betws-y-coed on bikes - the return

with the winter approaching at speed we decided to head back to north wales to have another crack at the marin trail. dyke had put down his books to join us, so after weeks of intensive training, mainly in the hop pole, we were raring to go. arriving in llanwrist it was nice to pop in to see wyn (its not for you boys) in the fish and chip shop..... the same couldn't be said for returning to the campsite of the teradactuls, where we found the grass still hadn't been cut, there was still nobody else there, there was still no bog roll and it was still not actually a campsite. but we stayed none the less. after an uncharacteristically sensible evening we woke up with clear - yes clear - heads ready for the trail. we made the sensible decision to drive to the car park to cut out about 30 minutes of climbing, much to dykes dissapointment. he loved the uphills, and by this time was gurning after his 5th redbull (sorry, blue bolt) of the morning. the site of him shadow-boxing at the top of the first climb nearly made me ride straight back down, however i continued and the trail was fantastic once again. as the day went by and me and bob began hike-a-biking more and more, body parts began to fail and some odd looking positions were adopted to try and eliviate cramp, which was quickly spreading to every muscle in my body....which is the only reason that i fell off in such a spectacular manner. honest. the day ended with a much needed big steak and some ale in town, which is always the best part. once some ac's tripped the scary woman over we laughed into our pints for a while then made the walk back to the site/field/thing. we awoke to thunder, lashing rain and evidence of the return of the teradactuls, which had made their mark on the roof of my car, and decided that a fry up was a better option than riding another trail.


Catchphrases: "Sit on it you daft c***s", "He loves them uphills"

august extravaganza part 2

after packing the site in record time, a great achievement considering the 3 acres of ground taken up by bobs tent village, we headed off into the depths of cornwall in true "convoy!" style. its always a great site to see the palm trees of st ives start to appear, and everyone was buoyed by the fact that we'd managed to get a spot on the infamous trevalgan site....venue of many an epic adventure over the years and home of the valley of death, stone circle and rabbit ears. it was only to be a short stay, dinner in town to celebrate andy and nays first year anniversary (a wonderful year of wedded bliss, ed) and a few drinks. we spent the afternoon trying to play football, bob and benny taking great pleasure from the fact that its always funny watching andy and dyke on the same team. he is useless though grrr. the evening came, drinking jackets were donned, and we headed into town. i say evening but i mean 4.30, which in hindsight was probably the first schoolboy error. the 2nd came when 5 pints were polished off before dinner, so after an explosive hour we sat down for mexican, and from what i remember it was very nice. we woke up, hangovers brushed aside, as it was what everyone was really waiting for......sennen. except bob who was convinced it would be foggy. but it wasn't, the weather was truly amazing, and there was no better time this summer than the moment we got to the top of the steps to look down over whitesands in all its glory. after a day spent on the beach, and some good bodyboarding, in which andy managed to gain a partner for his lonely solitary flipper, to bobs expense, we headed up to get ready for our bbq on the beach. carrying an evenings worth of food, drink and cooking equipment down 500 steps to the beach is no easy task but well worth it once we arrived to see the sun setting spectacularly and the waves crashing in. a fine evening was had drinking, and at last benny managed to build a fire worthy of his hype, a fitting moment for the success. the following day was bob and lucys last, so after a last dip for them they headed off after lunch, with the weather starting to look ominous. the rest of us decided to go for a drive round the the south side, and out onto logan rock, where some amazing views were found. the evening passed with an excellent meal at place on the beach and a couple more drinks in the old success, however it appeared people were beginning to tire of that. waking up it was evident a last day on the beach was not to be, so we packed up and headed off, leaving benny, dyke and kristy to grab what they could of their last few days.



catchphrases: "dude, check the pictures in that book" (benny being sleazy in an art gallery)

august extravaganza part 1

after the july heatwave all was optimistic about the august bank holiday jaunt to cornwall, built up for months as the encore to a fine summer of drinking whiskey on campsites whilst pretending to bodyboard. that was until we saw the weather forecast. and realised that every campsite in cornwall was fully booked as we had unsuprisingly not got our arses into gear on time. so, after a couple of days blind panic lucy managed to bag us a site just across the border in devon (urgh) but close enough to some nice cornwall beaches to fit the bill. arriving at hartland in driving rain me and nays amazingly bumped into bob and lucy in the pub no less and thought it would be rudeness of the highest order not to sample a couple of the ales on offer, however this didn't go down too well with benny when he found out as for a while it looked like he may have had to do the shop...so after him throwing what can only be described as the pap of all paps he scared me and bob into submission, receding tales between our legs to do the shop. at the site all was good, a nice farmer led us by quad and got some caravan types to move so we could have more space, which was nice, and once everyone arrived the evening descended into the usual pattern of ale/steak/whiskey/bed. we awoke freshish and ventured down to the nearest beach - sandy mouth - as recommended by my all famous cornwall pamphlet to embark on a spot of wave peppering, though it proved difficult as things were a bit messy. the afternoon was spent doing not much and observing some dweeb sack. this led to an evening stroll down to hartland quay, which proved to be beyond everyones expectations and a great spot with a pub on the rocks and the waves crashing in around us. the following day we decided to head off to trebarwith strand, a place discovered a few weeks earlier and generally decided pretty nice thanks to the brilliance of the pamphlet. dyke was all excited cos kristy was on her way and the waves were looking good if i bit big, but benny continued his rapid development into pro bodyboard god with some crazy moves whilst bob got overconfident and royally tumbledryered. we headed back to meet kristy, then had a fine few hours of frisbee (no dweeb sacking), followed by the usual ale/steak/whiskey routine. oh, and dyke enjoyed some vegetable wraps. so the last night before moving on into cornwall and the prospect of st. ives mmmm and sennen mmmmmm passed and we told ourslelves not to drink so much whiskey in the following days. cough.



