Pastures New

Yesterday afternoon went for a walk to the top of Garreg Lwyd.  Nothing particularly challenging but lovely views at the top, on a really lovely day.  It was the first time in aaaaaaaaages that the four of us (me, Pete, Sarah & B) have managed to get out and about like this.

It didnt take very long but it was worth the effort.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mamminiog/sets/72157626575837346/

Today B and I cycled from Loughor to Llanelli beach.  Not a long way but lovely to be by the coast the whole way round.  Pete and Sarah went for a walk to the various hides in WWT LLanelli.  In one of the hides they met a gentleman and his wife (who was in a wheelchair).  They thought they would need access to the wheelchair area (where the viewing windows are lower) and so moved away.  The man said 'No, no its okay, she's blind'.  He then proceeded to describe everything that he could see from the hide, giving details of the birds, the water, what was on the bank etc.  Now isnt that just fantastic!

Llanelli beach was really hot and busy! Thank god for suntan lotion!




http://www.flickr.com/photos/mamminiog/sets/72157626451983891/

So now back to my fear of heights.  Yesterday I tried to do something else to beat it but failed.  We perhaps not beat it but to address it! To challenge and push myself.  I paid my fee, got kitted up, walked to the top, stood at the edge ..... yes at the edge ... a serious step forward  ... but then I needed to take a step backward and go over the edge! Nope! nothing doing! So came back down.  Becky has decided that I have to do it next year ,,, we will see.  Im not sure though, maybe abseiling isnt the way to cure this fear! LOL

Finally! 'Just like riding a bike'

At last I managed to make time to actually try out my new Trek 30 bike! It took us a while to sort out the bike rack so we could drive some where so I could have a go, off road, so to speak.  I had absolutely no idea what my balance was going be like so I wasnt about to risk the lives of the general public by attempting to go out on the road. ;-)

We went up to the Rhyslyn car park in Pontrhydyfen.  I had to have the gears explained to me (again ... I'm so sorry Pete! but my excuse is I'm a visual / kinesthetic learner! Show me then let me do it!) but by George (actually by Pete LOL) I think ... I've got it! (Least I hope I have).

I couldnt believe how nervous I was! Scared even.  Daft I know but its been years!

So, after much faffing about,  it was with deep breathes and the hope that I wouldnt end up with skinned knees (like a child) that I finally had a go!

I was delighted to find that its totally true, you dont forget, its 'Just like riding a bike'.  Oh there were a couple of wobbles in the first few seconds but then after that it was great.  I rode down toward to road and across the old aquaduct, turned round and back to the car.  We did a few adjustments, seat height etc and then we went up the forest road past the bottom of 'The Wall'. (where the temptation was just to have photo at the bottom and pretend, but drat the luck - no camera LOL) and then on a bit further.  Its just the slightest of slopes going up but we went far enough up so that eventually there was a nice long run, sloping downhill .... so ......
Woooooooooooohooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!

Its a great bike, its amazing to be able to do this again, its another tick for me and I cant wait to go out again.

Score!

Forgot to post this! Everyone got a certificate after the rally event, and a score! The highest was 76 so I wasnt first but didnt do too bad :-)

Motors, Mistletoe and Malverns

Well what fantastic couple of days! 

My rally experience day finally dawned yesterday!   It was just brilliant! There cant be anything better than being allowed to let a car slide all over the place, at speed, dust and gravel flying up behind you and not a policeman in site LOL!  10 handbreak turns!!And above us there was a small plane, looping the loop and doing various turns, entertaining those of us waiting for our turn as much as watching the other drivers.

Flickr Rallying Pictures

So once again ... Joy ... thank you so much for my 'scream' moment.  Actually it was more of a 'scream if you want to go faster' moment LOL. However, it was very disappointing to get to the hotel restaurant only to find they didnt have any champers ... we had to make do with red wine ...  sigh.

Today was slightly more sedate.  When we opened the curtains of our room the first sight was of a hot air ballon in the distance .. it was early so it obviously held the promise of a good day.  Mid morning we headed for the Malvern Hills.  On the way we drove through Upton upon Severn.  We were delighted to see many of the tall trees covered in Mistletoe! What an amazing sight.  Sadly its quite rare in the UK just now with most of it being bought in from France (like the Sweet Chestnuts).  Probably as a direct result of the removal of many orchards (it likes to grow on apple trees).  I wasnt sure what the trees were that they were growing on in Upton though.  Ash possibly. It was great to see a couple of gliders above us as well.  Nice to see everyone out enjoying the sunshine.

