Israel and Beijing

We spent sixteen days in Israel after leaving Europe on December 12, and how wonderful it was to visit with our extended family there. I hadn't visited there since I was nine years old (in 1972 - the passport control officer asked what had taken me so long to return!), and there were many cousins that I had never met before, older and younger, and my wonderful aunts of course. Toda raba to all of you for your wonderful hospitality and fun times! We stayed just off the beach in Tel Aviv and also visited Caecerea's Roman aqueduct on the shore of the Mediterranean, Jaffa, the Old City of Jerusalem (including the Wailing Wall, the four Sephardic synagogues, and the Kabbalistic synagogue where my great, great grandfather was a Rabbi - see the image of the tin door above), the Moshav where my cousin Rina and her family live, and the Dead Sea (better known as Yam Hamelach, or the Salty Sea in Hebrew - we did swim/float and it was amazing). Though we didn't have time to climb Masada and learn more about its history, we were quite awed by its commanding presence towering over the sea below.

Israel is in the midst of a long drought and though it has had a national water plan on the books (and with revisions I'm sure) since I was a PhD student and wrote a paper on water issues there, apparently there has been little progress towards implementing it (according to the relatives). Despite having pioneered drip irrigation, we saw evidence of flood irrigation of some orchards and fields and the use of handlines for irrigation of truck crops. And this after the agricultural sector has already experienced severe cuts in water deliveries. Despite this and the oft repeated desire for more water storage, the government is giving attention to river restoration in a program run by the Ministry of the Environment. Projects have been implemented on 6 of Israel's 16 major rivers. Most notably, this program explicitly recognizes the rights of nature to water. Dave will look forward to tracking the progress of these efforts in the future.

Five days in Beijing were meant to satisfy a more basic tourism idiom for us, and boy did they ever! We visited the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, Ming Tombs, and Tiananmen Square. To see the Great Wall and Ming Tombs, we hired a tour, and what a racket that can be. Along with many other private vans (we used one of these) and buses, we were whisked not only to these attractions, but to a government run jade "carving factory", a government run silk "factory" and shop, and the same for a tea shop. Feeling a little dirty after having been handled so craftily by our guides, we opted out of the Chinese natural medicine facility, also run by the government I think. Thoughts on this experience include the following: this is a good way for China to bolster tourist spending, the guide operations are required to do this probably, and why not exploit the western schills.

Water issues in Beijing are also important as the city is fast outstripping its available water supply thus necessitating that it reach out to rural areas to satisfy urban demands. Dave wasn't able to research much of this, but does recall from a former student's paper that the great North-South water project is intended to deliver waters from the Yangtze to the Beijing region when the project is completed.

Beijing is also trying to deal with traffic related congestion and pollution and issued a new policy limiting new car ownership beginning in 2011 - it will be done by lottery and no one person is supposed to be able to purchase a second vehicle.

We're now in Tokyo for a week and then will visit the Japanese Alps - probably won't be skiing though. There are rivers up there that are treasured trout fisheries here and we'll visit with local angler groups that manage them.

Happy New Year to All! Dave and Crew.

Leaving Spain, and Europe

Following Thanksgiving we zoomed across Spain to Zaragoza in Aragon in order to stage for our travels north towards Paris for our departure to Israel. A primary motivating factor underscoring the selection of the route was whether or not we could explore the Pyrenees one last time - in particular a ski area. If that were not possible we would have pressed on to Barcelona.

We were in luck two different ways. First, after arriving in Zaragoza we learned that the "Siberian" which has been affecting weather all across Europe with very cold temps and copious snow dumped enough snow in the Pyrenees to allow many ski resorts to open. So we went north to the Spanish/Catalan/Aran village of Viella/Vielha to stay a few days in the mountains and ski at Baqueira-Beret (see the map at http://www.baqueira.es/estacion/mapa-pistas). Rio, Ari, and I had the mountain and all the lifts pretty much to ourselves, which was especially tough given that there were 2-6 inches (I think that 5-15 cm sounds better) of fresh powder down on virtually untouched slopes since the mountain had just opened. !Muy bueno para nosotros!

