The more interesting bit! Well, it is for me; if it isn't for you, go surf somewhere else.
Spice
I'm a very active member of Spice, a UK wide social group specialising in organising adventure-type events for it's members. Events range from activity weekends (climbing, caving, walking etc) to others that would be extremely difficult to arrange at a personal level, such as fire-eating, Royal Tournament field-gun challenge and wing-walking. August 1998 saw a Spice team in the World Bog Snorkelling Championships in Wales - if you've ever wanted to snorkel in totally muddy water, and get covered in weeds, this is the event for you!
For more information on Spice, check out the Web site:
My own favourites are the activity weekends, car events (rallying, 4WD, stock car racing) and, yes, I can fire eat!
I'm a PADI Advanced Open Water diver with quite a few underwater hours in my log book. Having said that, I find it difficult to get excited about UK diving - I'm a real wimp and prefer warmer waters. I also like to see something when I'm underwater, and while the UK does not always have hopeless visibility, I prefer the bright colours of the tropical fish and corals.
Recent rips have included Kenya, the Red Sea, Cuba, the Maldives, Bonaire, Sipadan and Sulawesi. Cuba is pretty new on the scene, and so it offers some stunning unspoilt diving, but don't go if you need your luxuries - the tourist infrastructure is pretty basic, while for sheer variety Sipadan takes some beating. And for small stuff, like the most amazing nudibranchs and sea horses, Manado on Sulawesi is the place to go.
I'm also something of a photographer, and combine this with diving. Taking photographs underwater is very different from doing so on land, and I enjoy the challenge. I don't use any super-special equipment, just a Sea and Sea MotorMarine II, always with slide film, which gives me great results. Well, I think so - judge for yourself:
OK, so this is a fluke photo. My only plan was to get a photo of Chris taking his photo behind the coral - it was just luck that we both fired together, giving me the coral lit from both sides. And, if you're wondering, it didn't work the other way round - Chris's photo shows my strobe.
Click here for other images on my Travel Pages (all JPEG, similar size).
Pet hates are inconsiderate or just plain stupid divers who crash around destroying the environment. I know us photographers often come in for some criticism in this respect, but good or bad buoyancy control applies to all; my own view is that NO photo is worth causing damage.
Walking
I find walking a great way to relax, and an excellent social activity. A great pleasure in life is relaxing in the pub with a group of friends after a good days walking - the beer always tastes so much better! Great Britain is great for walking, we have some beautiful countryside from Scotland through the Lake District to Wales, but there's also good walking in Southern England. Some of my walking is with Spice, some with friends (we take turns to organise!), and some is with the Gay Outdoor Club.
Cycling
Like walking, cycling is good for relaxation - well, mental relaxation anyway. I cycle both on and off road, enjoying both - mountain biking is a good excuse to get muddy!! As with walking, mountain biking weekends are great fun.
Highlight of road cycling for me is the annual London to Brighton sponsored ride. Every year 27,000 cyclists pedal the 58 miles from Central London to Brighton (seaside town on the South coast of England) to raise money for the British Heart Foundation. There's a real party atmosphere as a constant stream of cyclists makes the trip. It's our chance to get our own back on the car drivers who have been running us off the road for the rest of the year - 27,000 bikes definitely have to take priority!!
My road bike is pretty normal, but my mountain bike is a bit more special - Raleigh M-TRAX, proving the the Brits can make mtb's as well as the Americans.
Motorbikes
As well as my own power, I find 2 wheels with an engine great fun. Not relaxing at all, 110% concentration, but the only way I know to achieve a grin a mile wide (well, almost...) is a good blast on some of the UK's great roads.
I ride a Triumph TT600 mainly for fun, but I also ride to work when the weather's good and I don't have any customer appointments - UK etiquette expects me to arrive in the car, not clad in leather! The advantage of using the bike for work is that it pretty much halves my journey time - traffic jams are not much of a problem. The TT600, released in Spring 2000, is Triumph's first foray into the 600cc sports bike world, and it's, well, superb. Congratulations and thanks to the Hinckley team - it's great to be riding a British bike. I'm a member of Triumph's RAT Club, and also the GBMCC.
This is me with my bike.
I love taking photographs, some of which you see here, and combine this with my travel and diving interests.
I still use my old Olympus OM10, often on manual, which I would not change for the world - I'm not in to auto-everything. I also use slide film. Now slide shows, of course, have the potential to be boring, but not if properly thought through and with a story. And nothing beats the impact of a slide, as the friends I've "converted" will tell you.
I haven't processed my own pictures for some time, but used to quite enjoy black and white developing and printing.
I also dabble with video - there are just times when the moving image is required.
Sounds really bad as a heading. By this I mean I love my holidays, and save hard all year to finance them. One holiday is a diving holiday to somewhere hot and sunny. My second holiday is a "see the world" type holiday. I hate "tourist" tours, and so use a UK company called Explore who run small group adventure holidays. Staying in small hotels and using local guides, they provide a great way to see the "real" country. Recent trips have included Peru, Cambodia, Vietnam, Nepal, India, Iran and China. As these are adventure holidays more than just a bus tour is involved - such as trekking in Peru, with Machu Picchu the jewel at the end of the Inca Trail
white water rafting in Nepal and 3 days at Angkor Wat in Cambodia - the temples are out of this world, and we had the whole place to ourselves! Well, almost - here at Ta Prohm we had a monk for company:
Check out my Travel Pages for more photographs and anecdotes.
