Simon Duringer's Blog, page 11
June 2, 2016
GM Food - Avoidable or Inevitable?
Enjoy the blog!
http://simonduringer.com/on-my-travel...
GM Foods
Well, the journey continues across Northern Europe with co-traveller and partner in crime Jennifer Lyon and whilst she gets on with the serious business of learning specifically about eco-living and permaculture, I just get on with non-specific learning…
It has to be said I am already thoroughly enjoying gate-crashing this trip which started for Jenny back in January and has so far taken her to eight countries: first France, Malaysia, Japan and New Zealand. She returned briefly back to the U.K. before heading off to Italy, Rhodes and then finally hooking back up with me in Helsinki, from where we travelled through Southern Finland on to Stockholm and our temporary residence in Sweden.
Sadly, we will leave here in two days and move via public transport through Sweden and on to Norway where our next volunteering assignment will commence!
Before leaving the U.K. initially with Jenny to France and then, later in the year, to Helsinki and beyond, I got the impression that many felt I was off on a jolly. Simply passing time…
Of course there is some truth to the fact I wanted to spend time with my lovely hiking partner and soulmate Jenny… that I will not deny! But, I never had that ‘gap’ year or sabbatical that many a younger person has enjoyed, and whilst I feel privileged to have travelled fairly widely as a youngster, I have never stayed in any of the countries to which we are travelling and certainly not with any intention other than getting a tan or simply having a rest.
Today’s journey has gained me a tan…lol, right up to my t-shirt line but no further! And that – I am told by the Finnish and Swedish hosts – has been something of a miracle given the time of year! It has been a slog, as shown by the amount of timber chopped and moved. But hard work does come with benefits: kind hosts become kinder, for example, and generally that means I get to go fishing!!
The quickest route to an afternoon’s fishing appeared to be stacking wood!! It is now almost second nature to me…
It is true I have been fishing, something I do enjoy, and swimming in Scandinavian lakes, something I am not sure I would recommend to the faint-hearted. But most of all I have been learning!
I have been introduced to a new breed of human being and I like them: calm, intelligent, welcoming and helpful – minimalists who actually care more about the well-being of the planet, for future generations, than how many cars are parked in their garage, or how many holiday houses they have dotted around the world. Yet far from being ‘simple’ people, they seem aware that the issues our modern world is facing are unlikely to be solved in a single generation, due to the time it takes to return land to its ‘natural’ state.
I suppose one of the most surprising attributes of these individuals is that, if they chose to be, they could be city dwellers, high-rollers, or – God forbid – bankers! But those I have met are not. They are also not wealthy individuals who, having already taken part in the destruction of the planet to make personal fortunes, choose to give a little back. Most of those I’ve met so far bailed out long before any fortunes were made and are creative people, eccentric perhaps, but they simply understand the need for change. They also usually want to save future generations of their bloodlines from eating colossal amounts of genetically engineered plants, manufactured foods and sugar-based products.
Here is a question; is it any surprise that none of the children I have met during this brief period have ADHD? In fact, many are at their least happy sitting indoors watching television or playing games consoles (if indeed their parents own the relevant hardware!)… these kids would rather be helping Mum or Dad weed the garden! That probably does not sound familiar to the new generation of parents, although, as a pre-game console era child, it is something I also enjoyed.
These individuals and communities are trying to regain what has been lost in the interim and they are doing it responsibly… It kinda scares the pants off mainstream politicians who seem to answer to the very corporate systems these communities are trying to avoid!
They avoid them due to the ever-increasing number of poisonous chemicals poured over our crops or allegedly mixed in to the processed foods that have become ever so popular. Popular due to their convenience… some may even venture a guess that such processed foods have addictive substances added to help the consumer become even more dependent. Below is a photo of the eco-village where we stayed and the plot of land right next to it – a prime example of how a single farmer’s field of Genetically Modified crops can swamp the efforts of an entire neighbouring village of people who really care for nature. During our stay at Stjarnsund eco-village we spoke to the local farmer in question, who was in the process of spraying poison on this field to kill the weeds… The wind direction was directly in our path! Nice…ermmm…Not!
