Our Attempt to Enjoy "Sunny Intervals"

The weather forecast was one of those with a white cloud and a sun peaking out from behind.  We optimistically thought we could get a July day out in the sunny countryside.  Sunny it was, for about 20 minutes.  And then the clouds moved in, but thankfully no rain.

So we made the most of it and cycled to one of our favourite spots in the middle of a field and had a picnic.  To get there and back you have to cycle down a tiny track - in recent years it has been rapeseed and this year it was a variety of wheat.

As the clouds got darker we took our leave and headed to the local berry patch.

One positive that has come from the last few months of rain are the fabulous strawberries and raspberries of all varieties growing in mass at this local pick your own.

We went a bit overboard with our picking and will now be eating berries for the rest of the week, but I think you will agree from the photos below that they were just too good to pass up!

A Winter Escape to the Beach :: Camber Sands

Seeking a last minute escape and a way of using some free train tickets, we sought out a beach escape on the South Coast. We had no real idea of where we wanted to go, simply that it should be walking distance to the beach and accept a dog - obviously!

As of Boxing Day we had not found anything, but at about 6pm we found 'The Warrens' - a lovely little beach themed house in the village of Camber, near Rye. We phoned the owners, who were thoroughly enjoying their Boxing Day meal - and explained we were looking for a last minute getaway. They were happy to let us have the whole four bedroom house for a very good deal starting the next morning. As you can see - it was a lovely little hideaway.

Camber Sands is a 2.5 mile long and half a mile wide (at low tide) sandy beach with a long stretch of dunes as well. It is quite a busy place in the summer, but the last week of December is pretty empty - mostly populated by just dog walkers and windsurfers.

The solitude was exactly what we wanted in order to have some good quality beach time with Guinness. Besides the extreme wind, which caused some serious ear flapping, he was extremely excited to run, swim and chase his toys on the beach.

He particularly enjoyed playing in the dunes - see video at the end of this post for some live action!

Even though we were only down in Camber for two days it was very peaceful and a lovely way to get away from it all.

Here are a few videos of our excursions on the beach and in the dunes, enjoy!

For more videos of Guinness check out our shared folder on dropbox - drop us an email if you didn't get the link

A Trip to the Big Blue :: Lake Tahoe

After the fun, frivolity and excitement of Austin and Kay’s wedding in July, we hired a car and drove three hours east to Lake Tahoe. Both of us were craving mountains and some time surrounded by nature, and Tahoe came through in spades.

We found ourselves a quaint little studio flat over a couple’s garage and almost immediately headed down to their private dock to take in the full view of the lake. Being situated on the North Coast, we had spectacular views straight down the lake towards the Nevada-California state line. We were lucky enough to see snow capped peaks, as the Sierra Nevadas had encountered a very heavy winter, one that afforded the ski resorts to stay open until July 4th!

The scope of Lake Tahoe is quite incredible. About 22 miles long by 12 miles wide at its maximum points, it has a surface elevation of 6,225 feet making it the largest alpine lake in North America. It has an average depth of 1,000 feet, but the water is so clear and clean that you can routinely see to depths of 80 to 100 feet! Lake Tahoe holds enough water that if it were emptied out, it would cover the entire state of California to a depth of five feet. In short, Lake Tahoe is a big, deep, gorgeous clean body of water.

We spent the two full days we had driving from beauty spot to beauty spot listening to a CD that our hosts left for us by a local singer/songwriter/ski bum – Tahoe’s equivalent to Jimmy Buffet. The CD was a mixture of songs about Tahoe and spoken history, including stories of the white man’s discovery in 1844, the meaning of Washo (the original Native American name), and other local legends, myths, and tales of Lake Tahoe.

We took a couple of nice, short hikes into the peaks, including a lovely picnic lunch on a smaller lake that drains into Tahoe, as well as a sharp climb up to a great view over the entire lake – complete with our own little furry chipmunk friend. The highlight for both of us, besides maybe relaxing each evening in the hot tub overlooking the lake and rising full moon, was our kayaking trip.

After renting kayaks, we spent four hours paddling between the massive boulders and small coves on the Nevada side of the lake. Kayaking was definitely a great way to feel in tune with the lake and truly get a sense of the depth and clarity of the water. It was amazingly tranquil and was exactly what we were looking for. If we had had longer we definitely would have done it again on a different part of the lake.

