South Devon - England

The Place: Spent a weekend in South Devon for a bit of camping. We took a drive along the coast stopping in at Dawlish, and Paignton - and unfortunately no waves for surfing (I guess this isnt SA or Aus!). We did however manage to hire some kayaks in Babbecombe Bay, where we could explore some of the caves in the cliffsides aswell as paddling within a metres of a large resident seal.

Dart Estuary Swim - South Devon

The Event: Entered an endurance swim covering 5.2miles of the Dart Estuary in Dartmouth (South Devon). It was tougher than I expected and I came in at a slow time of 2h27 (52nd out of 62) with the leader getting a time of 1h43. It was a weird experience for me to do a long swim; unlike running where you stop when tired, with swimming you just keep going but feel as though you're blacking out. Towards the end I was just swimming in a zone with eyes closed, looking up every now and then to keep my direction. Enjoyed every second though!

Helsinki - Finland

The Place: Our first trip to Scandanavia, Liz and I spent a long weekend in Helsinki, Finland.
Some features: Helsinki is a small port city and the sight of its massive oceanliners which cross the Baltic sea are very impressive. Nesting slightly above the skyline of the city is a simple but beautiful cathedral which stands behind a large square with Alexander II (from when Finland was part of the Russian Empire) standing in the middle. Quite a few of the statues are unique in that the people wear bear skins with the head of the bear above their own.
We had a good night out on the Saturday night and were surprised as it was still light at 23:45! Met some Fins in one of the bars, one of whom mentioned that she was from further north in the lapland regions where there are days in mid summer with 24hrs of sunlight and conversely in winter, 24 hrs darkness.
There were loads of musicians walking round the city, partly because of a music festival taking place, but it seemed quite a few were just happy to strum a guitar in the park. Definitely a lot of heavy metal! In one of the more chilled out pubs they were playing a bit of death metal softly in the background.
We both really liked the old markets set up on the esplanade, where they sell alot of hand made wooden crafts, some using reindeer antlers as handles, or decoration. Also in abundance were mink coats, blue fox skins and reindeer pelts.
Took a ferry trip to the island Suonmenlinna which is an old fortress and an important part of Helsinki's history and is now a UNESCO Heritage sight. It stood through Finlands Russian and Swedish eras to when Finland became independent in 1917.
The Finnish language looks seriously complicated or in Finnish "Suomen kieli näyttää vakavasti monimutkainen!" but it was easy to get around as everyone seemed fluent in English. The nordic names are also really cool; coincidentally I was reading one of the Nordic authors books (Kon-tiki by Thor Heyerdahl (OK, he's norwegian)) but the names that came up included Bengst, Otto, Knut, Torstein to name a few.
Would love to return to scandanavia and experience life in the laplands, with a bit of husky dog sledging, reindeer spotting, snow saunas and northern lights. Maybe next time!

Plymouth - England

The Place: Headed down to Plymouth, in South Devon to take part in the Endurancelife festival, for a weekend of running, cycling and swimming events. It took place on the Flete Estate, the only privately owned estuary in the UK, which has been used for its beautiful scenery in movies including Sense and Sensibility.
The races: On Saturday, Liz had a great run in the final of the Coastal Trail series, where she was the 5th female finishing, coming 26th overall in the 10k trail run. That night we listened to a few talks held by adventurers who have taken part in major expeditions such as running the great wall of China, rowing around the circumference of the UK, running the mountains of the UK spanning the length of the country, and other inspirational talks. On the Sunday I took part in a mile swim along the estuary followed by a 1 hour cyclo cross, which was a gruelling moutain bike trail up muddy hills, through thick bogs and across the beach sand of the estuary(see 5th pic - I'm in front). I managed to come 3rd (out of 8 doing the 1 hr course). I think the hardcore bikers all chose the 2hr, and 4hr courses though!

Cambridge - England

The Place: Had an amazing day of sunshine and strolling in and around the college town of Cambridge.
She Said Yes!: Went punting along the river Cam which was really fun, and harder than it looks! The views from the river were the best we saw of Cambridge. It meanders under old bridges and between the different colleges of the university. We stopped for a few minutes in the punt at a quiet spot by the banks of Kings College Chapel where I surprised Liz by getting on one knee and proposing, to which she said Yes! Some other passers by saw what was happening and cheered for us from their boats.
We spent the rest of the day strolling around the beautiful old town, checking out some of the college campuses, having some quiet drinks while dangling our feet in the canal, and chilling in the shade of a tree by the river.

Anglesey - North Wales

The Place: Travelled to Anglesey - which is almost an island lying in the northern most part of Wales and popular as a ferry-link to Dublin - for the endurance life 10km trail run up and around Holyhead.

Some highlights: The run was tough but very scenic taking us around the cliffsides of the island, climbing up to the top of Holyhead mountain and then scrambling down to the finish line. It was a fun race and the steep hills made it tough.

We stayed in a sea side cottage with 9 people which made for a lot of fun when we got back from the race. On the morning after a party on the Saturday night (where a few of our neighbours joined us- friends of some of ours) we took to the freezing sea water and then ran back into the house for a sauna - 3 times. Very invigorating and actually seemed to help quite a bit with the sore muscles after the race. Definitely made me keen to continue the weekend races!

Edinburgh - Scotland

The Place: Spent the long weekend in the beautiful city of Edinburgh in a big group of 11, including Liz, old res friends, Tim, Trev and Nic, and girlfriends and Tim and Cristina and some of their friends.

Some features: Brought in 2011 at the Hogmanay street party followed by a day at the South Queensferry for the Loony Dook. Took a ghost tour that led into vaults under the old town. The tour included stories of murders, tortures, hangings, body snatchers and their ghosts who haunted the Royal Mile for years following. Some of the Ghosts that remain haunting the vaults are little Jake who sometimes takes tourists by the hand, and the Watcher who shows aggression to those passing by. It was a good tour to get a feeling of the history and stories that a city so old can tell.

Tried some haggis, tatties and neeps which I really enjoyed.

Spent a day walking around Hollyrood park and up to the top of Arthur's seat which overlooks the city. The views from there are spectacular, not only because of the rugged landscape but because you get a great view of Edinburgh castle which sits high above the city. Went for a whiskey tour on the Royal mile and learnt a bit about Scotch whiskey - sadly it was more talk less taste! Ate a delicious meal at the Stac Polly after meeting up with the rest of the 11, which led to a good night out. Spent our last day wondering (exhausted from the long weekend) up to the Castle and around the Royal mile passing the beautiful St Giles church, seeing the occasional Scotsman playing a bagpipe, popping into some of the many cashmere and kilt making shops, eating in the cafes watching people go by and soaking in whatever else our hangovers would let us before heading back to the airport that night.

The Loony Dook - Edinburgh

The Event: In South Queensferry on the outskirts of Edinburgh, participated in the Loony Dook which is a New Years day procession through the streets of the town ending in a plunge in the icy waters overlooked by the landmark Forth bridge. Loads of people dress up in crazy gear to take a dip. Needless to say it was freezing but we didnt anticipate how agonisingly cold our feet would get from walking on the iced cobblestones of the streets, only to be relieved by the numbness caused from taking a swim! Very fun though. (Ps That's Trev at the bottom raising his arms). By chance Liz and I are in this video on youtube - from 1:05 to 1:20 - see if you can spot us!