Simon Duringer
is an award-winning blogger, interviewer and author. His own books can be found on Amazon too by clicking any of the following icons…
May 24, 2016
Simply Fishy!
Here is the first blog piece about fishing!
http://simonduringer.com/on-my-travel...
May 21, 2016
That is Simply Fishy!
Fishing used to be a pastime I would enjoy on most mornings and evenings way back in the 1990’s…
But as with everything else, time moves on, and priorities change. In today’s climate I can already sense the reader’s “You did what?” yells of disapproval. But hey, wait a moment before unfriending me as I consider myself responsible in that department! One of the key motivations for the mass slowdown in my fishing efforts was the introduction of ‘catch and release’.
Personally, I go fishing NOT for the ‘sport’ but rather for the meal that may result from the time and effort put into catching an edible fish. I am after all a carnivore!
Having been taught how to competently ‘spin’ for salmon, trout and sea trout on a couple of Devonshire (UK) rivers by a third-generation fisherman, it wasn’t too arduous to become fairly expert at knowing, on those rivers, where such glorious fish would hang out, and when! Over time one learns to sense the approaching ‘witching’ moment when migrating fish, which tend not to eat or hunt once they have entered a river, become susceptible to the flash of a spinner, the wriggling worm or a man-made imitation of a fly that may have just hatched on a warm summer’s evening. The moment when by outwitting a fish I might – and this was not always the case – be able to provide myself with a real fish…
It usually takes people to inspire me to write about things other than books or literature, so it should come as no surprise that through talking to my current hosts in Sweden – an awe-inspiring couple who have a lot of shared history in Montana – I’m reminded of the Hollywood blockbuster “A River Runs Through It” by Norman Maclean, in which one of the major themes is fishing! Personally I prefer to fish on rivers, but I have fished a couple of times on lakes, with varying levels of success and failure; indeed, when invited to take part in the RAF fishing competition, I won! Given the high level of experience of the other competitors I considered this an incredible fluke rather than a great achievement! Once again though, the general theme remained; all the fish caught were eaten.
So, to today!
Well, the lakes in Finland had thawed more or less a fortnight before Jen and I arrived at our last volunteering residence. I won’t go into detail about our project there as you’ll be able to read about that in due course on Jenny’s eco/travelling blog. A few days in, our lovely host Carl “Micke” Renlund offered us the chance to go fishing in the lake. *Yayyy*. Reminiscing about days past, I could already visualise the smoked trout on the dining table, and minutes later I was given a lesson on the local species of fish. We were to fish for pike, perch or a cross between the two: pike-perch!
My heart and stomach sank momentarily. Ermmm, really? We don’t eat those in the UK; they are known (I believe) as coarse fish and once caught they are returned to the water. This isn’t my type of fishing… or so I thought!
Carl, or Micke as he was known to us, duly purchased the necessary licence and prepared some form of nets for the trip. We mustered and climbed aboard his small rowing boat (whooooa – wobbly!). I then rowed us about 2km across the lake to what was recommended as the top spot for netting.
Thankfully Finland was unusually sunny the week we were volunteering on Micke’s eco-project, and aside from the physical effort of rowing, it was a really wonderful and scenic journey to the ‘witching’ spot on the lake. Micke arranged the nets, dropped the marker and then it was time to head back to shore for a quick, cold swim before resuming the real work!
Early the following morning we rowed back out to the nets and, ‘boy oh boy’, it looked a long way out in the distance! Our chatter during the 2km journey – an exchange of points of view on varying topics, some eco-related, others about culture in general – now gave way to quiet. It was time to get down to serious business, and the atmosphere could have been cut with a knife as the net was slowly hauled in. And ‘bingo’! From the depths emerged a pike-perch, a local delicacy and something of a rare find. Micke respectfully uttered a few words, essentially thanking the fish (I think) for its sacrifice, and we returned home to smoke and eat said fish for breakfast. This was an enlightening experience and very different in ritual to anything I had previously witnessed in the U.K.