We were hoping to see a bit more wildlife, but we settled with seeing a very friendly yellow lab (go figure), a curious chipmunk, a regal eagle (seen at a distance) and a ‘whale’ who you may find featuring in the slideshow below!

Experiencing Lake Tahoe was a great little getaway and we only wish we had had more time to enjoy the fantastic natural beauty of this beautiful blue giant!

Two Paths Diverge...

On the long Easter weekend we went for our first cycle ride of the year. Nothing serious, just a little jaunt with a picnic to enjoy the glorious weather. After our picnic we decided to take a random path instead of going back along the roads.

The path led through the woods to the entrance of Heartwood Forest, a mixture of existing ancient woodland and freshly planted baby trees. We cycled through the lovely wooded areas and were treated to absolute carpets of bluebells.

We didn’t have our cameras with us, so we decided to head back there the next day. So, on foot, with Guinness, we once again packed a picnic lunch and walked a 12 mile return trip up to the woods and back.

It is always nice to know that even after 4+ years of living here we can find new experiences on our doorstep. All it took was taking the path less travelled.

A Soggy Camping Trip

You will undoubtedly have noticed a general dearth of entries over the previous months. Reasons for this are two-pronged. One is we have been nose to the grindstone at work and generally in life and have therefore not been out and about with our usual verve and purpose. The second is actually for the same reason as above, only in the sense that even when we have gotten out and about we haven’t had the chance to edit photos/write up the blog entry. However, we have reached Bank Holiday weekend and finally found some time... so here is the first of a few posts about our summer adventures.

Having had very little holiday this year and with finally being able to hire a car, we decided on a long weekend of camping in the Lake District. This is an area of the UK we had not been to before and well, we still haven’t. The weather through June and July was pretty much perfect – sunny, dry and warm. That all changed the week leading up to our planned weekend at the end of July. The forecast for the Lake District was torrential rain all weekend, so we cast about for other options, settling on Snowdonia in Northern Wales.

We set out in partially cloudy conditions and as we moved ever closer to the Welsh border the clouds darkened, and then opened. First a mere drizzle, turning progressively harder as we wound through the green country roads of Snowdonia National Park. It was gorgeous scenery, though we couldn’t see too much of it through the sheets of rain.

We arrived at our campsite, Hafod Y Llan, at the base of Snowdon and ostensibly next to a ‘babbling’ brook. Yeah, not so much babbling as cacophonous, but it was surrounded by a lush, green moss covering every rock and tree trunk.

The campsite was nice, even if the rain required a bit of improvisation on our tent. Deciding that cooking on a propane stove in the pouring rain wasn’t going to work and desperately needing to be in out of the rain we went to a nearby pub and went from being soaked to slightly damp in the course of our meal.

The rain had stopped by the time we were done and back to the campsite, but that just encouraged the midges to come out in force, so we retreated to our tent for an early night and the hope of better conditions come morning. The next morning however we woke up to more rain. It broke long enough to let us cook our breakfast but we ended up eating in the tent as the clouds opened once more.

Sick of sitting in the rain and being in no mood to further exhaust ourselves hiking up a wet and muddy mountain, we voted two to one to get back in the car and drive further south in the hopes of some better weather and a change of scenery. I say two to one because Guinness was not real keen on the car. He used to love our old Jetta in Chicago and would cram his substantial frame into the back window sill and very comfortably spend many hours sleeping up there on our myriad trips. This car did not have a similar window sill for him and so he spent all weekend standing and panting in semi-agitation whenever in the car. Not great for all involved.

We wandered over to the coast and had a nice picnic on a rocky beach, with Guinness swimming in the waves for the first time since North Carolina all those years back. Suffice to say, he enjoyed himself!

We wound up in a delightful little campsite just outside Brecon Beacons National Park in South Wales and had a nice meal and then got a roaring campfire going – before the rains returned. Unwilling to turn away from our campfire early, we huddled under the umbrella for thirty minutes for the rain to stop, before finally turning in.

The morning greeted us with more rain – I am convinced by the way that it never rained in the Lake District but rather moved south with us all weekend – and we once more got wet taking the campsite apart. More driving greeted us, some of it along rather tiny farm tracks up the moorland of Brecon Beacons.

We did get out and hike to the top of a hill just because it was there – even stayed dry on that excursion.

Further driving, complete with panting dog in the back seat, brought us through the Forest of Dean and to the edge of the Cotswolds. We thought we would have a poke around Bourton-on-the-Wold, but apparently half of England had a similar idea – circus only begins to describe the scene – so instead we just cracked on home.

