Wilderness Diary

Sunday was sadly the last day of our trip, but we made a good use of it. In the morning we went rafting on the Soca river which was great fun despite the very cold water (apparently it had 11°C). Arguably one of the best moments of the entire trip was when Nick fell out of the raft, but his leg was stuck, so he was just kind of hanging out of the raft drowning. It took me and the rest of the team a few seconds to figure out what was going on and to pull him back in.

Hello world. We just published a video about our wild adventures in Ukraine this summer, which I wrote about briefly here. But a picture speaks a thousand words, and a video must speak exponentially more, so here I’m going to leave a video produced by two young filmmakers about our WILDArt trip. Nature, art, friendship, culture… it was a bang of a week and this video is a little glimpse into our time there. Please enjoy!

This week was a special one, I experienced the first snow of the year! We’ve had snowfall on the mountains a few times, but this time I got to feel the snow, and make a celebratory snowball and snow angel. Winter is coming! That morning Nick and I were heading to Salzburg for an Erasmus workshop, so that meant… driving over the mountains! My face was pressed against the window in awe, the higher we rose the more snow appeared, until we were driving through the snowfall. I was experiencing random surges of Christmassy feelings with the snow, held in check only by the bass on the radio. And of....

Popping in to mark the passing of seasons Hello world. I’m dropping by to post a little update on volunteering. Life is busy in the office, we’re in the throes of selecting our next volunteer (super exciting), and I’m working on publications, the Wilderness Academy and a few follow up details from Ukraine. For me, busy is good! I like to keep myself occupied, and I enjoy the buzz that comes from knowing that I’m contributing. So I’m happy in this little corner of the world. Of course, being me, I balance the brainwork out with bike rides, a bucket of tea, and lots of reading. Autumn is slowly....

300 wolves in the zoo Sunday morning dawned misty, and we left Tamsweg early in the morning with our backseat full of large carnivores, sheep and dogs… Our destination? Salzburg Zoo! The zoo was celebrating its 10 year anniversary of ‘OZO Artenschutztag’ (Species Conservation Day), so Nick and I were there representing the European Wilderness Society. Decked in our bright orange shirts we stood out from a mile away straight from the start, lugging life size animals and blue fences past all the enclosures and visitors to reach our stand. Especially as I stopped every few minutes to rearrange....

Happy hiking There are lots of good points to living here in Austria; my team, wild and enthusiastic. My work, because I love knowing that I’m contributing to saving Europe’s wildest places… but the third great thing here is the mountains. Yes I talk and write about them a lot, but that’s only because I think they’re marvellous. Recently I went hiking in the Alps, an adventurous, good for the soul hike that made me extraordinarily happy, and if you want to hear more about it then please read on… To set the scene, Verena is driving her jeep, and I’m along for the ride with two other friends....

Ukraine. We drove through Austria, Hungary and crossed the border into Ukraine, saying goodbye to the EU for ten days. It was like we entered a whole new world when we got to the Carpathian Mountains. We drove past forested hills and clear rivers; I stuck my head out the car window and dubbed it the ‘Ukrainian Shire’.

The European Wilderness Society is currently looking for another volunteer to start in Jan/Feb 2019. We’re excited to welcome another wolf into our pack, and put the call out on our website and social media. There’s been a lot of interest (hello to you all!) and we get a lot of questions. I’ve started to repeat myself so enter my solution… a short Q&A. These are all the questions I keep getting asked, and that other candidates may be interested to know about before submitting an application. Is this a funded position? Yes! The volunteer is funded by Erasmus+. Accommodation is covered, and....

An Irish murder and Ukraine on the horizon As an English person, I’d like to open up here with talking about the weather. Because it is HOT in Tamsweg and I am delighted. We’re hitting the point where people are beginning to mumble ‘too hot’, but for me there’s no such thing and I’m just marvelling in how I can leave the house without a coat this week. So surprisingly it’s hot hot hot here. Unsurprisingly, I took my bike out all weekend and cycled the countryside. Since it was sunny I’d find a good spot and read – my book is being extra interesting so this week my subconscious has lived....