The second way we were lucky was that Barcelona and Madrid soccer clubs were playing a series of matches (a championship?) and the city of Barcelona was in near riot form in a number of areas apparently even though the Barcelona club was trouncing Madrid (even a 5-0 match).

Some notes on geography and water. The landscape north of Zaragoza in the area of Huesca and Barbastro, and Benabarre is similar in many ways to Montana's Rocky Mountain Front (minus the dramatic hilltop villages of course). Dramatic reefs break down to the plain below, and the sedimentary formations are very impressive (see pic above). On the downside, the rivers that drain the south side of the Pyrenees in Aragon are much developed for irrigation and hydroelectricity production, even to the point where the rivers carried no flow in many reaches. We also witnessed this in the Valle de Aran on the north side of the Pyrenees but still in Spain - on the Riu Aran which is the headwater tributary of France's Garrone (see the other pic above). After crossing the border into France, the canals started immediately too!

We're flying to Tel Aviv tomorrow but won't arrive until Monday because of a layover (Dusseldorf - will only sleep there). Hopefully the fires are out by now. If you hadn't seen it in the news, there are some large and deadly (some 40 fatalities) fires in the North with at least one set intentionally by arsonists according to my dear Aunt Adina. The fact of wildfires is not surprising though given that Israel has been experiencing a hot, dry, and long late summer. Will be looking into water, land, and fire management there during our visit - and spreading the word about proper planning for development in the WUI (wildland urban interface).

Au revoir from and to France - and Peace to all!

Thanksgiving in Spain

What do you do for Thanksgiving in Spain? And what to be thankful for? Here is what we've found:

1) Be warm and dry. We're in another cabana (read: small mobile home that is found in commercial camping areas) just outside Caseres, on the way back north to France.

2) Find turkey to cook and eat. We found pavo breasts (turkey) but no drumsticks today. What they do with those we're not sure. Did find a packet of gizzards, but too much for gravy! We'll cook it on the stovetop as we have no oven and won't think about using the microwave. Fixins? Spuds, gravy, brussel sprouts, calabasa (squash) soup, but no cranberries.

3) Drink some beer (duh). Amstel. Have a fridge so this time it can be cold (a real hardship these last 4+ months in Europe).

4) Watch football. This will have to be soccer probably - can't get ABC, NBC, etc. to stream given the international agreements over imperialist yankee TV. Might try a college website that will stream, but we'll have to watch games in the wee hours of the 26th given the time difference.

5) Visit Caseres - the old town. Supposed to be fantastic, as all of these cities have been. Had one night in Sevilla on the way here - hostel, terrific food, found the old city and Jewish Quarter. As some Canadians at the hostel were relating (things that we knew), Cristobal Colon reputedly came from there and is buried there. Not impressed - he was geographically challenged and was something of a pendejo to the Amerindians. They also related that there is an interesting Museum of the Inquisition there - again, not interested (Jewish!). Anyway, we're thankful that we have the opportunity to do all of this.

6) Be thankful we get to see sights like the Rock of Gibraltar (see above). Went to the top on the cable car, saw the apes (tailless monkeys), and looked across the Strait to Africa.

7) Be thankful my camera still works. Has a spot that won't go away (yes, I changed lenses to test that). Developed it in humid France. See if you can find it in the image above. Will have to send the camera to Sony for repairs when the trip is done, then batch process about 20,000 photos in photoshop to fix about 20,000 spots in all of my images.

8) Be thankful for our health. We've only had 7 colds so far amongst the 4 of us. Those shots for typhus and hepatitis we probably didn't need, but we're gonna live anyway.

9) Be thankful for not getting lost in the Marismas (marshes) del Guadalquivir. The French National Mapping Agency map of Spain we've been using shows a road going through it along the Rio Guadalquivir. There is no road. Wanted to see the agriculture in this area that is resposible for the bulk of Spain's rice production (at a high cost to the marshes and river). Also, lots of truck farming under greenhouses, and some cotton production in the area. When the road ended we had to go all the way back the way we'd come in, then around. Dave hates that.

10) Be thankful for friends like all of you, loving family, and each other (still, even after 4+ months in tiny boxes called cars, tents, and cabanas with each other and no-one else).

