Whitehaven settled

Yeah for leaving the IOM! Karyn jumping for joy on Mt Karrin

Sun setting over the IOM from St Bees beach below Whitehaven.

Well we are well and truely settled into Whitehaven now. The Isle of Man feels like a long time ago!

St Bees Beach Sunset sand

Last weekend found us in Wales with Fi and Stu (friends from NZ living in Bristol). We stayed at a backpackers in Betws-y-coed Snowdonia which is a lovely thriving tourist town with lots of shopping, walking, mountain biking etc for those with the inclination. I was still feeling under the weather so let the others get on with the training weekend before the Portugal race.First up for them was a hike up Mt Snowden via the extreme scrambling route (shear drop off on either side) and a walk back to the hostel where I had returned with the car. The next day involved biking the Marin trail near by. Check out Orion's blog or Fi's facebook for more pics etc. Both offered fantastic views of what country side could be seen through the fog and drizzle but all in all a successful weekend had by all.

This week has seen me sole charge for the community and the ward which after two weeks on the job had me scrambling a bit, normally there are 3 of us! - I am sure things will get faster when I learn where to find everything in each department! Never mind had a few unusual cases arrived on the ward but no disasters and I got through all the others I had booked in and those unexpectedly needing to be seen, I will be glad to hand back to the ward Physio that's for sure - I think I will stick with community for a while longer! This week has also seen Neil back in the role of working man. He is working for an accountancy firm (Robinsons and co) in Workington (10 mins train ride north). Its a month by month contract but they have at least 3 months worth of work and if things keep going as they are then more beyond that. Apparently it's pretty boring work but still I think he is happy to be earning.

This weekend saw us exploring a bit closer to home. We headed to Keswick (pronounced without the w) for some shopping for the race and warm winter clothes. Neil hasn't had much access to kayaks for a while so he hit the Derwant water (which is a lake but for some reason you have to call it 'water') while I took it easy on some of the rides in Winlatter forest park. Everything is all Autumn colours and very pretty at the moment. There is defiantly a chill in the air. The weather was stunning which I am told to appreciate as it will be lacking for the next 6-7 months.

The trails in Winlatter Forest Park

Autum Colours (and air temp!)

Today with typical English prediction was drizzly but still we headed on down to Wast water to be blown about in some river kayaks. We have joined the kayak club here but the sea kayaks are few and far between still it was good to get out and try the new paddles - very nice they were too!

We have also managed to join the local Orienteering club. This weeks run was around the marina and lower part of the town and parks. Due to the risk of the ident boxes being tampered with we had to get to the circle then identify what we could see on the ground with the corresponding picture on the boarder of the map. All very well in the dusk then dark. Still it was fun in a 'not so hurried because we were peering into the dark kinda way' through we must have looked pretty stupid to Joe Average!

Well best get ready for work in the morn!

Views from a ride Neil and Andrew went on.

Well it looks like we have survived the first week of work at Whitehaven. I have had a rotten cold so Neil has been picking up the pieces in the evenings. Unfortunately the girl covering the post was only there for last week so it was pretty much make use of her time or go without - I chose to spend the time with her and am very glad for it. I seem to have about 70 people on my caseload but not as complicated cases as I was used to at home. Many of which I only review termly or require only boosts of therapy after surgery etc. These kids are spread around 20 or so small schools covering Whitehaven itself all the way down to Millom (near Barrow-in-Furness). There seems to be schools every few blocks but they are pretty small so some only have a few rooms each! The driving will be interesting. Most are on country roads which are often blocked and regularly used by big slow trucks, campervans, busses etc. Road names are pretty much non existent and so many of these places (especially the homes) are tucked away unexpectedly. Hopefully as i get used to the layout it will become easier. Spending the week driving around with Kathleen certainly helped a bit! It is a slightly more isolated role than the last ones where pretty much I work alone. Hopefully the work based at the hospital will keep me in touch with others. Still it seems a nice enough place to work from what I have seen.

Whitehaven harbour

The house is as good as we could have coped for. Richard our flatmate is hardly ever home (he is a fireman and often does nights at the station) and is in the process of becoming a fire trainer in Carslile (quite a drive away) so we haven't seen him much. Its a 3 bedroom place (yes a whole room for visitors! - well a single on anyway) and two levels so the rooms are fairly large by UK standards. Our skpye is all set up now, I think we tend to use mine a bit more so if you search under my email it should link through. Our address is 11 Irt Avenue, Whitehaven, Cumbria, CA28 8AZ UK. We also have finally gotten a car since leaving the Island (It was too much cost and rigmarole while we were there to organise one) The Vauxhall Astra is doing well so far. (a bit like a small legacy or caldina in shape). We should be able to fit all our stuff in but will defiantly test it next weekend when we head to North Wales to catch up with Fi and Stu for the others to have a bit of a training weekend together before Nov.

