Roes, raspberries and rockyroads -

I am very lucky to live ten minutes away from a deer park.

It’s one of my favourite places on the planet. I’ve been going several times a year since I was maybe four and so a week away from my 23rd birthday, and having just got back yesterday from three months spent in the jungles of Malaysian Borneo, it was pretty much inevitable that with the sun shining, we’d end up at the deer park.

I’m still in that ‘eat eat and eat some more’ phase that follows a field season and so Esme made some delicious rocky roads to take along. With a flask of tea and a box of a raspberries to boot, we were ready to find ourselves some deer.

It’s not very hard. Unlike in the rainforest, where you usually only get a glimpse of a mammal’s disappearing rump through the trees (which is what makes those longer encounters all the more magical), the deer at the deer park are rather tame. You can get to within a couple of metres of them.

We sat and watched the sun lower in the sky and the deer scratching their velvety antlers on the ground nearby.

Whether you 10 or 10,000 km from home, it’s always nice to get out into wild places. And, like all things in life, it’s even better when you have snacks.