Happy Thanksgiving All! The Aagaard-Shively

Toledo, Madrid, Granada, and the Costa del Sol

We've been playing at being Geographers/Turistas mainly the last two weeks, but Dave also had a great meeting with Santiago Robles of CIMERA and UNIPESCA in Madrid. Santiago and his colleagues at CIMERA (a private aquatic research firm - see link at right) are engaged in important work on aquatic invasive species identification in waterways, and in aquatic systems assessments and restoration. Santiago is also the Secretary of UNIPESCA which is a relatively new national organization in Spain that is committed to river and fishery conservation, and which has a number of regional partners across Spain and in other countries. As Santiago related to me, and from what I've seen, there are many challenges for river, lake, reservoir, and fisheries management - especially for native or autochthonous species - across all of Spain because of the limited water resources and their appropriation for hydropower, agriculture, and development. Since leaving Madrid to visit Granada and the Costa del Sol, these challenges are very apparent!

As for tourism/geography - our travels have been fantastic. There is not time or space to show all the pictures and convey all of our impressions about what we've been seeing, so I will try to sum this up very briefly. Toledo - we camped and saw fantastic historical geography. The city is situated on a hill around which the Rio Tajo wraps (Santiago reported that the headwaters of this river are quite pristine still); Madrid - finally found Starbucks and have good coffee again (a real problem in Spain and France, believe it or not). Stayed at the Galeon Hotel for four nights so Rio could nurse a cold and his online courses. Met with Santiago and Ari and I then toured the city center (Plaza Mayor, Palacio Real, Parque Oeste, La Latina district). From Madrid we visited Granada staying in a little mobile home (bungalow) in a campground outside. Fantastic city that is surrounded by olive groves (for oil production), has the snow covered Sierra Nevada as a backdrop, and the Alhambra of course (which we visited - water is very important there).

From Granada we had a quick tour of the Valle Lecrin where some of the Moors displaced from Granada in 1492 sought refuge and established a number of villages on the SE flank of the Sierra Nevada (see photo above). Here is a zone that supports olive, almond, and citrus production - the Mediterranean is very close by, but this valley is still high in the mountains.

Now we're near Gibraltar on the Costa del Sol soaking up a little sun for the next week before turning back north towards Paris where we will return our car for a flight to Israel on December 5. We'll go see Gibraltar but have decided to forego a visit to Tangier this time - muy turistico para nosotros!

Thanks for following our travels and Dave will post more later - Peace to all!

Asturias and Castille-Leon

First off, please accept my apologies for not being able to find symbols to use with place names!

After leaving Bizkaia (Basque Country) we traveled west along Spain's Atlantic coastline to Gijon in the principality of Asturias. With two days of good weather we camped opposite the city in a pretty meager, but open, private campground. The view was terrific (see above)!

We spent a few more days at another private camping facility, but in a little cabana (say summer camp cabin) while waiting through rainy days for my later meeting in Tineo with Pablo Garica Osendi (officer and member) and Jesus Rodriguez Bueno (President) of El Banzao, an anglers' organization based in Tineo, Asturias (see link at right). This group formed in 2003 around the pillars of river and brown trout conservation, promotion of angling, and aquatic invasive species control. Since its formation it has engaged in a number of river cleanup, spawning habitat creation, crawdad (from the US) trapping projects as well as creating a year-round fishery at El Arenero, a former sand quarry pit (aka the Sandbox). Pablo and Jesus were very gracious with their time and told me a lot about El Banzao and then took me to visit El Arenero to see first-hand the fishery and the club house/cafe.

While I was visiting with Pablo and Jesus, Gretty and the boys explored Tineo, which seems to date from the 13th century. Perched on the side of the Narcea valley, it is a beautiful town and the people are very friendly. The empanadas are delicious! That evening we traveled to Vega del Horreo (an horreo is the small granary shown in the image above), a very small mountain village in La Cordillera de Cantabrica, where we stayed at the Hostel run by Ecotur (see link at right and image above). Really nice people run the hostel and business, but a good command of Spanish is essential if you plan to visit (mine has been improving drastically!).

Wanting to move to a drier climate, we then traveled over the mountains to the Principality of Castille-Leon where we found just what we were looking for - another closed campground that took us in for the night along Rio Luna (Moon River). Acequias (ditches) for irrigation, a large reservoir that innundated a number of rural villages, and fantastic geology and mountain scenery. Even had frost in the morning on our tents!

