for a midget. I couldn’t believe anybody could stoop that low."
2. Ricky Hatton still on the Al Murray show "Muhammed Ali’s daughter is a professional boxer. I’ve haven’t met her yet but I’m dying to see her box !"

And on that bombshell.....

John