This past weekend I did something very unlike my usual cautious self. I went on a Wales adventure weekend, which entailed doing many outdoor and risky activities for fun. All I could gather from the website was that there would be a lot of jumping off of cliffs. AHH!! The only reason I even went on this weekend was because I won the trip for half off from my school here in London. I’m glad I won it because it would never be something that I would willingly book myself…but I’m glad I went! The downside was that none of my flat mates or friends wanted to pay the full price so I had to go all by myself, which made the impending adventure-ing even scarier. But I’m proud to say I successfully got myself to Wales and back and had lots of fun! (all pictures for this month are in the November Gallery)
I left for Wales on Friday afternoon. It was going to be almost a seven-hour train ride (on two trains) to get there so needless to say, I had a lot of time to read my novel for class. I arrived in Pembrokeshire, Wales at about 7:00 and the adventure company had a taxi waiting for me with a jolly Welsh driver who was super chatty. He actually made my welcome very nice because he assured me that everyone he drives to the Preseliventure Lodge (that is the name of the adventure company) always comes back and they haven’t lost one yet. When I arrived at the lodge, one of the employees showed me to my room, which was in a separate sleeping house apart from the kitchen/lounge lodge. The sleeping house was very cute and each room looked like a room out of a little bed and breakfast cottage or something. For Schnobrich/Hunstiger ladies: it looked like many of the quaint houses we’ve been to for EstroFest. I got a room to myself! For someone like me, that is always a good thing!
Jo, the employee, made spaghetti and meat sauce and garlic bread for dinner and brownies and ice cream for dessert. All the food over the weekend was homemade and so delicious! The only other people at the lodge on Friday were four ladies who were celebrating a 5oth birthday. Three of them were British and one was Scottish. We all ate dinner together and they were just a hoot! They were all moms and one of the purple bluish hair!! Just a riot! There were other students form a different American University scheduled to get in late that night.
In the morning, there was fresh coffee (served with only milk though!), eggs, toast, bacon, cereal, fruit, and like six different juices. Their tea and coffee section was always open and had a little tin of biscuits that was always freshly stocked. We met our instructors after breakfast, one of whom looked like a thin James Corden so no complaints there, and found out that our first activity of the day was Coasteering. Now, if you’re like me, you may think what is a coasteer? But I shortly realized that the word basically means playing around on the coast, like going coast-ing, but coasteering, like mountaineering. We had to get completely suited up in already wet and cold wet suits, little neoprene shorts and tank, neoprene socks, tennis shoes, gloves, a helmet!, and a life jacket. This took forever and was definitely the hardest part of the entire weekend. Wet suits have no give when they are wet and once I was fully attired I felt like a neoprene sausage. Then we loaded onto the bus and drove 10 minutes away to The Blue Lagoon.
I left for Wales on Friday afternoon. It was going to be almost a seven-hour train ride (on two trains) to get there so needless to say, I had a lot of time to read my novel for class. I arrived in Pembrokeshire, Wales at about 7:00 and the adventure company had a taxi waiting for me with a jolly Welsh driver who was super chatty. He actually made my welcome very nice because he assured me that everyone he drives to the Preseliventure Lodge (that is the name of the adventure company) always comes back and they haven’t lost one yet. When I arrived at the lodge, one of the employees showed me to my room, which was in a separate sleeping house apart from the kitchen/lounge lodge. The sleeping house was very cute and each room looked like a room out of a little bed and breakfast cottage or something. For Schnobrich/Hunstiger ladies: it looked like many of the quaint houses we’ve been to for EstroFest. I got a room to myself! For someone like me, that is always a good thing!
Jo, the employee, made spaghetti and meat sauce and garlic bread for dinner and brownies and ice cream for dessert. All the food over the weekend was homemade and so delicious! The only other people at the lodge on Friday were four ladies who were celebrating a 5oth birthday. Three of them were British and one was Scottish. We all ate dinner together and they were just a hoot! They were all moms and one of the purple bluish hair!! Just a riot! There were other students form a different American University scheduled to get in late that night.
In the morning, there was fresh coffee (served with only milk though!), eggs, toast, bacon, cereal, fruit, and like six different juices. Their tea and coffee section was always open and had a little tin of biscuits that was always freshly stocked. We met our instructors after breakfast, one of whom looked like a thin James Corden so no complaints there, and found out that our first activity of the day was Coasteering. Now, if you’re like me, you may think what is a coasteer? But I shortly realized that the word basically means playing around on the coast, like going coast-ing, but coasteering, like mountaineering. We had to get completely suited up in already wet and cold wet suits, little neoprene shorts and tank, neoprene socks, tennis shoes, gloves, a helmet!, and a life jacket. This took forever and was definitely the hardest part of the entire weekend. Wet suits have no give when they are wet and once I was fully attired I felt like a neoprene sausage. Then we loaded onto the bus and drove 10 minutes away to The Blue Lagoon.
The Blue Lagoon is actually a nickname for an area called Abereiddy. We couldn’t bring cameras coasteering but the instructors took pictures so most of my adventure pictures are from them. Above is a picture of the Blue Lagoon, however I did not take it. It is from the Interweb!!