Micke appears to be at the forefront of eco-development technology, from his biogas-fuelled Volvo to running almost every conventional high-tech appliance in his household (does that make sense? Lol) in the most ecologically friendly method possible. It was a real eye-opener, and a privilege for somebody such as myself to play a tiny part in the development of his eco-project. I very much look forward to reading Jenny’s blog post about our stay…
So, we moved on to our current volunteering project in Sweden, Stjarnsund to be precise, where we met and are still volunteering on a permaculture village and eco-project. The community here is already well established and the host’s passion for fishing as strong as my own!
Within 24 hours of my arrival I accepted an invitation (or did I harass my host into offering one… hmmm!?) to head off for a few hours of fishing! Believing we would probably have quite a cycle ride ahead I was initially a tad envious of my host’s battery-operated bicycle versus my single-gear manually operated equivalent… but hey ho, David was not only carrying fishing gear but also a battery-operated chainsaw that he was to lend to a friend en route. That route was astonishingly shorter than expected, which was fairly lucky… As we arrived at a small private jetty I was slightly taken aback by the amount of water in the boat. “Nope, we‘re going on the other one!” called David…
These days I wear glasses since my eyesight deteriorated largely, in my opinion, from working in underground bunkers in the 1990’s. However, I do still have pretty good sight in both eyes and felt rather foolish at not being able to identify another boat on a small private jetty. Then it struck me! We were to go fishing on the only other thing existing around the jetty. A craft I can only describe as a floating veranda, equipped with table, chairs and of course… an eco-friendly solar battery operated outboard motor! My eyes lit up, and I simply had to pedal back at top speed to get Jenny who had initially turned down the rare opportunity to go fishing with ‘the boys’… funny that!?
We headed out around the lake and it wasn’t long before David hooked a fish… Not quite a tiddler but certainly too small to eat, so David, handling the fish carefully, released it to live another day.
Several minutes and several hooked rocks later and ‘BANG’ went my rod… Now, in my defence here, there is a huge difference between hooking a rock and hooking a large fish. Aside from anything else, rocks don’t run away at speed once hooked. The upshot of several minutes of wrangling was unfortunately just that…I ended up snagged on a rock.
I guess I will never know what was on the end of my line; a large pike sounds most plausible, and as I’m not strictly a fan of the species perhaps it was better that it won the battle rather than I! So, the fishing resumed. There were six of us aboard and it was our host who finally hooked and caught the fish of the day: a pike of around 4lbs.
I can now say that I have eaten pike… The taste was perhaps not my favourite but it was far from inedible. I do now wonder why the British don’t eat some of the fish readily available in many of our lakes rather than play with them via ‘catch and release’?
I was treated to yet another fishing outing two days ago, this time to a trout lake… spinning! I am often guilty of setting my expectations way too high in many activities and simply the word ‘trout’ got the adrenaline going!
Three of us went on the outing, which doubled up as a driving lesson, but sadly the fish weren’t in the mood for anything other than taunting us! I can think of few things as frustrating as trout that appear to know how far one can cast a line and, like observers, remain a couple of metres on the wrong side of a fisherman’s range… But the afternoon was not wasted, and turned out to be quite educational. Not only did I find a cray pot containing a good-sized crayfish (the first wild one I have seen as I recall), but also an eco-friendly fish feeder (below). Yes, it looks like something straight out of the movie ‘Deliverance’!
I backtracked to find David, to show him both the crayfish and the fish feeder. It turned out that crayfish were out of season and the poor chap could have been there for some time, so we removed it. As for the fish feeder: what you see in the picture above are the remains of dead animals. These remains decompose attracting flies, and then the flies land on the water and attract fish. Where there are fish you generally find fishermen who catch the fish (or on my case try!) and food is brought to the table…
It must be said that I’ve enjoyed several types of fishing so far on this trip, mainly new to me, eaten two new species that I would otherwise have thought inedible, and re-housed another.
Having had this experience I have found myself asking the question “Are we (the Brits), as a nation and as consumers, brainwashed into the merits of eating ‘factory-bred’ fish?” The answer of course is self-apparent… We are tempted at great cost by the pink flesh of supermarket salmon. Flesh that is actually created by dye fed to the fish within their food. Fish that are bred in cages on lochs and swim above the ever-increasing piles of their own faeces. Fish, which have to be fed antibiotics to stop them becoming infested with sea lice… Hmmm, I think I’ll stick to the natural version myself!
