The most exciting thing I did was a 20m tree climb. Using ropes, knots and karabiners I climbed right into the tree canopy.
The tree was a 30m high, 200yr old sycamore in Marks Hall Arboretum
I'm the circled one, about to go through the canopy!
Once we'd got to the top (there were 6 adults and 2 children in my group, including the curator of Marks Hall), we did a free-fall abseil back down to earth. This is where you don't put your feet on anything but control the descent through the ropes (picture the SAS climbing down a rope from a helicopter) - it was amazing.
The most challenging thing I did was to make a new deck for in front of my shed. The old one was made of pallets and was rotting.
The reason I need a deck here is because underneath it is a big hole. A old brick lined drainage chamber (old cess pit) which dates from when the houses were first built and before they were connected to the main sewer.
It's about 15ft deep and is not what you want to fall into (although it was very useful for chucking the old rotting wood into!).
The most relaxing thing I did was visit Wicken Fen - I'd not been for many years and it was just as lovely as I remembered it. I took a boat trip along Wicken Lode where we watched dragonflies darting all around.
It was a glorious day and I went for a long walk - ending up at the mere before returning back to the visitor centre.
I also visited Fen Cottage, which is one of the last remaining buildings of the hamlet that once existed by the reserve.
It's constructed of local materials including peat, wood, sedge. reed and clay, all of which would have been harvested from the fen.
It was occupied until 1972 and has been restored pretty much to how it was when the last people lived in it.
The cottage gardens are gorgeous!
It was a lovely, relaxing way to end my fortnight off.
