It’s a common problem if you are a dog owner….

After your pooch has been scamping around a muddy field having lots of fun, how are you supposed to welcome him/her back to his/her favourite spot on the persian rug in front of the fire when he/she stinks of cow pats and looks as if he/she still has the contents of the said muddy field attached to his/her (normally glossy, sweet smelling) coat….?

Answer: Put him/her into a “Dog Wash Machine” at Pet World Joyful Honda in Tokyo, Japan…. a tear-free shampoo, rinse and blow dry in the 30-minute course, bargain price of 1,000 yen..(that’s about £7.00) ….plus the price of your air-fare, of course.

Dog-o-matic...

Last weekend I went to the Edge. Having never been to Alderly Edge in Manchester before it was a shock to find out that Alderly Edge does infact have an edge!

Whenever I get out of this country on holiday, I always look to try to fit in a few scuba diving trips. It’s the closest feeling I’ll ever get to being in outer-space.  The feeling of being weightless in a silence world really does chill the soul out… especially when you’ve just taken a 2 year old and 6 month year old through airport security!

I was really impressed with what Menorca had to offer beneath the waves. Spain and The Med are not famed for their diving like The Red Sea but I think they have a lot to offer.

I’ve been diving now for 6 years and have been lucky enough to see and swim with some great things under the water (sharks, turtles, dophins etc) at some amazing locations.

The dive documented in the images here was a nice wall dive (following the coast around the edge of a bay). I went to a maximum depth of 20 metres in a group of 3. We were guided by a very knowledgable German who owned the dive shop in the resort. This particular dive lasted about 35 minutes.

Underwater visibility is something you hear divers talk about alot. I’ve dived in water that looks like scotch broth in the UK so the opportunity to dive in crystal clear stuff is great. There were some nice caves and swim throughs on this dive as seen below.

Me giving the 'OK' sign in a swim through

Marine life wasn’t as abundant as some tropical coral reefs but there was still enough to keep us all interested. A school of barracuda swam over our heads and there was a large octopus and cuttlefish.

I'd like to be... under the sea...

Cuttlefish

All in all it was a nice dive. I’ll update you all with my next adventures underwater soon.

…after Dom and I paid for our duty free allowance at Manchester airport, we had only a short wait before we boarded our flight to Marrakech. There were 5 of us making this trip…the inflight entertainment on the flight consisted of a copy of Mojo (very good cover feature article on Nick Cave this month). Still the journey went quickly with the help of a glass of red or two.
We were staying in the middle of the Medina (the old walled city) – and the riad had arranged the taxi from the airport to avoid having to navigate a maze of alley ways of skeletal cats which I was told can lead to nowhere.

The first day was spent wandering, firstly to orient ourselves and I confess to some trepidation at following the directions Lisa our host at the riad had given us, but we did indeed finally end up in Jemaa el Fna, the main square. This is home to snake charmers, monkeys, water sellers, plying their trade under the baking heat of the midday sun.

Wherever you journey in Marrakech you pass through narrow passageways, dodging donkeys and carts, other passers by and peddlers busying themselves with their daily chores.
The Souks are a maze of markets, with row upon row of stalls squeezed into narrow lanes which occasionally are just wide enough for a donkey and cart to nudge you out of the way… the air is thick with spice and rose oil, blacksmiths hammer their metal and joiners carve their various goods, chickens cluck and the hum of mopeds are not far away. We had been given advice that stood us in good stead, start you bartering at 70% below the traders asking price and don’t go above 50%.

Deep in the bowels of the Souk we caught site of a film crew heading in our direction, celebrity chefs have to get their inspiration somewhere, at the head of the entourage doing his piece to camera was Jamie Oliver, whom we happened to bump into again the next evening filming, we walked into his line of shot and he had to reshoot the scene, we were expecting a Christian Bale tantrum, but all we heard him say was he would have to retake that again, so we made a hasty retreat.

Gueliz
Just down the road outside the old walled city is Gueliz, the modern Marrakech. Zara and McDonalds along with modern bars, restaurants and flash cars contrast greatly with the horse drawn carriages, donkey carts, robed and scarved men and women of the old city.
Also out of the Medina into the modern town we visted the Majorelle Gardens. Created by French artists and then purchased by Yves St Laurent right up until his death. It’s open to the public and a lush oasis of cobalt blue, yellow and orange pots, bamboo, cacti, blue green pools, mosaic tiles and terracotta. It’s a quiet place in an otherwise hectic part of the city which has nothing much else to recommend it so it’s an amazing contrast between what is on either side of the high walls that surround the gardens. We walked back to the old town dodging the manic drivers and pot holed pavements and found ourselves in the food market, a myriad of stalls selling anything from fruit and vegetables to cows legs tastefully propped up against a wall of the market, dried chamelons, even live turtles in cages, which were not destined for the role as family pet. Lungs attached to heart and wind pipe was not the best sight for the two vegetarians among us and by luck we found ourselves in the vicinity and relative calm of our riad. Time for gin and tonics on the roof terrace!

Marrakech is a mix of hip and historic, on the one hand you have the Islamic architecture, the call to prayer and the souks and the other, the designer led uber trendy riads, luxury spas and fusion cuisine. The city is emerging as North Africa’s style centre, Marrakech will not be to everyone’s taste, but I would recommend it to anyone with a sense of adventure, who don’t mind what can be occasionally annoying attention from hawkers of some beautiful crafted goods and also some complete trash.  You can easily eat very cheaply in the Jemaa el Fna, or dine in some excellent restaurants that are situated within some swanky boutique hotels and rhiads.

We experienced both and lived to tell the tale…. Diacalm at the ready.

In search of some warm weather, in ten days time i will be boarding a plane to take me to sunny Australia.

Looking very much forward to spending some time with my family, especially my brother Joe who is currently travelling out there. Also going to be taking a well deserved break from all my hard work at Cuckoo For two weeks my days will be filled with laying on the beach , drinking lots of beer and eating food from the barbie!

“Australia is home to Ayers Rock, which is a large rock surrounded by air – the more air the more rock.” Keith Lemon