Norfolk Broads - England

The Place: Spent a long weekend on a narrow boat with friends in the Norfolk broads.
Some features: It was so relaxing to just wander along the tributaries at no more than 5 knots passing quaint houses, small towns and natural wilderness. We all got a good dose of reading, fishing (none caught tho), and just chilling out in general. Though we passed some cool little pubs on the river we decided it was more fun on the boat so cooked all meals on board - and had legendary cooked breakfasts on board (thanks to Tim!). All-in-all, a great British way to spend a weekend!

Cornwall - England

The Place: Competed in a 4 mile endurance life swim in the Helford Estuary which starts in Gweek near Falmouth and heads out till it almost meets the sea.
Some features: Liz and I found a great campsite - we were the only tent there! There was a farm stall close by so we woke up to fresh coffee and sticky buns for breakfast. Headed in to Falmouth for a wander through the old town before heading to the swim in the afternoon. The swim was exhausting - I enjoy a good swim but felt this one stretched me beyond my comfort zone - I came in 35th (last) with a time of 2:21 but at least within minutes of the rest of the pack without falling too far behind. Despite the difficulty the surroundings were awesome. Liz and I took a trip the next morning to Lizard Point (not far from Lands End) which gave us a chance to see the rough sea and cliffsides of Cornwall and Liz got to bite into a true Cornish Pasty (the size of the plate).

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!