How about you?
Simon Duringer is an award-winning blogger, interviewer and author. His own books can be found on Amazon too by clicking any of the following icons…
May 17, 2016
Parisian Floor Watrchers
But I have found a few moments to get my travels documented and here's how it all started! France with editor Jennifer Lyon.
This one was an eye opener for different reasons... Backpack on my front AND back, like a snail I suddenly had a new outlook on so many things that make the world go around, or indeed in some cases make it grind to a halt... Here's the link enjoy...
http://www.simonduringer.com/on-my-tr...
May 15, 2016
The Parisian Floor-Watchers
I wonder if anybody remembers the four Yorkshire men. “When I were a lad…” the saying used to go. Perhaps a relative, probably a grandparent, who has not only been around to see World Wars but also witnessed the televising of Neil Armstrong walking on the moon and/or later still missions to Mars!
I suppose my own generation are those of us who were ‘privileged’ enough to have owned Cathay Ray Tube Black and White Televisions with a screen full of static and a Test card picture that began when the televisions stopped broadcasting at around 10pm?
These days I can reflect on those old pre-gaming televisions and sit back in awe at how far technology has gone… indeed is still going, and how fast! Sitting here in Northern Europe, Finland to be precise, typing away on my tablet with my better half beside me similarly busy on hers, one cannot help but wonder if we are travelling through the ‘techno’ age too fast and indeed if it is still a healthy progression for the younger generation?
On the plus side Jennifer Lyon, who is now halfway through a world tour, attempting to learn and experience different methods of eco-living and permaculture, could not have set out on her journey through eleven countries without the use of the internet. She would have been out of touch with friends, loved ones and relatives and it might have literally taken years of planning to secure places with hosts interested in eco-living simply by writing to them by post. I indeed do recall, “when I was a lad…”, sending Christmas cards to my aunt in Australia in early December each year and receiving a reply in late June the following year thanking me for said card which had arrived at its destination around Easter time!
For sure there are many benefits of such technology which now enable me to have face-to-face conversations with the same aunt over apps such as Skype, instantly and without charge… One might say that’s a serious improvement.
But what of the downsides? Try asking a youngster to do fairly basic arithmetic without the use of a PC or calculator, and the likely response is more often than not going to be “Why? I have a computer to do that”.
Perhaps worse, how many teenagers could manage without such technology for even a day and what is their primary use of such technologies anyway… ermmm gaming perchance?
Back in January of this year I embarked on a trip to France, essentially to meet a couple of Jenny’s friends who are currently looking after her two handsome felines; Hamlet and Frankie.
Her friends Pat and Christian are wonderful French country folk who have rescued and look after a mini-menagerie: eight cats, two Shetland ponies and a border collie. The internet connection in their centuries-old country house is slow but we hardly missed it, opting instead for the traditional modes of entertainment i.e. socialising, visiting new places and experiencing new cultures.
Before reaching Pat and Christian’s house we had to drive down through France to their neighbourhood: nearest town Culan, bang in the centre of the country. There were of course several stops en route to check on feline welfare, and a food stop in good friend Perry McCarthy’s old haunt of Le Mans, but before we knew it we had reached the residence of Jen’s friends who were set to look after the boys during her time globetrotting.
Christian and Pat quickly allowed us to take the reins (excuse the pun!) as they disappeared on a pre-organised trip to visit friends and collect a motorbike which they had left six hours southwest of Culan prior to their own move a year or two before. But it was business as usual as far as Jen and I were concerned; assist the boys to settle in with their eight friends (Frankie and Hamlet have been housed by Christian and Pat’s on many previous occasions), get out into the countryside and do some walking!
During our stay we took a brief road trip of our own to visit the nearby town of Bourges and its cathedral, the oldest in France.