More of the boys ride

Andrew Butterworth (NZ friend living near London) came up mid week to go exploring with Neil. We were given a great Mountain Biking Guide from the IOM team I was working with and they have managed to complete 3 of the rides in it already! Each of them well worth the ride - we will have fun i am sure working out way through it! We also managed a walk around Ennerdale lake which was stunning. Neil was practising his 'paddle a slow boat' for the Portugal race in November so we were having a little giggle at his expense on the lake in a white water boat. I think they work a bit better in moving water! The only other place we have managed to explore is the cycle way just down the road from our place as Neil practises his Rollerblading (again in preparation for the Portugal race - he has posted a link to a wee video of this on his attackpoint if you were interested.) Everything is so close to our back door here it's fantastic. Hopefully as we get more settled (and well again) we will get a chance to get stuck in to it!

Ennerdale lake

We have been getting a taste of the changeable weather here. We have had a few days of stunning sunshine though overall the temp has dropped with a few grotty days. Yesterday was horrid, massive winds, sideways rain, water all over the road and whitecaps as far as you can see towards the IOM (on a good day we can see it) today in contrast today is bluebird with no wind. Dinner in the train car

Roller Boogie 3000 Neil

Hi there all,Its been a while but things are slowly moving along nicely. We now only have 2 weeks left on the Isle of Man and are pretty much happy to move on now. We have managed to secure a place in Whitehaven with a guy (Richard the house owner) who is into his kayaking, climbing and mountain biking. Hopefully we will get a little inside knowledge on where the best places to play are.

The only thing we need to get now is a car as I need one for the first day of work - then of course how to get ourselves and all our things from the IOM to Whitehaven! Hmm interesting.

We spent the long weekend back on the mainland. Neil's cousin Sarah got married in Cirescester. It was a lovely (relaxed) English ceremony and it was good to meet some of the English side of his family and catch up with his Granny again. Luckily it was a stunning day which was a welcome change from the last few weeks on the island. We stayed with Fi and Stu in Bristol the other days. Kayaking around Bath and Bristol and mountain biking in Southern Wales on the way down and back. The change of senery was very welcome, the trails wonderful and the canals intriguing. All in all a very successful weekend!

Well it seems the the golden weather we arrived to has given way to a typical English summer, drizzly, a bit windy but not too cold. We still get the odd day of sun though.

We have been exploring a bit with a South African couple couple from work who also like to mountain bike so we have been seeing a bit of the island with them.

Chantel and Kyle

A few weeks ago we went to Port Erin and watched the soapbox derby (home made go-carts)then wandered around Bradda head, the tower and the ruins on the coast of the old mining buildings and tunnels.

Neil on the Bradda Head Tower

Karyn in the entrance to the Bradda Mines

Neil has just dispatched himself off to Scotland for the Six Day Orienteering in Tay. I hear the terrain is good though hopefully he has better weather as I'm not sure I would be so keen to be tenting now. Hopefully he will have luck in securing the place we are hoping to rent in Whitehaven on his way back as having a place to live from the weekend we head over will defiantly help the organising and planning side of things. At the same time he will start making enquiries about finding work - though at least he doesn't need a permit this time to wrestle with!

We managed to see a Shakespeare play the other week in the ruins of the old Peel Castle, Cymbeline wasn't one I had seen before and they made good use of the castle as props, all in the outdoors too so we packed a picnic and lots of warm clothes, shooed the sea gulls away. The setting sun was lovely even if the storm clouds were coming over the horizon!

The other day I went and explored the Laxey mine more - where the mountain bike race was that Fi and Stu did here. This was a nice piece of history as pretty much everything on the Island origionally came about due to the mines, the settlements, shipping to transport the metal, food grown to feed the families etc, some of the old structures were still about to explore a bit and the views from the top of the Lady Isabella (the giant wheel that pumped the water from the mines) was fantastic.

The Lady Issabella (The Great Laxey Wheel)

and Laxey town in the backgraound

kayaking

Hey again.
Have been up to more exploring over the weekend. We managed to fit in some kayaking (have been missing the boat for a while now) Neil had heard of some swimmers (relay team of four) that were attempting to swim nonstop from the northan tip of the island to the Calf of Man (southern tip) needing some volunteers to paddle beside them along the way. A few phonecalls later we managed to chat to a guy that was keen for us to come along for a paddle from Peel

to Niarbyl - approx 6 miles in his boats.