We're now in Salamanca after visiting Zamora (really cool plaza in the former, and cool castle in the latter) and will leave tomorrow for Toledo. I will meet with the technical officer of UNIPESCA in Madrid next week who also has his own business specializing in aquatic science and services. Looking forward to it.

Hasta Luego all! Dave.

On El Paseo De Hemingway!

We got out of France during the demonstrations! Our hearts are definitely with the demonstrators - Sarkozy is France's Bush - but it is nice to be able to go about the business and not get stuck in southern France without fuel, etc. It was actually quite benign in Pau, just outside of which one of the major French petro companies (Total) is based, but we did get to see Lycee (high school) students blockade their school for three days straight and have bonfires outside each chilly morning. Stayed away from the fish counter as the truckers were also on strike and the seafood was rotting in the stores.

We left following Hemingway through the Pyrenees to Auritz/Burguete (Basque/Spanish names) where he stayed after the rigors of Pamplona/Iruna bullfights and social scene in the 30s and from which he journeyed a few kilometres east to fish the Irati (which, along with the events in Pamplona/Iruna he immortalized in "The Sun Also Rises" - see the photo above). He is recognized in Auritz/Burguete with a plaque on the side of the Hotel in which he stayed, as well as in Pamplona/Iruna where his image and name appears all around the Plaza del Toros (bull ring) and on the Paseo de Hemingway (also see above).

Why consider Ernesto so important here? He did help bring recognition of Spain's fine trout fishing to America, and he is well regarded by the people in this region (as well as elsewhere, such as in Cuba). Anyway, have had some good success in making contacts and collecting information about the piscatorial landscapes here, and the travels continue. We're just outside Bilbao today after four days in Pamplona/Iruna. Staying near Mundaka, near Gernika-Luma from which many Basques leave to work in Oregon/Nevada/Idaho, we visited the penultimate market of the year w/ too much wine, cheese, bread, and other regional products to name and describe. We just fell into it. Lots of political activity too, and when a sticker was placed on the coat we had to remove it in fear of provoking the other side unknowingly (they were in Euskari or Basque language).

We are on to Asturias and Galicia, the remaining heart of Atlantic salmon in Spain, in a couple of days. The weather is warmer but wetter, so we may head to Andalusia to dry out for a while before resuming the Ruta de los Pesces.

All the best to you all, the Shive and the Aagaard-Shivelys.

Regions de France

Attn: Pics are in reverse order!

Leaving Basel, Switzerland on 10/5, we were immediately back in France. En route to the home of Rio's pen pal Eric near Dijon in Bourgogne, and his wonderful family, we passed through Belfort for lunch and haircuts. The city is a former historic (no redundancy - really) military center with a very impressive fort and battlements. Then we dallied down the Doubs valley exploring the villages and the river which is significantly modified for barging (a busy day). We spent several days in Bourgogne and were able to see the Cote d'Or (gold coast) while driving the Rue de Grand Crus (route of grand vineyards) in the heart of Burgundy w/ the leaves changing color (see photo!). This is a tourism must there. Classic and historic villages, vineyards, and beautiful autumn weather were all ours!

Several days then in Lyon - a great city that is even greater for its role in the French resistance during WWII. I visited with geographers from Lyon Universities 2 & 3 (and the Ecole Normal Superiere), we saw the old city, the Basilica de Notre Dame de Fourviere, the two Gallo-Roman ampitheatres, and visited the Musee de la Resistance et la Deportation. The last is an extremely important place to visit in Lyon we all think.

From Lyon it was on to Mende in the Massif Central which is in a landscape remarkably like Grants Pass in SW Oregon. We camped along the Riviere Lot. Next day we drove through the Gorge du Tarns (see photo!). Twelfth century chateaus and villages peppered along a gorgeous river that is now a popular tourism and recreation (say kayaks!) destination. We then saw the Viaduct du Millau that crosses the R. Tarns just below the terminus of the gorge. Camping that night was in a Ferme (farm) Camping area - pitched tents at 11 pm and woke to a beautiful landscape.

