Cornwall then Romania

A Blog a day...

That's what I'm hoping to do through the Cornwall and Romania adventure. It will be easier in Cornwall but let's see how it goes. If I don't manage it in Romania then don't worry, I will still write the Blog daily and post whenever I can hook up to the world.

I am in Cornwall from 15th to 28th April on a university field trip. A field trip, you ask? Well it involves a week touring the western tip of England followed by researching and measuring in the 2nd week, something that mesmerised me in the first week. An animal, a plant, a weather system, who knows. I am favouring plant at the moment, after all they don't move very fast and are easy to sit and talk to.

After a short break of 2 days I then head of on the drive to the Carpathian mountains in Romania. A four day drive across Europe, camping on route and hopefully taking the occasional shower! When we get there, the idea is we make a wildlife documentary or two, and I make a video diary of the trip. We had our bear training last week so I now know what to do if a bear charges me at 40mph. I've brought plenty of spare underpants with me!

When I return, I have just one week to prepare for an exam on 'animal behaviour', but that seems a long way off right now. I've had all my vaccinations, Hep A, Hep B, Rabies etc. but I'm still worried that many of the expedition group decided on cost grounds alone, that they would risk it and not have any. Life's a gamble I suppose, you make choices all the way through and hope that the wrong choices cause you as little grief as possible.

Who's going? Ryan Deal (20), Rob Brumfitt (21), Paul Mitchell (36), Ashley Howe (20) and me (60). I'm guessing at the ages but I'm sure the lads will put me right. It's been a roller coaster of personalities since we all decided to get together, a not unfamiliar experience for me at this age, having seen group interactions both in the military and in Industry over the last 45 years, I could see it all coming around again. It should be a great adventure and I'm sure we will all gain in some way from it.

I have a PSA test the week that I return, it will be the first time I have gone from 3 monthly to 6 monthly testing, so if that is clear, I will have a fantastic summer. 

Please check in every day to see how we are doing and it's not too late if you fancy making a small donation. Again a huge thanks to all those who have donated to a fund that has helped us to raise a total of nearly £4,000 towards what will be an epic adventure for the whole team.