Gwilym's Adventure Blog

 I managed to to get out of the office for a few hours today with Jamie on The Parrett and The Yeo up in Langport.  A slightly cloudy start turned into a very sunny afternoon and when we got out of the wind it felt almost warm.

The next few weeks will be me preparing to return to the life of an Outdoor Instructor. Today was all about getting out on the water locally with Hannah on the new Wet and High Adventures SUPs from Freshwater Bay Paddle Co and trying to remember how to paddle

Today Jo, Hannah and I had a quick blast on The Barle from Tarr Steps down to Dulverton.  I think this was my first (and possibly only) white water kayak trip of 2020. I am clearly out of practice in taking in focus photos for a start

Coming out of lock down it was great to get out and run a Rock Climbing Instructor Training course at Hound Tor (very wet) and Chudleigh (dry and sunny) Since Sept I have been teaching 3 to 4 days a week at Bridgwater College. A mix out outdoor, classroom and First Aid. This will continue into the New Year whilst coronavirus is still causing us problems. I am not expecting the blog to be that busy for the next few months

 A weekend of two halves working on Dartmoor with Plymouth College students on a Silver DofE training expedition.  Yesterday was wet and windy with the Devonport leat fuller than I have seen it for some time. Today was a drier and less windy day that even produced some significant sunshine for the groups to enjoy.

 A great weekend on The Isle of Wight assessing 4 candidates for the Lowland Leader Award . With a mix of hilly bits, forests, coast paths and farmers fields we covered the full range of terrain. Big thanks to Natalie who was out observing as she works towards becoming a trainer and assessor of the scheme.  Well done all.

 What a wet two days! This weekend I have been directing a Lowland Leader Training course on The Quantock Hills (yesterday) and Steart Marshes (today). With Storm Alex passing through, staying dry was not an option so staying warm was the order of the day. We looked at all things navigation, some leadership and lots of environmental chat. It has been a very busy week of back to back Mountain Training courses.