Same as it Ever Was - Well Almost

The Middle

The Start

 A month on Kalymnos - November - has been great, it was hot and busy at the start and has turned cool, shower and pretty much shut down at the end of the month - probably the most unsettled period we have ever known in sixteen year's of visits. It has been the usual sketch of climbing, hiking and enjoying the island vibe. Schengen time is closing fast, so the choices were back to France - our six month Visa still has four months to run - or we can exit the block for a while . So we are headed back to Cyprus for a month - or maybe two.  Every week we are there can be added on after April 1st where it will be very much appreciated - spring in the Alps sounds like a possible plan.

The End

Kalymnos Reigns

Private plane courtesy of Jet2 - much appreciated

We first visited Kalymnos in the autumn of 2008, as was usual back then, we arrived at the start of October and suffered for our art with really crowded crags and unpleasantry hot conditions for much of our trip, climbing beyond about 13:00 was a no no. By the time we were due to leave, at the beginning of November, we knew for sure this was the time to be here, the crags were much quieter and the temperatures were perfect, climbing the sun was a pleasure not a chore. Since then we have visited in November (and March) almost every year since and never regretted a day of it.

Karlomanos (5a) - nice

The journey here from the Ariege was the usual sketch of waiting around, queues, delays, nights in strange beds, plus the the inevitable expenses associated with travelling - was it worth it? Hell yeah! 

So here we are in the November sunshine - Day One - four easy routes in perfect conditions on Sea Breeze, that will do nicely for starters. The place was quite busy but we know from previous experience most of them will be pushing off soon enough - hopefully we are in for the longer run.

Unseaonable?

Sherri in the woods at Orlu

Colin climbing at Genat

After Briançon we move down to Buis les Barronies for a week and from there back to Chez Arran in the Ariege. Colin rolled over from Spain the following day and up to now we have had five days climbing on various cliffs scattered around the area. Two months now since we left the UK and the weather has been almost consistently cool and unsettled - well apart from the first week which was steamy. Of course unsettled French weather isn't like unsettled UK weather so it hasn't really stopped us getting out and about on a regular basis - in fact it has all been rather pleasant.

Three Score and Ten plus Four

A cool blowy day above the Lauteret Pass

 Seventy fourth birthday - I was dreading it a bit but oddly I feel just the same as yesterday!! Five weeks in France now and it has been great - some mixed weather and seventy plus routes

The Maurienne

- I deffo wouldn't have done that back in Sheffield.

Accessible climbing

Eight months on and  recovery continues, but oh so slowly - walking uphill is hard work, though we have made significant progress in that direction. More importantly, I have discovered I can climb - just not very well - it will have to do for the moment. 

So far we have visited the Maurienne, Valloire and the Briançon areas and already pencilled in are Buis, the Ariege and a month or so in Kalymnos, that should see us up to the Christmas period - which hopefully will be back at Chez Arran where we have been for quite a few years now.

And Away......

The Cascade de St Benôit - a short walk from the pad

After ten long weeks in the UK we packed the car and had a steady ride down to Portsmouth through the usual heavy traffic, a super smooth crossing then two shortish days across France and we were back in the Maurienne - a part of the world we really like, high enough to be cool and never too busy. 

Me climbing!

Two weeks in and I can report it was worth the effort, stress and cost of the trip - the weather had been hot but bearable and I have climbed seven days out of nine actually doing thirty five route which would not have happened back in the UK. 

It is 1st September as I am writing this, everywhere has gone very quiet and the forecast is for a cooling trend - pretty much perfect - we have a lot of time to play with and aren't in a rush to be anywhere in particular, Ariege in October and Kalymnos in November are pencilled in for now - let's see what develops.

In the Starting Blocks

Higgar Tor in the sunshine - one of our regular destinations

It was ten weeks ago tomorrow (June 10th) that we landed back in the UK - it has been a bit of a haul but with any luck we should be sailing out of Portsmouth tomorrow evening. We have kept ourselves busy with walking almost every day somewhere local, or out in the Peak. We also had a a couple of short trips away, one to photo (drone) the Roaches area and one to Manchester to apply for our 180 day French visa - which was 'interesting'.

Ecclesall Woods - somewhere new

The first issue was that they had moved the TLS Contact office from Salford to Manchester city centre - we only found out the evening before our appointment.

