Photo by Nick Weston

The first year of HGC school has been great fun and a I feel I have learnt almost as much as all those who have attended the courses (I think the best tip I received was from one Alan Paterson who told me to use washing powder to soak and clean burnt eggy pans- works a treat)! I cannot thank those who attended enough for making our first year a great success.

Throughout the Spring, Summer and Autumn I was consistently pleased to see that I had really found the perfect place for the school, the flora & fauna of the surrounding landscape not only provided rabbits, squirrels, pigeon, fallow deer and carp for the HQ kitchen’s meat store (even allowing a few attendees to dispatch them on the day), but the plants and fungi were just as forthcoming: Giant puffballs, bay boletus, parasols and chicken of the woods all put in a timely, yet surprising appearance.

2011 saw HGC doing privately booked bespoke courses as opposed to days you ‘book on to’, this will still be the case for 2012- But fear not! In 2012 we are organising a series of group days, which you CAN book onto. These will have a predetermined structure and a bit cheaper than the private days.

Continue reading this article @ HUNTER:GATHER:COOK–Adventures In Wild Food

Skyline Drive, Shenandoah, VA

The northern end of Skyline Drive is a straight 80 miles west of Washington D.C. along Route-66 (not the Route-66), and marks the start of Shenandoah National Park. We’re here to flirt with nature, reacquaint ourselves with some earth rhythms, and flood our senses with everything Fall. It’s been a while since we escaped the District, and Shenandoah is an easy bolt-hole.

Washington D.C. is a clean and spacious city.  The air drinks nicely, there’s no sooty, dirty nose to it like there can be in London; rarely do I see litter on the street, and even during peak hours the pavements feel empty.  Gathering together all of the open space in D.C. would need an area 9 times the size of New York’s Central Park–it has the nation’s highest ratio of parkland per resident.

“Ahh, fresh mountain air,” says Faizal, as if he’s been trapped breathing the toxic fumes of a smoggy city since his journey out here a few months ago.

It could be any number of things: the deep crimson maple leaves, the low slung white criss-cross fences, the red and white barns with their gambrel roofs.  I can’t help feeling I’m in New England.

“Do you want to stop?” says Faizal from the driver’s seat.

“No, let’s keeping going.  We have to come back this way.”

“Right!  Everyone’s stopping now.  The viewpoints should be quiet later.”

We didn’t come back this way, we took an alternative route home along Route-211, through Sperryville, but the thinking was good. Shenandoah sees around 15% of its visitors arrive in October for a glimpse of the tawny Fall colours, it’s always a busy time of year.

Signal Knob Overlook, Gooney Run Overlook, Compton Gap, we pass them all. It’s no big deal, there are 75 to choose from.  We decide our first stop will be around mile 20: Little Hogback Overlook–Fariza likes the name.

A 35 mph speed limit is in effect along the length of the road, so we settle in, roll down the windows and watch from the car as we snake our way along the ridge.  The hills look like the broccoli in the bottom of my fridge: a few pockets of green have survived the virulent yellow ageing effect, but they won’t hold out forever.  Red and gold leaves peel like rust from the hillside, or a bad case of wind burn from the cold gusts that whip across the ridge.  A few stark, empty, stick filled voids indicate where the landscape is headed in the next few weeks.

The sun is just catching on the top of Old Rag by the time we make our final stop.  I pull on my red hat, grab my camera, and for the first time wish I had some gloves.  The leaves have lost their brilliance in the shadows, colours are muted, the park is shutting down for the night.  Afternoons don’t last as long as they used to.

We pause long enough to survey the smooth granite summit of Old Rag in the distance and remember sitting up there in the summer sun a few months ago, munching peanut butter sandwiches.  Maybe we’ll return again next year, the leaves will. They always do.

My approach has always been to start with the fungi that can’t be confused with anything that will dissolve your internal organs…like what almost happened to Mr.Horse whisperer a few years back. If you arn’t certain of what the mushroom is, then don’t put it anywhere near your lips! Simple as that.

Read more @ HUNTER: GATHER: COOK – Adventures in Wild Food

I felt compelled to write to your organisation after spending several days cycling from Dover to the East Midlands, having just arrived from continental Europe. My intention was to make this journey as enjoyable and safe as possible, rather than to cover the distance in the minimum possible amount of time. Naturally therefore I looked to the National Cycle Network, in search of off-road and quiet routes through the country.

