Question 1
You might well ask what a mother of three was doing in a mud-drenched field with just her fourteen-year-old son, a sleeping bag and fifty-five thousand rock fans. My friends certainly did. Bacically, we had decided to get rid of the family holiday and do things individually, on a one-to-one basis with each of our boys -- be with them and give them lots of attention. Family holidays are all very well if you get on, but my three sons seems to have spent most of the last few years fighting each other, which is not exactly the right atmophere for a nice, relaxing break.
Question 2
    Man: You've just finished your first week nursing, haven't you? What was it like?     Woman: Not quite what I expected. I knew it would be hard work and it would leave me with little energy for other things but I was surprised how interesting it was and there is so much to learn.    Man: What were the patients like?    Woman: They seemed to be all right. I thought I'd have problems in the first few days -- you hear quite scary stories about people getting things wrong, patients complaining, tough bosses. But in fact, when you're working so hard, you don't worry about things like that, you just get on with the job.
Question 3 
Having broadcast an interview with Martin Eaves at the end of last year, we knew what to expect from this book and we've been eagerly awaiting its release. Now we've got our hands on a copy, and it hasn't disappointed. Intrigued by tales of the Vazimba people -- a mysterious tribe in Madagascar, Martin packs his bags and sets off to search out the truth. Madagascan Journey is a fascinating mix of historical detail, adventure and humour. My only reservation concerns the illustrations. The map is sketchy to say the least and, much as I enjoyed the descriptive passages, a few more photos to help me visualise the place would have been welcome. 
Question 4 
Speak to most athletes and they'll tell you how they ran before they could walk and how, by the third year of secondary school, there was no one anywhere near them when they were crossing the finishing line. But Helen never bothered much with running at primary school, and only joined a running club to keep a friend company, and she wasn't the fastest then. Helen didn't win anything last year either, but she isn't complaining as she came away with a bronze medal in the regional championships. She's certainly putting her athletics higher up her list of priorities these days. 
Question 5 
    Man: Where did you go on holiday last year?    Woman: We did a cruise around the Mediterranean.     Man: I went on one once, but I didn't feel comfortable. The cabins were so small. I felt I was trapped.     Woman: Well, we had lots of opportunities to go ashore to explore, although I would've preferred it if we'd had longer in port for more sightseeing.     Man: That's the bit I enjoyed most, being able to get away from the other passengers.     Woman: Actually, that wasn't a problem. I'd expect them to be older than me but that wasn't the case. 
Question 6 
Let me give you an example of what seems to be happening more and more these days. Suppose you learn of two jobs, one with modest pay but good career prospects and another offering a high salary but fewer prospects. You make your decision, only to be lucky enough to be offered a third job in an office near the sea. Suddenly, you are given the opportunity to improve the environment you live and work in, so as a result you are left feeling confused and wondering how best to get that perfect job and lifestyle. 
Question 7 
Ever since I was a little girl in India, I've been prompted by events and my emotions to pick up the pen. Back then, I wrote poems, short stories an songs. I have a very vivid imagination. As far as I can remember, I wrote. In India, when I wrote stories, my teacher used to read them out to the class. But even then, I didn't see this as creative, as no one used that term. I just felt that, since my teacher took the time to read my stories out to the class, they must have been OK.
Question 8 
    Woman: We've left it a bit late this year -- we must get on with sorting out the details.     Man: Yes. There's a lot to do -- get the players up to fitness, invite the parents, print the list of competitors. So, we need to set a date. There's a school trip, isn't there, around that time? We must make sure we don't clash with that.    Woman: No, that's sorted. They're off to Scotland the last week of March. So, as long as we avoid the school's music week at the beginning of the month, we're all right -- the kids should all be free to take part. 
