All at Sea will shortly really be All at Sea, trying to learn the language of a foreign land. I'm sure there will be days when I miss the greenness and springtime feel of the Swampealand, but will I miss the wet mornings and squelching through the park? That we shall have to see.
In the meantime, Spring has come, and Summer is on its way. The first Bluebells are out, Butterflies are taking wing (Red Admiral and Peacock among others). I spotted a Chiffchaff last week among the scrub in Clyne Valley, but I've yet to see Willow Warbler (probably my failing), or any of the migrant hirundines. Seagulls have been pairing up and the number of bird-strikes on my car has increased!
I have to say I do like this time of year, the first days when you can sit outside with a book and relax, the days when you have to worry about sunburn and the rocks have stopped being too cold to hold for long. That is unless you were up Tryfan 10 days ago in the hail storm and it got cold enough that I was shivering hard and making mistakes in simple things - Time to depart, downwards! I escaped with all my limbs and partner intact, but sacrificed one old tape sling to the abseil-gods in order to retrieve the ropes. A day of driving rain, another of wind, but the trip culminated in a glorious day on Dinas Gromlech, high above the Llanberis Pass, in the sunshine, looking out to Crib Goch and a team working to get the Snowdon railway in condition for the summer visitors. Bliss. Four pitches of the amazing Flying Buttress (D***) including a fun hanging belay over a 200ft drop and some delicate traversing. The day was rounded off, after lunch, but the three pitches of a harder route. The first section 'Dives' working its way up under a diagonal overhang and across a slab running with water was a challenge, while the third 'Better Things' was a corner crack running high up above the world, bridging on the two walls and hoping you wouldn't need to trust those sound gear placements (HS***), would the next hold yield Better Things? Finally I got to sit at the top, appreciating the view, the sun, the stunning location and looking at the little toy cars travelling up and down the pass and swerving to avoid the Cromlech Boulders.
This past weekend I managed to get out onto Gower too and spent a lovely afternoon at Lewis Castle/Fall Bay pushing my body close to the limit and exploring a couple more rock faces in a traditional way.
So that is me, heading on. The usual Greek trip to come, a bit of diver training to fit in, and towards pastures new. Quite appropriately I think, I'm going abroad for Dives and Better Things, if I have The Bottle to improve my French and explore Les Calanque. Maybe I'll just have to blog more often with mundane things and keep everyone informed of my progress.
Tout le monde bienvenue!
In the meantime, Spring has come, and Summer is on its way. The first Bluebells are out, Butterflies are taking wing (Red Admiral and Peacock among others). I spotted a Chiffchaff last week among the scrub in Clyne Valley, but I've yet to see Willow Warbler (probably my failing), or any of the migrant hirundines. Seagulls have been pairing up and the number of bird-strikes on my car has increased!
I have to say I do like this time of year, the first days when you can sit outside with a book and relax, the days when you have to worry about sunburn and the rocks have stopped being too cold to hold for long. That is unless you were up Tryfan 10 days ago in the hail storm and it got cold enough that I was shivering hard and making mistakes in simple things - Time to depart, downwards! I escaped with all my limbs and partner intact, but sacrificed one old tape sling to the abseil-gods in order to retrieve the ropes. A day of driving rain, another of wind, but the trip culminated in a glorious day on Dinas Gromlech, high above the Llanberis Pass, in the sunshine, looking out to Crib Goch and a team working to get the Snowdon railway in condition for the summer visitors. Bliss. Four pitches of the amazing Flying Buttress (D***) including a fun hanging belay over a 200ft drop and some delicate traversing. The day was rounded off, after lunch, but the three pitches of a harder route. The first section 'Dives' working its way up under a diagonal overhang and across a slab running with water was a challenge, while the third 'Better Things' was a corner crack running high up above the world, bridging on the two walls and hoping you wouldn't need to trust those sound gear placements (HS***), would the next hold yield Better Things? Finally I got to sit at the top, appreciating the view, the sun, the stunning location and looking at the little toy cars travelling up and down the pass and swerving to avoid the Cromlech Boulders.
This past weekend I managed to get out onto Gower too and spent a lovely afternoon at Lewis Castle/Fall Bay pushing my body close to the limit and exploring a couple more rock faces in a traditional way.
So that is me, heading on. The usual Greek trip to come, a bit of diver training to fit in, and towards pastures new. Quite appropriately I think, I'm going abroad for Dives and Better Things, if I have The Bottle to improve my French and explore Les Calanque. Maybe I'll just have to blog more often with mundane things and keep everyone informed of my progress.
Tout le monde bienvenue!
Looking forward to hearing all about it. Best of luck in your new endeavour!
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