Flickr photo by tom.ride-earth.org.uk

May I, then, congratulate you on having constructed one of the most comprehensive cycling infrastructures that I have come across during my bicycle travels in 34 countries.

The UK’s cycling provisions stand out for many reasons. The first and most obvious is that they exist. From a global perspective, this immediately puts the UK far ahead of the game. Given everything I’ve seen here, from long-distance routes spanning Britain in her entirety, to urban awareness schemes in almost every significant settlement, to safe cycle-paths between particular amenities and points of interest, it’s difficult to understand why the system is on the receiving end of such constant criticism in the media. I guess people don’t realise how lucky they are!

Continue reading this letter @ Ride Earth – Tom’s World Bicycle Travel Blog

HostelBookers is a budget accommodation specialist and member of TIES, The International Ecotourism Society. As well as being affordable, the site carries a variety of environmentally-friendly hostels among its varied range of properties. These hostels work towards maximising their sustainability and reducing carbon emissions with improved efficient design, using renewable resources and cutting down on waste. Eco-hostels also help strengthen the local economy and cut transport miles by using local businesses for outside supplies.

By booking with an eco-friendly hostel, you generally save money and help the environment in one fell swoop. Below are featured hostels available on HostelBookers.

Boston

Hostelling International Boston in Boston’s Downtown Back Bay is close to the city’s famed Freedom Trail. Along with putting on free films and workshops, the hostel uses energy-efficient lighting and appliances, recycling stations and recyclable carpet, low-VOC paint and low-flow plumbing to save water. Cleaning products used won’t harm the environment, and left-behind flip-flops for showers are sanitised and given to local shelters.

Hostelling International Boston / Flickr photo by straightedge217

Australia

In Port Douglas, Australia, Port O’Call Eco Lodge sits between two World Heritage sites – the Great Barrier Reef and Daintree Rainforest. The hostel’s hot water and public lighting run on solar and wind energy, and it minimises water used and waste wherever possible. Port O’Call Eco Lodge is also the only accommodation in Queensland to have been given four green stars by AAA Tourism, recognising ecological sustainability.

Spain

With panoramic views of the city from its roof terrace, Mellow Eco-Hostel Barcelona is thoroughly environmentally friendly. Showers are heated with solar power and cleaned with biodegradable products, there’s a recycling program in place and light-bulbs are low-consumption. As well as this, the building is designed for natural ventilation, on Barcelona’s frequent hot and sunny days air-con is only used in the lobby.

Mellow Eco Hostel

Ecuador

An 18th-century Spanish hosteria in the Pinchincha Foothills, Ecuador’s San Jorge Eco-Lodge and Botanical Reserve owns huge protected areas of rainforest surrounding the lodge, allowing the area’s unique biodiversity to thrive. A restaurant serves food with many ingredients sourced from local, organic farms, and hiking tours of the area let you discover indigenous tropical plants, wild flowers and wildlife including hummingbirds, sloths and armadillos.

Germany

Townside Hostel in Bremen

Townside Hostel in Bremen is in Ostertor/Steintor, the city’s party quarter. The free coffee and tea you will receive, as well as milk and cheese, are organic. And the hostel runs on energy from Schönau, Germany’s greenest power supplier. All bathrooms have water-saving modules fitted, lighting is energy-efficient and waste is separated to reduce the items sent to landfill. The hostel even collects rainwater for flushing toilets, to cut down on using the main supply.

Mongolia

Offering a chance to experience traditional Mongolian culture, Anak Ranch of Mongolia is a working, family-run farm and ranch out on the steppe. You’ll sleep in a nomadic Ger (a portable, wood-framed and felt-covered tent), and eat meals made from the farm’s natural home-grown produce, including meat, veggies and dairy products. Riding horses across the plain and helping out with the farm is also part of the package. In addition, a proportion of profits go towards improving conditions in Gantskhudag Prison, Mongolia’s largest gaol.

Opting to stay in an eco-hostel helps lighten your carbon footprint when you travel. Your travelling experience doesn’t have to cost much to the environment anymore.

