STEVE & KELLIE
HANGOUT WITH THE SQUIRRELS FOR THE MORNING!
 Its
10am on a freezing cold Monday morning at the end of
November, any public sector worker with sense would be
tucked up in a cosy office sipping back a nice cuppa
coffee (fairtrade of course), but no, not me. I’m
stood in the middle of a field in deepest Whippingham
(somewhere over the back of Osborne House), surrounded
by a bunch of inquisitive looking Alpacas (Alpacas???),
waiting to climb a 30ft Aspen (Populous tremula) tree?
This is surreal? Was the weekend that crazy I ended up
falling in the Solent and floating on a piece of driftwood
all the way to Peru?
No… I’m here with an equally
nuts Kellie White (IW Tourism) to participate in a new
activity to hit the Island’s shores; tree climbing! – the
Alpacas incidentally share the field with the trees. So
yes tree climbing… we have both been invited out
by Good Leaf Tree Climbing to have a go at this new experience.
Whilst driving out this morning I was
trying to remember the last time I climbed a tree? I must
have been about 12 years old; I remember it being a great
feeling so I was quite looking forward to the nostalgia
of it all. Its kind of strange, like all the ropes and
safety gear that are there to legitimise it for adults?
Anyway, back to the climb. We arrive and are greeted by
Abi and Paul, after checking we have all the right clothing
for the task we set off to find a specimen for the morning.
Before we get going, Paul, who is a qualified Arborist
and tree-climbing instructor, takes us through a thorough
risk assessment and explains all the safety information.
Kellie is first up, for the record and
those in the know we are using the ‘double-rope’ technique,
where a rope is doubled over the tree and you use your
weight through a foot-rope to hitch yourself up, for those
with super upper-body strength you can simply use your
arms… Kellie and I settled for the foot-rope! So
once Kellie’s all set up, its my turn. For the first
few minutes we look like a right couple of goons… spinning
around a couple of feet off the ground waggling a rope
and wondering why we’re not going anywhere? So after
some further guidance from Paul we are both scuttling off
up the tree (well actually more a intermittent shuffle).
 The
first few metres are quite tricky; firstly, the shock to
some muscles I’d forgotten I even had and secondly,
trying to coordinate all the pulling, sliding and pushing
movements at the same time. But after a few minutes we’re
both steadily making our way to the top. No awards for
the most graceful tree-climb of all time but I guess you
could call it reasonably effective. After about 30 minutes
we arrive at the top, at this point Paul comes up to join
us (his accent is more akin to a winch) and we all tuck
into our chocolate mini-egg reward. Paul takes some time
to explain about the type of tree we are climbing, some
of the management issues and generally offers a very good
introduction to the world of trees (especially as we are
both total amateurs!).
Now the descent… certainly a lot
faster! Once we’re all de-kitted we tuck into a picnic
of coffee, tea and homemade chocolate flapjack (including
chequered rug!). Now this is totally surreal; having a
mini-picnic, in the middle of a field, dressed in winter
woollies and surrounded by Alpacas! If this were all we’d
got from the morning it would have been well worth the
trip!
So how much does it cost? 2½ hours
at £40 (Children £25). When can you have a
go? Year-round. Do you need to be fit? Kellie confessed
her only exercise over the past 6 years was lifting a pint
glass and the walk up and down Union Street and she managed
perfectly fine. Although a basic level of fitness is recommended.
Is it sustainable? Yes – no harm is done to the tree,
it provides education, there are no CO2 emissions and it
gives the old heart a thorough workout. Highlights: the
liberation of hanging out the top of a tree, Abi’s
flapjacks & coffee and Paul (he’s a Kiwi). Lowlights:
although the flapjacks were great the cold made the chocolate
a little hard!
So if you’re after something a little
different this is definitely it! For further details and
booking checkout www.goodleaf.co.uk
Steve
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