map and thesis (part 6)

And the end is here. Finally after 6 weeks of hiking, climbing, observing, noting, interpreting and sweating 90% of the time, I am finally back home in sunny Twyford. I say sunny because I was hoping for it to be cool and maybe even rain but actually it's 31°C so the sweating has continued.

The final few days consisted of tidying up my work and doing some last minute data collection, all good stuff to help bolster the thesis which is making good progress at the moment (well, the introduction is done anyway). Early on in the trip, we decided to end the whole adventure with a day or so in Barcelona. I remembered from my time inter-railing that a fast train from Madrid to Barcelona stops in Zaragoza. Ideal then that we could drop off the cars and then catch the train and lucky that I managed to get fairly cheap tickets on the internet.

Barcelona is not a new place for me. In fact it is the 4th time I have visited. In line with wanting to keep the trip as cheap as possible, we decided to book a hostel. Using the good old hostelbookers website (a favourite of mine) lead us to a 'very nice looking' hostel close to the Plaza Catalunya which is effectively the Trafalgar Square of Barcelona and therefore smack bang in the middle of everything we needed. All seemed perfect until we arrived at the hostel. I will not name names as it was not the most terrible place I have ever visited and actually, despite the strong smell of BO and weed, the guys we first bumped into all seemed very nice. Indeed, within 30 seconds they had invited us to a festival. However, the general feel of the place was just grim. The bed was grim, the loo was awfully grim, the shower was grim (and had things growing on the base). I like to review everywhere I go on TripAdvisor as actually it has provided a really great service to me when travelling but here I am torn. I want to give it a bad review but the people (who all seemed to work in the hostel - it was strange) were so friendly that I would feel a bit guilty. Decisions eh!

The beach, Barcelona

As we only had a day, it was nice to just relax and have drinks (a fair few), eat good Spanish food at the famous Bilbao Berria (my absolute favourite Spanish restaurant) and walk around the beach. As it was a Monday, most of the museums and such were all closed as is common practise in Europe. 

Tuesday came and it was finally time to get home. The usual airport monotony was stirred up by listening to some loud mouthed scouse 'girls' (covered in tattoos, piercings and an unpleasant expression etc) trying to convince everyone why they needed to skip the queue for passport control in their own unique way. Lucky me also got to experience two delayed trains on arrival in the UK, typical really. So that is the end of that. As mentioned in earlier posts, now is the time to start writing up all of my observations and then using knowledge I already have and with lots of reading, I can make my scientific interpretations. This will be the bulk of my thesis and I have a few months from now to get in the first draft.

As for my blogs, I have a family camping trip coming up this weekend which probably won't warrant a post as all we do is sit, chill and chat. I have a dinner in Oxford next week and my dearest mother is going to visit so as you can see, not a hugely interesting few weeks to come. The next big adventure for me will be my tour of Asia starting in early September for 3 weeks. I plan to visit HK, China, Japan and Singapore and of course, I will have to write about my experiences there with lots of photos to enjoy.

Until then :D

map and thesis (part 5)

I am writing this with just 2 days of mapping left to go. Slightly out of synch for what I would have liked to do however, life currently is just a countdown to heading home. For those who are interested in the geological part of this little adventure of mine, it is still confusing. Unfortunately as mentioned in previous blog posts, lots of small forests have grown all over the area completely covering everything. With such low levels of exposure we are near enough guessing what is happening. In the adult world of geology, they would have more equipment to bore down and collect samples, have access to chemical analysis etc but alas, we just have our maps and coloured pencils. Either way, it is almost done and I actually think I will have a decent (first attempt) map to hand in. The hassle now is writing the thesis. My upcoming trip is going to include some typing during flights I think. 

On the social side, we managed to take a day off to visit the historic city of Pamplona. In all honesty, it was much smaller than we thought so also visited the fort town on Jaca, town that can also trace  its routes back to Roman times and is famous for its 16th century fort. 

The Cathedral of Royal Saint Mary, Pamplona

Spain is certainly a beautiful country but one has to wonder sometimes how it manages to function. Despite Pamplona being the capital of Navarre, it was such a quiet place. Bars and cafes were open but when you walk down some of the side streets it just appears deserted. The city is also famous for its bullfighting but this happened a few weeks past and now the very large stadium that hosts the event was closed and didn't offer the chance to look inside. I could not even get a good photo as the outside is surrounded by trees!