The instructors guided us through the water and we basically got to explore the coast along the Blue lagoon. The climbed around on the rocks in the water, which were really slippery, and had fun getting pushed around by the waves. The water was mildly cold, but once I got used to it, it was totally tolerable and the wet sit really did its job. The water was a gorgeous blue, of course, and there were no animals in the area that we were in but there was a lot of seaweed by the rocks. Yuck! To end our coasteering, we jumped off different levels of cliff edges. So this was the only part that involved scary cliff jumping and it wasn’t even too high. There were three levels, but I only jumped off the first level, which was a good 8-10 feet above the water I’d say. I’ve never been good with jumping off high things into water but I did jump off the short level twice! I felt fairly proud.
The instructors guided us through the water and we basically got to explore the coast along the Blue lagoon. The climbed around on the rocks in the water, which were really slippery, and had fun getting pushed around by the waves. The water was mildly cold, but once I got used to it, it was totally tolerable and the wet sit really did its job. The water was a gorgeous blue, of course, and there were no animals in the area that we were in but there was a lot of seaweed by the rocks. Yuck! To end our coasteering, we jumped off different levels of cliff edges. So this was the only part that involved scary cliff jumping and it wasn’t even too high. There were three levels, but I only jumped off the first level, which was a good 8-10 feet above the water I’d say. I’ve never been good with jumping off high things into water but I did jump off the short level twice! I felt fairly proud.
After we were done coasteering we had to peel off our soaking wet suits and change into dry clothes on the beach amidst the cold wind, open field, and occasional cute old couple wandering by wondering why we were all half naked and shivering. We got back in the van and they passed around a thermos of hot chocolate for us all to share! It felt like going to your cousin’s cabin and playing around in the water and then having your aunt make you hot chocolate and a hearty lunch. They just took care of everyone and made you feel very comfortable and at home.
We got back for said hearty lunch of soup, bread, salad, and more bread and more tea and coffee. Our afternoon activity was kayaking. We had to get suited up again in wetsuits, however a different, equally fashionable, style with no sleeves this time. We also wore, water booties, fleece jackets, windbreakers, helmets, and life jackets. We drove out to a quarry because the winds were too strong to go to the beach. The Kayaking was quite fun because I was nice and safe in my kayak and didn’t get too wet because it didn’t involve going in the water. We played a lot of Kayaking games to improve our skills and my arms and legs were thoroughly feeling the burn afterwards!
Dinner was delicious chicken curry and some apple custard thing for dessert. We played some board games after dinner and a lot of us turned in early due to exhaustion. I slept so well that night and woke up SO SORE!
The next day was our last day there and we were supposed to go on a hike, but it was windy and pouring so instead, our guide took us to see the city of St. David’s, which is the smallest city in the UK. It has a really beautiful Cathedral and it happened to be Remembrance Sunday so we got to see lots of people in uniform getting ready for the service.
We got back for said hearty lunch of soup, bread, salad, and more bread and more tea and coffee. Our afternoon activity was kayaking. We had to get suited up again in wetsuits, however a different, equally fashionable, style with no sleeves this time. We also wore, water booties, fleece jackets, windbreakers, helmets, and life jackets. We drove out to a quarry because the winds were too strong to go to the beach. The Kayaking was quite fun because I was nice and safe in my kayak and didn’t get too wet because it didn’t involve going in the water. We played a lot of Kayaking games to improve our skills and my arms and legs were thoroughly feeling the burn afterwards!
Dinner was delicious chicken curry and some apple custard thing for dessert. We played some board games after dinner and a lot of us turned in early due to exhaustion. I slept so well that night and woke up SO SORE!
The next day was our last day there and we were supposed to go on a hike, but it was windy and pouring so instead, our guide took us to see the city of St. David’s, which is the smallest city in the UK. It has a really beautiful Cathedral and it happened to be Remembrance Sunday so we got to see lots of people in uniform getting ready for the service.
We also visited White Sands beach but by then it was crazy windy and the rain was made wetter and more intense by being so close to the water. I got some nice pictures but shortly after retired to the van fro hot chocolate.
We came back for lunch, which was left over curry and sandwiches and got all packed up and ready to leave. They drove all of us to the train station and then, because of construction, we had to take three trains and a bus to officially get back to London. Another long journey, but also lots of time to get my homework done and sleep. I was successfully sore when I returned to London but it was a good kind of sore from a once in a lifetime adventure!
Top British/Wales facts/oddities…
More pictures in the NOVEMBER Gallery!
Thank you!
Top British/Wales facts/oddities…
- On my weekend, the instructors kept calling a life jacket a “buoyancy aide”
- The roads in Pembrokeshire were all tiny and one way so when another car was coming you had to signal to each other to decide who was going to back up and let the other person pass.
- We went to see a movie this past week and we has assigned seats. ?? Confusing when you want to sit by your friends you came with.
- At the movie theatre, there is a candy section put it is pick-n-mix so you can pick your own bucket and fill it with candy! And then cry at how heavy your bucket is when they weigh it.
- The backstage crew is called “stage crew” because sailors would often earn extra money by helping out backstage because they could tie the complicated knots and work the pulleys. hence the name “crew”
More pictures in the NOVEMBER Gallery!
Thank you!