Tripping2010

Foraging in Stanmer Park - June 2010

2010-06-16T12:45:00.000-07:00

Today I went on a wonderful free workshop run by Anna Richardson in the grounds of Stanmer Park. We nibbled our way round lots of plants and Anna explained the medicinal and nutritional properties of various plants and how to use or cook them. I'm not really into making potions or pickles but I did make notes on how to cook some of them. Most exciting discovery of the day was digging up a wild parsnip. It smelt five times stronger than a shop bought parsnip!

If tempted to try any of these ideas, please remember the countryside code and only pick 1 in every 19 plants and only pick enough for yourself. Leave enough for the animals and the next generations.

Lime
The Lime, or Linden, tree has edible leaves (when they are young) and the blossom tastes incredible. The lime trees in Stanmer Park should blossom in a week or so and I hope I have a chance to go back and try them. They don't last long so you have to be quick.

Ash
The beautiful Ash tree has clumps of seeds called Ash Keys. You can just about see them in the first photo above. In Spring, when they first appear, you can gather the Ash Keys and steam them like spinach.

Elderflowers
These are in bloom right now. I like them dipped in batter and deepfried then dusted with icing sugar. Anna suggested packing the flowers into a jar of runny honey, leaving it for a month and then using the elderflower flavoured honey in drinks with a squeeze of honey (hot or with sparkling cold water), or to use the honey t cook fruits like rhubarb. I have duly made my honey this afternoon!

Daisies
I never knew you could eat daisies. But you can. And the leaves. The leaves are very small and very near the ground. We picked ours in the graveyard away from the dogs. The leaves taste like rocket. Delicious.

Rosehip
In Spring you can eat the new shoots of the leaves in salads. You can also use a rose petal on a cut, like a plaster, to stop the bleeding.

Blackberry
Bramble leaf tips can also, in Spring, be eaten. They are best steamed and served with butter. The photo above shows a new bramble shoot. The stem should snap easily.

Nettles
Most people know about Nettle soup and such like. Nettles should only be used for cooking before they go to seed. Once they've gone to seed you can cut then down to the ground and fresh shoots will grow.
What you may not know is that you can pick the seeds, crush them into a ball in your hand and then eat them as a tasty, healthy snack. Nettles are apparently 20 - 30% protein, so one of the few foraged foods that supply protein. Being naturally inquisitive, I tried a nettle ball, but sadly it was not that tasty and it caught in my throat a little!

Garlic Hedge Mustard
This plant sounds divine. We didn't taste it as it was too close to the road and dog walking routes, but it smelled of garlic and sounds like it would make a lovely salad leaf. There is a close up of the leaf above.

Hawthorn
Supposedly very good for you, you can eat the fresh young leaves and the new flowers. The flowers have an almond flavour due to the cyanide in them!

Sticky Willies
This is the plant that leaves little sticky balls on you on country walks. It has lots of uses, and Anna even fashioned a makeshift sieve out of it! The plant is very good for detoxing the lymphatic system and you can juice it and drink the green juice, or simply immerse the plant in warm water and later drink the green water. In winter the plant has a second tier of leaves that grow near the ground and these can be eaten, raw, in winter salads.

Knapweed
This plant looks a bit like a thistle, and has thistle like flowers. The buds though resemble baby artichokes. We peeled off the petals, scraped away the choke and ate the minuscule heart. You'd have to be very hungry or patient to eat many of these.

Wild Marjoram
This was growing in huge clumps in a meadow in the park. Anna recommended crushing it into a pesto.

Red Clover Flowers
White and red clover flowers can be eaten in salads however the red ones have more health benefits. If you are thirsty on a walk you can suck on a red clover flower and it will stimulate your saliva glands and quench your thirst. I tried it and it works.

Wild Parsnips
These were hard to spot; the roots are ready in early summer and in autumn, however you shouldn't dig them up when they are in flower. If you collect the seeds in the autumn you could grow them in your garden. There is a photo of the one we dug up above. It was smaller than your regular parsnip but with a more intense aroma.

Mallow
A very versatile plant which can be used in soups or salads and is also good steamed. A photo of it is above.

Ground Ivy
This does not look like regular ivy and is actually part of the mint family. It has little purple flowers. It can be eaten in salad but is quite astringent. Best made into a tea with boiling water for aid the digestion.

Please do not go picking any of plants in the wild without a good book to identify the plants and permission of the land owner if its not common land. And always remember to only pick 1 in 19 plants so there is plenty for the future.

April!

2010-05-03T04:26:00.000-07:00

What happened to the month of April? I flew back from Thailand on 27 March. Nearly didn't make my flight as I woke up that morning to gale force winds and 5 metre high waves. The Sanctuary reception told me that the taxi boats might not be running and I thought I might be stuck there for another day, missing my flight. Luckily after breakfast (which consisted of some lovely pancakes) the wind had died down a bit and the taxi boats were braving the waves. My rucksack was wrapped in a large bin bag to protect it, and I took a change of clothes in a plastic bag as I reckoned I was going to get drenched. We got pushed out to sea but then the motor on the boat cut out and one of the Thai boat drivers was bailing water out the boat with a cup while the other was trying to hotwire the battery! Luckily they got the boat going and I made it back to Haad Rin to catch the ferry to Samui and then onto Bangkok.

In Bangkok airport I treated myself to one last meal which I had saved 300 Baht for. I chose wisely so that I would have enough for a tip, but when the bill came I didn't realise that they also added a sales tax on as well as service and I didn't have enough money. A Thai couple on the next table very generously added to my 300 Baht so I could pay the bill. What a lovely gesture to experience as I left exquisite Thailand.

So I've been back in Brighton for a month and have spent it catching up with friends, cooking Thai food, getting building work started on my house (scaffolding is up and the chimney has been rebuilt) and now I am volunteering for two great charities to give me an insight into the charity sector and which will hopefully lead to a job in this sector in the future.

The first charity has an office in Brighton and is called Bottletop. I'm helping them with marketing projects and also their grants programme. You can check out there website here, although we are working on a redesign of this at the moment.
http://www.bottletop.org/
I love working in Brighton as I can meet friends for coffee or lunch really easily. Dad came and met me for lunch last week and we visited the newly-opened Ginger Dog in Kemptown which was very nice. I had a delicious courgette and mint risotto. They do a bargain £10 two course lunch which is also available as an early dinner from 6 - 7pm!

The other charity I am volunteering for is a Theatre production company called Artichoke. They put on large scale, free public theatre / art spectacles which always suprise and delight.
Check out their website, you may well have seen some of their productions!
http://www.artichoke.uk.com/
I'm helping them on the development side which is a new area for me and I am loving the experience. Their office is near Spitalfields market in London and so I am up in London two days a week and hope to explore more of what London has to offer while I am up there. I'm walking part of the way to work each day so I see other sides of London. The photos above are from my walk on Friday!

Anna and Dermie are kindly letting me lodge in their box room on the nights I am up there. They live in the Portuguese quarter (Stockwell) and so I hope to report on the yummy food I sample there, although first I must cook them a Thai meal!

So that is April in a nutshell. I will start blogging more frequently again now as Brighton Festival has started and I've already seen some great shows, so I'll share these experiences here.

Shamanic journey: Wed 24 March

2010-03-24T23:49:00.001-07:00

Today I throw myself into the experiences that the Sanctuary offers. I start the day at 8am with an hour and a half meditation session focussed on health and wellbeing. This starts with chanting to open our left and right sides of the brain, and then we focus our breathing on each gland in our body. I find it incredibly calming and enjoyable. The meditation is a guided one and as I'm new to this it really helps to have a guide.

After breakfast (of a very filling vegetarian version of my rice soup) I join a Trance and Dance workshop thinking that it will all be dancing. The first half hour is focussed on dancing and we are guided through the 5 Rhythms dance by Gabriella Roth (on tape). This dance is based on the idea of the energy within a wave and leads you through from flowing, to staccato, to chaos (great fun, mad dancing), lyrical and then stillness. We all dance with a blindfold on so we are not influenced by anyone else and also so shy people can dance as madly as they want. The dancing actually leads you into an ecstatic state and at one point I think I am levitating!

I'm sure this dancing can be found in Brighton and I'd definitely do it again. Further details are here if you are interested.
http://www.movingcenterschool.com/about-5rhythms

Then we are invited to go on a Shamanic journey to the underworld. I was not expecting this but I'm intrigued. The mission is to find our 'power animal'. This is harder and not as natural to me as the dancing. I really want to go on a proper journey but find it hard to 'see' where I'm going once I'm in the trance like state which our shamanic leader has put us into with his constant drumming. I do see lots of images of animals though and the one that keeps appearing is an owl.

The owl is magical and all seeing and your animal can often complement your life in areas where you need it. I think he'll be of benefit to me as he's supposed to help you see the truth in people.

Sanctuary - Koh Phangan: Tue 24 March

2010-03-24T23:38:00.001-07:00

Very short update here. Spent half the day travelling from Koh Tao to Phangan via ferry, then taxi and then waited an hour for a taxiboat to take me round the coast to Haad Thien where The Sanctuary is located on a private beach. It is a hippy idyll, recommended to me for cheap spa treatments by Fran. I think it has developed since Fran was here but has stayed true to being at one with nature and the restaurant serves delicious organic vegetarian food (although there are some other cafes serving meat and authentic Thai food so I can still get my rice soup!).

I've splashed out on a wee house for my last four nights in Thailand and it is up on the hill in the jungle. I finally have a bath too in a wonderful openair bathroom. I love the bathroom so much - it is wonderful to have a shower under the blue sky or under the stars. I've included a photo of my little house and one of the beach. The bath photo wont upload though for some odd reason.

Swimming with Sharks: Mon 22 March

2010-03-24T23:23:00.000-07:00

My last full day on Koh Tao and its packed full of fish. I meet Chris, an English woman staying up the beach, at 8am and we hire a small boat and full snorkel gear to go round to the next bay - Shark Bay - to swim with sharks. A Thai family went the morning before and saw loads but you have to go early morning or late afternoon when they come in to feed. I saw two sharks, quite large ones too. Chris took some underwater photos so I'll add these when she sends them to me.

Following lunch at the Buddha Cafe (where I have yet another veggie omelette made with spinach and shiitake mushrooms - so good I must recreate when I get home!) I join the dive school for two fun dives. I'm in quite a small group and have an instructor as my buddy so I see loads of fish including the supercute Box Fish. We also see two different species of Trigger Fish playing together which is quite unusual.

The photo above is of the Buddha shaped rocks on the headland at Chalok Bay.

Festival on Koh Tao: Sat 20 March

2010-03-22T05:26:00.000-07:00

Every year Koh Tao have a festival and I happen to be here for it. The theme is on preserving the natural beauty of Koh Tao and included conservation exhibitions and giant sculptures made from waste. Some of the photos show the tunnel we had to walk through to get into the festival. There were lots of food stalls and two stages. I saw one pretty good ska / reggae band and then when the bands finished about 12.30 there were then some DJs playing some wicked dance music. I had a really good dance until 3am, and left when the DJ started to repeat himself.

Last day of Scuba Course: Thur 18 March

2010-03-18T23:47:00.000-07:00

I wake to torrential rain which means that conditions out at sea will be choppy. Its a very early start (7am) and I take-up the offer of a seasickness tablet from my instructor, just in case the big waves make me queasy.

Our first dive is at Shark Island. So named because the island is supposedly shaped like a shark (see photo) and not because there are lots of sharks in the water. I'm not sure I'm quite ready to be face to face with a shark yet!

When we go to jump into the sea the waves are very big and the current strong. We descend down a buoy rope for a bit. This is our 18m dive and it does feel quite deep! Luckily the visibility gets better as we go down and we see more Puffer Fish, a Trigger fish (who does not attack us but does go for another group of divers!) and quite a few Goat Fish which our instructor gets to change colour however I sadly miss the colour-change.

After an hour's break on the boat, tea and some fresh pineapple we then do our second dive of the day at Three Rocks. This is a shallower site at 10m however we get to dive for 46 min. The visibility isn't brilliant however we get to swim through lots of rocky corridors which is great fun. I see Sea Cucumbers, some Prawn Gobis and the stunning Parrot Fish.