Since writing this blog I have not mentioned the fact that I have been driving, a function that none of my family would have thought me capable of. I passed my driving test through the army more than 5 years ago. The course they sent me on in order to get my license was up to two weeks long but with the option to take a test after the first week. Monday to Thursday consisted of meeting our (two of us had to share a car - can not remember the other guy though) very strange driving instructor who really did not seem interested in teaching. We would drive around a bit, do some manoeuvring then swap over and do it all again. My test was on the Friday, I did not feel ready. Upon meeting the driving assessor on the Friday morning I thought we could get this fail over and done with nice and quickly. We drove out of camp, went around some roads and parked on a hill where the assessor instructed me to turn off the engine. He then started to chat to me about my regiment, about his old regiment and his time in Northern Ireland. 15 minutes later I started off again with a hill start, drove in a loop and back into camp where he then assessed my parking (which consisted of me driving straight into the starting point). 11 minors later (unsure where they came from) and I had my pass. Boom! Luckily did not have to drive again....until now.

This would not normally sound very encouraging to most but actually it has been very simple (aided by the car being automatic) and nobody has died of fright from my dangerous driving.

So what is next. Sunday I head to Barcelona for two days of doing no geology at all. Tuesday I fly home and have a few days before heading off on a family camping trip to my fathers favourite place. More on that to come soon I think.

So sum up this post, here is a photo of a really neat little village we saw whilst driving to Pamplona that looks like Rohan from LoTR, it is built on a small hill and everything!

Until next time :)

map and thesis (part 4)

Only a short blog today as with only two weeks of fieldwork left to go, the week was dominated by a visit by my supervisor, Professor Charlie Bristow. The initial worry turned out to be unnecessary as he actually said my work was very good BUT, it appears both me and my mapping buddy made quite a big mistake in that we missed an entire formation (sigh!). Not to worry though as it turns out that in the ten years since he was last here, a small forest seems to have grown over all of the exposure and in the places where did did 'see it' we called it something else. Anyway, problem solved and ready to move on.

Much needed selfie before hiking around in the Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park.

To that end I do not really have much to talk about this week other than the 13 hour Geo Tour we did yesterday (Friday 5th) which included visiting some geological sites located close to scenic Spanish towns, a quarry that was once the start of a very large basin millions of years ago and finally a trek to the crystal blue waters of the Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park (at almost 1800m above sea level).

I have some photos in my Google Photos but I have never in my life seen such clear blue water. 

The day culminated in some fossil hunting in mudrocks from the mid-Eocene, I was fortunate enough enough to find a very good Echinoderm fossil (photo below, pen is for scale). So overall a hugely useful visit from my supervisor who managed to clear up nearly 3 weeks of confusion within an hour of arriving. Now I have 2 weeks to correct the errors made and finish off the final few field-slips. The stressful part is only just beginning though as I have to write the thesis. With my little Asian tour coming up in September and my draft being expected by late November, I have had to start drafting my thesis now. Not my favourite past time after a long day in 30° heat but needs must and all that.

One part of this whole degree that has started to niggle in my mind is the viva at the very end. Rumour has it that the main topic for the viva is the map and thesis. The examiner is expecting a thorough and proven understanding of the geology around the area, the tectonics affecting it etc. I can honestly say that until yesterday(ish), I was completely bamboozled. By the end of these two weeks I hope to have it cleared up.

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My dead fly count: demi-god level

Andy's dead fly count: god level

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map and thesis (part 3)

3 weeks down, 3 to go. I can not make up my mind on whether it has gone quickly or slowly but it has been a steady routine of waking up, driving there (I am getting much better at driving), climbing up steep paths to map and then heading back home. We normally have to finish for around 2.30pm as it becomes too hot to work beyond that point.

I was asked a question about what I get up to in my daily life here as I have not said much about it. In all fairness there is a reason, my day is pretty boring. The main effort is all about finding out the rock types and where they change from one to another (this creates the map), then we have to describe what we see, sketch it and using our (very limited) geological knowledge, interpret what we think is going on. On the evenings I tidy up my notes, colour in my map where needed, browse youtube, and attempt to start typing up my thesis notes in order to save some time later in the year.

Week 3 included some cultural visits. The first was to the Castillo de Loarre, a medieval castle complex built between the 11th and 12th centuries and basically unused since the 15th century. It was one of the final bastions against Moorish rule and acted as a staging ground for the Kings of Aragon to start taking back land from the Moors. A thoroughly enjoyable visit for just €4 and a chance to see something that we rarely see in the UK. The views from this castle are stunning and I have more photos in my Google Photo gallery.

The second cultural visit was to Zaragoza, the capital city for the Autonomous Community of Aragon and 5th largest city in Spain. Another beautiful city to add to my growing list of explored places, Zaragoza has been around since Roman times and indeed shows very well preserved Roman ruins, Moorish buildings from its time under a Muslim kingdom after the downfall of the Caliphate of Cordoba and the medieval Spanish architecture when the Aragonese controlled it through to modern times. Photos are again available in my gallery. Whenever I travel to a new city, I normally make a visit to the cathedral or basilica priority. Zaragoza was no different and visiting the Catedral-Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar (Cathedral-Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar) was an amazing experience albeit suffering my usual levels of annoyance at disrespectful tourists. The day culminated in some great tapas and of course, a night out. We decided to stay in a hostel so that we could enjoy a few drinks without having to worry about driving. I quite enjoy staying in hostels as they usually have a friendly atmosphere and sometimes, bar crawls can develop in the hostel bar. Alas, that did not happen this time as the bar was closed till 10 but the place did not even seem to be that busy. An ideal location for us either way and an enjoyable visit. 

