Ah winter is nice and quiet and for some reason not a lot of groups want to go away, but why??? Oh well I will find someting to do
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Great Days, Great nights, Great people, Great Walks, Great party, dancing, lots of laughter and lots of fun!!! Thank you everyone for getting into the spitit of the occassion and just having fun!!! I loved every moment, from struggling through the caravan park and slipping /sliding in the mud, to checking for unexploded bombs, the cliff warnings, the jogging hard party, the hot cider, bubbles fancy dress party in the town....cant wait to do it again.... If you werent there enjoy the photos, oh and a huge thanks to my fellow guides, Steve and Don.... Great days and great nights
The walking was a treat with routes over to studland and views over old harrys rocks, another day saw us exploring kimerridge bay where they managed to walk on water!!! Others checked out the Square and Compass with more hot muld cider...not sure its my thing. But most people were looking forwards to new years eve. A great meal, a few drinks more laughter and smiles brought the new year in with a roar. Then we went out into town where everyone was out partying in fancy dress, lots of happy smily people all having fun...I guess it was like rag week, excellent night, but oo the morning came far to soon for some!! Wow, what an interesting event!!!! The weather was touch and go, or as many thought, no go!!! But we caught a break and were lucky!!! thursday saw the main roads to Whitby all open for the 1st time in a week, but the drive in brought to realisation the quantity of snow on the moors, at least a 3 ft for miles and miles and miles. Fortunately our information that the coast was a bit better proved right! But it was literally only the fields closest to the coast that were passable, only a mile inland and it was waste deep snow covering the moors and thats extremely tough going!!! Not to be daunted we completed the reces on Friday and formed a plan for the weekend, but for the first time in the year my legs felt like lead with no climbing, just miles of ploughing through snow-how can something so light and fluffy be so damned hard work to walk through??? And so everyone arrived safe checked into their apartments and very soon we were heading off into Whitby for a few cheeky beers and in search of some music and some dancing, and so it all began Saturday morning saw the sun out and a lot of the snow had vanished! so off we went, A short mile over the moors was fun involving crawling and trailbreaking and lots of effort through knee deep snow, and a few snow balls too. And soon we were on the coast but the melting snow brought its own problems and all the streams were rivers, and the rivers torrents!!! So at Bogle hole the group headed along the cliff to avoid the streams on the beach whilst a few brave soles indulged themselves in some coasteering!!! But such exploits combined with some stunning view meant that it was nearly dark when we made it back to Whitby and the Duke of York! Then its time to do it all over again. Shower, room party dinner, pub, dancing, more dancing sleep breakfast and another walk.... Brilliant weekend, thanks for keeping whitby special, till next time X A much anticipated trip to Sidmouth lived up to its advertising. The hotel was as warm and inviting as ever presenting some excellent evening meals. Saturday saw us all starting off together and heading out east, the second guide being driven by car to catch up the party!!! Come on Andy!!! We then all did the first climb together to give us a taste of the terrain, after which the decision of which walk to do was remarkably easy. AW headed off inland past the donkey Sanctuary to finish in Beer. Meanwhile I crossed the undulating cliffs, having lunch and coffee on the beach and following the stunning cliff top paths inbetween to the Pub at Beer. Somewhat surprisingly two quiet austrailians were found in the back bar away from the televisions where ENGLAND were hammering the Aussies at rugby!!! Excellent!!! Then it was only a final headland and a quick hop skip and a jump in between the waves (try and keep those legs dry-carol, jenny and all)... to Seaton to finish the day!!! What better way to then conclude the day than a cracking rock band in the black horse...excellent day and an excellent night!. Sunday saw the sunshine hidden behind some dark clouds, but we were not daunted and soon out on the walks. Starting from Budleigh Salterton we skirted around the estuary pausing to watch the king fishers, little egrets, wintering wildfowl and sheltering waders, beautiful. We then joined the coast searching out hidden bays with red towering rock stacks, ascending the cliffs before concluding in one of the finest cafes in the country-if you can eat any portion of cake there by yourself you are doing amazingly~and if you can eat the roulade you have a bigger appetite than me!!! Another great weekend, cant wait to visit again! In the infamous words of big Andy, this weekend turned out to be... Only Perfect! Once again we were looked after extremely well by John and his happy gang at Monk coniston, and once again our weekend was accompanied by absolutely stunning weather. Obviously it is always just like this in Coniston, it was just like a repeat of our weekend in March! Saturday saw Paul heading up along the lakeshore, over Torver Common and up to Brown Pike, Dow Crag, Brim Fell and the Old Man before descending the lovely soft grassy ridge to the walna scar, all accompanied by stunning panoramas! Then the bruises started as the walna scar road had been turned into an ice rink, appologies Fran the Tee tree oil is in the post! Meanwhile I was wandering over Torver Common in search of the warm fires of the Church Rooms inn and the lakeshore path. Not to be outdone we also had amazing and very varied views and a few bruised bottoms (apparently as the gudies were not allowed to check!!!) Sunday was forecast with arctic wild weather, but it must have gone somewhere else cos it was stunning.... Words cant describe the perfect days so just enjoy the photos.... There was a crooked hotel where no wall was straight, no floor was flat and all the stairs gently sloped, great isnt it! The staff were lovely and friendly and the food was very tasty and plentiful; its right on the sea front and ts lovely to open the front door in the morning and go for a gentle stroll out along the promenade with the sea rollong over the pebbles, perfect.