Once we are back at Chalok I have a quick lunch and then take my final exam, getting 100%. Apparently it is tradition for your instructor to buy you a beer if you get full marks but I'm yet to nab Sarah and make her pay up.

That night Karine, Alex and I (who all passed our Open Water today) celebrate at the Buddha Bar where there is a cross-dressing party going on (I administer make-up to one of the boys) and then some of us head up to the Castle where there is a party going on. The venue is fabulous however it hasn't really got going at 1am. We explore a few other places with a plan to go back there later but then fatigue sets in and when I get home I realise it is 3am which is why I'm so tired. I was up at 6am for my morning dive! Luckily I can sleep in and take it easy now as I'm not diving for a few days. I don't think I'm going to my Advanced Open Water this trip but I definitely want to get some fun dives in before I leave.

3rd day of Scuba: Wed 17 March

2010-03-18T05:46:00.001-07:00

I have a wonderful breakfast at the beautiful Buddha Cafe on the beachfront - cinnamon roll French Toast (very healthy!). Pictured here is Erin (from Frankfurt) on the cafe deck. Then I have a morning of classroom before our two dives in the afternoon.

The first dive is to a site called Twins (photo above). The dive is 12 metres deep around some underwater pinnacles and we see a Trigger Fish, some Banner Fish, a Coral Grouper and the famous Nemo! Nemo is actually a Clownfish however it is very protective and will try to attack you if you enter its area. The divers have marked Nemo's lair (it protects the Anemone it feeds on) with a circle of stones and we are advised to stay outside the circle of stones. Anna had texted me asking if I'd seen Nemo the day before and I didn't understand the reference - however today it all made sense!

The second dive is at Mango Bay (photo of Mango bay above) and here we have to practice lots of skills before we get to explore. The variety of fish at this site is breathtaking. I see a puffer fish (not inflated though), a File Fish which is incredibly beautiful and thousands of Fusiliers (yellow and white fish) which I swim through in awe.

First sea dive: Tue 16 March

2010-03-17T07:21:00.001-07:00

We have the morning off as we are doing our Open Water certificate over four days, rather than three. I eat a big breakfast / lunch to keep me going (my first non-Thai meal of a breakfast burrito from the lovely waterfront Buddha cafe). We then meet at 12.20 to collect our kit and then drive to the port to catch the big Buddha View boat.

There are a lot of people on the boat, either doing skill dives (open water, rescue etc) or fun dives. Our first dive is in Japanese Garden which is shallow enough in places for us to do our skills and then we get to swim lower to explore the coral reed. The water is really clear and we have great visibility. I love swimming slowly and silently like a fish, but I'm not so keen on all the skills we have to do including swimming 10 m without my mask. I actually do the swim with my eyes open in the end as closing my eyes feels really weird.

We see an Indian Walkman fish which is quite rare, very ugly and extremely poisonous. Our instructor, Sarah today, nearly gets us to do our fin pivots on this fish however luckily she spots him in time! We also see lots of other fish including Angel fish and Butterfly fish. Karine and I are buzzing when we resurface after 42 minutes.

Sorry for the lack of photos!

1st day of Scuba: Mon 15 March

2010-03-17T07:11:00.000-07:00

Our instructor, Dave, reminds of Jack Black. We have class for 2.5 hours and then a light lunch before we start in the pool with various skills tests. I find breathing through the regulator weird but not as scary as I thought it would be. I do get some water in my mouth but quickly learn to purge it. The only skill I really don't like is clearing my mask of water.

Underwater Dave looks even more like Jack Black and after we give him the OK sign he always wants to bang knuckles, which seems a very Jack Black thing to do.

After our class we have some time to sunbathe on the beach and I meet a German girl called Erin who I later meet for drinks in a really cool waterfront cocktail bar, along with her friends Anna and Daisy. The vibe is very relaxed here and it is so much easier to meet people. A lot of people seem to come for two weeks and end up living here!

Photo here of Erin and Daisy at the bar.

Koh Tao: Sat 14 March

2010-03-17T07:02:00.000-07:00

I arrive via Catamaran at 2.30pm and am met by Buddha View Dive Resort at the port. A short drive to Chaolak and I then I have time to settle in and a quick swim before my dive briefing.

I agree to start the next day and meet Karine who will be doing the course with me. We are very chuffed that there are only two of us. We watch a video that afternoon to kick off the course and collect our books. We're told to read chapters one and two that night before class tomorrow, so that scuppers my plan of exploring the local bars! I'm up til 11pm just reading and finding it all very technical and bewildering (a bit like a school science lesson).

Buddha View gets its name as it overlooks a beautiful bay with giant boulders at the headland that resemble a large buddha. I marvel at the beauty of the island and the bay I'm staying on. It really is paradise.

Koh Samui - the final verdict

2010-03-17T06:55:00.000-07:00

Overall I wasn't a big fan of Koh Samui. Granted I liked the airport (although Bangkok Airways own it which is why its so expensive to fly into as they have the monopoly on it) and I also ended up loving shambolic Shambala because it was very laidback, had an empty beach where I could hula in the morning and their rice soup (Kao Tom Gai) was the best yet.

I also loved my spa treatment, the waterfalls, Bo Phut and my noodle man. However the island felt too touristy, lots of ex pats, sex tourists, pole dance bars and it was hard to meet people.

When I arrive at the port to catch the boat to Koh Tao I see and meet loads of people - where had they all been hiding?

Water Nymph again: Sat 13 March

2010-03-16T05:54:00.000-07:00

Its my last day on Samui and I decide to hire a jeep to see the rest of the island and check out some of the waterfalls. The first one is disappointing (very small with a murky pool that I don't want to swim in). The 2nd and 3rd ones are close together and much better. At the first swimming hold there are lots of tourists but when one jeep load leave I'm left along for about 10 mins and I cam pretend to be a water nymph again. Bliss.

Some people then tell me about the next waterfall and they say it is even more impressive so I hike uphill a little further to find a very high waterfall with water that runs over giant boulders. I'm not sure the photo shows this very clearly though. I can't see a pool here however a Thai man asks if I want to swim and motions for me to carry on up the hill. I see a rope to help guide me and then realise he is following me. He jumps infront and then leads the way, helping me with his hand when it is very steep. I am a little wary, as it is just the two of us, but reckon it is probably his job to guide people.

It is about a 15 minute trek up a very steep route and I would never have found this pool on my own! We reach the pool and there is nobody else here at all. He flings off his shorts and shoes and does a running jump off a high boulder into the pool. I follow him in and the water is cooler than the last pool and it has an amazing view across the hills and down to the sea.

After my swim, while I dry off, my guide clears the leaves from the pool and then hops out and plucks a yellow flower off a tree for me to wear in my hair - it matches my outfit too! He probably does this for all the women but it does make me feel special.

After waterfalls I explore the beaches on the south of the island, stopping for a spicy prawn and squid salad in Bangkao, a small fishing community, and then later heading to Big John's Seafood place for dinner.

Big John's has come highly recommended in the Lonely Planet however to me it proves the inverse theory that seems to be the case in Thailand, that the less you pay for a meal, the better it is. I spend the most yet on a two course meal (about 10 quid to be fair!) and it is disappointing. I order their recommended 'the lovely tower' which is a glorified tall, thin spring roll, supposedly filled with prawn, squid and pork, but in reality filled just with pork. Then, I want Red Snapper or Sea Bass but the don't have any small fish so they recommend I order Barracuda. Unfortunately it tastes like swordfish and is too meaty and heavy for me. For the first time yet in Thailand, I cannot eat all my dinner.

The best bit about the location is that I witness a wedding on the beach and then get to watch the sunset and get some great photos of it.

Best roast pork noodle soup yet: Fri 12 March

2010-03-16T05:49:00.000-07:00

I want a light dinner so go looking for some noodle soup. Although I'd like to try something new I keep getting lured back to roast pork, wonton and noodle soup. This time it is in an open air canteen where there are three or four cooks at different stalls, each preparing a few dishes.

My noodle guy serves me, honestly, the best version of this soup I've yet had. It has wonderfully dense stock, bits of crispy garlic and lumps of pork crackling in it. When I pay him I watch him and for a while. He has a very slick process witih everything prepared and ready to be cooked. The noodles are fresh and cooked to order.

He refills his crispy garlic and pork crackling jar while I'm watching and sneaks me a piece of crackling as a wee present. Little things like that just make my day!

Finally, a day by the sea: Friday 12 March

2010-03-12T05:23:00.000-08:00

A day of relaxation, reading and generally being a beach bum. I did walk up to the next beach, Bo Phut, to explore the old fisherman's village and treated myself to a crab curry for lunch.

Rather than all the minute details, here are some photos I took.

BOOK RECOMMENDATION
I'm mourning the end of a brilliant book which was recommended to me by Jen. It is called Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and it is set in the 1960s in the Nigerian civil war. At turns horrifying yet poetically beautiful. Read it!

Forest Water Nymph

2010-03-11T05:49:00.001-08:00

I wake to torrential rain, thunder and lightning. When it finally stops for a bit I do a little hula practice on the beach and have a swim in the sea.

For breakfast I ask if they do Khao Tom (my favourite rice soup) - they do and I have my best bowl yet with lots of ginger and fresh herbs.

A taxi then arrives to take me to Tamarind Springs Spa in LaMai. I read about this spa in the UK and although it is very expensive compared to everything else here (it is more in line with UK spa prices) I decided before I left that this would be a special treat while I was here.

I arrive at a forest paradise and am greeted with a delightfully refreshing drink of iced tamarind and ginger. No mobiles or cameras are allowed so sadly I couldn't take any photos to show how beautiful this place is. Here is a link to their website though: http://www.tamarindsprings.com

The first 1.5 hours are spent enjoying the steam caves - literally steam rooms carved into boulders and scented with lemongrass - and the plunge pools on different levels which are also dug into the rocks and surrounded with jungle foliage, flowers, birds and butterflies. Snacks (fish cakes, spring rolls, fresh fruit) are also left out for me to enjoy. They have my name on them however I'm the only person in this magical land for the entire time I am there!

At 11.30 someone comes to collect me for my 2.5 hour massage. I've chosen a 'twice as nice' massage which involves some Thai massage and some hot herbal compresses on my skin. The website explains it so: 'Steaming Thai herbs, tightly wrapped in cloth, gently applied along the energy lines of the body in combination with Thai massage techniques relieve aches and re-energize the muscles. This unique ancient Thai healing massage is aromatic, nurturing and is especially recommended for stiffness and joint pain'.

All I can say is that it felt like a wonderously long 2.5 hours indeed. Afterwards I float down the hill to explore LaMai's strip and beach.

I find the beach quite disappointing. There is a lot of rubbish and it doesn't feel well cared for. While walking along the beach the sky suddenly turns very dark. I catch a photo of it before dashing into a very handy beach temple which shelters me from the torrential rain for a good 30 minutes. The other photos is of some boys crossing the bridge in the rain (taken from a long distance hence the blurriness, but I like the effect of the rain - makes it look like a watercolour).

To Samui: Wed 10 March

2010-03-11T05:36:00.000-08:00

I decide to go out to breakfast, as its my last day in Chiang Mai, with the aim of finding some authentic Khao Tom Gai (rice soup with chicken). I find a local makeshift cafe and try their version. The chicken is very freshly cooked and shredded - it is very tender. The broth is light and flavoursome although I would have preferred a lttle more garlic and ginger. I then, unsually for me, go to a coffee house for a mocha. They have papers and I want to see what is happening outside Chiang Mai. The cover story is calling for peace at the demo in Bangkok on Friday - I hope it is peaceful.

I catch my first tuk-tuk of this trip to the airport around lunchtime and then have a quick and uneventful flight to Samui. I'm disappointed on landing that it is raining however this gives way to wonder at the airport which is the most beautiful tropical airport I've ever seen! It is all grass huts and green foliage. Even the baggage belt is housed in a wooden hut. The photo is of the ceiling in the baggage collection room.

