Category: 60 Before 60

Mud Walking

I fancy getting thigh-deep in mud.

I’ve just returned from the Netherlands where I spent almost a week staying with a friend in Amsterdam. This has got me thinking again about wadlopen or mud walking. There is a line of islands along the northern coastlines of the Netherlands and Germany. When the tide is low it is possible to walk with a guide along the mud flats and even from one island to the next. These are challenging walks that can take up to 4 hours to complete and involve wading through cold sandy mud. Sometimes thigh deep. On a Dutch person. Dutch people are tall. I’m not tall.

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Floatation

I want some sensory deprivation.

I first read about floatation tanks in a newspaper article years ago.

Although I read it in the UK the tanks were in New Zealand. Having never been to any sort of spa or having done anything like this before, I loved the idea and resolved to have a go when I got to New Zealand. Continue reading “Floatation”

BBC – The Big Read

A list within a list – 200 books to read covering a variety of authors, genres and times.

In April, 2003 the BBC decided to search for the nation’s best loved novel. Through a voting system they came up with the top 200 novels. This was then shortened to the top 100 novels. I’ve read quite a few of these books already and have enjoyed most of them. By reading the whole of the long list I’m expecting to discover authors and books that I will enjoy but might not have otherwise thought of reading. And it’s a list within my list. And I do like lists.

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Ballooning

Musing about taking a hot air balloon flight.

I arrived in Germany on Saturday evening and as we sat down around my brother’s kitchen table to eat dinner, a hot air balloon floated past the window. It’s the lowest I’ve seen one. We could even see inside the basket. It was a beautiful warm evening and it seemed so idyllic to be floating about over the vineyards.

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