Nick Weston & the Hungry Cyclist / Photo by Nick Weston

In a country where the termites of the foodie class wax lyrical about farmers markets, food miles and local produce, I can’t help but ask myself what will be the next obsession? The answer is simple: I’m putting my money on Honesty boxes. Though I might sound derogatory about some of the above they are all well and good, Britain is a nation gradually returning to how things used to be and how things most certainly should be. Supermarkets are now the bad guys and there are many that will go out of their way to support local producers rather than give their cash to the man. But these are thing we should be doing anyway, the demise of the village grocer, baker and butcher that took place over the 80’s and 90’s are no more…the people want them now more than ever.

Continue reading this article @ HUNTER:GATHER:COOK – Adventures in Wild Food

Barclays Cycle Hire / Flickr photo by Martin Deutsch

There’s a lot of cynicism floating around right now, but I have no doubt they will catch on. Londoners are, by nature, a cynical bunch and put us up against an in-your-face corporate sponsorship deal and we see red. Or, worse, Barclays blue. Barclays Blue sprayed all over the Barclays Cycle SuperHighways. Yuck. There is probably truth in the reports that blue was chosen before the sponsorship deal was struck, but, coincidence or not, it’s still stomach turning.

I appreciate that sponsorship money is important, but TFL and Boris struck a lame deal. They should have insisted they were called the Barclay’s XXsomethingXX, ie give them a very strong association, but not let them take over completely. Barclays Cycle Hire is not just unimaginative, it’s devious. No one is going to call the bikes, ‘Cycle Hire’. The word Barclays will always have to be used.

“I am just going to hop on my Barclays bike”, “I’ll be with you in as soon as I’ve jumped on a Barclays.” Sounds rubbish. Will it catch on? Maybe it will have to…

Continue reading this article @ Going Local Travel

Bixi bikes @ Flickr photo by mpilote

Having paid $28, I can now grab a Bixi from any of the main pick-up points over town and ride for 30 minutes without charge. It’s then an extra $1.50 if I go over that. Or I can dock the bike for five minutes and after that it’s mine again for free.

Having heard so much about these systems, especially the Paris Velib, I am very pleased to finally have the chance to try it out for myself.

To say I am impressed would be an understatement. I have become slightly obsessed. I now refuse to walk or take the bus or metro anywhere. It’s Bixi all the way. When on Saturday night I stopped off for takeaway (a poutine, naturally), just two blocks for my house, I insisted on picking up a Bixi to take me to my door. This probably worked off 0.0001% of the poutine grease.

I am sure the novelty will wear off, but Bixis have certainly helped me re-find my bearings and make me feel very settled.

Continue reading this article @ Going Local Travel

A leading international event for learning, networking and partnership-building, the ESTC is a meeting place for innovative minds from across the industry, bringing together 500-plus business leaders, industry professionals and community stakeholders to discuss practical ideas and solutions that inspire positive changes in tourism. The ESTC 2010 will feature dynamic sessions, public forums and social functions.

The WHL Group is proud to join these industry leaders and sustainability pioneers as one of the conference’s supporting organisations.

Walking the talk

For the first time in the event’s history, ESTC 2010 delegates will be given a chance to practice what they preach by participating in three half-day voluntourism field sessions, important recognition of the increasing importance of voluntourism as a niche of sustainable tourism. The roll-up-your-sleeves, hands-on opportunities include work at Portland-area landmarks like the Columbia Springs Environmental Education Center, one of Portland Parks and Recreation’s community gardens and the Tualatin National Wildlife Refuge.

“Come get your hands dirty!” said Laura Guimond, Communications and PR Manager, Sustainability, Travel Portland.

A chorus of voices

A rich selection of speakers has been invited to present analyses and case studies at session topics about triple-bottom-line approaches to sustainability in travel and tourism. The WHL Group will be represented by Zachary Rozga, North America and Caribbean Regional Director, who will speak about Effective Strategies for Finding Support for Sustainability Initiatives in Tourism, one of the Track 2 sessions about Practical Ideas on Triple Bottom Line: Managing Footprint and Implementing Solutions.

Rozga’s presentation will specifically look at a practical model of how micro-franchising allows even the smallest tour operators to compete with big companies on both price and product. The WHL Group is the leading global franchise network for small and local entrepreneurs in tourism. One of its companies, Urban Adventures, provides unique small-group (max 12 people) day tours operated by locally owned franchise tour companies. These tours feature things not found on typical (bus-bound) city tours – the kinds of things that only a local knows – and use either feet, bikes or public transport to get around.

