Bikes and birds

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The drugs seem to be working for Mel today and she is feeling more mobile. The doctor’s orders were to walk as much as possible to try to alleviate the inflammation. With that in mind, we set out for a local parkland, Watchtree nature reserve.

An old WW2 airfield, it has been turned into a wetland reserve with thousands of birds and other animals making it their home. It has more recently become a small wind farm too with a half-dozen huge turbines, blades whistling around in the stiff breeze. The reserve is a really great little place where you can hire bikes, catch tadpoles, feed the birds or do a bit of birdwatching from a couple of hides beside the main lakes. Em tried three different bikes (the bloke even dug out some training wheels for her) but she ended up with the first one – a red trike. She rode ahead while we strolled along the old overgrown and broken runways. We stopped in a bird hide for lunch then continued in a big circuit all the way around the park. We were very impressed with Em riding for about 2 hours all up – what an effort!

The afternoon was spent playing with the toys in our apartment and relaxing as much as possible.

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