I'm staying at Shambala on Big Buddha Beach. I chose it because it seemed more old style and authentic however my first impression is that Shambolic might be a better name. Or Ramshackle. Oh well, it has character and at night when all the fairy lights are on it looks postively magical.

Another plus is that their food is very good. I order Thai Fish Cakes and get seven! I also have a prawn and squid stirfry with chilli and basil which is also very good and the squid is super fresh.

Later on I walk up the strip in front of the hotel to see what other food places there are and see if there any bars that I want to go in. Most of the bars have girls to entice you in and one girl (called Tom) grabs my wrist and wont let go. I explain I'm going for a walk but she wont let go until I promise to come in on my way back - as she lets go she tickles the palm of my hand! I feel awful on the way back as I'm on the other side of the road and she spots me and starts yelling at me to come over. I shake my head and tell her I'm still walking, I can still hear her wail "You promised ... you promised!"

Jungle Flying & Crochet Art: 9 March

2010-03-09T20:27:00.000-08:00

Today is my last full day in Chiang Mai as I head to Koh Samui tomorrow. I've heard that there is turmoil in Bangkok again and a big demo planned for Friday. There is no indication that it is spreading elsewhere though.

I've booked to go on a trip to the jungle to fly like Tarzan (or Jane) down zip wires rigged to trees. The day does not start off well as they forget to pick me up and then send a motorbike for me. There is no helmet and I have to grab onto the guy's waist as we dart across Chiang Mai to the outskirts where the minibus is waiting for me.

After a 45 minute journey into the hills we arrive and are kitted out in safety harnesses and helmets. For hygiene reasons we are given blue shower caps to wear underneath the helmets. Very attractive (see photo!).

The zip lines are very safe as we have two safety clips however the canopy walkways do not feel as safe as there is only one wire each side to hold onto. The scariest parts are the abseil sections. On one of these the Thai guide straps me up backwards so I don't have anything to hold onto, stepping off the edge feels like free diving and I am super scared! No one else was sent down that way and I think he picked me because he knew I'd scream.

The longest abseil was 40 metres and I chose this last one to go down fast which was a real adrenalin rush.

One of the women in the group kept ignoring the guide's instructions. For the zip wire they give you a forked wooden stick to use as a brake (you put it over the wire and pull down to slow down). At the start they always tell you if you will need the brake so you can hold it in one hand, so she should have been prepared to use it. She didn't hear them yell BRAKE and instead crashed into the guide at the other end with both of them hitting the tree. She lost one of her shoes in the kerfuffle.

After a good three hours wizzing through the trees we enjoyed a rustic Thai lunch before heading off to a very poor example of a hot spring (encased in concrete!).

Lunch consisted of:

- Clear broth with white radish
- Massaman curry (chicken and potato)
- Stir fried mix vegetavles
- Omelette
- Rice
- Bananas

On the way back to Chiang Mai we drop some people off near the university and I decide to hop out there to explore the shops and art galleries. I see an excellent exhibition of crocheted wall hangings and have included some photos of a couple of my favourites.

As it is my last night in Chiang Mai and I'm in the area I go back to the Roast Pork place and this time try their Roast Pork, Wonton and Noodle Soup which is also very good.

Last Day of Cooking and some Fish Therapy: Mon 8 March

2010-03-09T05:22:00.000-08:00

My last day of Thai cooking and I'm quite sad it is almost over. We have the most people yet on the course today and it is quite chaotic (all the other days have run very smoothly).

We start the day at the market again however this time we're given a shopping list to go buy some of the ingredients we need. I'm asked to buy 10 limes and 24 Tiger Prawns. We were told the other day that the way to check a prawn is fresh is to squeeze its head, therefore I have to stick my hand into icy water and squeeze 24 prawns' heads!

While at the market I also pick up some spices from this 83 year old Chinese man (photo of him above).

When we arrive at the school, Sompon gives us a tour of his vegetable garden and we each pick some greens to go in our first dish. Sompon even has a cashew tree - I'd never seen cashews growing before!

Today's dishes are:

1. Fried Big Noodles with Sweet Soy Sauce (Phad Siewe)
I really like this dish (better than yesterday's noodle dish) as it has egg through it and is quite sweet.

2. Yellow Curry with Chicken (Gaeng Garee Gai)
This used yellow curry powder as well as Thai curry paste. I used a little extra curry powder and reduced my sauce quite a lot, so I ended up with an intense yellow sauce at the end. Nat said he preferred mine!

3. Steamed Fish in Banana Leaves (Hor Neung Plaa)
I really thought I would love this dish however I'm pleased I didn't as it uses quite a few very obscure ingredients (banana leaves, prickly ash, pepper leaves). You have to add ground rice to the mixture before you steam it and this serves to swell the filling so it resembles a heavy fishcake when it is done. The texture and sludgy brown colour put me off eating it! The photo shows it before I opened it.

4. Chicken with Cashew Nuts (Gai Phad Med Mamuang)
Every wondered why the cashews in Chinese dishes taste so yummy? Well, they've been deep-fried. This dish tasted more Chinese than Thai but it was still delicious and very easy - once you've deep-fried the nuts that is.

5. Spicy Prawn Salad (Plaah Goong)
Although I liked the prawns in this salad, the rest of it was mainly lemongrass, shallots, chillis and herbs and it just didn't have enough substance. The prawns were poached for a few seconds in coconut milk though and that's an idea I'll use in the future.

6. Bananas in Coconut Milk (Kluay Buad Chee)
Not a winner. The bananas were boiled in their skins before using them and soggy bananas are just weird!

I buy one of the cookery school's knives plus a ladle and stirrer as mementos and because the knife is a brilliant multiple use cleaver.

On the way home I stop off for some Fish Therapy. I've been wanting to try this for a few days so I can get my feet ready for the beach. The fish eat dead human skin and so nibble at whatever part of your body you put in the water. It tickles in a weird way for the first few minutes and then is oddly relaxing. After 30 minutes all the hard skin on my feet has been removed and I much prefer it to using a pumice!

Punk Rock is alive in Chiang Mai

2010-03-08T05:36:00.000-08:00

After Day Four of my cooking course I arrange to meet Nat off my course to 'do' the Sunday Walking Market. This is the same set-up as the Saturday market except closer to my guest house and MUCH bigger.

When Nat arrives to meet me a plaque of mayflies has just engulfed the guesthouse, and most of the street. On our walk down I need to use a cash point (which is housed in a plastic booth) and I get attacked as I withdraw my money. I find flies inside my clothes later when I get home. Eugh!

Diana meets us in the market and the three of us bargain our way down one side of the market before wandering into a temple where all the food stalls are laid out. And, yet again, here is a list of the food I sampled:

- Thai fishcakes
- Chicken in Pandanus Leaves (same dish I made on Day 1 of my course)
- Miang Kam (again) - twice. One of these was super hot and all the stall holders were laughing at the tears in my eyes.
- Fried Squid
- A Thai sweet (wrapped in leaves) which was black, hard jelly with a coconut taste
- A Chinese Pork Bun

I bought some lovely Mango wood bowls for soups / noodles and then we headed off to find a bar to have a drink in.

After wandering down a couple of streets to find nothing open we began to despair, until we heard a band playing and got excited. As we got closer we found a make-shift bar with corrugated iron walls and roof and a heap of young punks hanging around outside. It would appear that there is quite an established punk rock scene in Chiang Mai! All the bar seemed to sell was beer ... so I had a beer.

The kids had all the punk gear and were trying to act really tough and drunk, however when one boy stumbled out the bar and fell into a bin, knocking beer bottles all over the road, he very meekly picked up the bin and all the bottles.

We got chatting to an American guy whose girlfriend (Sophie) used to live here, running a tattoo parlour. She's apparently credited with kicking off the whole punk rock revival. I'd spotted her on the street the day before and she reminded me of Colette. Her boyfriend, Jay, was quite drunk and told us how they'd met. He'd been married for 15 years before and had vowed never to marry again. In fact he was going to get NO tattooed on his left ring finger. However he then found Sophie at the end of a rainbow!! He explained that he was heading to a party in New Mexico, which happened to be at the end of this rainbow, and as soon as he arrived he met her. Love at first sight and all that. I loved the fact that these super cool, hard rock guys were so soppy and romantic. Jay and Sophie are pictured about.

Day 4 of Cookery School: 7 March

2010-03-08T05:10:00.000-08:00

Mixed response to the six dishes I cooked today. Will probably make about three of them again.

Before the class we all went to a super little market to learn more about Thai ingredients and how to shop for them. I've included some photos from the market. The Thai people only use about three types of rice (Jasmine, White Sticky and Black Sticky) however there were about 15 versions of these on sale. The large fruit/bulb being held up is the Banana Flower!

The dishes we cooked were:

1. Chicken in Coconut Milk Soup (Tom Kha Gai)
This was lovely however the coconut milk really needed to be heated with the main spices for longer to infuse properly.

2. Red Fish Curry (Gaeng Phed Plaa)
This was a tasty curry however it had fresh bamboo shoots in it and they were only marginally better than the tinned variety.

3. Fried Mixed Mushrooms with Baby Corn (Phad Hed Ruam Khao Pod Orn)
This was a delicious, quick and simple vegetable stir fry dish. I even carved stars into my shiitake mushrooms (see photo!)

4. Fried Big Noodles with Thick Sauce and Pork (Raad Nah Muu)
I was not a fan of this dish. Too greasy and non-descript

5. Papaya Salad
This was easy, fresh and incredibly yummy. We had to make it in pairs (my partner Becky is shown in the photo with our joint result) and although I was worried about the raw garlic in it, it worked - and with no aftertaste!

6. Steamed Banana Cake
I was also not enamoured with this. It was incredibly heavy.

Dancing in the Street at Saturday Night Market

2010-03-07T03:26:00.000-08:00

I go the Saturday walking market (from 4pm to midnight) with Diana, a Swiss German girl who is staying at the guest house. I've also arranged to meet Natalie from my cooking course down there. The market is not very enticing from a tat point of view however from a food perspective it is hard to resist.

Things I tried at the market:

1. Miang Kam (again) - this time 5 ready rolled parcels on a skewer all for 10 Baht (20p)
2. Octopus Balls - a Japanese speciality in fact
3. Deep Fried Shrimps in their shells with chilli dipping sauce (mini crabs were also available and I'd like to try these too - see photo!)
4. Fresh passionfruit and orange juice
5. Black rice and sesame cake

I'm supposed to be meeting Natalie at this cool looking bar we've spotted however before we get there I spot this girl sitting chilling with some bohemian old Thai guys, and then do a double take as I realise it is Natalie. She couldn't find the bar I meant and had asked the tourist police who didn't know, and she'd then been offered a seat and a beer by this cool Thai dude who had a passion for Jane Fonda.

The cool guy (called PomPom or something like that) was screening a silent black and white version of Barbarella in the middle of the market and it was only because I stopped to watch it that I spotted Natalie. Diana and I were soon offered seats and free beer, and we sat and listened to PomPom spin 60s tunes on his old school record player.

PomPom was hanging out with a group of his mates in front of an old junk shop, one guy drumming on a chair with a seed pod, another rattling something else, another going on constant beer runs for us all.

Our payment for their hospitality came when PomPom put on The Twist and I was invited to take to the make-shift stage and do the Twist. Soon all four of us were dancing and drawing a small crowd. Natalie had been travelling for four months and this was her first dance! Later on I did some jiving with PomPom and we had a few singalongs. Snacks were provided, and a Thai lady fed me Thai dessert. Simply brilliant!

Thai Cooking Course, Day 3: 6 March

2010-03-06T02:38:00.001-08:00

Today's lesson was how to make curry pastes, taught by the lovely Ayn who was like a Thai version of Neel. Ayn was wearing a very cool white watch (which he also owns in yellow, blue and red) and I'll now be on the hunt for it as he's told me which market to head to for it.

I skipped dinner last night as I was so full from the lesson, and I foolishly skipped breakfast too. Big mistake. We spent so long learning about curry pastes, and then we had to make one from scratch using a giant pestle and mortar. It was midday by the time we were making this and we still hadn't cooked any food to actually eat. I was close to fainting and had to ask Ayn to find me something to eat!

