Gwilym's Adventure Blog

The iconic Scrattling Zawn Me on the lead Enjoying the Sun on a HS 4b called Marion Rich on a S 4a called Ben Today Rich and I headed to Baggy Point near Croyde where we ticked of a number of routes from Diff to Hard Severe. We managed 200m of climbing over 5 different routes. The weather was amazing and the rock was excellent.

 Enjoying the sun at County Gate  The group just before lunch  More amazing Exmoor Colours The lesser spotted Lemon Meringue Pie and Coffee  The team walking into County Gate On the third and final day whilst the team were out walking I was doing some serious research into the local Tea Rooms. I also managed to do about 14km throughout the day inbetween checking out places to eat. A reasonable Ploughmans at The Buttery in the Lorna Doone Valley but an excellent Lemon Meringue Pie at County Gate which now has the tea room open and I wholeheartedly recommend a visit there.

It flew below me then over me  The road was blocked Loads of people out enjoying the sunshine Today the team were walking around 28km from Wimbleball Lake to Pool Bridge. In between meeting Cath for a Roast Dinner in Timberscombe, moving my car around and doing some unrelated paperwork I managed to get out for a quick walk around the Webbers Post area (4km ish) and a run round Flora's Ride area (6km). It was a day for birds of prey again today though on one occasion I was looking down on it which is unusual.

As usual, amazing colour on Exmoor A very low Wimbleball Lake Buzzard Dragon Fly (centre of fence post) Today I was assessing a Silver D of E group in the Exmoor Area. They walked from Dunster to Wimbleball Lake a distance of around 22km, Gordon and I managed to get out and walk around 18 km whilst looking out for them and picking up their messages. During the day I saw a large number of Buzzards and one very large Dragonfly. On arrival at Wimbleball Lake I was shocked by the water levels. I have never seen it so low and as I am due to start sailing there with groups in two weeks time I am mildly concerned that there will be no water left. Part of me wants it to be sunny for the rest of the weekend but another part of me wants it to rain for two weeks to fill the lake back up.

Yesterday I  was at Cannington College Farm with 250 cows that needed milking before dinner. This is quite an effective exercise workout (particulalry cleaning up afterwards) but is also enjoyable work.   This morning I was out on the Bridgwater to Taunton Canal with Rob who was having a 1:1 kayaking lesson. The rain was awful and continued all day (in fact it is still going on now) but we still managed to look at forward and reverse paddling, turning, stopping and so more advance skills such as ruddering and edge. Sorry for the poor photo but there was rain on the lens.

Launching was fun and landing even more fun   More sheltered in the estuary Nick practising re entry techniques  Just relaxing Today I took Nick to Budleigh Salterton for some Sea Kayaking. The original plan was to paddle to Ladram Bay and back (about 8km) but the sea state was against us so we stayed on the Estuary and paddled up against the flow and Nick spent some time practising his edge control, freey gliding and re entry skills. We ventured onto the sea for two short periods of time just to see how Nick got on but conditions really were unfavourable and launching and landing were difficult. In fact I capsized on one landing in about 1ft of water when a wave caught me unawares and I was halfway out of the boat. It really was a great day even though not as planned.

 A brief 10 minute window where Portland nearly appeared Kite Boarders and Wind Surfers loving the wind Another short brighter spell at Chesil Beach Today I headed to Portland with the intention of kayaking around it. However on arrival the rain and mist were so bad I couldn't even see Portland from the causeway. After about 30 mins of hiding in the car the rain stopped but the wind had increased causing the car to rock (sea kayaks on the roof catch the wind well). Although the kitesurfers and windsurfers were starting to launch it was definately going to be difficult getting my boat off the roof let alone launching. By midday and having looked at launching in a couple off different places including "sheltered" bays, I decided that it was not going to get any clear up long enough to get a paddle in and went shopping via a cafe.

  A busy but overcast Woolacombe Beach  Ilfracombe  Ilfracombe After a few days of catching up with washing and paperwork I took the opportunity to head to the North Devon coast to suss out some new Coasteering venues. Although the weather was horrendous I managed to get in 90 mins of surfing at Woolacombe as well as identyfying 2 new locations for Sea Kayaking and Coasteering at Ilfracombe. On the way back I drove the Coastroad and have found two more venues that need further investigation. Lets hope for some sunny weather to do that next week.

At the Chimpanzee Sanctuary  Eland and Zebra A Black Rhino  Warthogs Hartebeast  Standing on The Equator Today we went on another Safari where we saw Black Rhino, White Rhino, Eland, Gazelle, Lion and Warthog as well as loads of Zebra and Antelope. We finished by the Equator sign for a group photo. We go home on Saturday after an amazing month.

Looking up at Nelion  Mountain Flora A very angry Rock Hyrax The team at the summit  The descent For the last 10 days we have been aclimitising and then tackling Mount Kenya (Point Lenana) at 4985m. 32 of the 39 team members reached the summit and endured the long walk back down. During the trek we saw a number of birds and other wildlife including plenty of Rock Hyrax around teh camps. I am not sure why the one above was so angry but I took the photo and ran away quickly.

Buffalo Bull Elephant Zebra A group of Ostrich Giraffe Impala The colourful Superb Starling Today we were a Tsave East for an amazing Safari where we saw Elephant, Giraffe, Buffalo, Impala, Gazelle, Warthog, Cheetah, Zebra, Kudu, Ostrich and many more animals and birds.