This was same day as our time on Haytor. Designed by Edward Lutyens and built 1911 – 20. Amazing workmanship and I hate to think what it would cost to build today or even if it would be possible. The masonry with the granite was simply beautiful.

First funny foto is by Wilf of a mandarin orange peel…

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Thru the Lindis

Mt Cook at 120kph

Honestly, Its an orange peel...

Eddie will be racing skateboards, this time a smaller affair at the British Slalom Champs in north London 6th August.

We have been staying in Las Salas  which you won’t find on a map because it is so small, Near Leon it is where Eddie’s mum grew up. the oldest of 14 brothers and sisters Eddie has 34 cousins,  alot of them now have kids so it is always a big family get together in August. Nothing has really changed here in the last 80 yrs.  The last pair  of ox used to pull carts was got rid of just 2 years ago.

We had both our birthdays there, we climbed a big mountain 1983 metres high, Mum came and stayed, we swam in the river, went to fiestas, plyaed boules and generally just ate and drank our way on Spanish time. Generally – start making dinner at 11pm and go out about 12:30  till whenever- kids have coped really well and not wanted to miss out day or night.

Uploading photos very slow here so will finish another day

Riano - the entrance to the Pico's de Europa National Park. this could be Wanaka. Centre is the mountain we climbed.

If you are staying, take a bag on wheels.

Dont spend too long there, well not if it is over 38 degrees

Walk around, hire a boat, have some lunch and get the hell out of there.

- and by the way, the ice creams are good. Really good.

Venice. Rialto Bridge in background

Photo by Rosie "How Sweet"

Rosie leaping onto the boat.

Lunch on a waterway

Main Waterway Venice.

There is some pretty good news that i think you all should know.I Rosie Spearing don’t think MICHEL JACKSON is dead.I think that because,1 the womans weakly saw pictures of him getting into a car.And 2 he owes 500,millon dollars out to people.Also my english freind ash told me, and he nos a lot of gossip.SO whatch this space and ill keep you posted.                  from Rosie

We left Chamonix last Wednesday after visiting my good friends Neil & Ruth McNab. Neil is a mountain guide and has a company called McNab Snowboarding. He was ex British Snowboard Champ for a number of years. He is now a very accomplished Chamonix guide. When we left he was also “just popping up Mont Blanc” for 2 nights with some clients. Mt Blanc is 4830m high.

Also living in Les Houches/Chamonix is Photographer/Journalist Dan Milner who I have known since the early days of my first snowboard magazine – Snowboard UK. Since 1999 when the magazine was sold to another publisher, Dan has been at the helm, coaxing and pulling the magazine along, working with about 8 different Editors. The mag became very much his baby. So it was with sadness when he told me he had recently learned the last issue of Snowboard UK had probably been done. Issue 124 January 2009. It was very unlikely there would be another issue due to financial problems for the current publisher. Well done Dan, you have done us all proud.

We travelled thru the Mont Blanc Tunnel and on reaching Italy the standout thing was the relative lack of development on the Italian side of the hill.

Mont Blanc from the Italian Side - Monto Blanco

The annoying thing was signs for motorways in France are Blue and A roads Green, and guess what? The bloody Italians had to do the opposite !!! Do you know how much confusion that caused??

And all the stories about Italian driving is true. In our first 6 hours getting to Teolo we witnessed 3 nose tail shunts, one of them a biggie. We sat for an hour in the queue that resulted.

Bang!

Like lambs to the slaughter

Eddie here: Vicki really had not cottoned on exactly what the Via Ferrata would entail. She had envisioned literally ladders up the rock. But all became vividly clear the moment we went around the first corner. There was a two cable traverse out across a terrorfying expanse of thin air. Oh dear. Rosie was a little worried but just got on with it. She had a little trouble fiddling with the rope work and clipping the carabiner from one cable to the next but otherwise was great. Wilf was completly at home from the get go. So calm. He had to calm down Vicki on a number of occasions. Go Wilfie!! On one section where he could not reach the lower rungs with his feet he simply hand traversed and did a perfect foot smear technique on the rock. Don’t know where he got this from as I hadn’t taught him this – he just did it. Our guide Eric thought Wilf a natural and he should be out climbing immediately.

Vicki absolutely bricking it !!

Shortly after the cable 'bridge' traverse. A steep hard bit. The girls were amazing.

More steepness for Vicki. Wilf was cool as cucumber.

Wilf hand traversing a section his feet could not reach the lower rungs. He was a natural. The youngest our guide had ever taken. 8yrs old was unusual

It was big ! 300m high. Vicki getting ing into the groove by now.

Dad topping out the final overhanging pitch. Check the rope hang! Kids and mum climbed a spacey feeling outward looking ladder to finish, but I suspect Wilf might have achieved this too...