Cathchphrase: "Am I biting? Am I?"

russelldyke bay

another weekend, another trip to the sea saw us head down to widemouth bay, cornwall where we met up with the already-away-a-week-and-tanned-to-high-heaven bob and lucy. me and nays arrived first and were confronted with the splendour of bobs new tent, taking his collection to enough to fill a small cul-de-sac. after pitching we headed straight for the beach and had a fantastic hour of bodyboarding, followed by a doombar, then some tribute at the pub and then a stroll back to the site to get the barbie lit...with the now arrived herbert bringing up the rear. pretty soon benny turned up, guided to the pitch by the 30ft flames that result when you try to cook duck on a bbq. so now it was only dyke and kristy on the road. problem was they didn't know which road. and despite the fact only 3 roads were needed on the entire journey they managed to end up in the wrong county, heading in the wrong direction, on the wrong road. all was well in the end though, and they managed to do it in 6 hours so shouldn't laugh. after a bit too much whiskey we awoke to wind and rain but were determined to get some sea action in, i had my new flippers, which quickly became a flipper (i didn't like them anyway), and we spent the best part of an hour being pounded and dragged across the beach. what followed in the afternoon is difficult to recall but certainly involved bayview sunset, bayview sunset and a bit more bayview sunset, followed by tribute. i was shamed to bed in the end after falling over my deck chair thats for sure. we arose sunday to some much welcome sunshine and a trip to trebarwith strand where we found a great little beach with some great waves, if a little crowded. dyke caught an immense wave and looked pro, benny did a 360 and looked like benny, bob did a tumble dryer and i paddled a bit. it was choppy though. and what can you do with one fin?



catchphrases: "he always comes back", "i wonder if theres any edible vegetables in that hedgerow"

down the gower

the first communal camping trip in some time saw a dash to the gower in south wales, mainly because we could be there so quickly. unfortunately knowone bargained on the swansea black hole which took us through the mumbles in the abertawe vortex and out at the other end of the space time continuam at llangenith beach. fortunately me and nays got there nice and early, with a pick of pitches, and therefore didn't have to encounter mikey carroll on the gate like everyone else, we did still have the somewhat stressful task of saving pitches for everyone which can only be likened to stopping pritchard building a steel monstrosaty on an open piece of land in cannock town centre. anyway, eventaully everyone arrived, and all was good....i.e. whiskey was drunk. morning came and rather suprisingly dyke, lucy, bob and myself decided that the first thing we should do is go in the sea, which proved to be a stroke of genius as the waves were fine and the hangover was cured. bob tried his hardest to convince everyone that the water was full of swansea's excrement but that didn't dampen spirits and knowone believed him.....the 3-eyed fish was a little odd though, but hey, thats what you get when you swim in the bristol channel. the afternoon passed with some more sea action and a bit of toe-breaking beach football, and just as we were contemplating getting the barbie on the heavens opened so it was all into dykes tent for an evening of steak, wine and whiskey in the presence of a semi-professional chef. after a night of high winds and rain in which everyones (50 quid) tents were fine but bennys (600 quid) everest thing was battered and broken, we awoke, wandered about a bit before deciding we might as well just head off...for some reason i was ridiculously sun burnt - which is odd with the lack of sun - hence doing some a grade moaning. no theres a suprise.