Source: This article was first published on the WHL Group Blog

Gardening – whether it’s in your own backyard or on a fantastic public scale – requires patience, hard work and a whole lot of love.  Anyone who has ever tended one from seed to vine knows just how rewarding a hobby it can be – but even your very own inner landscape artist needs a little inspiration between seasons! Forget about planting the same old herbs and stretch your imagination – a vacation away from home may be just what you need to get those creative gardening forces flowing. Bring your notepad and escape overseas to some of the world’s finest public parks and gardens!

1- Holyrood Park, Edinburgh

One of the UK’s most spectacular green spaces lies in central Edinburgh, where visitors can explore the wild natural beauty contained within 650-acres of rugged public parkland. Lying just southeast of the city’s Old Town, Holyrood Park feels a world away from the hustle and bustle of the Royal Mile. Paths are steep throughout the former 12^th Century royal hunting grounds, so wear comfortable walking shoes and be prepared for some strenuous climbs. Throughout the park, you’ll encounter typical Scottish scenery such as mountain crags, heather fields, lochs, glens, and marshes. Of course, the landscape is no less wild come August when the Fringe Festival descends – head to the meadows for the best in street theatre from all around the world!

Salisbury Crags, Holyrood Park / Flickr Photo by Richard Milnes

2- Kings Park, Perth

Located on the western edge of the Australian city of Perth, Kings Park comprises over 400 hectares of unspoiled bushland, grass meadows and botanical gardens. You’ll need a full day (or more) to explore the world’s largest inner city park – but the rewards are great, especially if you visit in September when the fields come alive with wildflowers. Free walking tours are available, but don’t let the park’s vastness discourage you from some solo exploring. Along many footpaths and trails visitors will find small plaques identifying the local flora by their common and Latin names. Bring you camera as the park overlooks the city – you’ll want to capture the panoramic views!

Kings Park, Perth / Flickr Photo Trevor_Page

3- Villa Borghese, Rome

Opened to the public since 1903, Rome’s largest park is a tranquil refuge away from the busy streets of the Italian capital with its wide shady lanes, art museums, gorgeous temples and lakes. Existing as an expansive vineyard until 1605, the site was transformed into formal gardens by then Cardinal Scipione Borghese, a nephew of Pope Paul V. Throughout the park’s scenic environs are several Renaissance Villas now open to the public, including the historic Villa Medici. Remade into an English landscape garden during the 19^th century, the Villa Borghese Gardens encompass a wide selection of colourful flower gardens, orange groves and stunning public art.

Villa Borghese, Rome / Flickr photo by nucksfan604

4- Central Park, New York City

Designed by Frederick Law Olmstead and Calvert Vaux in 1858, Central Park occupies more than 770 acres of city-owned land in the heart of Midtown Manhattan. Designated as a National Historic Landmark, it attracts approximately 25 million visitors each year and serves as peaceful retreat for locals escaping the hectic pace of NYC life. Inside the park, visitors have a wide variety of shaded lanes, open meadows, and rambles to explore – highlights include a picturesque public reservoir, ice-scating rink, Victorian castle, children’s zoo and historic carousel, plus the 6-acre gem of the Conservatory Garden with its French-, Italian- and English-style gardens. Don’t miss an evening at the Delacorte Theatre in summer, where free public performances of Shakespearean classics are held.

Central Park, New York / Flickr photo by Mike Rollinger

5- Gardens by the Bay, Singapore

The tropical city of Singapore is the sight of a major development project currently underway involving the planned construction of three public parks along 94 hectares of prime waterfront land. Upon completion, the Gardens By the Bay will showcase tropical garden landscapes by some of the world’s top international design teams. The master plan for Bay Central has not yet been selected, while Bay South will include floral displays, an outdoor concert arena and cool conservatory complex housing flowers from around the world. The chosen design for Bay East will feature a waterfront landscape incorporating an edible plant garden and boating quay for sports like canoeing, sculling and dragon boat races. Phase one will be completed by 2011, so it’s high time to start planning your Singapore vacation!

Marina Bay Singapore / Flickr photo by _liana