We're now in Pau at the foot of the Pyrenees (they're in sight!) for the research on the Piscatorial Landscape after doing a drive-by of Toulouse (unfortunately we had reservations to keep in Pau). It turns out that Gregory Dolet, a biologist and fishing guide here that I visited with, and Guillaume Baranco with Department 64) are working with other anglers and stakeholders to organize for the conservation of the fisheries and rivers - there is a big initiative under way here. You'll have to read the details in the book later. Anyway, for a fishing trip in the Pyrenes-Atlantique, a special area with Basque and Bearn influences, see Gregory's website at right and that of Peche64 (use Google to translate this if necessary).

The Pyrenees await - just have to find some gazole for the car so we can leave (the general strikes may limit fuel availability - another day of strike is scheduled for tomorrow after an especially volatile one today - see the BBC story here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11567457). C'est la vie! Au revoir, Dave et al.

When in France...

It's been difficult to devote time to research and tourism equally, but being a geographer I'll try to count them as the same anyway. In Paris for a week, we did some of the usual things. I will have to say that seeing the batteaux on the Seine, and then later on the canals that connect all of France, got me to thinking about the historical importance of these features in terms of economy and place, and their larger role in large-scale hydrologic alteration! I'll be visiting with hydrologists and geographers in Lyon next week and will have a better perspective on this. This is also important in the context of England, and even Scotland with its Caledonian Canal too (the boys got to open the locks on its "Neptune's Staircase" at Fort William in September).

We saw the Rhine at Strasborg and Basel, Switzerland, and I was impressed with the clarity of its waters and wonder if the salmon are coming back to it as they are the Seine (see the following link describing the returns of summer 2009 there: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/6013819/Salmon-return-to-Frances-River-Seine.html).

Here's a pic from Paris, and one from Basel, and I'll post more to Picasa soon too. Au revoir all!

Rivers Test and Avon

We spent a couple of days in Southeastern England exploring the Rivers Test and Avon made famous by Izaak Walton and others. Heading on the Salisbury Plain which is also the home of Stonehenge (did a Griswold on that site), these are beautiful and very productive streams albeit very inaccessible to anglers who don't have lots of money. The difference between chalkstreams whose chemistries are affected by the limestone lithology and the freestone streams of Ireland, Wales, Scotland, and Northern England is very apparent (see the large resident brown trout in the aquatic veg - Ranunculus? - in River Test photo above). Dave will be doing some more research on the centuries long maintenance of the fisheries here, and current programs to improve water quality in the Southampton region which is home to some of the most industrialized agriculture we've seen since leaving the US.

In Paris now and looking at the canals that link the Seine and Marne Rivers, I'm thinking that it is going to be very interesting to try to make sense of how these historic yet seemingly unnecessary hydrologic features affect riverine ecology today, and how this might change in light of the EU's Water Framework Directive, Biodiversity policies, and French landscape management policies. I'm just beginning to study some French vocabulary to prepare for research to be conducted further down the road in Burgundy, Lyon, and the Pyrennees.

More later, au revoir!

Rivers of Scotland

We spent some two weeks exploring Scotland - Loch Lomond NP, the Western Highlands and Glencoe, Loch Ness and Inverness, and the Cairngorms NP in which the Rivers Spey and Dee head. Travelled part of the whiskey trail, sampled some and some Haggis (good stuff w/ neeps and tatties - and an ale of course), and explored the Aberdeen area quite thoroughly including the coast south of there. Also injured our rental car by adding 1/4 tank of unleaded to it (it was supposed to have diesel only!) and now have a different one that runs on unleaded. From all that I talked to, it's a pretty common and easily remedied mistake that results from diesels dominating the roadways and both types of fuel on the same pump (you can put an unleaded pump in the diesel, but not the other way around). Should only set us back a couple of hundred pounds (about $300). Now we can fill the car and the stove fuel tanks together (figure we're getting about only 30 mpg from the stove - that's meals per gallon!). See the photo of us waiting for a cab back to our camp after the car was towed away.

