Gwilym's Adventure Blog

At the top of the Quantock Hills A weird bike we found, must be for twins! Me at Bicknoller Post Jonny practising puddle jumping Today I took Jonny out on The Quantock Hills to work on Navigation and Riding Skills. The weather was kind to us even though it had rain loads overnight. This made conditions somewhat wet and muddy which just added to the fun. We were riding for around 5 hours and covered a fair distance (almost the whole of the hills) before returning to the car and a quick skills session. My new kayak (the bigger one) The day ended with me making a dash to Performance Kayaks to purchase a new boat, a Pyranha Karnali which I have been after for a while.

      Today was my last day working for Llandysul Paddlers and Cat and I took a group of Lifeguards from the local pool for a "Run the Rapids" session. We started on the Lake where I taught basic control strokes in order that we could progress onto the river. The clients picked this up quickly and as they were using sit on tops it was very easy to go through the capsize and swim drills. We moved onto the river and led them down through a series of grade 2 rapids to the exit point. There were a number of swimmers and at the end everyone got wet jumping off some boulders. It has been a good week working somewhere new with new people. Back in the South West tomorrow.

Making our way out    One of the jumps      Entering the cave Today Matt, Scott annd I took a group of teenagers out Coasteering. The sea state was relatively calm but there was still enough swell for some good fun. There was the usual mix of swimming, bouldering, jumping and the slightly more unusual swim through a cave. As always the day finished with some Chips.

  Salmon Farm     Tuesday and Today I was on loan from Llandysul Paddlers working with Trinity University College (Camarthan) Outdoor Education Degree Students in The Black Mountain area of South Wales. They were all deposited at various points and navigated themselves into one central camp area. After all had arrived safely and set up camp we headed out into the darkness to fine tune their navigation skills. The weather was perfect (for teaching anyway) as the mist rolled in, visibility was down to around 10m and to started to rain. We got back safely to the campsite and all students went to their tents I settled down for a relaxing night in the nearby Bothy (perk of being an instructor). This morning, the stuidents were dispatched to the pick up point via other checkpoints and I was able to get a small amount of walking in whilst moving buses around. It was a good two days work and it would be great to work with them again.

    This week I am working for Llandysul Paddlers in West Wales. Today Gary and I took out a group of 11 girls and 4 teachers Open Boating on the River Teifi. It is mainly a gentle flow but has 1 rapid which caused a small amount of excitment and screaming. All boats sucessfully ran the rapid but one team managed to capisize just as they crossed into the eddy (that is the sheltered slow moving bit at the side of the river) and had a very short swim to the bank. The weather held out for use and as can been seen by my picture above, shorts and fleece were the order of the day.

This weekend I attended the MLTA annual conference held at Plas Y Brenin in North Wales. Over the 2 days I took part in a Coaching Process Workshop which aims to improve coaching (of any activity) and to show new ideas and thoughts. As well as the workshops, the weekend is always a good chance to network, chat with other instructors and find out what is going on in the world of outdoor pursuits.

 The Endurance Course The Assault Course     Team Challenge Over the last 5 days I have been working for Bridgwater College and took a group of 10 Public and Emergency Services Students to Lympstone Marine Base for the "Look at Life" week.We joined up with 3 other colleges and the students took part in an endurance course, an assault course, a fitness test, camoflage exercise and various sports as well as attending lectures on commando history and weapons. I will be heading up to North Wales later tonight (or early tomorrow morning) and the weather is looking rough

Some colourful Fungi Today I was out on the Quantock Hills near Bridgwater with a group from Haygrove School undertaking navigation training for their D of E Bronze. I spotted this interesting Fungi and thought it was worth a photo. The weather was intertesing and went from baltic to heatwave on and off all day so there were plenbty of clothing adjustments going on. All the students did well andwe made it back to the finish point on time

The conditions look worse than they actually were End of session swim Today I completed the last Sailing session for Bridgwater College Public & Emergency Services students. They have had 5 weeks worth of sailing and the vast majority have passed their Level 1 Dinghy Assessment. Wind conditions were reasonable though the weather was not at its best. The water levels in the Lake have fallen rapidly over the last five weeks so now I am no longer requenting there it would be great for it to rain.

Boulder Hopping Just floating around Not the world's biggest jump Practice Jumps Today I was again working for Bridgwater College and this was the last Coasteering session for this year. The weather was ok but the water is still warm. We had a lovely trip around the rocks boulder hopping, swimming, climbing and getting thrown around by the waves. All students and staff enjoyed the trip and as is compulsory after Coasteering we went for chips on the sea front.

At the YMCA Pontoon   Me at the front and Jason steering at the back After a 06:30 start this morning where I and one of my students ran the circuit of Wimbleball Lake (9 miles) we packed up all the tents and headed back to College to pack all the equipment away. I then spent the afternoon with my regular group paddling down at the YMCA in Bridgwater. The sun was shining and I spent a relaxing few hours in a opn boat teaching basic boat control skills and exploring Bridgwater Docks. We were joined by Jason one of the YMCA instructors who liked the look of the sunny weather and came out for a paddle. Another Coasteering day tomorrow.

Resting at the end of the Dam   Waking up to thick mist at Wimbleball Lake saw us run a few team building activites until the mist burnt off around 11am. As soon as the sun hit us and the temperature rose drastically I headed off on the bikes with a group of students whicls the other half went windsurfing. I had 2 x 2 hour sessions and all of the students were worn out by the end (some were exhausted half way through) and everyone appreciated the pub grub that we had tonight.

At Bridgwater Docks Me enjoying the sun   Indoor Climbing Today was the first day of a 3 day Residential for Sports Students from Bridgwater College. We started with a visit to Bridgwater YMCA where I took them Canoeing and Climbing Indoors. One of the other staff took them in the caving system which was built a number of years ago and has since grown over making it realistic. We then headed up to Wimbleball Lake where the students were instructed in how to put up tents and use gas stoves so they could cook their own tea. After dark we set up a "nightline" and took them round whilst blindfolded.

Climbing out after a jump Traversing above the sea Two climbers enjoying the afternoon sun (click on picture to make it bigger) Today I took Gordon and Dan out Coasteering in Torbay. The weather was great and as there was only 3 of us we were able to cover a reasonable amount of ground in the time we had I was also playing with my new toy ( a helmet cam ) which took both the video and the stills on this page. I am impressed so far but of course there are no pictures of me as it is attached to my head. The camera survived all the jumps and swims so seems to be as robust as the company claims.

Jonny escaping from the belay There are some climbers up there somewhere  Loads of people enjoying the evening sun Today Jonny and I were back at Cheddar to look at problem solving techniqies. Although not raining the rock was wet so the morning was spent practising how to escape the system, counter balance abseil and prussic up a rope before switching to a belay device top abseil back down. After lunch we went round to another part ofthe gorge that was just beginning to catch the sun where Jonny geared up for a sport route. Today was the day that Jonny took his first lead fall and he coped it very well.immediately getting back on the route to try again. Back in the water tomorrow for some more Coasteering

Sheltering from the rain at the top of the Gorge Jonny placing some protection Me trying to look happy even though it is raining hard Negotiating the rock catch fence on the way down Today I took Jonny and Hannah to Cheddar Gorge to look at multipitch climbing and abseil retreat. We started by a two pitch abseil down from the top (after a scramble up) and looked at the techniques involved. Jonny then led a climb (about Severe Grade) just as it started to rain. The climb was in two pitches and we looked at stance management. It soon became obvious the rain was not going to stop so we used retrievable abseil tecnhiques to descend the gully to the side of the rock faces and got back to the road (and cafe) just as it stopped raining.