We learnt how to make Panaeng curry paste which was a new one to me (it included cardamon and mace) and it was hard work as I usually use a food processor. We then used our paste in our first dish (see below).

Dishes we made today:

1. Panaeng Curry with Pork (Panaeng Muu)
The paste has wonderful layers of flavour and once you've made the paste the rest is super simple and incredibly tasty. I was SO hungry by the time I'd made this that I started eating it before remembering to take a photo - hence the messy looking plate of food!

2. Fried Fish with Chilli and Basil (Plaa Nin Laad Prik Bai Horapa)
Superstar Sompon showed us this dish. The fish is deepfried and then topped with lightly cooked garlic. onion, chills, basil and coriander. Very fresh tasting.

3. Chiang Mai Curry with Chicken (Gaeng Hanglay Gai)
This dish is supposed to marinate which we didn't have time for, but even so it tasted delicious. I imagine it would be heavenly if marinated overnight. It is very quick and easy to make (if you have the Gaeng Hanglay curry paste to hand).

4. Sweet and Sour Vegetables (Phad Prio Wan Phak)
I hadn't expected to like these however homemade is always better and so was this. I even cut my carrots into hearts and my cucumber into flowers (not sure if they'll show up in the photo!)

5. Spicy Glass Noodle Salad (Yam Wun Sen)
Ayn started showing us this dish and then cut his finger and had to call in a substitute. It was quite a drama for a tiny cut! This tasted lovely and fresh however it included raw garlic and onion. I left out the garlic but I still found the onion too overpowering. If I make it again I'll use red onion steeped in lime juice.

6. Black Sticky Rice Pudding (Khao Neow Dam Piak)
This uses real black rice and is a lovely dessert. The rice needs to soak overnight though and then needs to be cooked for 30 - 45 minutes, so it is a dish that needs some planning.

Thai Cooking Course Day 2: 5 March

2010-03-05T06:36:00.000-08:00

I debate whether to eat breakfast this morning as we ate so much yesterday on the course, but I can't refuse the Rice Porridge. I'm pleased I have it as everything runs a little later today as the school has 40 students from the Shanghai International School in the adjacent kitchen.

The people on the course today are a lot more talkative and I meet some interesting people. The day starts with an introduction to Thai ingredients which is fun because its delivered with the unique Chiang Mai sense of humour but I don't learn very much as most of the ingredients are familiar to me.

Dishes we cook today are:

1. Thai Hot and Sour Prawn Soup (Tom Yam Goong)
Aromatic and delicious. If cooking for a dinner party I would strain the galangal and lemongrass out before serving

2. Green Curry with Chicken (Gaeng Kheo Wan Gai)
This is one of the best I've eaten - brilliant recipe (although the green curry paste is already made which saves us a lot of time)

3. Thai Style Fish Cakes (Tord Man Plaa)
We are treated to this demo by Sompon who set up the school. He is a bit of a Thai celebrity and is incredibly funny to watch - he loves his job! He also shows us how to make a fabulous sweet chilli dipping sauce. The fish cakes taste divine although I manage to make mine in the shape of fish for some reason!

4. Phad Thai Noodles
oh my - these are so easy to make and taste amazing. This will be added to my quick dinner list for sure.

5. Minced Chicken Salad
I've cooked this before and this version seems to lack something - maybe it is just because I've eaten so much today already and am not very hungry.

6. Tab Tim Grob
This is an incredible dessert. I'm not going to divulge the ingredients as I want to make it for people and have them guessing! There is a photo of it above though (next to the minced chicken salad)

After the class I had planned to go and have either a massage by a blind person or a fish foot spa, however after a spot of sunbathing on the roof terrace, some hula practice and a shower I end up napping for two hours. Those treats will have to wait!

Vegetable carving @ cooking school: Thur 4 March

2010-03-05T05:59:00.000-08:00

After a breakfast (again) of rice porridge I am collected for the start of my five day cookery course held at the Chiang Mai Cookery School.

There are lots of people on the course but they split us up and half of us are driven out to the school owner's house in the equivalent of millionaire's row of Chiang Mai. It is a beautiful house with two large kitchen sections, two air conditioned class rooms and a communal eating area surrounded by a wonderful vegetable garden. Each student has their own gas burner and work station. First we see a demo on how to cook the dish and then we each attempt it. We have 6 dishes to cook each day and we get to eat them all! Each day also has a theme. Today the theme is Vegetable Carving.

Vegetable Carving
We are shown how to make a rose (out of a tomato), a lotus flower (out of a tomato) and a leaf (out of a carrot slice). After each demo we all have a go and are given tiny carving knives to use. I find it all very fiddly and don't really have the patience for it. As a result my creations are less than fit for purpose! I've included a photo of what the rose should look like (mine did NOT look like this!) however I have included a photo of my lotus flower and leaf. From a distance they look ok, however a lot more practice is needed.

Question is - do I buy a carving knife? I need the practice but will I really ever do this back home? Comments welcomed!

We then head to the classroom for our first demo. I've listed the dishes we made below with some comments. Photos are included for dishes that I remembered to photograph (the spring rolls were not mine).

Today's dishes

1. Clear soup with minced pork balls (Tom Jued)
Delicious, light and flavoursome - one of my favourites

2. Spring Rolls (Paw Pia Tord)
ok but a bit greasy for me. I need more practice at rolling them too.

3. Roast Duck Red Curry (Gaeng Phed Ped Yang)
Nice but a bit sweet for me (it has pineapple and grapes in it)

4. Chicken with Ginger (Gai Phad King)
Delicious and light but almost Chinese rather than Thai

5. Chicken in Pandanus Leaves (Gai Hor Bai Toey)
a yummy starter but quite fiddly to make the parcels. Would like to make again if my Thai grocer can import the leaves for me. The leaves impart a wonderful aroma to the marinated chicken inside the parcel.

6. Mango with Sticky Coconut Rice (Khao Neow Mamuang)
This is very moreish!

After the lesson, feeling very full, I go to a local hotel to use their lovely outdoor pool and swim a lot of lengths. In the walk there I discover that lots of food stalls set up in front of the nearby school at home time to offer kids snacks. The choice is very diverse (and very tempting). Even though I'm super full I still buy 3 pieces of fresh sushi because at 10p each, how could I refuse?

Later that evening on my walk home I'm still not hungry but I do pass a street vendor selling pork dim sum and I can't resist 20 baht worth, just to try them. I get a bag of about 10 which I munch on my walk. I justify it as at least I haven't had a full dinner.

Everything I ate today! 3 March

2010-03-04T05:35:00.001-08:00

In order:

Rice Soup with Chicken plus Earl Grey tea
Thai omelette (small portion)
Crispy spicy dried fish snack
Coconut sticky rice pudding with fresh mango slices and a Lychee juice
Banana
Watermelon shake
Miang Kam
Papaya salad with salted crab
Fried meat and sausage balls with sweet sauce
Roast pork fried with basil and chilli
Mojito

plus lots of water.

I'm not going to lose weight at this rate!

Cycling around Chiang: 3 March

2010-03-04T05:00:00.001-08:00

This is my main day to explore the city before starting my five day cooking course.

I practice hula hooping on the roof terrace before breakfast and then discover that the guest house has rice soup with chicken on the breakfast menu ... and it's delicious. Really light and fresh with tender chicken pieces and garlic oil (maybe the garlic is not such a good idea for breakfast).

I decide to hire a bike to save my feet and explore places outside the old city. Cycling inside the Old City is quite easy however it is surrounded by a moat and on either side of the moat is a very busy 2 - 3 lane road, each one way. I often find myself having to run my bike across the road. I also find it very hard to navigate as many of the roads are not named (and my Lonely Planet map appears to be wrong). It takes me and hour and a half to find the food market in the guide book and so they are packing up by the time I get there! I buy some Thai omelette from a street vendor outside which is light and tasty but a little salty. Inside the market I buy some spicy, dried fish snacks and the woman who sells them to me has a sister who lives in Brighton!

From the market I cycle to the Mai Ping river to take a boat trip on a Scorpion Tail boat. I'm the only passenger so I get the lovely Nu all to myself as my guide. She is very funny and we share a love for trees and birds. The trip is very tranquil and I hear a lot about the history of Chiang Mai. The boat trip is finished with a snack of sweet sticky coconut rice and very fresh, ripe mango (literally plucked from the tree in front of me).

I then eat lunch further down the river at The Gallery in a beautiful and peaceful setting. I'm not very hungry so I opt for two salad style starters, however even these are huge. Miang Kam (a favourite Thai dish of mine where you roll up chillis, lime, peanuts, coconut, ginger, shallot, dried shrimp and palm sugar paste in a betel leaf) and Green Papaya salad (their version comes with salted crab but the crabs are small and whole and taste more of salt than crab).

I visit another market after lunch where I mistakenly buy Tamarind pods thinking they are Longon. Emma introduced me to eating raw Tamarind and although I quite like it, it is not a favourite like sweet juicy Longons or Lychees. I now have a giant bag to eat! Considering it cost me about 10p I shouldn't complain.

After a rest back at the guest house and a change of clothes I cycle up to the university area which is supposed to be quite young and trendy. I am pleasantly surprised by what I find. The cycle there was horrendous (3 lane roads, lots of traffic) however either side of the main road, Nimmanhemin Road, are cute little boutiques in glass boxes and funky bars. All the Sois (or lanes) running off the main road are also packed with individual shops and art galleries. It is super modern and reminds me more of Tokyo.

On the roadside I see a street vendor selling something resembling deepfried meatballs. I'm not sure I want anything deepfried but I am keen to try one or two, so I just ask for 10 Baht's worth (less than 20p). He then proceeds to fill a bag with about 15 of the balls. I really didn't expect that many and I doubt I can eat them. He then gives me a choice of sweet or spicy sauce (I go for sweet) and hands them to me with a skewer. Well, these little meatballs are divine, and because they deflate a little before you eat them they are not as filling. I manage to eat them all however I'm not sure I'm going to manage dinner now.

Well, not until I spot the Roast Pork stall that is written about in the Lonely Planet. The stall hoarding has a pig on it, and all they sell are variations of roast pork dishes. I go for Roast Pork fried with basil and chilli on rice. All for only 30 Baht (about 50p!). Yet again it is a taste sensation (see photo).

After asking lots of people I finally find the Glass Onion bar which I've read about, and which I fancy having a cocktail in. It is very stylish in a New York kind of way with great lighting and retro yet modern furniture. I meet two US ex-pats in there, Brad (from Wisconsin) and Larry (from NYC) and they regale me with tales about living here and a local dodgy nightclub owner who died in dubious circumstances.

Message for Meryn 2 March

2010-03-04T04:49:00.001-08:00

While wandering around the temple I find a peaceful garden with lots of Buddhist quotes on boards which have been nailed to trees. I appreciate the sentiment of many of them and this one in particular caught my eye. Meryn, take heed!

Anxiety shortens life

I then walk the streets hoping to be tempted by street food everywhere however 5 - 6pm seems to be the quiet time and no one is out selling. I do watch a lady making rings with pancake batter and then breaking a quail's egg into the centre and letting it fry. They look very pretty but she has a long queue of kids waiting for them. I arrive back at the hotel and realise I've not eaten since my rice porridge at 9am this morning. I eat in the hotel to give me fuel for a night-time wander - a Pad Thai. It is tasty but a little too sweet. Stella then warns me against eating the street food - but I'll have a hard time heeding that (when I find some).

After dinner I head to the Night Bazaar. Stella has also warned me against buying things here as there are Saturday and Sunday markets which are much cheaper. Amazingly I do manage not to buy anything. I am very tempted in their food court where you buy tokens and then exchange them for food. The quality is supposed to be very good here and the ingredients look lovely. Mussels and Oysters in batter do take my fancy but the portions are huge and as I'm really not hungry I resist.

Whilst walking around I am struck by how clean all the streets are, as all the shop and stall holders clean up after they've finished trading. It is a stark contrast to India.

Arrival in Thailand 2 March 2010

2010-03-04T04:35:00.000-08:00

I left for Thailand on 1 March with no great incidences. The most fun was all the attention I got for carrying a collapsible hula hoop. The first security guard wanted a demo, the second searched it with his flashlight and the third warned me not to hula hoop in the terminal for health and safety reasons!

