Best kept secret… bring your swimmers and towel when wandering around the old town of Dubrovnik… there are beautiful rocky spots beyond the marina with well maintained steps and railings to ease you into the 25’degree water… lovely! There are also fresh water showers on the city walls. They’ve thought of everything! Plenty of fish, sea urchins all reassuring of clean water x

Gin clear water... temp around 13-14... swans ... and a fisherman! Hell yeh!

Guaranteed to strike fear into the heart of the coldest core. One word: Jellyfish. I've been struggling with these critters for a couple of years now since I've been open water swimming in the sea on the west coast of Ireland. For one or two weeks in a season, these critters get blown in from the deep ocean and they bump up against the coast and the beach just where everybody likes to swim. Watching their numbers suddenly bloom and then gradually decrease. I think the beach and the tide have a natural filtering effect, so halfway through July, there were thousands, and swimming through them was difficult. In mid-August, there was hardly any. I think having a beach close by where they can wash up with each tide is a big plus. If it wasn't for the beach, they'd still be floating around. There's a natural fear of them because, according to the web, all jellyfish are stingers—some more than most. And when we bump into them, they're slimy and they can potentially harm us. On another level, they're kind of cool. When they're not at the surface where you can swim into them, and they're at different layers in the water column, that gives a cool kind of feeling of space flight to your swim. I've got a basic poll below. Have you been stung, or are you lucky and you've escaped the stinging? Of course, there's different types of jellyfish. One day I'll make a compilation of the types that I've seen and photographed. The big one for me this summer was the Lion's Mane jellyfish and I think I got stung in the face by a Lion's Mane. Quite painful. The face had some red swelling, halfway through the swim. As I was still swimming, cold water was on the sting immediately and I just had to keep going. In general, having jellyfish adds to the difficulty of a swim. So when they are not there, you really appreciate a jellyfish-free swim - and when they're there, well, you just have to get stuck in! 🐻

My son and I had a recent 5-day hike in the Swedish mountains around Kebnekaise. Section 1 of the Kungsläden complete! We had an awesome time - check out the photos below. The Kungsläden cannot be taken lightly - distances are enormous and we did the 7-day hike in 5 days. Note to self (for next time): - Take your time (my 18-year-old son and his long legs ate up the miles, but my 50-year-old frame by day 5 was definitely shaken) - pack a lot more lightly (my rucksack weighed 24 kilos at the start!) - Have more saunas - Rather than traditional heavy hiking boots, go with much lighter trail boots, assisted by walking poles - Leave an extra day at the Kebnekaise fjällstation for a walk up Kebnekaise herself - And never grumble at a flushable toilet again!