GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND - Clean Breaks: 500 New Ways to See the World - page 16

small ecolodge, but CAT is a sprawling visitor
attraction and research station that pulls in over
sixty thousand visitors a year.
We could go on, but go see for yourself. Whether
you go to CAT for a week-long education course,
an intensive weekend or just to stroll about for
an afternoon, it's likely you'll leave, scratching
your head, thinking “I could do that”.

Need to know The Kingfisher Trail is Route 91 of
the National Cycle Network. For maps and details
of where to hire bikes along the route see W www.
cycletoursireland.com. The nearest train stations
to the trail are at Sligo and Carrick-on-Shannon.
Greenbox: W www.greenbox.ie.

017 eCo-SteeRiNG at luSty
Glaze, CoRNwall

Need to know The nearest train station is
Machynlleth, 5km south of the visitor centre.
Admission is half price if you arrive by public
transport. Further info on getting there, as well as
courses, membership and local accommodation is
at W www.cat.org.uk; T [phone].

It's billed as an eco-adventure, but getting “back
to nature” is the last thing on your mind when you
peer over a 10m cliff and see how far you have to
jump into the sea below. As you step off the rock, be
sure to jump out as far as you can, leaning forward
with your legs tucked together and your body
upright. When you hit the water your buoyancy
aid lessens the impact but you can still turn a full
somersault underwater. You'll emerge bobbing like
a buoy and grinning like a dolphin.
Cliff-jumping is just one of the activities you do
on a day's “eco-steering” at Lusty Glaze Outdoor
Adventure Centre in Newquay. It's a green
spin on the coasteering craze, which involves
swimming along the coast (in a wet suit and
with a helmet), scrambling up barnacle-covered
rocks and throwing yourself from a height into
water. On an eco-steering trip, the emphasis is as
much on education as it is on adrenaline. You're
given an insight into the marine life that lives
among the sea caves, blowholes and rocks along
a stretch of spectacular Cornish coastline. So
expect to get up close to slimy molluscs, identify
seabirds that perch in the steep cliffs and learn
about the seals, dolphins and basking sharks
that visit the waters of southwest England. And
expect to get exhilarated in the process.

016 CyCle the kiNGfiSheR
tRail, iRelaNd

Ireland's mountains might put off all but
the hardiest cyclist, but choose your route
carefully and you can enjoy days of pedalling
along relatively flat cross-country terrain. The
Kingfisher Trail is Ireland's first long-distance
cycle route and covers some 370km across the
vast network of lake-lands through the border
counties of Fermanagh, Leitrim, Donegal, Sligo,
Monaghan and Cavan.
The trail is designed as two loops in a figure-
of-eight so you can explore the trail from a few
days up to a week. There are thigh-busting
sections over the Drumlins, but you can also
choose to pedal alongside canals, through forests,
across windswept heath, over sandy beaches and
along meandering country lanes. The northern
loop encircles the Lower Lough Erne, while the
southern loop runs between Upper Lough Erne
and Lough Allen. There are also shorter circular
routes for day-trippers and young cyclists.
The trail is administered by Greenbox, an
organization that develops ecotourism projects
and sets standards for green accommodation and
activities across the Emerald Isle.

Need to know For details of activities at the
Adventure Centre, as well as accommodation and
dining options, see W www.lustyglaze.co.uk; T +44
(0) 1637 872 444. The centre is a member of
CoaST, the Cornwall Sustainable Tourism Project,
which organizes various initiatives linking tourism
with the local environment: W www.cstn.org.uk.