Scottish salmon rivers are legendary and still hightly touted by the Scottish National Government's tourism division owing to their economic importance (probably second to golf, which of course follows oil and gas from the North Sea). The salmon still run but the trend seems to be downward over the last couple of years according to what I heard from various people. Challenges are many - agriculture, water abstraction (diversion) for hydro, whiskey distilling, and municipal uses), salmon farming in the near shore environment, predators, etc. There also appears to be a serious need for more progressive riparian managment, especially for LWD recruitment (and restoration), but the town and country planning approach employed in the UK has protected the rivers from rampant development we see in Montana.

The district salmon fishery boards (DSFBs) are the main bodies for fisheries managemment involving both riparians and angling associations in their activities (include hatchery programs, habitat work, monitoring, establishment of angling rules, etc.), but there are some noteworthy basin management programs and approaches that are underway such as the Dee Catchment Partnership's "Catchment Management Plan" (still have to finish downloading and digesting this!) and the Scottish Govt's implementation of the EU's Water Framework Directive.

The photo of the anglers' hut and the river with the bridge is from the Spey, and the other with the angler casing is on the Dee. We didn't get to fish after all given our schedule and the expense (about $60.00 US per day for even low quality pools/water - and that's a low budget rate apparently). Hope to make up for that elsewhere.

We are now in Wales again on our way south to Southampton and the legendary English chalkstreams (Rivers Avon, Test, and Itchen) to see what's going on there. Our stop in Wales was to see Cardiff, the capital city of Wales, and the Dr. Who exhibit here (they film it and Torchwood here).

Until later, Cheers!

North England and Scotland!

We've been rambling about for the last two weeks. We visited Snowdonia Nat'l Park in N. Wales (and importantly Paul Morgan's Coch Y Bonddu Bookstore in Macynlleth, Wales - the very best bookstore for angling ever, anywhere! - see link on this page!) then the Lake District Nat'l Park in Cumbria, then Hadrian's Wall in Northumbria (& Northumberland NP), Loch Lomond NP in Scotland, the Western Highlands (stunning mountains!), around Loch Ness and Inverness to the River Spey in the Speyside District of NE Scotland (Whew!).

Besides eating the scenery, and an excellent meal at the Battlestead Inn at Wark, England, we've had some excellent meals of our own all prepared on the MSR Whisperlite International (on high octane unleaded!). Local lamb and beef, seafood chowder, and even several rounds of wild chantrelle mushrooms and puffballs that we've found here and there. Think we'll begin working on a cookbook too!

Now in Aberdeen, on the River Dee, we have a chance to get back to work and blogging, etc. Will also post some pictures to the Picasa site. The image posted here is of a small lake in Snowdonia with association fishing that we found on our way to Eddie I's Caernaforn Castle (built to subdue the Welsh!).

We've seen some salmon fishing here in Scotland, and it turns out that the fishery on the River Tyne in Northumbria is recovering as well due to the decline of heavy manufacturing and shipbuilding in Newcastle Upon Tyne. Met some really nice folks around Hexham and Bellingham England who put us on the trail of fish squeezers in Edinburgh, our next destination in a week or so. Until then I'm going to visit with Geographer colleague Antonio Ioris at University of Aberdeen, and his colleagues, and try to arrange for some salmon fishing on the Dee! Might even bump into the Queen as the fishing has just turned on here in N. Scotland, and her summer palace is just up the road!

So, until later, here is a pic from the recent travels. Cheers!

Leaving Aberystwyth

We've spent the last two weeks in Aberystwyth and have done some research, sight seeing, and fishing (these are all inter-related of course!). Dave experienced wonderful hospitality on the part of Michael Woods (Professor and Head of Geography at Aberytstwyth University), Chris Bear (Lecturer at AU), Dai Ricketts (of the Llanilar Angling Association, Welsh Salmon and Sea Trout Assoc., and Captain of the Welsh National Angling Team), and Mark Sedgewick ( of the Aberystwyth Angling Association). Many, many thanks to Chris, Dai, and Mark for the loads of valuable information, and for the coffee, the field trip (including time on the river), and the pint of best bitter (all respectively!).

Sewin (sea trout) and salmon angling in Wales is stronger than ever and the levels of local organization and attempts to influence national policy are increasing, and much of this is in response to declining returns of fish and increased activity of other river users. These are problems that are similar to Ireland, and in the US. It seems that a broader study of the status of anadromous fishes would be in order (a meta-analysis), but will have to save that for later and perhaps with the help of others! The pic on the top is of the Boyz about to begin fishing for Sewin on the Ystwyth last night. We fished from Dusk to about 11 pm (in the dark!).