We carried on to Great Malvern (coffee, information centre ... emmmm Fat Face) and then up to the Hills.  We went to Earnslaw Lake (which is actually an old quarry), which was a lovely, relaxed stroll through the trees.  Above us two paragliders twisted and turned, this was definitely the weekend to be up high or in the sky.

We then moved on to the British Camp car park and started our climb to the top.  Its a fairly easy climb but some of the steeper parts, gravel path and steps are a bit heavy on the feet! The view at the top was wonderful and it was definitely worth the climb up.

The drive home was still in brilliant sunshine and so we detoured off the Heads of the Valley road to get a viewpoint to try to get the sun setting.  We didnt quite catch it but got it as it was starting to wind down.

Mountains in the Mist

On Friday I decided to tackle Pen Y Fan myself! I had a day off and so I packed up a few things and headed up to the car park.

It was a pretty miserable afternoon, despite the promise of it clearing it wasnt great weather.  I sat in the car park for an hour waiting for a change in the weather,before I finally decided to just bite the bullet and get on with the walk.

The first part of the walk wasnt too bad but it definitely got mistier as I climbed higher.

As I continued up the path, mist descending even further, I realised that I was the only one going in that direction and then I had one of those 'moments', not quite an epiphany, but a comparison moment.  It just felt like my life! Not quite 'in the dark' all the time, but moving forward, on my own, not quite sure where I was going and cant quite see the way! (If you are groaning and yelling ...'Get over yourself Fi' just hang on).

If you know that path, you know that it gets steeper in bits, eases a bit, gets steeper again.  I kept climbing and several people passed me, going in the other direction! Hmmm, I debated turning back, changing my plans, giving up.  The mist got a little thicker but I wasnt totally engulfed so I decided to carry on.  Then I could hear voices but couldnt figure out where they were coming from.  I was laughing to myself because for a brief moment my brain said 'Ghosts?' but then I realised that it was a couple behind me on the path.  Quicker walkers than me, they soon passed me, sharing a few words as they did. Okay, so not on my own, quite, and not the only one going in that direction.

 I wasnt sure how far I had got, so I checked my watch.  If my first walk was anything to go by, I was way less than half way up! Still, I wanted to prove to myself that I could do this on my own.  So I kept going.  About ten minutes later I heard more voices and three ladies caught up with me.  'How mad are we?' one commented.  I laughed and said, 'I was just wondering how far up I had got?'  'Five minutes max to where the path spilts for Corn Du!' said one of the ladies!   I have to admit that I doubted what she said BUT she was right! I made the split in the path in 1 hour and 15! Then, despite the wind and now the rain (not just that fine stuff in the mist but real stuff now!) I was by the marker on Pen y Fan in 15 minutes.  The last bit, climbing up on to Pen y Fan, was a real test of my strength LOL and as I was doing that last bit a streak of yellow passed me by! I was delighted to have knocked 1 whole hour off the time! A whole hour!

As I got to the marker the streak of yellow was there, along with his walking buddy.  'A little fresh' I said.  'Just slightly' Said the buddy. Then they disappeared over the edge towards the monument. So then I took my picture and was trying to take a picture of myself with the marker behind me when the streak reappeared and offered to take the picture for me. By now it was pretty horrible up there so he also then offered to walk back down with me.  I could see where to go but it was nice to have the company. I turned out that he was a Major (and real life Major!! thats a first) and tries to walk up to the top once a week with his friend.  He was so, so interesting, telling me all about his life in the army, being in the Falklands, being promoted and how the two best decisions in his life were joining up and marrying his wife (of almost 36 years).  We talked about lots of things and about being focused, determined and keeping on going!  We talked about my operations and he said that he thought I had to be a focused person to be doing that walk on my own, on less than a nice day and not being phased! Before I knew it we were back at the car park .... in 45 minutes! I walked back down in 45 minutes!!!!

I had gone up and down in less time than it had taken for me to climb it the first time!

So to go back to the journey .... it is my journey, I am doing it on my own, but I do have people going in the same direction and people who will travel with me.

And yes ... I got over myself.  And thank you 'Manny' for the chat and the company and the race down the path!!

I always knew it, but damn, mountains are good for the soul, whatever the weather!!!