cathphrases: "wow wow black pudding", "the streets are dirty too", "i'm semi-professional chef me"

mountains, beaches & guiness...ireland

after a four hour journey battling through driving rain to the pembroke dock, we crossed the irish sea in relative tranquility, free from any dramas (although nays was slightly concerned that the lifeboats would only hold 150 each), to find ireland basking in sunshine. from then the race was on as we headed west towards cork city, to spend our first night in the relative luxury of a hotel, but more importantly to get to the cities array of pubs in reasonable time to sample some guiness. after a somewhat frought evening we woke up and headed out towards county kerry and the town of killarney. after pitching the tent we decided to take a walk to the famous lake and castle, such a pull for the tourists, however after walking for 45 mins we decided our energy would be better spent taking the 5 minute walk into town to drink guiness than continuing the further 30 minutes to see some old castle and a lake. and a pattern emerged. after a bbq and some more drinking at the site we woke up with heads a banging, freshly motivated to take in some countryside, so we headed further west and out to the dingle peninsula. this is where things started to fall into place and the breathtaking kerry scenery of the journey could only be bettered by the even more remote and magical scenery of the peninsula, first stopping at inch beach, with the backdrop of the ring of kerry, then out around the slea head, where wonderful beaches and views to the blasket islands were found. having taken in these delights there was no better way to spend the evening than by drinking some guiness in the picturesque harbour village of dingle, especially when the barman seemed intent on supplying it FOC. once again waking with a thumping head, we headed north across the peninsula and through the wonderful connor pass, to a fantastic site on the beach at brandon bay, where nays found a friend in a rather exhibitionist dog and a fantastic sunset was a fine backdrop to a few drinks on the sand. the following day we moved on to lahinch, the only dissapointment of the stay. however, the one good thing that you can always rely on in ireland - the guiness - was in abundance. our next stop was the city of galway, (via an eery drive through the burren and round the north coast of co. clare), a whole lot more lively an affair, a fantastic city full of life, however a great evening still remains a blur....but the guiness was good. friday came and was spent heading round the coast northwards through the rugged mountains of connamara, where we stumbled upon the most fantastic white sand, turquoise watered beach, practically empty on a beautiful summers day. surely one of the things that makes ireland so special. form here we headed up to dromahair to spend an evening and a day with the carney family, nays getting particularly excited to meet her new nephew, and it was great to meet her grandad for the first time...and then on to boyle to spend a night with the gilmartins, michael cooking a fantastic meal of the irish staple...potatoes. so, all carbed up we headed out early through dublin and the ferry to holyhead, a nightmare return leg not tainting the fantastic time we head in a place that has had a more profound effect on me than anywhere i have ever been.

betws-y-coed on bikes

3 months of ‘intensive training and preparation’ came to fruition with the much hyped mountain bike weekend (or in dyke’s case ‘reading weekend’). a quick sprint to north wales was made on Friday evening to enable an early start on Saturday, but even after months of planning a campsite hadn’t been found, fortunately wyn in the fish and chip shop was on hand to point us in the right direction. everyone ensured that they would be in peak condition for the long day ahead by spending the evening consuming an ample portion of wyn’s fish and chips each and polishing off a bottle of bells, all to the sound of pterodactyls circling overhead. So, as anyone who has shared a tent with bob will know, we were up bright and early to prepare for the adventure. After minutes on the bike, benny being the brut that he is snapped his chain. Whilst most people would just turn round and go back, we had bob the ingeneer on hand with the most random chain fixing device and we were off again in minutes on a 4 hour white knuckle ride that would take us through some amazing mountain landscapes, endure some arduous climbs, yet experience some amazing descents. The day was capped off in fine style with a 50 piece meat selection on the bbq, plenty of good stuff, and an early night was had due to not being able to see. Sunday came with more brilliant sunshine and another early start due to the above bob/tent/share situation and the idea of doing some more riding. However that quickly became doing some fry-up eating, and after a bit of disco and an assault course challenge we were on our way.



catchphrases: "it's not for you boys"; "GEEK!"; "for my blog"

talland bay and beyond

so the traditional easter trip started early, a convoy system making its waydown to the coast, its members not so bright eyed and bushy tailed but driven on by that first sight of the ocean. whilst the day started with good intentions, notably some disc throwing and discussions of venturing into the sea, it quickly deteriorated when it was discovered that nearby polperro had a vast supply of something that was to set the tone for the whole weekend....tribute....the finest of the fine cornish ale. not that there were many complaints, and even though there were brief flirtations with the sea the prospect of a tribute and a crab sandwich was never far away.
as things wound down and tents were packed away, nays and i moved on to padstow where an excellent little campsite was found with panoramia of the town and an attendendant that we couldn't help but feel sorry for. nights started to become chilly, however fine times were still had around the bbq, and some final flirting with the waves in the spectacular watergate bay.

catchphrases: "we're bodyboarding now"; "mmm tribute"; "crab sandwich crab sandwich"

caerfai bay

tired tired tired. the weekend went too quickly as they always do when seaside adventures are involved. so the second bank holiday weekend has been and gone and its a 100% record so far for getting away from the grapple of greyness.
st davids was good....but cold. the coastline and view from the site can't be beaten anywhere that i know of so even a biting wind and some furious rain did nothing to dampen spirits.
some abseiling and climbing got the blood pumping, supervised by adventure mike who never fails to amaze me when seen in his natural habitat. nays was a star and put her fears aside to hang from a 50 foot drop.
the sea was still as a millpond so some gentle paddling was the only possibility there....nevertheless the sea always makes me feel alive.



catchphrases: "to the pub to the pub"; "we're manion crabbin"