The pic on the bottom is of the Environment Agency, Wales, flood awareness campaign promotion. We visited with a couple of their staff on the street today and will later access the flood zone maps for Wales and England to compare with those produced by FEMA in the US.

We're off to North Wales, the Lakes District, and Scotland next in the Silver Bullet (our Peugot 5008)! Will update you as we can. Cheers!

Fishguard Wales

We arrived in Fishguard, Wales (Abergwuan is the adjacent older Welsh settlement across the River Gwuan - Aber is Welsh for river mouth) on August 2nd. We had a 4.5 hour bus ride, a milk run, from Cork to Rosslare Harbor where we caught a Stena Line express ferry (a catamaran fast craft) across the Irish Sea to Wales. With the kind help of Tony the taximan we were able to get cash (British sterling) and some groceries to tide us through the night and next morning, then he dropped us at Fishguard Bay Caravan Park where we had a tent pitch reserved. The site is stunning (as the photo tells) being situated on the edge of the cliffs that run the length of the Pembrokeshire National Park coastline. This morning we hiked 3 miles into Fishguard along the coast trail, had an ale (and Cokes) at the Royal Oak (now a pub) where the treaty marking the end of hostilities between Napoleonic naval forces and the British was signed in 1797 (this was the last actual invasion of Great Britain).

The hike showed that the planning system in the UK does far more to protect the rural landscape than is the case in Ireland - or so it seems. The Shive will be learning more about that shortly. After a day of trip planning tomorrow, we're likely off to Cardigan and then Aberystwyth some time down the road. We have some 50more days in the UK, so we're not in a hurry!

The Shive also has to make some contacts with angling clubs to learn about fisheries management and the like here. Two days before our departure from Ireland he learned much about the Irish situation for freshwater gamefish (espec. Atlantic salmon) management and conservation from Bob Seward, Secretary of both the Salmon and Sea Trout Recreational Anglers of Ireland and the Angler's Council of Ireland - more on this later.

Until then, cheers (as they say here) and thanks a million (as said in Ireland) for following our adventure!

Cork, Ireland, is a fascinating, historic, and incredibly friendly city. From early Celtic roots, verified by Og(h)am inscriptions on stones found throughout the region and now displayed in the Stone Corridor in Aula Maxima at the beautiful University College Cork, the narrow lanes of the 9th century Viking settlement that emerged on the island in the River Lee, the Victorian historic structures, to the modern shops that are nestled in between all of the rest, it is an eclectic and intriguing place! No wonder it is on Lonely Planet's short list (10 best places to visit).

The people of Cork are very friendly. Numerous times we've been offered assistance when our confusion over location and direction became apparent (new place, meandering streets, cloudy skies, no compass!). And many thanks to Brendan O'Sullivan who directs the Planning and Sustainable Development Program at University College Cork for the informal walking tour and engaging discussion over planning issues, approaches, and problems!

The planning context for Cork is influenced by a national framework (the National Spatial Strategy) that gives responsibility for spatial planning to regions, and then to the counties and five major cities, then to smaller cities (all local government plans must conform to the statutory regional planning guidelines). Planning for future growth and dealing with the inevitability of sprawl (when the ability of urban places to continue to grow when constrained by existing densities, the historic preservation imperative, and greenbelts) are major challenges here as they are in so many other places.

If and when you come here, do plan to spend a week or more as there is so much to take in. The Vision Centre, UCC, St. Finnbarre's Cathedral, the City Centre, the English Market with delicious fresh local food for your kitchen - these are just some of the major attractions!

More on Aquatic Invasive Species

I just had to post this - it was waiting in OneNote for me to do this. We've been in Oregon for the last weekand a half visiting with family and friends before we leave for Ireland on July 17th. After leaving Umatilla we travelled through the Bend-Redmond area on Hwy. 97 before heading up Century Drive (aka Cascade High Lakes Hwy.). Wow has Bend grown over the last 15 years since Gret and I last visited during winter ski trips. 80+ thousand now (larger than sweet little Missoula) with a renewed downtown, a lot of roundabouts to accommodate increased traffic volumes from new subdivisions on the way up Century Drive, and the new Hwy 97 throughpass.