In other news, I lost my job due to poor performance over the exam period and have no way to appeal as it was a 0 hour contract. Ah well, I now have more time to play the Elder Scrolls or some other game (and do uni work of course). The next few days will be the same as usual but we will be having a visit from our supervisor. If my next blog post is sad in its feel then it is because he has shredded my work to bits and I have to do it again (insert crying emoji).

We shall see. Until then.... :)

on studying (part 2)

So what are the problems with university? Lack of routine? Student? I suppose moving from a job where I did not really have that much freedom and always knew where I needed to be, at what time I needed to be there and what I needed to do made life much more simple albeit restricted. After leaving the army I found myself having for the first time in a long while, much more responsibility for myself (but more about that in my army blog).

So, I am now at uni aged 26 so slightly older than most people that would usually be attending uni...or so I thought. One of the special things about Birkbeck is that it is designed for older people who have careers but want to study in their free time in order to change careers or just because they are interested. It is quite unique, I mean for example, we have a guy who started in the same year as me (but is doing a slower course) who is a successful sort of chap working in the City of London BUT has an avid interest in other planets and space so is doing a certificate in planetary geology just for the shear fun of it. This unique situation means that actually I was not the oldest around and actually my short military career paled in comparison to the wide plethora of jobs people had. None of that mattered though, we were all there to look at rocks in the end.

Back to the problems. I had no routine now. I knew I had to attend lectures and I had work to do but nobody made me go and I certainly would not be punished for not showing up. It is strange for a 26 year old to suddenly have to develop a very fast sense of self-discipline. I always felt that I had it anyway but looking back, when in the army, if we could get away with not doing something then we would jump at the chance as we knew that some other crap job would be around the corner soon and the time off would slowly or suddenly dry up. Added to this was the sudden drop in cash. Luckily I have a job moderated for some certain websites but won't say anymore on that (:P) and I am in the OTC (another blog) and of course, student loans help. I am very fortunate that I do not have to pay tuition fees thanks to the Conservative/Lib Dem coalition pushing through the military covenant into law essentially saying that those without degrees who have done 5 years or more can get one for free.

Although I do like the university I go too, it also comes with problems, mainly that despite paying £9k a year in tuition fees we do seem to have to fork out an awful amount of money on extras such as all of the field classes. Being a uni that is geared for working adults, it sometimes forgets that it has full time students who are dependent on this degree to get a job. That said, we have some of the best lecturers around. Many of the professors are hugely approachable and you do not need to have a month long wait to chat with them.

Anyway, uni is great and well worth being there. One more year to go.

on studying (part 1)

As you may have read from an early blog post, I left the army in 2014 and decided to pursue an academic career. I have another post to write on my time in the army so I won't go into details now however there was a need for a definite shift from what I did (Tactical Communications) to what I wanted to do. At school I did a GCSE in Geology and loved it, after all who really can not be impressed by how dynamic our own planet is. You can go for a walk in the countryside, the beach, a mountainous and appreciate the beauty of what you see around you but can probably not appreciate how it came to be there. I found this all very fascinating and since completing that GCSE have also held a deep background interest in all of the Earth Sciences.

I should write something on Geology from my perspective before I talk about studying in general. Most people hear the word and say rocks but in fact it is so much more, in fact although the degree is called Geology, a more accurate description used in the academic world now is Earth Science (but I will stick with Geology for traditional purposes). Rocks is in my opinion a small part in what is a very vast subject that includes all the main staples of science - Biology, Chemistry and Physics - but also compliments humanity subjects such as geography and to an extent, history (I once read a book about how myths and legends of various cultures throughout human history have been influenced by the local geology - e.g. the volcano Mt Vesuvius in Greek mythology). Geology brings it all together and finds out why.

So I was set on what theme I wanted to do, now I just needed to find a university that would take me along with my poor A Levels. I have to admit to doing poorly in my A Levels as I was already set on joining the Army but I did not want to be a junior soldier (younger than 18) so needed to do something in the mean time. Looking back I wish I had done better but looking forward, it does not really matter now. I had to apply through UCAS but making the point in my statement about being a mature student (I was 26). Most universities look kindly on mature students as we work harder apparently, also because when I did my A Levels there was no such thing as A* so not possible to achieve anyway.

The universities - Birmingham, Royal Holloway, Leeds, Birkbeck and Brighton.