Part 2 
    Interviewer: Our reporter, Jeremy Clark, has been on the move again. We caught up with him under the palm trees on the tropical island called Mape. He's sent us this report.     Jeremy: If you're thinking of having the holiday of a lifetime then I recommend coming here. To appreciate it fully, you need a week or a fortnight, preferably a month. But even after only a weekend, I can't see myself ever wanting to go home. It really is beautiful. Mape has no airport though, and international flights arrive on a larger island nearby. You then take what's known as a water taxi to get to Mape. That adds about another hour on to your journey time, and if there are delays, it can be even longer. There is a helicopter service, but it's expensive and so it isn't included i the price of most holidays to the island.     My hotel, The Palm Beach, is as good as its name. Step outside and you're on the beach. Take a few more steps and you're in the water. What more could anyone wish for? Well, if it's perfection you're after then I suppose you could ask for the car park to be moved a bit further away from the other side of the hotel. If you've got a room on that side, it can be a bit noisy at times.     Another good thing about the position of the hotel is that you can easily drive into Port Mape, the main town, if you want a change. We're not talking bright city lights and discos here -- just a small town with a limited number of shops, but it has a great evening market, which is the highlight of any visit -- full of people, very cheap things to buy and lots going on -- more like a street theatre in some ways.     The scenery and the driving are spectacular. I hired a motorbike one day and drove around. Cars and jeeps are also available. For some reason, however, everyone tends to drive down the middle of the road whichever way they're going, so you never know what you might meet coming round a corner -- very bad for the nerves. And at the northern end of the island, unlike my end, there are mountains, which are lovely, but some very frightening twisty roads. I tell you, I was glad to get back to the peace and quiet of my beach.     And talking about the beach, you know when you look at a holiday brochure and see pictures of idyllic-looking places and you think nothing can really be as good as that? Well let me tel you, it is! There are palm trees at the back for a bit of shade when it all gets too hot, but watch out for falling coconuts! And then there's the white sand and an absolutely clear blue sea. And if you're interested in wildlife, you can see all sorts of seabirds of all shapes and sizes. And the fish are really spectacular. I've never seen such incredible colour! You don't even need a mask or anything -- you can just stand there in the shallow water and watch them at your feet.     There are no water sports at the hotel, but if you walk round the headland to the next day, you'll find diving or windsurfing are on offer. There's not a huge variety, because water-skiing and power boats are both prohibited on the island, and the conditions are not right for sailing.     And finally, the food in the hotel restaurant: simple, fresh and, as far as I can see, most of it's local from the island. We have lots of seafood and fruit. Don't ask me what it is -- most of it is new to me. I thought my local supermarket in London sold a wide variety of stuff, but it's nothing compared to what you get here. It's true that some things like chocolate and ice cream are rather expensive here, but the only thing you can't get for some reason is marmalade. Anyway, I'm not complaining, unlike some people. The couple on the next table to mine haven't got used to the laid-back way of doing things here. It's true that the waiters in the restaurants are quite slow, but who cares, what's the hurry? Give these holidaymakers a few more days in paradise, and I'm sure they'll calm down -- it's that sort of place. 
Speaker 1 
As a child I used to watch my mother adjust her hat in the mirror -- that's when I became fascinated with hats. I could always make things easily, even then, and now I love working the materials with my hands when I'm designing, rather than using machines. The details of the style are everything. Although I have fifteen people working in the studio, I personally design every hat, after consulting with the customer, because it's my touch they are paying for. Sometimes when I'm with one of the big designers, I think, 'Am I really here, sharing ideas with someone I used to read about it magazines? 
Speaker 2 
My work comes from my personal experiences, things that I see. Because I work in photography, there'll often be three months' preparation between having an idea and the end result. Some gallery owners don't appreciate how long it takes to perfect a photographic exhibitions -- so that it creates just the right effect. Now I'm being offered some great opportunities and my reaction is to say yes to everything I'm offered. But I mustn't be unrealistic and overdo it, otherwise my work won't be the same quality. There are so many new designers around, I can't afford to have a bad day. They'd be quick to step in if I did! 
Speaker 3 
I spent years doing ceramics, then I met a sculptor who took me on. He never paid me, but I learnt so much -- I went on from there. When I had a sculpture accepted for an exhibition, I realised that sculpting could earn me a living. Now I sell about fifteen sculptures a year, mainly through personal contacts. You never stop learning. I'm always looking for new textures an shapes. I tried working with marble this year. It took me over three months to complete the piece, so it wasn't very cost effective. But the end result was amazing, considering I'd never tackled anything like that before. 
