It’s been an interesting month or so on Planet Dave, and as I write this I’m really not sure where my (literary) ramblings are going to take me.  Not all those who wander are lost though, so go with it…

Lets start on August 11th, a week before departure to Mt Elbrus.  A very exciting day for me, as not only did I finally get my hands on a car I’d been hankering after for years, it was also 2 years to the day since I had bought my Landrover Freelander.  Coincidence?  Maybe, but a particularly curious one as the new car is another Landrover, but this one is a Defender 90.  Called Kermit. It has taken a year of looking fairly seriously to find Kermit, due to my needing an automatic and knowing that Hens teeth are easier to find, this was something of a challenge especially working within the parameters of my budget…  But there it is, with an engine and gearbox from a Discovery, sleeping in my garage at night.  Bless.  Sounds fantastic too, in the agricultural way only a defender does.

I have been trying to get to grips with why I have this fascination and obsession with Landrover Defenders.  They are, to steal a phrase from Tom Ford from 5th Gear, “what 4×4’s should be, absolutely fit for purpose”.  I think they chime with my philosophy, with my ‘Whatever it takes’ mantra.  People who don’t know me will make a judgement on me when they see me walking down the street.  I get that.  It’s fine, human nature.  When they see me climb into, or out of, my defender, having made that judgement, the eyebrows are raised as the brain searches desperately for a logical explanation.  Call me sadist but I like it when I make people confused.

But its more than that too.  I know I cannot have done the things I have done without people and equipment to help me.  The defender is an extension of that.  It points to the opportunities to go places, see things, inspire and help do things that wouldn’t be possible without the people and equipment to enable it all, and also challenges the ideas people have about me when they pass me in the street or in the pickles and sauces aisle in Tesco.  That, I think, is why I love the Landrover Defender.  Still not convinced?  Watch this:

A week after collecting Kermit, my friend Nigel Vardy and I were on our way to Russia and the Caucasus mountains to climb Mt Elbrus.  I won’t go into detail here but my report can be read here.  Suffice to say it was a trip of mixed fortunes but I am emmensely proud of what we were able to achieve and the learning from it.

However, Nigel and I were brought crashing back to earth on the return journey.  Our flight from Mineralnye Vody to Moscow was delayed by 4 hours which meant that our connecting flight home left as we stepped off the aircraft.  The next flight was not until the following morning, so eventually S7 airlines (whose flight was delayed) gave us a meal voucher for the equivilant of about £5 each.  Has anyone been able to get a half decent meal for £5 in an airport lately…?  No, nor me…

Then, after 3 hours in the airport, at about 10pm we were taken to the S7 ‘hotel’.  Our room was about 8ft x 5ft, with two beds, a wardrobe and sink.  Oh yeah, and us two tired adult men with our kitbags having come off the mountain the previous day.  And the worst thing of all… no hotel bar.  Still, we would have to be up in 3 hours to go back to the airport to check in for our new connecting flight…

When we got there we had a new problem.  This was the day after the original connecting flight so we were told we couldn’t have boarding passes because our visa’s had expired.  Off we were taken to a kiosk, filled out a form, parted with 1500 rubles (about £30) and we were now finally able to take our boarding passes.  That all took about an hour and a half, so by the time we got through security to the duty free area, the flight was being called and we had not even enough time for a quick ‘farewell Russia’ coffee.  Just as well really as we were almost out of cash.

Mercifully, the British Airways flight to Heathrow T5 passed off smoothly and comfortably.  Nigel had remained a picture of remarkable calm persistance through the whole experience despite our growing frustration and tiredness, and it had been an education to watch a seasoned traveller work.  More remarkable still was our arrival and passage through T5.  We were ushered down an quick channel at passport control and so by-passed the queues, our bags were already circulating in the baggage reclaim hall, and then straight out into the arrivals hall greeted by the excited and beaming face of Gaynor, my partner.  Welcome home!!

Nigel had to head straight home for an appointment to have his feet checked over, and Gaynor and I stayed in London for a few days.  I’d landed on the day of the opening ceremony for the greatest show on earth, The Paralympic Games.  As a former Paralympian, I never thought I’d see a games on this scale, with this level of support and this level of enthusiasm for paralympic sport.  It was immense.  We went to Trafalgar Square for the opening ceremony (great atmosphere) and then had tickets and park passes for the friday and saturday.  Wow!  Well done LOCOG, Channel 4 (Last Leg was a brilliant idea, classic Channel 4 at it’s finest), London as a city, athletes and of course those simply sensational volunteers who made it all work.  I have sat through some boring closing ceremony speeches at major events, but thought the speeches by Lord Coe and Sir Philip Craven were the best I’ve ever heard.  If you haven’t seen them, watch this:

Returning home to normal life could present a hefty anti-climax after such a tumoltuous couple of weeks, but I was glad to get home, to my own bed, and of course the dog (Pike) who I’d missed almost as much as Gaynor.  I think after being re-united with him it took him about 3 days to calm down…

The final peice of news to convey is that Pike now has a new playmate… As of just over a week ago, we have a 3 year old female Springer Spaniel we’ve named Islay.  We got her from Babbington Rescue Centre where she was brought as a stray, and we are all thoroughly delighted to be able to offer her a new home.  She’s settled in very well, and in that typical Springer way, is permanently happy and thrilled with everything, especially when it comes with a sausage…