Dad and I on the Going to the sun road Glacier National Park, Montana

We stopped off at Logan Pass which is on the Continental Divide and listened to an interesting talk by a ranger. I might have my figures very slightly wrong but here goes…

The earth is covered with 75% water. 2-3% of that is fresh water. 90% of that fresh water comes from glaciers providing us with water to use. The glaciers are melting. Of the 100+ in Glacier National Park in the late 1800′s there are only 25 left and those are set to dissappear by 2020. With this change in climate many species will be adversely impacted. One within the park is the ptargmigan which is a gamebird. They change their plummage from white to brown so they blend in with the snow in the winter and rock in the summer however, the change is triggered not by temperature but by the amount of daylight hours so they will be in trouble.

Anyways that is the thought for the day brought to you by RYM!!! So basically people conserve water and look after what we have!

Today I did something I have never done before – went surfing. On top of something I rarely do which was take a whole day off For a start I looked like a complete tourist with beach towels etc. I bought some surf shorts at the local charity store for $3 so I am all impressed with myself. It was fun as we spent an hour and half trying to catch waves and I got up on the board twice. Also caught a wave to the beach but just on my front. First time I had my weight to far forward and pitchpoled! It is something that will take some practice for sure and I think one that I will do in warmer climes than SF bay!

Sunday was a relaxing day thankfully after a 2:30am bedtime. Gus took me to his Grandpa’s farm which has been in the family for over 150 years. Large tracks of land around the farm are leased to farmers and there are five beautiful old brick houses around a courtyard. We visited a while with his grandfather and youngest brother it is good to see Gus so comfortable in his favorite surroundings.

Yet another tasty meal cooked by Gus’s mother of salad, meat and potatoes with fruit and ice cream. Northern French families typically have 4 to 6 children and Madam Motte somehow manages to look beautifully young having brought up five boys. Now all but one have left the nest she is doing her MBA!

An afternoon with a first for me – attempting to play golf at the driving range. My first attempts were feeble I totally missed the ball a multitude of times. Then I would connect with the ball and it would either end up flying high and left or rolling feebly several feet away. The way you are meant to hold the club was not that comfortable and I ended up looking like a baseball player according to Gus.

With a few hours to spare I had a tour of Lille city center in the rain, the high school, Gus’s old house before getting onto the Eurostar for my quick trip back to London.

On Friday I took the Eurostar to Lille from London it is a very painless if a little expensive way to get to France. From my door to my friends door in Belgium is 3.5 hours sitting either on a train or in a car.

In a typical French manner although I arrived at 10pm it was time to go to some friends house for dinner! Dinner was a simple and delicious a typical mountain meal. You are given slices of cheese which go in a special tray under heat and it melts. You then eat the melted cheese along with roast potatoes and sliced deli meat.

Saturday morning up early to get to our hunting hosts (Katherine and Stephan) house in time to help prepare for 25 people arriving for brunch. A simple delicious affair of cheese, bread, jam, ham, fruit, tea, coffee and hot chocolate on a beautifully decorated table with arrangements of hydraingas from the large garden. The house is in the middle of may acres of farmland which was sold separately from the house but the hunting rights remained with the house. The hunt happens twice a year so I was lucky with the weekend I had available to visit my friend Gus.


About 30 people join in including wives, girlfriend and children all acting as beaters. It takes quite a lot of organization with two vehicles, negotiations with the farmers whose land is being used and feeding the mass of people. There are the hunting dogs as well running around very excited at the prospect of finding some game. Everyone seems to be either family or friends who have known each other for many years – all welcoming to the English/American who speaks a very small amount of French badly! We hunted for 4.5 hours bagging about 52 animals – partridges, pheasant, hare and duck. Dinner was a four course feast lasting a few hours – coq au vin with potatoes and mushrooms, cheese, salad and the most amazing chocolate cake I have ever tasted (each bite a taste of heaven).

Check out the pictures from the hunt here.

Again another late night leaving for the center of Lille a picturesque cobblestoned city at 10:15 – I admit normally my bed time! The historic buildings were beautifully lit including the old stock exchange, theatre and a multitude of other building that thankfully survived the wars.

Oh btw despite the photo I wasn’t allowed to shoot so acted as beater and camerawomen as I don’t have a French hunting license and probably wouldn’t have got anything if I had attempted to shoot

After Como we drove over to Venice and stayed with the parents of a sailing friend of mine. I really liked Venice a lot especially running around on the water buses. Talking to people it seems like you either really like or really dislike Venice. So after a day and half wondering around very hot it was off to London for the night to stay with my parents and make an Italian feast. My little brother Myles surprised me by coming home a day earlier so that we would get to hang out. He is now getting ready for Navy interviews having spent the last 8 months on a super yacht fishing in South America.

Next stop was Mill Valley for the night before getting on the Quest 33 for the spinnaker cup down the coast to Monterey. Luckily we got in just as the wind was dying at around 3am. An off watch asleep and drive back to Mill Valley by midday for some time with my nephew and nieces before a week of work.

The Italian vacation was really great fun. The next 12 weeks are going to be busy with work and getting ready for going south the southern ocean!

A very relaxing day in Como with no tourist sites just some strolling around in a beautiful area of Italy. The yellow place in the first photo above the lake is the youth hostel.

This really is beautiful country. The top photo is the view from the youth hostel over the lake. Took 5 hours to drive from Cinque Terre so tomorrow is exploring the lakes day. We did a quick trip over to Lugano so Becca could say she had been to Switzerland!

The Italians have some crazy food. Ask Becca about gorgonzola ice cream! Yuk. See the picture of the great ice cream and french fries pizza! David the sculpture was amazing even for someone like me who isn’t that into art!