I arrived in Bangkok airport with two hours to kill before my flight to Chiang Mai and so I headed straight for some Thai refreshments of Rice porridge with pork and a Watermelon shake. The broth is fresh and flavoursome and the shake is thirst quenching. I feel so happy to be back in Thailand - and this is just the airport food!

CHIANG MAI
Taxi to my hotel is only two quid and my taxidriver tells me the city is just entering the hot season - and I can feel it. He knows where my guest house and takes me straight there - it is a lot less stressful than my last time in Bangkok or Delhi.

I'm met with smiles at the Green Tulip Guest House by this effervescent Thai woman called Stella, who is very excited to see my hula hoop and demands a demo later. I so wish I'd practiced more already!

I have four hours sleep - my first proper sleep since I woke at 6am the day before - and after that I head out for a wander. On my doorstep is one of the most famous temples and I arrive just in time for prayers with lots of teenage novice monks.

Hula Hoop Class & Clothes Swap: Sat 13 February

2010-02-18T10:04:00.001-08:00

Improving my hula hooping is also on my to-do list and so I’ve signed up for a beginner’s hula hoop class. It is held in the lovely WestHill Community Centre and run by a lovely and very fit woman called Jessica. She introduces us to the idea of Hoop Dance and by the end of the workshop I’ve learn about six new tricks or moves with my hula hoop. I could do the basics before the class but I really feel like I’ve learnt a lot and now just want to perfect what she’s showed me.

Suzanne has come to the class with me and afterwards we drive across town in her gorgeous retro Pao car to go to a clothes swap, or Swishing party, in Kemptown. I’ve looked out about five items to take to the swap and Su has a couple of items, however she nabs a Noa Noa top I’d planned to put in before we even get there. In the end I’m so happy that Su took that top as I got NOTHING from the clothes swap and found the whole set up very stressful and not fun at all. I missed out on a lovely All Saints top which I’m convinced some bitch stole off my hanger after I’d claimed it and I narrowly missed out on these cute ankle boots. Su and I decide to do another clothes swap with friends where it is a lot more amicable and fair.

Free Swimming in Brighton: 7 - 11 February

2010-02-18T10:02:00.002-08:00

I’m back in Brighton and it feels lovely to be back. I am however homeless. I managed to rent my room out for weekdays so I can use my bed at the weekend, but not in the week. I am therefore living with Kate this week and although I love her flat it is freezing cold this week and she has chosen the weekend before I move in to remove half her hallway which intensifies the cold air blowing up the stairs.

My focus for the week is to keep my exercise levels up. Kate then informs me she is on a diet so I realise that I will also be healthy eating this week too. I plan to go swimming as much as possible as there was no public pool in Morzine and I’ve missed swimming.

I research pools and gyms in Brighton and sign up for as many free trials as I can.

Monday – swim at St Lukes pool in Hanover. This is not a free swim but I go at Ladies Swim time and the pool is quite empty save for a few older ladies who don’t stay very long. The changing rooms are filthy though and there is only one, dirty shower. Not great.

Tuesday - swim at Prince Regents in central Brighton. This is also not a free swim but I have signed up for 5 days free starting w/c 22 February. I like it here. They’ve improved the changing rooms since I was last here (about 15 years ago) and they are modern and clean with lovely showers and large lockers. The pool is a bit busy and I end up lane swimming which makes me swim faster than usual (which is a probably a good thing).

Thursday – swim at the Hilton Metropole. This is a free swim. I get a tour of the gym and the pool. The gym is small and underequipped. The pool is also quite small. On the plus side though it is almost empty. I swim for a while and enjoy the steam room but there is no way I’d pay to use their facilities.

Other things that occurred this week:

Delicious chilli dinner with Anna and Kate, had an urchin haircut, cooked a rich porcini mushroom soup from River Café cookbook, watched the old West Pier being lit up in lasers and got very cold, ate cakes and drank tea a lot, got builders in to quote on my leaking ceilings, ate sushi and researched 1940s dresses for Dad’s 70th birthday party.

Clean and clear out to Calais. Sat 6 February

2010-02-18T10:02:00.001-08:00

After cleaning the chalet to perfection we get our deposit back and a whopping 300 euros each for our season ski passes which we’ve managed to sell on. Result. Adam and I drop Dad off at Les Rhodos to wait for his transfer and then we hit the large out of town Carrefour for French goodies to take back before we hit the road.

We make it to Calais in 7.5 hours (well done Adam) with some help from Adam and Joe on the podcast and are back in Brighton just after 9pm; just in time for a pint in the Coopers.

Last day on skis! Fri 5 February

2010-02-18T10:01:00.000-08:00

My last day on the mountain and I decide to ski. Yesterday’s snowboard fun was amazing and I definitely want to do it again, but I also want to leave with happy memories and not injure myself on my last day. So I ski with Dad in the morning, although we’re not up the mountain very early. We do one run with Abby and I feel bad as it is snowing quite heavily and Abby finds it hard work on the board.
She is frustrated as we had such a good day yesterday and today the slopes are very bumpy from the fresh snow. Abby heads home before she hurts herself.

After a second run we stop for lunch and I treat Dad to Spaghetti Bolognese at La Ferme, which is definitely my favourite spot to eat on the mountain and very friendly.

After lunch we bump into Gareth and Kerry (friends from Wales) and Dad announces that he’s off home as he’s tired. I go off-piste with them and do the secret fun tree run off to the right at the top of the Linderet chairlift. The first section is steep and hairy but after that it is a lot of fun and we whoop the whole way down. After that I do the Prolays run one more time (or the Baden run as the boys renamed it in honour of their boy-love for Baden, their snowboard instructor) and then head back to Morzine via Le Crot which is the long run down to Prodain. I get quite sad skiing down this run as I realise it is the last time I will do it for quite a while.

That night, with most of our food gone, we head out for dinner and end up with take-away pizza. Abby has the best pizza with cream, roast pumpkin, goats cheese, pine nuts and honey on top – it is a wonderful combination.

Back on the Board: Thur 4 February

2010-02-18T08:45:00.000-08:00

Maybe I’m still drunk from the night before but my aches seem better today and I decide to get back on the snowboard and give it another go. Abby’s enthusiasm for boarding is infectious and we head up to Avoriaz together. The nursery slope has a button lift and I’ve not done one of these yet on a board. I fall the first time but manage to stay on the second time, although I am frozen with fear the whole way up. The photo Abby took is on my first button lift. We do this short run many times until we are quietly confident on the button lift. We are very dehydrated though from the night before and I drink my entire camelpak of Ribena within the first thirty minutes.

Abby and I then do the longer blue run, Proclou, a couple of times and I really start to feel like I’m getting it. It feels great! Edita and Lucy join us mid afternoon but Lucy really isn’t enjoying it and leaves to go drink vin chaud at one of the cafes. Edita stays and does the long blue with us on our final run of the day and then we head to the café to meet Lucy.

As we come down the slope to the café we hear banging techno music and then we see that the good Burger Bar has DJs on their decking and the deck is teaming with fluro kids all dancing madly. We meet Lucy there, drink Mutzig and join in the crazy dancing. Dad comes to meet us when he finishes his lesson and he even has a wee dance.

Abby takes a couple of videos, the funniest of which sees me engulfed by a giant fluro kid who gives me a kiss!

After the dancing we then have to board down the slope to the gondola which is a bit frightening as we are somewhat drunk, but my boarding is actually quite good as alcohol tends to eliminate all sense of fear.

That night Abby and I cook a made-up roast vegetable lasagne. We realise half-way through cooking it that Adam didn’t buy the tinned tomatoes which were on the list. He denies they were on the list but is amenable enough to knock on our neighbour’s door and ask for a tin. We top the lasagne with a mixture of ground breadcrumbs, nuts, parmesan and cayenne which works a treat.

Off Piste Adventure & Night Out: Wed 3 February

2010-02-15T15:50:00.000-08:00

Dad and I ski in the morning and then as he has a lesson in the afternoon I go to find Adam who has been riding with some friends that are visiting from Chamonix. I wait at the bottom of the Mossette chairlift and watch Adam finish the end of a long off-piste run, during which he has lost his friends.

The two of us then head over to Linderets where the others are waiting and discuss which route to ski next. I suggest Le Renard (which I did on my off-piste tour) or Satellite. We decide on Satellite however as we traverse across towards it I see that Adam has taken his board off and is walking up the mountain (a route which quite a few others have also walked up). Each time I think we are at the top another hill appears and we keep walking. Near the summit we then walk through deep snow to access some untracked powder.

The top section of the route down is beautiful however we quickly descend through tall trees and the skiable gaps become smaller, the snow heavier and we have the added obstacles of tree wells (tree wells are holes where trees have been covered with snow). Jacky is the first to fall into a tree well and get her board stuck. After she is helped out, with some difficulty, her friend then falls in.

By this point I have taken off my skis (something you are advised never to do but I just can’t find the room to ski here). and a boarder called Ian kindly offers to ride down carrying them. I am now scooting down the mountain on my bottom and I then fall in a tree well, bottom first! Luckily Jacky is nearby and pulls me out. We are all a little fraught and tired by this point. The boys are waiting a little further below for us and then Adam calls to say that we have to hurry as the lifts close in 15 min.

We reach a clearing and are able to put our skis and boards back on and ski down the rest of the way however the route route down to the Ardent gondola is a luge like track that winds around the mountain. By the time we’ve skied to the bottom the lifts are all shut. Luckily there is a ski bus from Ardent back to Morzine and we all pile on and share what remnants of food (old power bars and KitKats) we have on us.

We’ve decided to have a night out tonight so Lucy and Abby make an early dinner of fish curry (a Thai/ Korma hybrid) and Adam creates an original version of Kir Royale with some bubbly that Abby and Carina brought me for my birthday and Ribena! I am brought a glass to enjoy in my bath which feels very decadent.

Our night out consists of Rhodos first for Beat the Barman where Abby wins us our first round, then Café Chaud, the Cavern and then Le Paradis for some dancing. Along the way Edita manages to find some free bread, rolls and pain au chocolat outside a bakery and Lucy lectures some English boys on why it is not appropriate to introduce unknown women to their genitals.

La Ferme for lunch Tue 2 February

2010-02-15T15:43:00.000-08:00

Dad gives me some exercises and stretches to do to help my back and these, plus a lot of painkillers, enable me to head back up the mountain today. Dad and I have a leisurely and delicious lunch at La Ferme which is on the run down to Ardent. We share a Croute avec Girolles mushrooms which is very filling and would be too much for one person, especially if you wanted to ski afterwards.

Tonight Lucy and Edita make a fish pie (the third of our stay) and whilst it is very tasty it is very late by the time we eat and it keeps Adam and Dad awake a lot of the night.

Day off from skiing: Mon 1 February

2010-02-15T15:42:00.000-08:00

Lucy and Edita arrive today but they cut it very fine for starting their snowboarding lessons. They originally planned to be in Morzine by 10am however Edita texts at 10.25 to say their transfer is just leaving Geneva! Amazingly they manage to make it to their lesson only 20 minutes late, partly due to the fact that Adam drives them to the gondola.

I’ve taken the day off from skiing as my back pain from yesterday has got a lot worse – I can hardly walk! Lucy and Edita give me a pile of presents to open before they leave for the slopes which helps ease my misery at having to stay home. I open a lovely package from Kate, Anna and Fran which includes a funky yellow and blue striped hoody (reversible), a grey hoody and a the biggest grey pompom ever (made by Kate to attach to my helmet). Everyone in the week 1 gang had bobble ski hats and I felt left out, however as I wear a helmet to ski there was little point me buying a bobble hat. Kate came up with the ingenious solution for attaching a bobble to my helmet.

Lucy and Edita have given me some scented soap in a pretty retro box and a book on evolution. I’ve hardly read at all while in the Alps. Danny Wallace’s Yes Man is about it (and a trashy novel that was in the chalet).

Dad goes up the mountain with Abby and skis Morzine on his own today. It is a beautiful day and he doesn’t get as tired today as he is able to take more breaks when I’m not there pushing him to ski more.