The second issue was because we had so much time, we were quite late apply for the visas, while we waiting for the Embassy's decision and the return of our passports we booked a crossing. As time rolled by we began to panic as to whether the passports would be back on time - they were - but only just, the Friday morning before we were due to leave on the Monday - way too close for comfort!!

Being Back There

Redmires Reservoirs
- one of our regular haunts

 Five and a half weeks since we escaped from Kalymnos, and time spent in the UK is best described as being 'okay' though it isn't where we would choose to be. We have both had a stinking cold, the first for years - it has hit Sherri particularly badly, two weeks in and she is still suffering.

Summer - what summer?

Mercifully the weather has been largely cool and cloudy, everyone else is complaining about the lack of summer but it suites us just fine.

We have kept active having been for a walk almost every day - it looks like about another four weeks before we can make an escape - just need to sort our French 180 day visa and we will be good to go - but where to?

Back to the UK and 'summer'

Escape from Alcatraz

We had planned to stay in Kalymnos for another couple of weeks but day on day it got hotter and hotter, topping out at around 40C - way to hot for us. So we brought our flights/hotel/train/car hire forward and rolled up to the harbour to find the ferry was cancelled - oh, oh.

Sherri set about working her magic and after a few goes she found a guy who had a 'friend' - so off we went. Another guy turned up and we hopped into small inflatable for the eight mile journey to Kos. Luckily it was flat calm as there were no life jackets on offer. The rest of the journey went more normally!

Above the Roaches, bright and breezy

Back in the UK it was the same sketch as ever, cool, breezy and quite unsettled, but at least we weren't being roasting alive. A few days away in Leek gave me the chance to refresh the Staffordshire area cragshots, hopefully we will do the same for Lancashire sometime soon - if the weather ever improves!

Miracles Do Happen, Well Maybe?

Back to Kanlymnos - and breathe

A happy man up a rock 

Whilst at Dalyan in Turkey we walked up to a mountain top mast we had spotted - it wasn't far, but it was uphill and took me about forty minutes - the first real uphill hiking for about three months - there was the sudden realisation that I really was getting a little fitter. We also hiked into the Saklikent Gorge - about a two hour round trip with lots of wading, scrambling and slippery boulders - another pointer that things were moving in the right direction. After a hot and busy week in 'Tourist Central" - Turgutreis/Bodrum (more uphill walking) we made it back to the tranquillity of Kalymnos. And there I went climbing - not once but FOUR times in a week - yes, miracles can happen, but only if you keep the faith and work really, really hard!

Back in the dark times of January in Albir, I needed to poles to even get out of bed, walking more than about 50m was a real effort, and I was in constant pain, especially in my thighs. We bought a lightweight camping chair so I could sit down when needed - the 300m from the apartment to the sea had to be done in about five 'pitches'. The damage done from the month/six weeks that I was incapacitated has cast a long shadow - five months on and I continue to make incremental progress - it feels like the fitter I get, the  faster I improve - let's see how far it goes.

Turkey Time

High above it all

We used to use Turkey as an escape from Schengen and the pitiful Brexit restrictions on our travel in Europe nowadays - thanks to the gullible souls who voted for that, hope it improved your lives a little. Now we come to Turkey because we love it, super-friendly people, great weather, inexpensive plus an amazing landscape and associated history to explore. We have only really started exploring the southeastern corner between Bodrum and Antalya which amounts to about 5% of the country, there is a huge interior still to go at. The coastal strip is often heavily developed and caters for holidaymakers from across Europe and further afield, but get away from this and you can really step back in time, with more tractors and mules on the roads than cars.

Wayside animal feeder and water bowl

On mentioning Turkey we quite often get a bit of a sideways look and 'oh, I'm not too sure about that as a destination' - which is rather odd really - there are a lot of police around and checkpoints with armed officers on some main roads, but to us it feels as safe as anywhere in Europe. It is worth mentioning the openness and friendly nature of everyone we meet - it really is refreshing.

River boat and 2,500 year old tombs

And of course there is the way the Turks treat the stray animals, almost every street corner has feeding stations and water for the cats and dogs, most of which appear to be sterilised - "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” Mahatma Gandhi 

Any finally I read recently that Erdogan will not trade with Israel until the Gaza situation is resolved - I rest my case!

Ch Ch Ch Changes

The progress from my severe spinal stenosis back in December/January continues, though at times it feels pitifully slow - though of course it is so much better then where we might have been. 