Up we turned and along we went. Although the pace was slow along we went. The boats have no rudders which took a bit to get used to but i am sure it will improve our skills over time. We got to see heaps of stunning coast, lots of birds, a nosey seal coming to see what was happeing and even a puffin. We had a blast! The swimmers finished 5 hours ahead of scedule too! We are heading along to the kayak club again tonight so fingers crossed it will become a regular thing. The next day we ran around the coast from Port Erin towards Port St Mary going via the calf of man (the fog lifted enough for us to see it too!) and up the top of the hill to see 'the stones'. The IOM has quite a rich background descending from the Celts and Vikings, the Manx (people form the IOM) have their own government, myths and practises and the historic sites are very well preserved so we are slowely working our way around the island seeing some of these sites too.
An early edition of our blog spot has finally got off the ground. When we have more time we hope to add more photos etc. At this stage most emails from me are done in lunch breaks or while waiting for the bus so its hard to get the blog going well. Still if you want to look at it the page is karynnneil.blogspot.com hopefully when we get more settled in Cumbria (official date of 1st Sept) we can sort out internet etc.
Hope alls well with you
Till next time
K and N

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Explore the endless opportunities here! Looking to move up the career ladder?

Cumbria mission success

Hey there all,
It seems our long weekend trip to the lakes district was a success! I had a job interview in Whitehaven for a perminant post and just heard back from them offering me the job! Being in the lakes district of course I accepted! The role is a community post based in schools in South Cumbria (from town edge to Millom near Furness)with a small componant of inpatient and hospital work in the hospital at Whitehaven itself. Whitehaven is pretty small and a bit run down but there are somelovely areas near by that are a bit more affluent. Best of all it is near the Mountains, lakes and huge amount of mountain biking and walking trails on our back step. Being near the coast it is harder to get out (a long drive) for traveling outside the lakes area but still we are very happy. At this stage we are aiming to be there for Sept 1st.
While we were there we had a good hunt around the are spending a little bit of time in Kendel and more in Keswick. We stayed at a remote backpackers at Skaddaw involving a 3 mile walk into the hut.

The views were stunning and while quite touristy I think it will suit us to a tee!
Work here is still going well. I am slowely getting a handle on the new equipment and systems (as usual working with the kids is the easiest bit!). The 3 weeks of fantastic weather has given way to showers and wind but still it is nothing like the 'bad weather' of home. Other than that we are both well, exploring the island still. This weekend we hope to support (kayak beside) a girl who is swimming the lenght of the island for a few hours so it will be good to get back in a boat. Fi and Stu are looking at coming over next weekend so more fun to be had then!
I hope everyone is well (and keeping warm!)
Till next time
K

This post was brought to you by Davidson Isle of Man ice cream.

Karyn's version of our long weekend in Wales

Well we had our first bank holiday (cause we have been working so hard!) in Wales with Fi, Andrew and Sophie.

We started off by driving accross to Wales and stopping off at the waterfalls (?Sgwd yr Eria) and walking along the valley for a way. Heaps of bluebells, some squirrels and lots of welsh countryside. From there we spent the night in a tiny wee backpackers near the Black Mountains (up and along some teany we one way roads I might add! - the names of these are unpronouncable in Gaelic so I won't bother). Fantastic pub meal at a family owned pub who were very obliging in feeding us after the kitchen closed as we were late - opps. Still very very good and very cheap. Have decided that cider here is a very good thing too!

Sunday we headed on down to Skomer Island to see the Puffins. Wandered on out to the heads, ate some lunch with the Welsh ponies (very hungus and wanting to be fed) with some simply stunning views (photos will come I promise). From there we headed on out to the island on a ferry cruise (they island had already reached the limit for foot traffics so we viewed from the sea instead). They are pretty cool/funny looking little birds. We got to see them up close on the remote web cams , some of the burrows and other birds later on from the information centre. After that we headed out to Dale for icecreams on the beach and a wee run around the forts and squiz at the harbour and sailing boats (big and small). Accom that night was Talybont-on-Usk in the Brecon Beacons. Despite being much earlier than last night we still were late for dinner as everything closed early on the bank holiday - still like last night the small rural pub pulled through with the best sunday (literally) roast dinner we have ever come across (sorry Mum). We almost needed wheelbarrows to get our bellies home again.

This morning we hiked up some pretty steep hills near Pen y Fan admiring the peat and bracken on the way. This meandered along the ridge way with some lovely panoramic sights, before we off trailed it down the valley - for furure reference anything not on a ridge in Wales is usually boggy. Still it wasn't bad at all and lots of fun. Picinic by the stream then back to Fi's place in Bristol.

We will stay here the night and repack before heading to Liverpool and catching the ferry to the Isle of Man on Wednesday. It will definately be good to get the bike out for a ride and to get in to earning the pound for a while.

Till next time

KN

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