Tonight Dad makes chestnut and mushroom stew with mashed potato. He planned this meal from the UK as I told him we had 3 vegetarians this week (to Adam’s horror) however when Lucy and Edita arrive they announce that they might eat meat this week!

Weirdest Dessert ever! Sun 31 January

2010-01-31T14:16:00.002-08:00

Dad’s first day skiing. I think a lot of people must be visiting for the weekend as the waiting time for the gondola was 25 minutes. We decide to take the nearby chairlift instead. It is bitterly cold but at least the sun is shining and the snow conditions are delightful.

We do a few runs before I venture slightly off piste to find some fresh untracked powder. Dad follows but rather than follow my route down he moves further across the hill and skis down a hill that no one has touched. The reason that no one has skied it before is that it ends in a massive uphill snow drift. Dad disappears for some time and I am calling him but he doesn’t answer. I call to two skiers who can see him and ask if he is OK, they explain in French that he is OK but he has fallen.

I then walk back up the hill and round the corner to see Dad digging himself out of the snowdrift. He has taken his skis off and is now exhausted. Dad announces he needs lunch. He then announces that he’s forgotten his wallet. We eat at a very expensive mountain restaurant where the only thing I can afford for us both is hot dogs!

After lunch we do a few runs to get us back to central Avoriaz to meet Abby before her first ever snowboard lesson. Abby is very excited and super enthusiastic.

Dad and I head home after two more runs as he is very tired and I’ve pulled a muscle in my back.

Abby arrives home after her first lesson and is buzzing. She LOVES snowboarding. She didn’t like button lifts but she perservered. Her excitement is infectious and makes me want to try again.

I make more power bars for taking skiing with us when I get in and then we all go out for dinner.

Abby, Dad and I go to La Chamade for dinner as I reckon Dad will really like the beef dish. We both order Beet Fillet with a Cep Cappucino and Spinach salad, Abby has Moules.

Although we are full we all order dessert too. My dessert ranks top of the list in the strangest sweet concoction I’ve ever had on a plate. I order Iles Flottante which essentially is soft meringue islands floating on a crème anglaise sauce. However this comes with a selection of other accompaniments. I was expecting ice-cream and requested lemon sorbet. However alongside this was:
- candied fennel
- lentils
- candied red cabbage
- curried rice pudding
- a shot of cucumber and spearmint juice
The merinque and sorbet was lovely but the other extras were all a bit too weird, even for me! A photo of the dessert is above.

Dad and Abby arrive - Sat 30 January

2010-01-31T14:16:00.001-08:00

I stay at home this morning and catch up on some missed sleep from last night. Dad is a little late arriving and the leaving gang arrive back from a morning playing in the fresh powder. They leave just after lunch as my Dad arrives. We kit him out with skis and then walk into Morzine to get his ski pass.

I take Dad to the wine bar for a glass of vino and to share the tapas platter. The service is not as good as last time and the platter has damp tortilla chips on it which should just not appear on a platter like this.

Dinner tonight is homemade pork chorizo sausagement meatballs tossed with spaghetti carbonara. It gets good reviews from the table but I think the meatballs are too salty and I will tone down the salt next time I make them. I do a vegetarian pepper sauce for Abby who arrives about 9pm.

Snowboard Sledging - Fri 29 January

2010-01-31T13:51:00.000-08:00

The Welsh boys want to party tonight as its their last night and they have a 6am transfer tomorrow morning. We all head to Bar Robinsons for apres ski drinks and down a lot of Mützigs before doddering home via the supermarket. It is snowing heavily and the road home is covered in snow. Gareth and I don’t see a road but a ready made luge. We use his snowboard to sledge back down the road and have a real giggle.

Kate has made us a delicious leek and blue cheese tart for dinner with new potatoes and salad. This is followed by lemon sorbet or chocolate ice-cream. We then receive an invite to go round to Sam and Seb’s for a second dessert of profiteroles! This is coupled with more drinks and we roll home quite late.

Rest Day - Thur 28 January

2010-01-31T13:50:00.002-08:00

I’m still in a lot of pain and decide that a day of rest is called for. Adam and I head into Morzine and hang out in a café all day. I use the time to apply for volunteering opportunities for April onwards. I had intended to update this blog as well however I don’t get around to it.

Dinner tonight is made by Soph and is a cheese fondue for 10 people – which is quite a feat. Sam, Seb and Saz come over to join us.

Back to skis for my birthday - Wed 27 January

2010-01-31T13:50:00.001-08:00

My chest is still really sore and I decide that a day on skis will be easier than boarding as I can’t face falling over again. Unfortunately the fear of falling means my skiing is less than brilliant and by mid afternoon I’ve had another fall (on artificial snow that is like ball bearings on ice) and am in a lot of pain again. I head back early for a long soak in the bath.

Adam has booked a restaurant for us all to go to for my birthday. Our first choice didn’t have any room til 9.30pm so we head to another place that has been recommended. The food is tasty and the service friendly. Adam gives me a classic Morzine memento as a birthday present (photo to follow as I lost my camera earlier – just found it).

Six of us head to Les Rhodos for drinks after dinner to see if we can ‘beat the barman’ which happens every Wednesday. If you can roll two dice higher than the barman your round is free. I wait a very long time to be served and Soph exclaims that I’m not ‘young enough or pretty enough to be served’. I’m surrounded by pretty young boys and what she meant was that the girls behind the bar were favouring the boys, but it came out all wrong! We just miss out on a free round too.

Gareth does a great Elvis impersonation with my black hat worn as a wig. I’ll upload the video if Sam sends it to me.

Third Snowboarding lesson - Tue 26 January

2010-01-31T13:49:00.000-08:00

We book another snowboarding lesson as Julien says that three is the magic number. We don’t get up to the mountain in time to do many practice runs which is a shame and on my first run, I fall onto my coccyx. Not only is it very painful, it make me very wary of falling again, it hurts when I’m doing up my bindings and means I am riding rather stiffly afterwards.

In our lesson we start to learn a new way of turning - first on the back side and then front side. I fall while on my front side as I catch an edge and fall flat onto my chest. The fall really winds me and I sit in silence for about 5 minutes. Julien helps me up and I think I am ok, although shocked, but as I do my next couple of turns I get a piercing pain in my chest. I sit down and feel awful – I’m worried I may have broken a rib. Julien helps me down the next slope and I decide to head back down in the gondola, cutting short my lesson.

Soph and I go to see the doctor (Soph as chief translator) however we discover that the doctor’s waiting room has no system and an absentee receptionist who only ever appears to answer the phone and then disappears again. After a long time standing waiting I decide that my agony is not overwhelming and we head home. Even it if was a broken rib the doctors can’t do anything anyway.

Soph swaps her board for skis as she’s had enough pain for one holiday and as she can already ski she decides its time to have fun. We spend the afternoon watching films and drinking red wine.

We all head to Sam and Seb’s apartment for dinner as they are only staying four chalets up the road from us. They cook enough chilli to feed nine hungry people with enough for seconds! And then we all play Cranium which is not the best board game ever invented.

Second Snowboarding lesson Monday 25 January

2010-01-25T14:15:00.000-08:00

I wake up about 6am and every muscle in my body seems to be aching. Was I in a fight yesterday? Oh no, I was snowboarding!

We plan to get up to the slopes for 10am however Kate decides to put the beef stew into a low oven in the morning so that it is tasty and tender by dinnertime. We get up to the slopes by about 11am instead for a few practice runs. Soph has to change her boots and Sam is nowhere to be seen this morning, so Kate and I practice together. By lesson time I’m starting to get a feel for this and it is starting to feel more natural.

According to Julien I’m on my back foot too much and need to put my weight forward more on my front foot. To help me he holds my hands and rides down with me to help me get my weighting right. I like riding this way! Before long I am linking my turns and I’m starting to feel like I might actually be able to do this. However I then pick up too much speed and go flying towards the netting at the side of the piste and go through it, taking the pole with me. I have to take my board off to get back onto the piste.

Julien also teaches us how to get off a chair lift. That’s fun! A few crashes later we start to get the hang of it. He also teaches us Ollies and Grabs. Not sure why we are doing tricks already but hey-ho (the boys back home are jealous).

Gareth is reading over my shoulder and objects to the phrase hey-ho. He’d rather I peppered my blog with obscenities. Well he can get his own fucking blog for that.

Our beef stew tonight is very rich and tasty and Kate adds mustard to the dumplings which is a great addition. She has made a pot the size of a cauldron but we still manage to finish it all.

Sorry for the lack of snowboarding photos - I'm too scared to take my camera with me yet!

First Snowboarding lesson ever! Sunday 24 January

2010-01-25T14:14:00.000-08:00

The big day finally arrives when I decide to try snowboarding. I’ve hired boots and borrowed Kate’s snowboard (thanks Kate!). We have a lesson booked for four of us (me, Soph, Kate and Sam) at 12.30pm and we are too scared to try it beforehand so we sit in a restaurant at the top of the gondola and eat crepes instead.

Our instructor Julien is very patient with us and takes time to get us warmed up and understanding our board, bindings and the names for all the different bits. We then practice moving on the board with only one foot strapped in and our other foot resting on the board. I am goofy by the way! That means I have my right foot forward.

We then learn an exercise called Falling Leaves which involves traversing across the slope facing one direction and then changing direction by looking the opposite way and changing your weight - like a pendulum.

After our lesson we practice for a couple of hours, trying to avoid all the beginner skiers and children on the nursery slope. I am taken down by a mother and her 4 year old son and we all lie on the snow laughing.

I look at other boarders practicing their turns and I wonder if I’ll ever get the knack of this. I can’t even seem to get up when I’m facing downhill. I feel very unfit and I don’t think I’ve ever fallen over so much in my life!

We stop at Bar Robinson on the way home for a few well deserved Mützigs however I have to have a week lie down when I get in as a result.

Dinner tonight is Fish Pie mark two. On the plus side, it has scallops in it! On the negative side it is a lot runnier than our first fish pie. It is still delicious though and we manage to eat two dishes of it.

Changeover Day and 9 for dinner Sat 23 January

2010-01-25T14:12:00.001-08:00

Hangover and changeover day starts very slowly. Everyone feels rather worse for wear today plus we have to clean the chalet for the new arrivals. We have a morning of packing and cleaning and then head up to the slopes about 12pm. We have a few runs as a group and then a few of us go off to do the favourite tree run in Linderets again. We’ve arranged to meet at 1.30pm for lunch at a new burger bar but we have to stop a bit early as we are all starting to feel worse from the night before.

Best burger yet at this new burger bar. Very meaty burger, pink in the middle, toasted bun. We lunch for over an hour and then Tara and I explore the igloo behind the restaurant – Le Grotti du Yeti – see the photo above (more igloo photos on Facebook).

We are too full and hungover to ski much after lunch and we only do a few runs before heading back. The gang leave about 6pm and meet the new London gang (Soph, Carl and Kate) who arrive just before they leave. Other new chalet guest is Phil who arrived on Friday, a friend of Gareth’s from Wales.

Adam does a big shop and I make parsnip and pancetta tagliatelle for dinner as it is easy and there are a lot of mouths to feed as Sam and Seb who are staying three doors have just arrived and so join us for dinner. Nine around the dinner table!

The Grand Off-Piste Tour Friday 22 January

2010-01-25T14:09:00.000-08:00

Tara has been doing afternoon off-piste lessons and today her class is joining with the morning class to do a full day’s tour of the area, mostly off-piste. She invites me to go along and so I book a class so I can join the tour. We meet at 9.15am and then we are off the day. Her instructor, Bruno, is great and spots where I need instruction. Our first off-piste run is down a wide couloir on the back side of the Mossette chair. Although very steep the snow is wonderfully soft and powdery. I am in the first half of the class to reach the bottom and as I look up at the tracks we’ve made and feel an amazing sense of achievement. My legs are burning though!

Bruno takes us over to Morgins and Chatel via various off-piste runs, one of which we do twice because the snow is so good. We then stop at a restaurant high in the mountains for a long, French style lunch break.

