Gwilym's Adventure Blog

Yesterday and today I was at Grendon Hall with the group I will be taking to Malawi this summer.  It was good to finally meet the students and staff that I will be spending this summer with and we got lots of activities done over the 24 hours. It was also the first camping trip on the new bike. Good to know I can fit all my camping gear plus 5 different team building activities on it.

Working for Bridgwater and Taunton College again today with L3 Public and Emergency Services students preparing for their expedition in a few weeks time. Out on The Quantock Hills, the day turned out better than expected and was quite warm at times in the direct sun.

Working for Bridgwater and Taunton College again today with my L4 Public Services students. With only 1 week left before the expedition, they were experimenting with loading boats, poling and rescuing packed boats. Today's lesson is "not all dry bags are as dry as others"

Working for Bridgwater and Taunton College today. Out with the L3 Outdoor students on the Mendip Hills. A few hours of navigation coaching and then they were let loose on the Burrington Ham orienteering course to see what they had learnt. All the teams found all the point within the allotted time so some good progress made.

Today I met with Charlie from Freshwater Bay Paddleboard Co to demo some of their inflatable Stand Up Paddle Boards (SUP's) which I was impressed with so I will be adding some to the Wet and High Adventures equipment store from April. There were three different boards and although all were very good, I went for the 10'6" which is an excellent all rounder, very stable but easy to manoeuvre.

As a Tiger 800 rider and previously a Tiger 955i I know exactly what I expect to get from any bike with that name. I had my first test ride back in June 2016 and decided the bike was too tall (seat height) and heard a low version was coming out. Back in August 2016 at The Overland Event , I  test rode a XCx Low and although I much preferred the lower seat height, it does not come with a centre stand and it is impossible to retro fit one so that was a deal breaker for me as well as concerns over ground clearance when fully loaded off road (I have some big plans afoot). The third test ride courtesy of Total Triumph in Taunton was on a normal size bike but with a low cut seat and that is the perfect match for me so decision made. Especially as until the end of March, all Tigers come with free panniers! So today it was bye bye Tiger 800 XRx (we have had some nice trips in particular an awesome week touring in Scotland and a trip to The Alps) and hello to Triumph Tiger Explor...

Back out on Exmoor today for the third and final day of the Hill and Moorland Leader Training I am directing for Wet and High Adventures . It was a slightly drier day (but not by much) and the candidates got to try being leaders whilst navigating and informing us about all the flora and fauna around us. We were lucky enough to see some Red Dear.