Once again the drive down on Friday was very dull, but saturday dawned beautifuly and blue skies were promised to us! So off we set using the excellent public transport system, which is very clean and reliable but you are noticably older when you get off!!! In fact by the time we got of the sky was completely clear and the sun was blazing, so we set off looking happy unable to smile wide enough! (enjoy the photos) The toughies headed out past Arundel Castle over the parklands and up to Amberley, although there was a small high tide diversion 7miles inland that was too deep for the guide to swim through, so the party valiantly retreated around to the village, dont know what happened to the guide? Meanwhile the tootlers wandered along the river valley before making their way up onto the Downs to enjoy the autumnal spectacular panoramas. And enjoy the views we did, especially the blazing double rainbows, a perfect finish to accompany us back down to the pub and the train ride home! And so the weary travellers returned to the hotel for another feast, but thats not all there is a cracking cellar bar along the way and they had a singer on so off we went to dink in the atmosphere and a few beers .... some even danced-and its not new year!!! So how do we top that, well Sunday dawned beautifully too. So what did we do well, Cissbury Ring is a huge Iron age hill fort that dominates the surrounding countryside and when combined with the vineyards of the south Downs its a great day out, well I enjoyed it, thankyou all for your company, till next year.... Suffolk, Pembrokeshire, Devon, Bournemouth, New Forest?? Another Soggy run up to a weekend, saw a huge fall of rain and numerous additional lochs growing around Scotland, but amazingly everyone happily braved the storms and they all arrived in good spirits in the bar early on Friday night! A hearty meal set us in good stead for the weekend and a few pints in the bar by a roaring fire ensured we all went to bed very contented with happy thoughts and dreams... Saturday, sadly there was no snow to accessorise the hills (to see the photos click here), but the summits were clear and a good day was promised by the bbc weathergirls! So off we went, Ben More from the eastern approach! A gently forest path gave us a good footing on the mountain before the hard work brought us up onto the ridge! Guess what the Ptarmigan think its winter they are all white, and stand out very well on the dark grey rocks! Onwards and Upwards and we summit at 1pm with a view!!! Onward we must go and after loosing a lot of height some people seemed to loose their enthusiasm for the second Munro but a little gentle banter saw them embarrased into it! And it was well worth it the view to the south was stunning particularly as we could see a huge hail storm battering the easier walkers whilst we sunbathed on the summit!!! Ah great days... Now all we had to do was get off the hill before it turned dark..... run Sunday. Wow what a stunning day, clear blue skies, bright autumn colours and an amazing set of walks ahead too. The harder walkers headed off to tick a few more munros whilst the rest of us gently cruised across Loch Lomond to Inversnaid. This rather inaccessible section of the West Highland Way was wrapped in the finest autumn colours and in truth the photos dont do it justice but it was a great day and a great weekend, oh and we finished in the Drovers inn which had been spookified for halloween, yes they had fake cobwebs too!!! Borneo, (click here for the photos)
Ah time to take a break!!! Its been a long summer and I feel the need for a change of scene, so after lots of planning, well the flight is booked-its off up and away for a mini adventure. First on the agenda, climb Mt Kinabalu, what is this a holiday or what??? Initial worries about the heat were soon removed as it was a surprisingly cool rain forest that surrounded the foothills of the mountain. However true to name the forest did have some rain! Onwards and upwards.... lots of plant life, lots of wildlife and not enough air!!! Was it a good idea to go from sea level to 4000m over night??? Still it was nice and quiet! Next shock the guide wanted to strt climbing at 2am-think again I like my sleep, a somewhat later start saw us make the summit in plenty of time to see the sunrise, and it was worth the effort! Instead of heading straight of though a bit of an explore of the summit ridge, the via ferrata and Lowes Gully was needed which did give the guide a few worries!!! Ahead now was a huge decent to the valley below and I must admit to aching thighs by the time I got down for lunch! Next on route was the hot springs, which sounds a great way to finish off a mountain day, but dont get your hopes up. Hot foot bath, cold pools and very low water pressure let the place down a bit. On the plus side there are some great trips into the forest, some lovely caves full of Bats, perfect waterfalls and natural bathing pools, a great canopy walk way and some unusual wildlife. But time ticks by and I want to see my orangutans at Sepilok so its onto the bus and off we go!!! Once again I find myself speechless, the