The peaceful, relaxing weekend we had envisaged it was not. Too mobile, as we always seem to be, and too wet. That being said, it was great to have the freedom of a car and we really enjoyed seeing some scenery of the UK that we had not been able to enjoy yet. Our second night with the campfire was great as well and at the end of the day, we hadn’t been to work on Friday, which was always going to be a plus!

To sum up: camping in Britain requires a heck of a lot of good waterproof kit, a car with a back window sill and more than three days. Lessons learned for next time, which there will definitely be.

Adventures in Wales

In desperate need of a holiday after several hard months, we took a week off and went to Wales and the national park of Brecon Beacons. We once again found a great little cottage within convenient reach of a train station – though this time much closer to a store, pub and chip shop. The place was really cosy and quiet and the owners were extremely hospitable and drove us to a larger shop where we could buy a few more substantial things – thank you Nichola!

The cottage is called the Coach House and sits on the grounds of a country estate – Pantybeiliau, which according to the owners was a hotel which enjoyed a rather seedy history before being bought by the previous owners as a weekend country escape from London. The house of the estate looked fascinating and certainly would have been interesting to explore – apparently the basement which still contains hanging chains!

We had dry but fairly cloudy weather the first two days, perfect for long walks of 10.5 and 9 miles respectively. The first day was up the 600 meter tall peak of Sugarloaf, which included some rather steep paths. For much of the walk it was just us, Guinness and sheep.

We saw a few people at the top, but it was still quiet enough to enjoy a bundled up lunch on the lee side of the mountain – out of the wind.

After tackling such an arduous peak on day one, we settled on a more relaxed walk along the Monmouthshire and Brecon canal. We walked the 3.5 miles down to Crickhowell, a lovely little village on the Afon Wysg (or River Usk in English).

Along the way we were lucky to come across some very dog friendly stiles which saved us the hassle of picking Guinness up and over each one.

We settled into the cosy Bear Hotel for lunch, which was extremely dog friendly and included a bowl of chicken for Guinness! He was quite surprised when the waitress placed it under the table in front of him, but he quickly recovered his senses and dug in.

After lunch, we took advantage of the many hills and valleys of Wales and managed a halfway decent climb in the afternoon, one that included a herd of curious cows, a few random collies here and there protecting their territory and the most secluded youth hostel we have ever come across.

The weather closed in on us after that and though it broke a bit on the fourth day, enough to climb up to the Lonely Sheppard, another 300 meter high ascent, we spent much of the week reading, working on photos, playing games, watching movies and preparing for the wedding shoot on Saturday. Guinness meanwhile enjoyed his long bouts of fresh air followed by wonderful long naps in between.

It was a great mix of relaxation and physical exertion, one that was desperately needed and enjoyed!

A Walk in Richmond Park

We recently had our good friend Kris visiting from the US and took advantage of a day off to take her to Richmond Park, probably our favourite place in London. We had lunch in a sun-filled Richmond pub garden overlooking the Thames before walking up Richmond Hill. It was a wonderful autumn day with the smell of drying leaves being carried by the breeze.

The park dates back to around 1300, when King Edward called it the Manor of Sheen. It was Charles I in 1637 that controversially enclosed the park and made it a Royal hunting ground for the deer. The walls and deer (well their descendents) still remain.

One of the great things about Richmond Park is how close to wild animals and a secluded sense of nature you can get, whilst still having unencumbered views of St Pauls Cathedral 12 miles away. The park is famous for its herds of Red and Fallow Deer, totalling 650 animals between the two species, that usually roam the open spaces in large herds.

September and October are mating season for the deer and therefore we knew that they were potentially more dangerous, especially should Guinness startle one whilst it was having a nap in the high grass. However, we wanted to ensure that we found at least some of the deer to show Kris, and we certainly did not fail.

The deer were everywhere! We saw a single male lounging in the ferns within ten minutes of being in the park and then kept on finding small pockets of them scattered under trees, in fields and wandering in the undergrowth.

Several of the males were quite vocal, but none were aggressive and towards the end of our circuit we were able to get quite close to several males and females, who seemed more interested in sleeping or eating conkers, then in whatever we humans were doing.

Kris was amazed at how many there were in the park and how close you can get to them, whilst even we had to admit that it was the best deer sighting trip we have ever had in Richmond Park.

It was a great day out and all four of us were completely exhausted by the time we got home!