Completed in 1195 AD it is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and if one arrives there with enough energy it is possible to access the roof of the cathedral by climbing the spiral staircase consisting of exactly 400 original stone steps! One might even hazard a guess that here is where the graffiti phenomenon began, as there were some quite beautiful – and VERY old – love messages and etchings in the walls on the way to the top! The views from said rooftop were astounding…
Having spent several days with Jen’s friends it was time to leave and say goodbye or ‘au revoir’ to both Pat and Christian and of course Hamlet and Frankie. Once again with the use of modern technology we were able to access a car share website and organise a 300km lift more cheaply and comfortably than if we had used the traditional method of public transport. That was a first for me and something I would recommend strongly as an alternative to those considering traditional ‘hitch-hiking’, as the drivers are reviewed, graded and have profiles that one can check up on before deciding whether or not they are reliable, pleasant and/or trustworthy!
It wasn’t really until we reached our Paris destination that the technology question reared its ugly head again! It struck me as nothing short of astounding… Here we were at the heart of one of the cultural capitals of Europe, and whilst Jen stood in the street calculating the route to our next destination my eyes were drawn to a different phenomenon: the ‘floor-watchers’.
Now, I am fairly certain this is a unique expression, although I am happy to stand corrected, but to me the floor-watchers (as I refer to them) appeared to make up 80% of the people that passed us by during these few minutes. 80% – or for younger readers that’s eight out of ten people who passed me – were not looking at the beautiful architecture, nor were passing groups of people talking to each other. Eight out of ten people appeared to be looking at the pavement… But of course they weren’t, they were looking at mobile phones. Or if their gaze was NOT fixed on that little phone screen, they would have a device pressed against their ears and be talking into it. I have often wondered who in their right mind would opt for a PAYG bundle that for a minimal fee would allow 3,000 free text messages per month (which appears to be the minimum these days). I mean that assumes one would text 100 times per day. Who has time for that? I guess Parisians are amongst those catered for in that respect.
Anyway, we headed off up the Eiffel Tower, choosing to use the stairs rather than elevators as the queues were so incredibly long and… well, if you’re going to visit somewhere so special just the once why follow the crowd? Now, I’m not trying to be all high and mighty or claim that Jen and I shun technology in its many forms; indeed, we’re at least as reliant on it these days as anyone, especially while travelling as it’s essential to our planning! But certainly it seems to be used these days in ways and for reasons that I personally find deplorable. I was once asked by a company to test the ‘selfie stick’ and post the results on my blog! I thought perhaps it was a joke… If I were to travel alone to a place of natural beauty and felt a sudden urge to be in a selfie photo there, well by definition it wouldn’t be one, as I would simply ask the closest competent-looking passer-by to take the picture for me. But, hey… Go to the top of the Eiffel Tower and you find an abundance of people wielding selfie sticks. They seem to have become the ‘must-have’ accessory for teenagers these days and simply another way for the younger generation to avoid social contact with their peers…
Well, that’s probably enough ranting from me for one day. I do hope readers enjoy the pictures and perhaps might leave their own opinion about how technology affects their home and/or work lives? Is it positive or negative how quickly these ‘advances’ are being made?!
Meanwhile Jenny and I are heading off to Stockholm shortly but I will be posting soon about a great week spent volunteering on an eco-build about an hour west of Helsinki (Finland). Oh, what fun we had with thespian and art director Carl Renlund… But, all will be revealed about that little adventure some time soon.
Simon Duringer is an award-winning blogger, interviewer and author. His own books can be found on Amazon too by clicking any of the following icons…
April 5, 2016
Life, Health, Love and Work by Simon Duringer
http://gildaevans.com/life-health-lov...
January 11, 2016
Dawlish and The Warren
Well… Today was supposed to be a walking day but it was not to be. Darkness has got the better of me; the day’s brightness faded while I busied myself with trivial day-to-day living! So, if one can’t get out and do what one loves then the next best thing is perhaps to write about it!
Recently, Storm Frank hit the Dawlish shoreline and created dramatic scenes as the waves literally crashed against my front room window… If you missed the short video, or indeed enjoyed watching/hearing me get soaked, feel free to watch my mini-video of wild waves on the doorstep, in the short clip below…
But that is not the topic of today’s blog. Today, although defeated by darkness I can look forward to the evenings drawing out again. Yes, we’ve flown past the shortest day and therefore, perhaps, it is time to think about the possibilities of good weather and long walks ahead in the Spring?! (Despite snow being forecast this week!)