Speaker 4 
I've always been fascinating by shoes, ever since I saw them being made by hand as a child. Then I met a shoe designer at art college and it all feel into place. I feel it's important for shoes to be not only beautiful but also comfortable. You have to think of the purpose of the design, the lifestyle of the wearer -- that's why it takes so long to complete. When clients come to me and say they can't walk in shoes they bought from the top designers, I know I can do better! There are so many new materials now, but you can't beat a good-quality leather, and the cut makes all the difference. 
Speaker 5 
I've always had a gift for art and so I trained as an Art teacher. Later I moved to Italy and I've been running painting holidays for fifteen years. It's a thrill working with other people's creativity. Many of the people have never painted before -- they're not going to do a masterpiece in their first go, but there's so much talent around. I'm amazed at the kind of work they go on to produce. I still accept commissions, but it takes me a long time to produce a good painting. I'm not really conscious of the practicality of being a commercial artist, I just love painting. 
Part 4 
    Interviewer: Good morning, Ivana. Welcome. We all know the articles you write in our daily newspapers but most of us don't realise that you're doing the same job as you father did.     Ivana: Yes, my father wrote about natural history every week for forty years in a national newspaper. Half a century ago, the newspaper decided that a regular article o natural history might appeal to its readers and it came at just the right time for my father. I had just been born, his third child, and he needed to increase his income. He already wrote the occasional article for another London newspaper, but a new weekly article in a widely read daily newspaper was very welcome.     Interviewer: But he also had a full-time job, didn't he?     Ivana: Yes, he did his writing in the evenings. During the day, he worked at the Natural History Museum doing research into the octopus. Only looking at one kind of sea creature was a very narrow field and he spent hours peering down a microscope in a laboratory to study the tiniest details. Although he would never have chosen to do anything else, it was, in a way, frustrating for him because there was so much more to natural history.     Interviewer: And in his spare time?     Ivana: He continued to read widely about all the natural creatures and plants which interested him, so the articles really became part of his hobby. He used to come home from the museum and then start writing them. It was sometimes difficult for him to find a subject because, at that time, we lived on the outskirts of London, which wasn't really full of wildlife. So at the weekends, the whole family used to go on long bus rides to places like lakes and woods to look at plants and other wildlife.     Interviewer: Why didn't you move to the countryside?     Ivana: I have wondered that, but I suppose it would have been inconvenient in other ways. My father always said that the most familiar animals and birds were often the most exciting, if you took the time to sit and watch them. So, he'd encourage us to take our sketchbooks, but never our cameras. He never told us to search for things which were rare or special to draw, but to enjoy what was there in front of us. I can still remember nearly all the birds and animals whose names I learnt without ever having written them down, and I've still got some of the sketches I did.     Interviewer: We know what career you've gone into, but what about your brothers? You have two, don't you?     Ivana: Yes, I do. Well, when you grow up with a parent who is so devoted to a career, the children usually either follow suit or do something completely different. Although we all did well at school in a range of subjects, both my brothers ended up working with wildlife. They've never had other ambitions in life. At the age of six, I did briefly want to be a ballet dancer, but then I was given a book about butterflies and immediately gave up the idea. I don't remember being put under pressure to follow our father -- it just seemed the obvious thing to do... we didn't really question it.     Interviewer: And your father continued writing for the rest of his life, didn't he?     Ivana: He wrote over two thousand nature articles for the newspaper over forty years, as far as I know never missing a week. As he became less active and could no longer go out looking for subjects, he started to select particular letters from readers asking him things, and wrote about them instead.     Interviewer: And what was your father really like? What are your memories of him?     Ivana: Wherever he was, he always found something to interest him; he could never walk past something without having a look. He had great enthusiasm about his subject and through his writing he was able to communicate to others his fascination with the natural world. And he was never really aware of how successful he was -- how many people read his articles and knew his name. He was just doing what he loved. He would still have done it even if nobody had paid him to.     Interviewer: And we wish you all the best, following in his footsteps.     Ivana: Thank you.