Kyrgyz-British Society Launch

Recently in London I went to the launch of the new Kyrgyz - British Society a smart do in the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Portman Square attended by the ambassador, diplomatic staff, writers, business men, magazine publishers, aid workers and one yurtmaker.
The Society is a new initiative to promote Kyrgyz culture, business opportunities and tourism in the UK. The idea is to arrange various events through the year for Kyrgyz nationals resident in the UK and for anyone else interested in Kyrgyz life, culture and business.
Membership is £50 for the year, the website is still under construction but you will find contact details on the website.

End of Season offers

As the season draws to an end the weather seems to get better and better, with barely any sign of the wet for over three weeks. Visitors have been making the most of the sunshine with early morning dips in the river and at last we get some evenings with a fiery sun setting behind the campfire.

We still have a few vacancies at a special end of season price of £180 for two people for four nights, they are midweek breaks so not ideal for everyone but when the weather is this good you have to  make the most of it. Availability from 12th October - 16th October and from 19th-23rd October.

We close at the end of October and all the yurts come down for the winter. The calender for next year will be going up shortly as will a new Cornish Yurt Holidays website, but for those who like to plan ahead we are already taking bookings for next year.

Bushcraft Availability

Despite the unpredictable weather, so far all the Family Bushcraft days have gone ahead - a little bit of drizzle seems a poor excuse to delay the event. It is bushcraft after all, it's all about feeling at home in nature whatever the weather.

We no longer do the nature walk and instead do Natural and man made Shelters, partly because its more useful in this weather but also alot more fun.

Dominic and Cathy's granite Story Circle beside the De Lank river has turned out to be a wonderful location with the sound of the stream behind and the burning log fire in the centre. As it is on the other side of the farm the only access is in the Land Rover which is a lurching, off road ride along farm tracks which helps wake everybody up before we start.

After shelter building and a quick coffee and juice break we move on to a bit of skewer making before preparing the bannocks. Cooked on sticks over the fire it's hand onbread making without pans and cook pots. Ingredients have ranged from chocolate and cheese together (not great) to cinnamon and sultana and rosemary and cheese.

After sharing out the bannocks so everyone gets to try the different flavours and a short lunch, we move on to fire making, always popular not always easy especially in the rain. It was very impressive to see three out of the four groups make fire from a bow drill ember as the rain poured down around them.

These are family days suitable for all ages over seven,and a very hands on introduction to bushcraft and outdoor living skills.

Spaces still available for the last one on the 24th August at £20 per person for the day.

Last Minute Availability

Has just been booked -Sorry to anyone who has been trying to get through.(Last minute getaway now the sun has finally come out. Due to a very last minute cancellation we have a week in the 18ft oak wood yurt for only £395 ( should be £545 ). week starts tomorrow 7th August. part week also available).

Summer Bushcraft Courses

The day long family Bushcraft courses that we will be runing from next week through the summer holidays have been really popular, with only a few spaces left on the 25th August. We shall be running one in the autumn too , dates to be confirmed.

We have added a Cornish Lobster Pot making course with Dave Drew to our autumn programme (17th Oct). Even if you don' live near the sea , have no boat and no possible chance of using the lobster pot they are beautiful objects that capture the spirit of a not so distant past where we were more capable at living with just the natural resources at our fingertips.The skills learnt on this course can be adapted to make other items, but the pot in itself is a wonderful piece of real craft.

The Berry Picking Basket making course on the 5th September coincides with the backberry, sloe and other wild fruits season. It is a day long course and is a very good introduction to basket making.

Both courses cost £35.

welcome

She is by no means unique in the UK and though she has been here for over three years now it is still a strange sight to open your yurt door in the morning and see a wallaby looking back at you.

Last year she was joined by a male who stayed around until christmas until disappearing ... the joey was born early this year and has only just outgrown its mothers pouch. The male is back on the scene after all the hard work has been done and no doubt has plans to extend his family further.

A previous "wild" wallaby was shot several years ago with a tranquiliser and was unintentionally killed. The wallaby that is here now was almost captured two years ago in front of local news cameras, before the attempt was aborted. For the time being they remain largely unbothered by people, but as their population grows and their collective appetite increases, I wonder what future they will have.

It will be interesting to follow the story of the Loch Lomond wallabies, introduced onto the island of Inschconachan in the 1940's and now numbering over 60 and threatening native species by eating all the vegetation.There is serious talk of a cull which will rival the Hebridean hedgehog cull for controversy.

But we are some years from that dilemma here at the moment with only two and a bit wallabies; we can just watch with wonder as a joey half the size of its mother tries to clamber back into her pouch .

Just a test

This is obviously not very interesting. Just a test post to kick off the Yurtworld blog.

There are many more interesting things to see on our website however. Click here to visit Yurtworks.