Brum said no (in less than 24hrs) because of grades. Leeds said yes but to do a foundation year with them first. Brighton said yes with no conditions. Royal Holloway became a sore spot for me. It is a great university set in a stunning campus. I went for an interview and the department basically said that wanted me but because I had been out of formal education for so long they wanted me to do an access course - not a problem I thought, I even got the army to pay for it. 6 months of access course later and a distinction grade overall with the Open University I thought I was in BUT....the admin people at Royal Holloway told the Earth Science department they could not take me because my results were too late (they came about 3 weeks after A Levels results). Bastards! (but much love to the department head who emailed me to say sorry that it could not work out).

So here I am at Birkbeck College, University of London. A uni that most people associate with older folk coming in the evenings to partake in some late life learning. This is true in many cases however what most people do not realise is that actually Birkbeck ranks 6th overall in the country for Earth and Planetary Science (another cheeky plug) and the course is accredited by the Geological Society of London - our sciences professional academic body - which actually knocks quite some years off getting chartership. We have some pretty eminent professors too who actually enjoy teaching and getting a meeting with them does not take 4 months and a piece of your soul.

Life at Birkbeck as a full time student is enjoyable with some decent perks (one such perk being the people) but of course has some major issues in my most humble of opinions.

Those and more for another time I think. Until then....

Assessed Field Techniques 2, Scourie (Scotland), 2016

map and thesis (part 2)

Week 2 is almost over yet I can not make my mind up on whether I have been here for ages or actually it is going quite quickly. To start with, I did promise some pictures so will add my favourites here that are also included on my Google+ site and Instagram (cheeky plug) with a quick description of what they could be (only just finished second year remember, not an expert yet). In terms of my actual work for the Map and Thesis, I guess the confusion has ever so slightly subsided however we have definitely picked a challenging area to map. For those who are keen geologists or just enjoy looking at rocks and stuff, this area appears on the outside to have it all. The problem occurs when you try to get to it and you have to fight your way through the sharpest nettles I have ever encountered OR as you get closer to an exposure (an outcrop of exposed rock) you actually realise it is on a vertical drop. All of this added the fact that we see a beautiful, thorn-free path from the distance and as we get closer, it actually was not a path or even better, is prohibited access has made the mapping area a challenge for sure but immense fun!

Ok, picture time...

So here we have me trying to look cool on top of Mallos de Riglos in the very Southern end of my mapping area which is essentially an Alluvial Fan. I had the great pleasure of having to climb up to get to the top and record some stuff about it.

A very beautiful thrusting / folding limestone formation next to Embalse de La Peña on the very Northern end of my mapping area. Unfortunately, no way to climb it (apart from directly up and that is not going to happen).

Overall a successful week, we managed to basically cover the whole North to South walk along the Western side of the River Gállego trying to interpret what actually happened here. It's a funny world looking at it from a geologists perspective as you have to imagine these huge formations of rocks being slowly pushed over each other or against each other creating all the complex geometries that I have the privilege to look at. It does take some imagination along with the scientific logic that I am trying to develop.

So what else? I was made to eat my own words recently as before deploying to Spain, I told the group of guys and girls that I am mapping with that it would not rain as we are in the North and it's hot and will be dry and roasting and I promise etc etc. Well, 80% of my statement was correct, most days have been 30°+ but this week we did witness quite a substantial thunder and lightning storm with very heavy rain that lasted for quite some hours, prior to that we had been out on the mapping area in our summer outing clothes so got appropriately soaked. My bad.

Another photo,

A yet unidentified fossil mould found in some limestone, worth a mention as it is such a good specimen.

Credit: Todd Downing (my mapping partner)

I also celebrated turning 28 this week. I must confess that I am not used to doing much for my birthdays as all but 1 since joining the army at 19 turned out to also be 'working days'. This one was sort of a working day but at least I am in Spain and not back in Afghanistan (like I was for my 24th) or training for Afghanistan (like I was for my 21st) or on royal guard / barrack guard or other duties / work (like I was for my 20th, 22nd 23rd, 25th and 26th). I did have my 27th off but that was because I was on resettlement leave - please forgive the rant. Either way, my uni friends here took me for dinner and paid. I was happy.

The final big news of the week was exam result. I might as well jump straight into this and say that although I am happy with getting a high 2:1, I am disappointed at being 3% off a 1st. Still, I can only blame myself for immersing myself too much into my role as the Senior Under Officer at the OTC (another blog on that) but it was also a dodgy year with an unwanted break up, still trying to find a good routine (it is so hard to re-establish once you lose it) and a general lack of confidence going into the exams. Still it means that a 1st is in sight with some extra work on next year's modules.

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My dead fly count: approx 25 confirmed kills

Andy's dead fly count: lost count

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More photos on my Instagram (twd1988) and my Google Photos

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