There is a noticeable difference in the quality of the lifts in Switzerland vs France. The French update their lifts regularly and they are comfortable and quick, whereas on the Swiss side the lifts are rickety, slow, stop a lot and seem ancient in comparison.

On the way back after lunch I do have quite a tumble down a chute and a Danish skier in the group helps get my ski off as my legs are practically tied in a knot. We come back from Chatel via an off-piste route called Le Renard which is great fun and one which I think the boarders would love.

We join the class for après ski drinks in Avoriaz where vin chaud is served in a giant mug. However we time our departure wrong and end up waiting a long time for a gondola and then find we’ve missed the 6.15 bus which means a very long wait for the next one.

Tara and I had planned to go out tonight and hit Morzine so we start drinking vodka Red Bulls when we get in to get us in the mood. However dinner (pasta with tomato and chorizo sauce made by Chris) is served so late that we end up rather too merry to go out and dance around the chalet instead.

Fresh Powder! Thursday 21 January

2010-01-21T14:17:00.000-08:00

We all wake up super early. I think the boys were up at 6am! And we are on the ski lift by 9.10am for first tracks down the new snow.

Simply brilliant day!! Tara challenged me again to push my boundaries and I’m flying down steep powder bowls. Adam then finds us exhilarating tree runs that we want to do again and again. Gareth is completely blissed out after them with a goofy smile on his face, and we are all buzzing.

We then spend the afternoon shooting down off-piste powder bowls, through gullies and more tree runs. I really feel like my skiing is improving massively and I have my longest day yet on the slopes from 9am to 5pm.

We head into Morzine for dinner out and half the gang go for quick fish and chips as they are about to faint from hunger. Tara, Dan, Penny, Chris and I look for something with a little more atmosphere and we find a lovely French restaurant called La Chamande where we have a delicious meal. I order Macaroni with Morel mushrooms and it comes with a whole platter of little extra amuse bouches which pleases me immensely. It is a taste sensation.

Black Bowl Challenges - Wednesday 20 January

2010-01-21T14:16:00.002-08:00

Tara pushes me to the extreme with two black runs in the early morning where I ski two steep bowls, one steep with nice snow and the other steep with moguls. Although challenging I feel a real sense of achievement at the bottom.

The weather report warns of a ‘violent disturbance’ in the afternoon and sure enough, after lunch, the winds whip up and then it starts snowing heavily. Blizzard city.

I finish skiing early today, as the visibility drops, so I can be fresh for the new snow tomorrow.

Adam makes chicken and mushroom tagliatelle for dinner. We don’t seem to manage to eat until 10pm most nights though which is not good for the digestion.

Knocked-Out. Tuesday 19 January

2010-01-21T14:16:00.001-08:00

I wake this morning feeling a lot better and refreshed. The stomach pains have subsided thank goodness. We all head up the mountain together for a few runs together and then me, Tara and Gareth plan to head to the off-piste bowl I went to on my lesson on 15 Jan. Tara and I lose Gareth though on the way and our walky-talky dies so we can’t reach him.

Tara and I go to the bowl on our own. It is a little crusty but we manage it. On our way back we get a message that Chris has been knocked out and an ambulance is due to take him down the mountain. We need to head back to give him keys to the chalet and Gareth needs to stay with him to make sure he doesn’t fall asleep yet. The boys knew something was wrong with Chris after his wipe-out as they asked him ‘what year is it?’ and ‘who is the President of America?’ and Chris didn’t know either answer! Luckily Chris is fine now but it was a worry for us all.

Tara makes a mean chilli con carne tonight aided by the addition of smoked hot paprika and dark chocolate. Yum!

Sick. Monday 18 January

2010-01-21T14:12:00.000-08:00

I have stomach pains and the runs. Not a day to hit the slopes. So I stay at home, near the toilet. It is a glorious day with blue skies and sunshine and I feel pretty miserable. I read, sleep and watch bad real life movies.

Not a great day.

SnowDay 17 January

2010-01-17T09:24:00.000-08:00

Ok, so we actually wake to rain in Morzine which makes us sad, but luckily as we head higher up the mountain the rain turns to snow. Wet snow, but still snow. I also feel a lot better than yesterday.

Tara is away, flying down the slopes, on her first run, whereas everyone else takes a couple of runs to find their ski and ride legs.

After a few easy runs I suggest we head to the tree run that Terri took me on Wednesday as I remember it being quite easy and a lot of fun. Well it was easy, following Terri. Our run down is slightly more shambolic. I find the same route but forget that there is a 2 meter vertical drop ahead and as I am first I go shooting over it. I galipette through the air and land head first in the snow. As I turn midair I do wonder if my skiing holiday is about to come to an abrupt end; luckily my helmet protects me and I am fine, if a little shaky. We stay together skiing until lunch when we meet Dan who has had a lesson this morning. Lunch is at Changabangs again and then I only manage a couple of runs before heading back to the chalet to greet Gareth who is flying in from Cardiff.

Skiing Breakfasts

2010-01-17T09:19:00.000-08:00

Porridge

Most days breakfast consists of porridge, as it is a filling start with slow energy release, perfect prior to a day of skiing.

Porridge is super easy to make and very cheap. It is however hard to get oats in France therefore Adam brought bulk bags of oats with him. It is also an easy breakfast to make for a lot of people at once and late risers can simply reheat it in the microwave.

Use ½ a cup of oats per person. Add same amount of water and then an extra ½ cup. Heat slowly, stirring every now and then. Ready in about 5 min.

Favourite combinations with porridge are:

Honey and milk
Raisins, honey and milk
Banana, honey and milk
Demorara sugar, raisins and milk

Carina suggested adding broken up bits of chocolate to porridge. I tried it one morning but unfortunately the chocolate was a dark, bitter version and I had to had a lot of honey to correct the bitterness. I will try it again with a milk chocolate as I like the idea.

Other favourite breakfasts while here include:

Petit Swisse with Sugar
I can only find Petit Swisse in France therefore it is a special treat that I have when I am here. It is also good as a simple dessert. Not healthy at all though.

Scrambled Eggs, Kate’s way
Served on toast or with mushrooms, tomatoes, smoked salmon etc.

Beat 2 – 3 eggs in a bowl with a pinch of salt. Melt good knob of butter in a saucepan over a med to low heat. Add the beaten eggs stirring. Keep stirring while the eggs cook gently. When cooked to the consistency you like remove from the heat. If you add a little more butter now then the eggs will stop cooking and remain at this consistency.

The new gang arrive Sat 16 Jan

2010-01-17T09:18:00.001-08:00

Yesterday I had a tickle of a cough and I wake this morning to a very sore throat and nasty chesty cough. I snooze the alarm for an hour and a half realizing that I probably need to take the morning off.

The new arrivals (Tara, Dan for his 2nd week, Chris, Penny and Chris) are due around lunchtime with Gareth arriving tomorrow and so I decide to reserve my energy until they arrive as they’ll want to go up the mountain. However we get word at breakfast that their flight is delayed so they likely wont be here in time to ski today. Although disappointing for them it means that I can have a day of rest and try and rid myself of this nasty cough.

The coming week has the most skiers of all our weeks with four skiers and four boarders, although Tara can switch between if she chooses to. A lot of fun awaits us – I just need to feel better.

We polish off six bottles of red wine over a dinner of spaghetti Bolognese.

Powder Playground and Tapas Smorgasboard Fri 15 Jan

2010-01-17T09:03:00.000-08:00

It is my final ski lesson today. I head up the mountain in the morning to practice and have a really good morning focusing on my turns in imperfect snow.

While eating my lunch up the mountain I see the ambulance helicopter land and transfer a person on a stretcher to a waiting snowmobile. I can’t work out why the helicopter doesn’t take the injured person straight to the hospital unless it has another rescue mission to perform. It is a powerful reminder that skiing is a very dangerous sport.

I meet Terri in the afternoon and discover that only two of us will be skiing with him today (Ivan and I) as Julian wants to ski with his mother on his last day and Vaughan is skiing with his girlfriend. The photo shows Terri, Ivan and Julian.

We set off in the direction of the notorious ‘Wall’, also known as Chavanette. The Wall is a very steep mogul run where two to three people die a year according to Terri. I am therefore very pleased when we traverse across the top of it and head over the ridge to the right of the Wall. Here we find another powder bowl with very few tracks. Perfect powder practice playground. Unfortunately because the weather has been warm a crust has formed on the snow turning it into ‘la croute’ which is not perfect for practicing. By heading to the shade though we still find some powder and my turns improve immensely.

Definitely an area to come back to after a fresh fall of snow and 15cm is forecast for Sunday (fingers crossed). The run back to a lift is easier than the Thursday route too (although it leads to the red run that Kate and Dan hated).

I bump into Adam as I ski down to the bus stop and he suggests we go into town for a drink. We change our shoes and head down there, after a few shops and errands during which Adam munches a tartiflette flan, we head to the wine bar to enjoy a glass of wine. I spot an amazingly imaginative gourmand tapas selection on a nearby table and we order one to share. A photo of the plate of food is above. At 12€ it was very good value and extremely tasty. I’ll be back for this dish again!

Thur 14 Jan evening

2010-01-17T09:02:00.000-08:00

We’d planned to make a special dinner tonight but by the time we leave the bar it is quite late. We reach the supermarket two minutes before closing and have to whip round it whilst being chased by the manager who wants us to leave. We’ve never done a shop that quickly.

The deluxe dinner will have to wait until Friday night and instead we have pea and pancetta spaghetti, which is super quick to make.

Week 2 - Tues to Thurs

2010-01-14T10:02:00.000-08:00

Tue 12 Jan – evening

Adam and I stay rather too long in Les Rhodos and so it is late when I start to make our pizzas. I discover, to our amusement, that the pizza base mix has a use-by date in the year 2000. Only ten years out of date! I have a go regardless. Sadly the base doesn’t rise at all and we eat pizza biscuits at 9.45pm. Suffice to say, I have not pleasantly surprised Adam at all although he kindly says that they are ok.

Photo of me in my new jacket.

Wed 13 Jan

It is snowing really heavily this morning!!

I take it easy in the morning at home, using the time to do some Pilates and worry about the strange clicking noise my hips and knees are making. I decide to eat an early lunch at home to avoid the indigestion suffered yesterday.

I learnt a new French word yesterday. Galipette. My tumbles down the mountain are galipettes. The direct translation is somersault. But Terri and the French men in my class find it very funny as apparently this French word has a double meaning (I bit like finnochio in Italian which I learned about in one of the Tales of the City books and used in India with Luca, the Italian volunteer I met there). I’ve now looked Galipette up and its other meaning is: fornication!

I do one run before my lesson today and take a steep but short off-piste slope to practice my turns after yesterday’s disastrous falls. The snowfall has softened the bumps nicely and I ski it quite well. I have mentally changed my attitude to my lesson today as I know that it was fear yesterday, which was crippling my skiing. I also hope that due to the snow and poor visibility we will have to stay low, in the trees.

When I meet Terri we have a new addition to the class, Vaughan, but two others have not come today so we are still only a small group of three students. Terri says we have to stay in the trees and that there will not be any steep cliffs today. Hurray!

Terri leads us a merry dance through the trees around Linderets and twice we head off the right at the top of the Linderets chairlift (most people go left as there is no piste to the right). The snow is thigh-high powder in places between the trees and it is still snowing.

I am turning on time today and it is Julian who is the main galopetter today (thank goodness). We make first tracks through the trees and whoop a lot as we turn and jump through the powder. There is no one else here – Terri has been skiing Avoriaz for 30 years and really knows the secret areas, it is fabulous.

On our 2nd to last run Terri loses a ski while skiing a steep slope which ended in a jump with a hidden lip. It is the first time I’ve ever seen an instructor crash and we all find it very funny (Terri is fine!). I stupidly take the same route and also lose a ski, so the others find another way round to avoid more crashes.

Last run of the day is through The Stash which is a freestyle playground with rails, jumps and walls to play on. I had thought it looked really dangerous however I ended up skiing down a wooden plank (!), doing a few jumps and skiing through the wooden hut in the middle which has a steep approach and descent. We were all whooping like crazy!

