Sedbergh Mapping Course - 18-28 Sep 06

My last 11 days were spent in this little town called Sedbergh, where I arrived after about 30 whole hours of travelling:

2 hour flight to Bangkok,
4 hours in transit,
12 hour flight to Heathrow,
2 hours WASTED waiting to clear immigrations
3 hour bus ride to Cambridge (there was a jam for 30 mins!!!)
1 hour of packing and lunch break
6 hour train ride to Oxenholme
30 mins travelling time to the hotel....

So all in all, 30.5 hours from the time I boarded the plane in Singapore that I arrived at my destination. Needless to say, I was TERRIBLY jetlagged and very exhausted and while everyone else was busy pairing up for the mapping projects, I was a little too tired to be bothered and ended up being paired with the leftover guy (NOTE: guy = singular) whom, well, let's just say he's different... And hence I spent the next 10 days controlling the rage and storm that was brooding within me. But ok lah, to be fair, I honestly was quite fine working with him. After a while, i get quite used to ignoring him and turning a blind eye to his actions, we developed a working relationship. :)

But I must say this trip has been more fun than I thought it'd be. For one, the weather was gorgeous. In a region where it rains more often than there's sunshine, we were quite blessed to have just half a day of rain for the whole trip.... For the other, I think the people (less one) on the trip were really nice people to be with. Not to mention the silly things we did... Read on...

1. Musical Chairs
Not that I played it, but I was stunned one night when I came down to the bar to find that there were 15 people standing round this arrangement of chairs. And it puzzled me for a while what mischief they were up to, until I found out they were gonna play musical chairs! (a game that I've not played since I was in kindergarten i think!) But yeah, musical chairs is also a very good spectator sport, sitting and laughing at the people.... hehe...

2. How Many Cambridge Geologists Can You Squeeze in A Phone Booth?
Apparently, on the Arran B trip, they've tried this before and the "record" was nine. Yes, nine people can actually fit into a phone box which would normally be a little crowded for two. (I wonder why i would know that.. hmmm) But we decided to try it again this time and guess what? We bettered the record by ONE, to ten. Maybe the phone booths in Cumbria were bigger than the ones on Scotland.. but who cares anyway.. I was part of the record-breaking act... :)

The phone booth gang....

As you can tell, fitting people into a phone booth is a very delicate process that requires lots of planning and also requires a certain amount of skill to scramble and hang under the roof of a phone booth...

3. The (German) Torture Game
hehe. this is a very fun game contrary to its name... Basically it's a variation of snap/heart attack/spoons/whatever-you-choose-to-call-it... And because Kenny is evil, he's not gonna try and explain it here... Challenge me to a torture game the next time you see me... ;p

And yes, Kenny was a HERO during the trip too, because he RESCUED a sheep from the perils of the depths... We were walking up a gully on the last day of mapping (27 Sep) and then there was this sheep that didn't run away from us (they normally do). Upon closer inspection, there is apparently a branch that it has crossed and is now stuck between its legs, thereby immobilising it. Kenny being the helpful person that he is, lends his herculean strength to break off the thick branch, hence setting the sheep free. Unfortunately, after setting the sheep free, Kenny realises what a golden opportunity it was wasted to have a photo taken with a sheep upclose...... sighz... (i've always wanted to take a photo with a sheep!)

I did get this stroke this pony which was by the roadside though... (i wanna go horse riding!)

The wild life we saw on the trip was amazing too.. this was a random slug that was in the grass. I also, for the first time ever, saw RED squirrels. Two times in fact, on two separate days. And I even saw this FOX running across the field....

And i've also taken to a liking for mushrooms now... Yummy yummy!

Lunch on the hillsides, basking in the glorious sun...

Getting onto the bus on the very last day...