orangutans are amazing, so emotive, so beautiful, they really are so human, so much so that I watched the feeding 3 times at Sepilok and each time brough something new, the mothers brought in 2 babys, an adult male arrived, the macqacs, the nervous youngsters awaiting their opportunity simply great... Very sad to leave here... But new days bring new opportunities and the river safari boasted the chance to see lots of wildlife up close without disturbing it and it was not a disappointment at all! Others had seen Oranutans that very morning! So what would the rain forest reveal, gibbons, Proboscis Monkeys, Red and grey Leaf Monkeys, Macquacs, Giant Otters, A family of wild pigs swimming across the river, hornbills, broadbills, egrets, kingfishers, flying foxes, bat eagles, Owls, huge prawns, an occassional snake, massive stag beetles... Absolutely Great!!! Now this holiday has been all go go go, and there's not been much rest and I must admit to feeling a touch weary.... So Mabul and a few days diving on a tropical island looks to be the perfect solution... But waking up opening the curtains, tha last thing I was expecting to see was a huge monitor lizard upa tree-looking hungily at a night heron!!! Bring on the diving, the turtles, the colourful fish and amazing corals, the sun on your back the sand in your toes.... a perfect way to end a holiday!!! When can I go back??? Otterburn Hall lies in the heartland of the forgotten Northumbria National Park, a beautiful and varied area full of history. Click here to see the photos. Our arrival was made challenging by rains and wind which flooded quite large areas, but we all made it safely got on with enjoying ourselves! Just walking into the hotel we heard the hooting of the Tawy owls and we set up a vigil to watch them flying along the driveway. In fact with an i-player and a red lensed torch we went out to see if we could tempt them down, but all we managed was a few fly pasts and a brief if eery conversation with them! Still a bit of fun
Saturday dawned well and we headed off to Rothbury on a perfect blue skies day! We strolled along the River Coquet, up on to wild escarpements, sought out old church caves, ancient cup and ring markngs, explored stone age forts ad conquered Simonside summit where we were rewarded with some epic views over the area ! And to top this all we even managed to finish with a few well earned pints in Rothbury still in the sunshine. Sadly Sunday was not quite what we had dreamed of and torrents of rain were steadily falling as a few brave soles headed out. The rains had however taken their toll with swollen streams and waterfalls adding another dimension to the scenery and another challenge to the walks!!! Well only one wet bottom from the crossings and our map was saved from its own white water experience!! During the week the forecast has looked decidely varied, threatening everything from continous rain to a blue sky weekend... And thats exactly what we got. The Friday drive over was beautiful and anyone out in the Lakes on Friday really saw it at its best!! The braken has turned giving the hills their first tints of autumn colour, whilst the valleys remain lush with a vibrant carpet of lush green grass from the recent rains. Saturday morning and the forecast was still iffy, but the groups valiantly headed out to Crummock Water. The young genlteman paul, lead his group off on a classic lakeland round, up the steep flank of whiteside, along the narrow shapely ridge to Hopegill head, then around grassy, inside edge to the summit of Grasmoor. Amazingly they stayed dry dodging the sqawlly showers and gaining tremendous views. Meanwhile I ambled around Crummock Water, but we did have a climb of our own the west face of Rannerdale Knotts, which itself yielded great views up the Buttermere Valley to Haystacks and beyond. Lounged on the hillsides we drank in the picture- perfect lakeland views and meandered our way around the lake, where our reward was a very fine pint in the Kirkstile Inn! Sunday did not dawn well, 12 hours of rain hadnt cleared and some decided to head home. However others we convinced the rains would soon clear!!! Very nieve!!! Paul began by taking the la'll ratty railway up to Boot where he guided a ver sheltered walk back down the gorgeous valley of Eskdale, via Muncaster Castle to Ravenglass thereby making the most of a poor day! Not to be put of by a slight shower, 16 die hards headed out to Ennerdale. Laughing in the face of the rain gods we made a direct ascent of Great Bourne up a particularly steep gill, complete with tumbing waterfalls,which looked great in the conditions. A cloudy walk then ensued along the ridge to Starling Dodd but our spirits held high as we battled against an increasing wind. This wind then forced a change to the route and we dived down in ravine as we headed fro the Shelter of the valley... and the Shepherds Arms where we retold the days exploits over a refreshing cup of tea... Great Days folks see you in Harrogate in the spring! |
AuthorGideon Wheater, WalkWise UK Ltd Archives
January 2012
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