As 2010 comes to an end I find myself as usual rushing around to get everything done ready for Christmas and it’s useful taking some time to see what the year has brought to the Ashtons. The first bird of the year was a Long-tailed Duck seen from our bedroom in Kinghorn in Scotland. We rented a very interesting house which overlooked the Firth of Forth, enjoyed splendid views and Sloe Gin, trips to Edinburgh and St Andrews and lots of snow. The snow did cause a problem when we tried to leave and Don’s car was at the bottom of a very steep drive!
View from the cottage
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| The steep bank that caused all the problems |
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| The "Cottage" |
I am still working for the Tees Valley Wildlife Trust and highlights this year included: further work on a growing food for the future project - working in lots of school helping them to grow a range of vegetables and fruit; and Green Tees Valley – working with pupils and an artist using our Nature reserves as inspiration, which has led to me to try to find the one artistic bone in my body – you can see more of the project at http://teesvalleyarts.jalbum.net/Green-TV/. I was also working for most of the Tall Ships event at Hartlepool which certainly went some way to put Hartlepool on the map even if the weather was awful.
The years seem to go quicker as we get older! I had my usual trip to Scotland and revisited Loch Garten for the ospreys and splendid views of dolphins at Chanonry Point. We also managed to revisit the past with a trip to Nottingham – which had changed a great deal – I hardly recognised the area around the Poly.
Our holiday highlight was our trip to South Africa to see the World Cup! It was a long time coming since we bought the tickets 18 months before the first game. We had a mini-panic with the volcano problem but arrived safe and sound in time to watch Ghana (2) v Uruguay (4) at Soccer City which went to penalties. Helen was supporting Uruguay and I supported the loosing team with the rest of the stadium. The atmosphere was amazing; everyone very friendly, lots of people and the vuvuzelas gave it a very African feel – we came back with 3! The second match was at Ellis Park and Helen was pleased because she got to see David Villa play with Spain beating Paraguay 1 v 0. J’berg and most people we met had gone football mad and it was the only topic of conversation especially in our multinational B & B. We managed to squeeze in a bit of urban birding before moving on to Pretoria to stay with our friend Aruna for a few days.
We thought a lot of places in South Africa would be busy so we had planned to pick up a hire car and make our way to Tuli Game reserve in Botswana via Mafeking and Gaberone (to see where the No1 Ladies Detective Agency was based!). We watched the final outside whilst having a barbeque with lots of Dutch people who were supporting Spain. The last bit of the journey was interesting with 49 km on dirt tracks. We arrived to find out they didn’t have many visitors so they had up graded us from our tented accommodation into a lodge – what a shame. The food was exceptional and the game drives wonderful: highlights included lots of lions, giraffes and baobab trees. Our dinner was interrupted one evening with an impromptu drive to see leopard. I was busy ticking away lots of new and exciting birds including Kori Bustard and Crested barbets.
From here we drove back to SA via Sun City and Pilansberg game reserve. In Pilansberg we stayed in the Tshukudo lodge which was even better than Tuli! Wonderful location overlooking a water hole used regularly by Zebra; the service was outstanding with dinner served in our room one night. The wildlife was superb with impressive herds of elephant and several rhinos and of course Helen’s favourite wart hogs.
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| View from the bath! |
We really thoroughly enjoyed the trip combining football and wildlife and good food the occasional beer and wine and good company and look forward to another visit to SA at some time.Culture wise we have had a good year starting with the Hairy Bikers in January followed by an eclectic mix of the ballet, Vampire Weekend, Green Day and Muse. The last two were exceptional evenings at Old Trafford Cricket ground. Green Day never stopped (such energy) and the Muse set and overall show was something else. We went to see Hadrian’s Wall lit up with torches and Cragside with a sound and vision show and saw the first ever Durham mystery plays.
As 2010 ends we have been hampered in some respects with the snow. We have had quite a lot in Sedgefield and even more in East Cleveland where I work. This has resulted in shorter days, working from home and extra holiday! It has also meant some pleasant walks in the snow and splendid views. As write we have had more snow tonight and are hoping that we can make it home to Manchester at the weekend. Next year sees two land marks yes you have guessed it we both hit the half century! Not sure what we are doing yet – might just crawl under a rock and forget about it!
We are off to a cottage in Craster for the New Year and looking forward to a relaxing time soaking up the Northumberland landscapes and cheer.
So I hope you have a good 2011 and we may well see you soon – if not keep in touch.
Steve and Helen