Vaughan says this has been his best lesson ever and asks if he can join our afternoon class from now on. It is definitely better with a smaller number in the class, the morning class has 9 – 12 people and they are constantly waiting for people so don’t do nearly as many runs as us.

It kept snowing all day but it was quite wet snow and I returned from my lesson soaked through.

I make chicken fajitas with rice, guacamole, salsa and soured cream for dinner. Adam was a bit hesitant about a Mexican dinner but he really enjoys it and says that this dinner has surpassed his expectations (at last!).

Thur 14 Jan

Today Terri says he will give us a lesson we will never forget. Sounds ominous! We head up the Fornet chair, a chairlift I have taken many times, however this time we then walk in our skis up to the mountain ridge and pop over the back of the mountain. There we find fresh, untracked powder and proceed to practice our powder turns all the way to the bottom. It is blissful (between falls) and I do not do as many galipettes today at all. It takes us quite a while to reach the bottom however then we have a very long cross-country ski around to the Nyon gondola. Definitely more of a trip for skiers than boarders, unless they want a long walk.

Week 2 - on our own

2010-01-12T11:12:00.000-08:00

Mon 11 Jan

A leisurely morning where I pop into Morzine to get my liftpass replaced as it stopped working yesterday. I try on some new jackets and buy a super cool hoody by Volcom. I see a jacket I love and decide to bring Adam back later for his advice.

I lunch at the chalet (happy noodle soup) and then head up the mountain for my lesson. I have booked 5 lessons this week from 2.30 – 5pm to prepare myself for Tara’s arrival and to try and get a better technique on powder and bumps. The sky is blue and the sun is brilliant again today.

My lesson only has 3 others in it, all men, and our instructor Terri is a maniac. Rather than warm us up with some black runs to check our style and correct anything he takes us straight off piste and down what looks like a waterfall with big boulders scattered down it. We then head down the montain through the trees. I like seeing new runs down the mountain but it is pretty scary. I cope quite well though and am not as panicky as the men for once.

After my lesson I meet Adam in Les Rhodos for a drink. I then show him the ski jacket I’m considering getting and he agrees it is ace. It is also by Volcom and is white with a really cool graphical design (lots of thin lines in bright colours giving many matching opportunities). I decide to get the jacket and see a lovely leather belt that is really cool. I ask for a saisonaire’s discount and although the guy says he can’t do that he does do me the belt for half price as I’ve been such a good customer that day (my hoody this morning was from the same shop).
When we get home Adam cooks a comforting and tasty Spaghetti Carbonara which we devour.

Tue 12 Jan

Adam and I head up the mountain for some runs late morning so I can warm up before my lesson. We plan on heading over to Linga which is an area we’ve not skied yet however just past Chalet the valley is in the shade and we opt for the sunny runs instead. We find some lovely wide easy pistes that would suit beginners very well. Adam gives me some tips on my skiing style and then pushes me to the max until I am starving and worn out.

We eat our sandwiches perched on the top of the mountain with an awesome view however I ate too soon before my lesson as I get chronic indigestion during my class, not helped by the fact that our first run is a ‘couloir’ or corridor (40º chute between two rocky cliffs).

My lesson is more scary than Monday and I lose my skis quite a few times plus I tumble down the mountain at one point taking out Ivan (one of the other students) and then do three forward rolls on a steep slope. Luckily it is soft deep snow and I am not injured. Best part of my class today is the powder lesson and practice we get. Terri knows where to take us to find untouched powder!

Dinner tonight when we get from from Les Rhodos (where I am posting this from) will be home made pizzas. Adam is not too keen but I’m hoping he will be pleasantly surprised.

Last 3 days of the first gang

2010-01-12T10:59:00.000-08:00

Fri 8 Jan

Today Kate, Dan, Joel and I decide to see what Morzine and Les Gets have to offer piste wise. Unfortunately the fog is so thick that visibility is almost nil and we can not actually see the runs at all. At the top of the gondola Dan realizes that his bindings are coming loose and he needs new screws. He heads down on the gondola to try and fix it while Kate and I lead Joel down some icy red runs which puts him off red runs for the rest of the day.

About an hour and a half later we meet up with Dan again and head over to Les Gets. It has very pretty, tree lined runs however general sign posting is not as good as in Avoriaz and the runs are a little short and tame. The trees mean that we manage to move away from the fog a little.
Last run of the day is an amazing red run from the highest point –Les Chamoisserie – and I spot a lovely black from the chair that I want to go back to do.

After posting on Friday from Les Rhodos, a very friendly bar with free wifi (with a drink) Dan and Joel came to meet me for a few drinks and then we ending up eating in the bar too. Food was healthy sized pizzas and was pretty tasty. Adam went to meet Carina (who finally arrived) and then they both came to meet us for a drink too.

Sat 9 Jan

Today I take Dan and Kate on an epic journey that they don't exactly thank me for. What looked like a very long red run (the longest on the piste map) turns out only to be reachable by a very long button lift (not fun for boarders) and then the steep red run all too quickly turns into a very long and very flat lane. On the upside though we do find an igloo! Will post photos of us in the igloo as soon as Kate sends them to me.

Sun 10 Jan

It is Kate, Dan, Joel and Carina’s last day (although both Dan and Carina are coming back and Kate sorely wants too). Luckily for them the skies are a beautiful blue and the sun is shining brilliantly. They have a late flight so can ski all day however two runs in Dan falls and hurts his shoulder, closely followed by Adam who also hurts his shoulder and possibly even knocked himself out momentarily. Hot Chocolate and then an early lunch can’t fix the boys and they have to, sadly, call it a day.

Hardcore Kate stays out with me, fuelled with the divine peanut butter, nut and fruit bars which Carina made us. We do a few big jumps under the chair but later Kate winds herself after jumping off a 1.5m sheer drop by mistake while looking for small jumps to practice on.

The chalet seems very quiet after everyone leaves.

First days in Morzine

2010-01-08T09:30:00.000-08:00

Sun 3 Jan

The neighbours who left the day after we got here had mainly had rain over New Year and were not very happy. We are very lucky as there was snow the day before we arrived and after a wonderful first day on the slopes on Sunday it then snowed all night so we awoke on Monday to fresh powder everywhere. Two of our first week’s party are beginner snowboarders and I debated whether to learn to snowboard with them however I want to perfect my skiing first. I may decide to give it a go in week four.

Adam and I collect Kate from the train station on Sunday evening. She has been skiing in Chamonix the week before. She is very jammy, leaving one heap of powder for another and she is buzzing from her deep powder off-piste runs.

Dinner tonight is TWO shepherd’s pies (a meat and veggie version) made by Dan.

Mon 4 Jan

One of our beginner snowboarders breaks his cruciate ligament during his class and is stretchered off the mountain. Sadly that is the end of his holiday and he must wait for an earlier flight home to be arranged. Luckily he got his travel insurance just before he left the UK and is covered for his medical bills and repatriation.

We tend to meet for lunch every day at Changabangs which does a bargain House burger for 5€ and yummy curly fries for 4€. By day two though we are taking our own sandwiches and sharing curly fries as the euro exchange rate means that a pound pretty much equals a euro now.

Today was a really fun day of pure powder madness. My skiing is still a bit all over the place as I still have to find my ski legs, but we have a lot of fun.

Dinner tonight, cooked by me, is my favourite Courgette Pasta (grated courgette, onion, garlic, red chilli, penne pasta, butter and parmesan – adapted from a Carluccio dish). Sadly the meal does not meet the approval of Adam who believes it is too watery. Shame, as he’ll be eating it a lot over the next few weeks!

Tue 5 Jan

Today should have been a lot more fun in the powder however we head up Fornet where there is a lot of off piste around the snowcross park however I end up constantly losing my skis. After 30 minutes looking for my ski the third time it happens I decide to stick to the piste and book myself a powder lesson the next time it snows.

Dinner tonight is Butternut Squash & Feta Risotto made by Kate, with the added taste of burnt rice. It is an interesting combination which, against all odds, works! One ruined pan though …

Wed 6 Jan

The morning in Avoriaz is heavy with fog and visibility is only a couple of metres. so Kate, Dan and I head over to Switzerland. We go above the clouds and see a fully circular rainbow. The morning is glorious with empty pistes which have been perfectly groomed. I practice my carving and start to regain my ski legs. However we do end up in a part of Switzerland where the only chairlift back to France isn’t working so we end up on a bus to Les Crosets to catch a different lift back to Avoriaz which adds about 40 minutes of non-skiing onto our journey.

Tonight’s dinner is a delicious fish pie cooked by Adam and Joel.

Thur 7 Jan

Major lie-in and then a relaxing morning cooking a Leek and Chickpea soup before heading to the slopes around lunchtime.

Finally my skiing seems to be coming together. I feel like a skier again!

Didn’t ski for long as I misjudged the weather and it was very cold, so I head back to the chalet after an hour and a half. Finally manage to start writing this blog.

We were going to go out for dinner and drinks but have postponed this to tomorrow night once we get some recommendations on where to eat.

Eat soup for dinner as do some of the others, the rest eat leftovers (fish pie, mince etc).

Carina is supposed to be flying out tonight but her flight has been cancelled due to the adverse weather in England. We hope she’ll be able to come out on Friday instead.

First week in Morzine

2010-01-08T09:27:00.000-08:00

Sat 2 Jan

We hit the road at 9am, bang on schedule, for the long drive to the Alps. We are in Adam’s Dad’s Vito (looks like a posh van, just don’t call it a van, ok?). The 5 of us each have our own seat and there is plenty of room in the back for all our snowboards, skis, luggage and bags of groceries.

It is Saturday 2 Jan and the roads are empty – everyone must still be suffering from New Year’s Eve excesses – so we make record time to Folkestone and manage to get on an earlier train to France. The EuroTunnel is weird as you stay in your car, or hop out to go to the toilet, but aside from that there is nowhere to go. You can’t even see the fishes. I think the tunnel should be made from reinforced glass and be like the shark tunnel you get at the SeaLife centres so you can see all the sea creatures while you zoom across (or is the tunnel actually under the seabed? Must look into that).

We then take the speedy toll roads towards the Alps and barely stop for diesel and refreshments. I’m surprised that my co-passengers, four grown men, have not brought any snacks for the journey. I have packed nuts, tangerines, dates, figs and beetroot crisps. And they are quite rude about my beetroot crisps! Adam describes them as ‘beetroot flavoured cardboard’. I think they may be dehydrated beetroot as they are not baked or fried – they certainly taste very healthy.

We arrive in Morzine at night but can immediately see that the resort is quite large, with a lot of amenities. Our chalet is fabulous. It is a semi-detached chalet over four floors and includes a ski equipment & utility room on the ground. The views from the living room are tremendous as they look across the valley to the Morzine ski slopes. And we are a few minutes walk from the ski bus stop which can either whisk us up the gondola to Avoriaz or down to Pleney to ski Morzine and Les Gets.

First meal when we arrive on Saturday night is made from the groceries I brought - Parsnip and Pancetta Taglietelle (A Jamie Oliver recipe). I try not to tell the boys what I am cooking as I can imagine that some don’t like parsnips. Adam spots me cutting them up and admits he doesn’t like them, however I explained that they taste different when sliced thinly and fried. He later on says that he liked it (more so than some of my later dishes!).

Trip starts in 20 days

2009-12-13T10:03:00.000-08:00

The boarder (A) and the skier (me), are all set to head to our apartment in Morzine in 20 days. The apartment is booked. Our ski passes are ordered. We have various friends coming out to board & board with us over the five weeks we will be residing in the French Alps. A did a similar trip last year, staying in Les Contamines, however this is a new resort for us both and we are both extremely excited.

A little background: I have taken redundancy and rather than leap straight into another job I am taking some time out to recharge and refresh. My plan is rough and loose and likely to change, however it definitely includes living in new places and delving into new experiences. I've lived in Brighton for the last 20 years (bar a year in America while studying) and whilst I love Brighton I also want to have experienced living in other cities and places and right now i have the perfect opportunity. This ski trip is the first in a series of trips for me in 2010, hence the blog title.

I've setup the blog so that family and friends can keep up to date on where I am and what I am doing. Please post comments and messages to keep me up-to-date on your lives too.