After many years of our freewheeling lifestyle things appear to be changing at an unprecedented pace and keeping an even keel through the bumpy ride has been tricky, especially for me. Apart from my medical episode which has stopped me climbing and hillwalking, the two places we have spent the most time in the past fifteen years, Chez Arran and Babis Bar are in the process of changes of ownership - we have had to sort out the piles of stuff we had long stored at both venues.

We hope to keep on with our wander-lusting though things are going to be a little different especially as every other trip in the past thirty five years has involved rock climbing to a lesser or more usually, a greater extent. We aim to make the most of out new found freedom and visit places that we hadn't considered in the past - keep on keeping on is all you can do!

Photo: people say I am looking well - that's what loosing 20+kg does for you!

Around the Loop

Snowshoeing at Beille

We left the Costa Blanca with some misgivings, we had been there quite a while and were well settled, plus I wasn't sure how I would cope with the travelling. In the event it all went as well as could be hoped for, we had five days in the Ebro Delta, a week plus at Chez Arran then made the long trip home via a flat calm crossing on the Santander > Plymouth ferry - which included a very smart upgrade - only the biggest cabin on the boat which even included a private balcony.

Then six and a half months later we back in the UK to the inevitable mix of cold, crappy weather, traffic, crowds and jobs to do - hopefully we won't be stopping too long - we just need to get Easter out of the way.

A wander by the Ariege River

I continue to make slow progress with my recovery - there is no way of knowing how far I will eventually get - but there is only one way to find out - onwards and upwards - slowly!!

And it Continues

Exploring the coast north of Altea

February in the Costa Blanca

Three weeks on and we are still seeing slow improvements in my stamina, balance and general fame of mind. I have walked 3kms a couple of times including 1.5km uphill towards the Albir lighthouse. I have been having weekly osteopath sessions and doing my exercises religiously several times a day. We are still miles from tackling steep or rough terrain but life is so much better than it might have been. Valentine's Day was especially memorable - the day I should have gone under the surgeon's knife but we walked the beach and took in the sunshine as well as breathing huge sighs of relief. 

It is getting close to the time to head off north now, the mission on the Costa Blanca more or less accomplished - the rest of my life awaits!

Improving at Long Last?

Sherri guarding my chair

So we bided our time for about a month waiting for my pre-op visits to the hospital, getting out every day in the sunshine but I was really struggling - at the worst it was four rests (on the small chair Sherri bought me) to cover the 300m or so to the Promenade. Then something odd happened - the aching in my legs faded, so we kicked the painkillers meds into touch - then I walked to the Prom without stopping - and day on day I got a little better, steadier on my feet and covering longer distances. After several days we began to think a small miracle may have occurred - we visited the docs and she was impressed with my sudden progress. She suggested the cyst had either burst or been reabsorbed - and more to the point, was sure any operation should be postponed at least for the time being. The relief was palpable, after two months of depressing decline there was a little light ahead. 

A smile or just signs of relief?

A week later and the progress continues - small steps but all in the right direction. It is too early to get giddy but we are both in a much better place mentally - at least for now. We are here for another month or so - let's see what develops.

Sciatica - Arghhh - Update

My Minder keeping a watchful eye

 We assume it is sciatica - whatever it is, it has has pretty much floored me - the numbness/tingling in my left leg is especially worrying. We made it back to Chez Arran but I wasn't in a great state so we booked a Physio who was excellent - loosening things up nicely. Then things got worse so we visited the 'emergencia' at the hospital in Foix - the doctor I saw was pretty dismissive - gave me a prescription and a form for a scan - the first available date was two months away!!

About to spend 30 mins in a noisy tube

So after a lot of stressing and throwing ideas around, plus asking questions on FB we decided out best option was (probably) to head back to the Costa Blanca and try and get sorted by going private. Of course Christmas/weekends/New Year got in the way but within three days I had seen a doctor and had an MRI scan which was pretty amazing. We await the results while I hobble around and chew through twelve tablets a day - not a lot of fun, but at least the pad is nice, the weather is good and Sherri is on hand 24/7.

Update: The scan shows a synovial cyst pinching by lower spinal cord - the back specialist says it is 'serious' and  needs sorting - more scans to come and probably an op :-(

Update 2: more scans and the surgeon thinks I need 3-4 discs replacing with titanium inserts and the cyst removing - a four week wait, a four hour op and £18,500 for the pleasure - ouch on every count.