So, here is a map of my locality and a walk that I take fairly regularly along the seawall, across the dunes of Dawlish Warren and down to the Exe estuary. I live just along from Dawlish train station (marked in red at the bottom on the map) so my walk takes me north east to the estuary and back along home again. All told it’s usually around 10km although it is possible to extend or shorten it depending upon time and tides… which really do “wait for no man”, so at times I have to break into a near-run to beat the rising water!
For those interested to know whereabouts Dawlish is in the UK, I have marked it in red on the partial UK map below (beneath Exeter).
I’m often asked whether I vary my routes whilst out and about. Indeed I do from time to time, but it has to be said that while I choose to retrace my own footsteps time and time again, the scenery is refreshed each time I walk along the sandy dunes and beaches around the South West of England. The weather, tides, time of year and breeding seasons (careful!!) all have a part to play in making each walk unique in its own way.
So, what about the occasional rambler? Is there owt for them to see and do…
Absolutely, yes!
This year we have seen, swept up on our shores, shoals of sea creatures that one wouldn’t expect to see outside films such as ‘Alien’! The Barrel Jellyfish (as seen below), unlike many other species of jellyfish, apparently do not simply roll with the currents yet motor along under their own steam (so to speak!). So, why oh why did I come across dozens of these on the shoreline? Tragic… what happened to them, I wonder? Methinks that will remain one of life’s little mysteries. Incidentally, the specimen below measured 2-3 feet in diameter…
Over and above the beauty of the ocean and its inhabitants is of course the land geology. Now, I am no geologist but am a great fan of pirates and smuggling movies! As such the cliffs and shores of Devon and Cornwall can send one’s imagination racing with ideas of how things were back in the days when the smugglers and pirates roamed the shoreline, looking for such inlets where they could attempt to land their booty away from the watchful eyes of the law. It was only the other day, whilst venturing around ‘Red Rock’, that I came across a small and well-hidden natural rock archway, bricked across between its high walls. Just the sort of place one could moor a boat hidden away from beach walkers! While the wall appeared fairly modern there appeared to be mooring chains and steps to the water on the other side of the wall… Old pirates! Perhaps even modern-day pirates… “I swear I was never there, I saw nothing!” Lol.
Of course there are the shells from the oyster beds; whelks, mussels, cockles, sea slugs and the like, and the birds that all of these attract… a veritable banquet indeed for the visible and winged predator. I have researched the likely origins of shells picked (by my own fair hands) from Dawlish beach to find they may have originated from as far away as Africa! Shells such as the one below, an example of the beauty held within the land on which we (more or less thoughtlessly) tread.
But what really excited me several weeks ago – as I wandered the Dawlish sealine, lost in thought, my eyes scanning the colour and texture of the beach – was a glimmer of something quite unusual embedded on a small rock. Now, a little way down from here is an area called the Jurassic Coast: 95 miles of truly stunning coastline running from East Devon to Dorset, its rocks holding an internal record of 185 million years of the Earth’s history. As a child I would be taken there on occasion, with the promise of finding a bit of ‘earth history’ in the form of a fossil. Perhaps the reason for never finding one was the fact I was more interested in ice-cream than history back then! So, imagine my delight and surprise in 2015 when, without even searching and whilst miles from the area, I found one at last! The picture below shows ‘the’ fossil found on Dawlish’s very own beach, (possibly an octopus pad?), of part of an animal that would have lived in the time of the dinosaurs! How cool is that…?
And here, at just about the furthest point of today’s ‘virtual’ walk, I will sign off for this time. It’s the mouth of the Exe Estuary, opposite the Dawlish Golf Club, looking across the water to Exmouth. I have always felt that half way around is a great place to stop, find a large piece of driftwood to sit on, and smoke my pipe whilst thinking of… absolutely nothing! *Bliss*.
Simon Duringer is an award-winning blogger, interviewer and author. His own books can be found on Amazon too by clicking any of the following icons…
January 3, 2016
Storm Frank at Dawlish
http://simonduringer.com/opinions/daw...
