Ike’s 2020 Adventures & Geography Cat’s year in review

Geography Cat’s official stunt double Ike has travelled over 140 000 miles throughout 2020, more than most of the rest of the GC community put together. Here is a round up of Geography Cat’s 2020 posts for you to enjoy.

January

Ike began the year with Sara and Ray, on a short break in north Wales, including Llandudno, Caernarfon Castle and Betws-y-coed, before going home with them to Leeds and enjoying some excellent day trips to the Bowes Museum and Sandal Castle (pictured) amongst others:

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Then he went to Kefalonia in Greece with Sandra & Keith where he wore his newly crocheted trunks as he wandered around Argostoli Harbour and learned about loggerhead turtles:

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Next it was off to Cyprus with Tam & Anthony to have a nap at Ayia Napa, Mandria Beach, and Cape Greco:

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Then to Gozo in Malta, with Cheryl and Roger. Here Ike visited Xagrhra, Nadur and Ramla Bay, he saw the ancient Citadel in Victoria, the Ta’Kola Windmill, and the collapsed Azure Window sea arch:

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Back to Britain for an outdoor pursuits weekend in Derbyshire with Geography Cat’s Auntie Sally who took Ike mountain biking, zip-wiring and abseiling:

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Next it was off to Northumberland with Heather & Mark who took Ike to see the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, Warkworth Castle and some petrified tree stumps on Amble Beach before introducing Ike to the lovely Lady of the North at Northumberlandia:

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February

Ike’s first posts in February were of his adventure in San Diego with Cheryl & Roger. They barely caught their breath as they visited every site they could, including Torrey Pines State Reserve, Mission Beach, Balboa Park, La Jolla Cove, San Diego Zoo and the USS Midway:

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Then it was back to Britain to go to London with Ellie who showed him St Paul’s Cathedral, the Imperial War Museum, and Greenwich where Ike had chance to stand on the Meridian:

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Ike was delighted to be whisked off to India with Deb and Richard, where he almost saw the Taj Mahal, and hailed a rickshaw:

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March

In March Ike joined Geography Cat’s own humans, Alison and Pete, on their holiday to Iceland. They walked through Þingvellir and marvelled at Gullfoss, enjoyed the views from Vik, and learned about geysers at the original Geysir and the new Strokkur:

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As soon as he got home, Ike flew straight off to join Sue and Tom in Minnesota where he saw snow sculpture of Walvis the Whale:

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Sue & Tom took Ike with them on their vacation to Oaxaca, Mexico for a bit of sunshine and history. They saw some beautiful churches, beaches and towns, as well as learning about the pre-Hispanic culture of the region:

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April

Ike enjoyed a rest for most of April whilst Geography Cat was immortalised as an Easter Egg by internet Cat Reporter Katniss:

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Geography Cat also held a lookalike competition:

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And Mike stepped up with a post from Scarborough, including an original map by GC follower Kath and several postcards of this popular northeast coast destination:

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Ike’s earlier trip to Raglan, New Zealand was posted, where he stayed with Julia and learned about the lifecycle of the monarch butterfly and local extinct volcano Mount Karioi:

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May

Sara’s trip with Ike to Norway and Svalbard was posted, and helped cool the temperature with husky sledding at Tromsø, views of Svalbard, the Northern Lights, and a very bracing snow mobile ride:

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June

Keith & Sandra took Ike with them to Poland, and visited the Wieliczka Salt Mine, and other sites in and around Krakow:

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Then it was back home to Blighty for a while, and Heather showed Ike the sights of the city of Leeds:

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Ike had visited Fenji in New South Wales, Australia at the turn of the year, and she introduced us to the organisation Picking up the Peaces, which helps raise awareness and provides preventative education to combat the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder. She showed Ike some traditional Aussie hospitality and took him along to help rebuild a family home destroyed by the bush fires, as well as a trip to Canberra by train:

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July

Ike’s trip to Iceland with Helen & Traff was purrfectly timed, just as the first lockdown ended. They gave Ike a much more extensive tour than he’d enjoyed earlier in the year, including trips to Hveradalir & Hveravellir, Húsavík, Hrísey, Akureyri & Goðafoss, Hólar, and many more:

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August

Jimena and Ike explored Tasmania together, inclusing Sarah Island, Eaglehawk Neck, the West Coast Wilderness Railway, and they even met some Tasmanian devils, wombats, and little blue penguins.

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September

Ike felt very fortunate to see Mont St Michel when he managed to get away to Normandy for a few days with Roger and Cheryl, they also saw some other beautiful places including the Château de Fougères, Saint Cyr-du-Bailleul et Château de Lassay, and Fosse Arthour:

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After his French adventure Ike was ready to meet up with Languages Cat, and humans Sharon & Gareth for a tour of Pembrokeshire which included investigations of flood defences, coastal landforms, castles and prehistoric monuments:

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Then Ike caught a few days with Sara, who took him out for some day trips, including a walk to Meanwood where he learned about Captain Oates, the Bowes Museum to see the Gallé cats, artworks at Beningbrough Hall, and history at the Abbey House Museum, and a presentation about Emmeline Pankhurst at Headingley Library. They also saw the Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh in London, and Ike made a landmark quiz.

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October

Ike spent the month in New Zealand, firstly with Chelsea, in and around Wellington, including the coast, a Van Gogh Exhibition, learning about native ferns at the Otari Wilson’s Bush, a visit to the home of New Zealand author Katherine Mansfield, and meeting some famous local cats.

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And secondly, with Di on the Kapiti Coast, which included visits to the Whakarongotai Marae/ Waikanae Marae, the Paetawa flax mill, the Ngā Manu Nature Reserve:

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Meanwhile back home, GC turned his paw to pumpkin carving:

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November

Ike spent the month in Yorkshire, firstly walking around the city walls of York with Helen & Traff, who also showed him the York cat trail, and St Nicholas’ Fields, before examining flooding on the River Ouse and seeing the Walmgate Stray.

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No sooner was he done in York than Ike found himself driving around the rest of the county on the Yorkshire Job with Jo & Ross, including stops at the Hebden Bridge and Haworth, the Blacksheep Brewery and the Tan Inn, Castle Howard and the coastal town of Filey.

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Ike’s visit to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park with Jo & Ross inspired Mike to share his photographs too:

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Ike’s Aventures Volume 1 was released in November too, and he’s already working on Volume 2:

December

At the beginning of the month Geography Cat put together some photographs from one of Ike’s very first adventures, which was to Arizona with Greg, where he saw the Grand Canyon, the Barringer Crater (aka Meteor Crater), Antelope Slot Canyon and Wupatki National Monument, and more:

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Then Ike joined Birgitt in Vienna where she showed him monuments to great composers in the Zentralfriendhof, the Schönbrunn Palace, a two part city tour, and Kurpark Oberlaa before finishing off at the Belvedere.

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Geography Cat’s quarterly magazine, which started out as an A4 newsletter but grew into Mews, was launched to GC Supporters a few days before Christmas:

And finally, a tour of North Yorkshire with Heather & Mark, which will take us into 2021:

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Thank you to all of Ike’s hosts for sharing their adventures with Ike, and therefore, with the whole Geography Cat global community:

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If you think you’d like to take Ike away with you, or show him around your home region why not read what it’s really like to travel with Ike.

Postcards

It’s not been an easy year for people to send postcards, but amazingly a lot of you have managed to keep the project going and Geography Cat is very grateful to you for helping the Paw Print Map continue to grow:

Best wishes to everyone for the New Year 2021