Given the Idaho Aquatic Invasive Species program I mentioned in the last post, we inquired about one in OR and learned that there is a fledgling program just being implemented. Signage is up at boat launches, and permits are required for craft 10 ft or longer (these are good for a year and transferable). It will be interesting to see how effective the program will be once fully implemented - I'll research it more further to better understand what its parameters are. In the meantime, here is a pic of a boat/car/RV washing station at the Port of Siuslaw, near Old Town Florence, where we spent a nice night camping before driving up the coast to Newport (nice to be back on the Oregon coast - the most scenic in the land!).

Roundabouts, Roundabouts, and Roundabouts, Oh My!

Well my Montana friends and colleagues, Oregon has roundabouts. Lot's of them, it appears. In leaving Bend on Century Drive (the Cascade High Lakes Highway), we drove through no less than three of them (shown here in the pic from Google Earth, 2006)! No doubt they were built to accomodate heavy winter ski traffic to Mt. Bachelor and its impact on vehicle traffic coming from subdivisions. And we saw them in Eugene too, especially out on Greenhill Road to the west of town where much new development has been occurring.

The all work as well as Missoula's very own Higgins & Beckwith roundabout, but people travel them at significantly higher speeds. For any citizens, local officials, and planners who want to learn more about how well these work, I recommend contacting the public works departments of Bend and/or Eugene.

Goodbye for now - congratulations Spain on the World Cup! Leaving for Ireland on Saturday.

June 30 - Hittin' the Road

Left Mizoo around 1 pm. Kid's said it was surreal that we were finally leaving. The road through the Clark Fork Valley was green and absolutely beautiful. My heart would die if I knew I was leaving permanently. Ran into a boat check station in Idaho (checking for Aquatic Invasive Species!) just East of Cataldo Mission. Had to stop because we had three boats along for the ride - even though Gret thought the canoe and kayak shouldn't count. Awesome! So glad that Idaho has stations now - Montana's are few but hopefully increasing thanks to Caryn Miske, Senator Verdell Jackson, and the Montana 2009 Legislature! We do have the beginnings of a decent program, but we need to be so vigilant. I fear the worst, though, having lived in Michigan w/ Zeeba Mussels, Snakeheads, and Quagas!

So here's the pic for the post - our boat laden short caravan on the OREGON bank of the Great Columbia River at Umatilla. Even outside of the Hanford reach, have to dig down and say, "Roll on Columbia!"

Why there are so many deadly diseases in the developing world.

So, we all had a learning experience yesterday when the Shives went for their travel health consultation and immunizations at the Missoula City-County Health Department. The consultation lasted a good hour, it took the nurse another half-hour to draw up all of the vaccinations (Hep A & B, Tetanus, Meningitis, & Pneumonia) as well as writing up prescriptions for Malarone (for Malaria - this will cost $500-$600 when we fill them) and getting the oral Typhoid medications for us. Many pokes later, the painful part began - the cost for the four of us was $825! So Rio and Ari got to learn why it is difficult to curb many diseases in developing world states (and as Ari noted, why its important to have a decent job). Here is a picture of the room we spent a good hour in waiting for the vaccinations (Photographer - Ari).

Thanks for your Sussex Ecothon Support!

This year Rio & Dave picked up garbage for 3 hours picking up 6 bags of trash and 3 bags of recycling…..multiply that by 9 more students and their parents. Rio then went to help with the relocation of the Home Resource Center the non-profit construction supply store. We have picked up quite a few things needed for remodel at next to nothing.

Ari Pictured below in all his 70's glory. Gretchen went out with him and four other kids. Yikes. The other adult in their garbage detail stated that their crew picked up the most…who knows, they said it was eventful. The best part was aerating the orchard of one of the Garden City Harvest plots. It turns out the manager of this particular area is from Tillamook OR. The Garden City Harvest provides food for low income families and those who would like to work the field for fresh vegetables during the season.

Spring Break Steelhead

This nice little buck (just 5-6 lbs.) was caught on the Salmon River swinging a Green Butt Skunk above North Fork, Idaho, in late March.