A race against Dutch legs and the magic of peanut butter ice cream. Tamsweg is surround by miles of bike trails, glorious paths that take you through valleys, through mountains if you’re ambitious, and always through beautiful scenery. I’ve been enjoying these paths since my bicycle graced my life, and this weekend I set my eye on the Mittebergrunde. It’s a circular route that I can start from Tamsweg, and Nick told me about it. He had cycled it and tracked his ride with an app, and showed me the route, his statistics, and his time. Well, Nick wasn’t here this weekend and the little voice in....

So slow mornings with coffee, followed by a bicycle ride and a dash of sunshine. Dreamy, no? And it was, I did all my favourite things. I cooked and listened to podcasts and talked to friends and family and watched the sky turn pink. But I have a habit of thinking too much when I slow down, and things felt a little bit lonely. Those big questions popped up; what am I doing here? And then imposter syndrome raised its head, and I began to wonder if I even should be here. Because surely there are many others that would be doing a better job than me? A Sunday well spent brings a week of content....

So Monday dawned and I parked myself back in the office, ready for whatever the week wanted to throw at me. I wasn’t at my desk for long before Anni called and asked if I wanted to go back to the Wilderness Camps for more pictures with different school classes, and then pick up a visitor at the station. I didn’t have to be asked twice. A scenic drive, and then over the mountains to Salzburg where we picked up Garry Oye, retired-wilderness director from America, who would be visiting for the next 10 days. Whilst waiting for Garry to arrive I had time to squeeze in a (very) quick walk along the....

Medieval festival, an unconventional workout and an electric fence. Saturday was a case in point of why I love my team, and their wild spontaneity. I woke up to a text from Max asking if I wanted to join them on a trip to Mauterndorf Medieval Festival. I didn’t have to think twice, my answer was a solid yes. Mauterndorf is perhaps the prettiest village in the Lungau, with a castle in the centreof the village. I had been there briefly a few weeks ago when the team all went out for pizza (second reason to love my team, we go out for pizza!) The opportunity to go back was not something I wanted....

A grand library, new friends and 383 billion seconds. It’s been another whirlwind of a week – this time mostly in Vienna. Part of being an EVS volunteer includes arrival training, which is in Austria’s capital of Vienna. The training is useful to help volunteers understand and make the most of their time in Austria, but it’s also an opportunity to meet other volunteers in the country. Also, Vienna. I was rather excited to see and explore the city. The training was Sunday – Wednesday, but I travelled up on Saturday morning to make the most of being in the city. I’d decided not to make a plan....

Flying Fox and a Quest for a Bicycle One of the biggest changes that I’ve had to accommodate into life in Austria, is to let go of routines and planning. I mentioned a few weeks ago that I had to learn to embrace a more spontaneous life because the weather makes planning a hopeless task, but I’ve also come to accept that even without considering the weather, I need to wake up and be ready for anything. Saturday morning is a case in point. I had no idea when I woke up that I would be quite literally flinging myself into the unknown. I woke to an invitation from Max to join them at an end of....

Wednesday was a long day but definitely the highlight of the week – basically a road trip. The Let’s Get Wild project is a school residential project running in Kalkalpen National Park, that allows children to reconnect with and observe the natural environment, and learn about national parks, wildlife, wilderness and skills such as orienteering. It’s an EWS project, and we needed photos for our reports and funding applications, so Verena and I jumped in her jeep and set off for the mountains with a ‘let’s get wild’ banner and our orange EWS shirts. We set off early to arrive before the kids....

Kangaroo-dog, cloudberries and a road trip. My weekend followed the theme of previous weekends – predominantly nature, which I am loving. It involved a long ramble up the Lasaberg, a hill just outside my front door, and a hike in Wießpriach with the EVS volunteers from Salzburg, who had all piled into a bus to visit the Lungau. Nature and good spirits So the Lasaberg is gentle, and covered in pine forest. I headed out in the afternoon up a country lane that followed a stream, zigzagging up the path to inspect everything that drew my eye, before cutting into the hill on a forestry path....

Untrammelled land, positive thoughts and the Sound of Music. It was a busy week (as they are all turning out to be!) I spent my days in the office, a combination of reading, writing and odd jobs, such as creating an inventory for the fencing kits I mentioned last week, and making envelopes for Wilderness certificates (I discovered industrial Sellotape dispensers and my fingers are not a match made in heaven). I also learnt the basics of google earth, and how to create a map with a river path drawn on – in this case a Romanian river, which has been nominated for the designation of WILDRiver....