Still more cornwall.

Well, since the last post, I've discovered that there's a lovely bouldering spot just 15 mins walk from where i'm staying... Of course, I made this discovery
after many days of not climbing..., (which, of course was followed by a 1 hour session of climbing.., cut short by the rising tide and the rain...,).., and 4 hours on the next day.... wonderful, yet horrific rock. My kind of climbing..., slopers, long reaches, high feet (if any), but as soon as you get above the stuff that the sea doesn't reach, it becomes chossy, and a little scary... since it's all mudstone.

Sadly, I haven't been able to take any decent pictures of the rocks yet, and even sadder, it's been raining for the last couple of days, so I haven't had a chance to get onto the rock again. On the plus side, more of my relatives arrived on Friday, and its been great to meet some of them, and see Richard again.
This evening everyone is at a wedding of some of their cousins on the Doble side, and I'm being a little anti-social and sitting round at home writing my blog, intending to get a good night's sleep.., so with a little bit of luck, i'll be wide awake tomorrow, and the weather won't be too bad. :)
It looks like i should be going climbing on Monday evening at a little-known indoor wall somewhere relatively nearby.

Tomorrow promises to be a blast with much boozing to be had..., (although, hopefully, the weather will be agreeable and i'll be able to get out and take a few pics.)

Cornwall continued.

I'm still stuck in St Agnes...,

I just can't seem to pry myself away from this beautiful place. A week ago I finally got a climbing fix, even if it was just a little one. 1 hour on the back of a motorbike, 2 hours on some easy trad multipitching, and another hour back in a car..,

A few days later, it was my first attempt at wakeboarding, but that wasn't especially productive.., with that wonderful feeling that we may well be dragged out to sea because the engine wouldn't start.

Other than that, i've been biking lots, and almost have some fitness.., but am starting to eat too much, and had a wonderful standard Aggie Friday evening.., went to the beach in the back of a landrover, played a couple of games of rounders, lit up the bbqs.., (over here there doesn't seem to be such a thing as gas bbqs, it's charcoal all the way, baby)... anyway, more silly games.., 3 legged races, sack races, (but we didn't quite get to duck duck goose..., ) followed by eating, chatting, French Cricket, all while getting somewhat inebriated.., you can buy whatever booze you like at the supermarket, drink it anywhere you like.., (they only just banned alcohol on the tube a couple of weeks ago).., On to one pub.., then a taxi over to another pub, where the locals are rather friendly.., and a walk home at 1:30. This sounds like a particularly good night for me in NZ.., the only difference is here, I did it all in shorts and bare feet!!

Every year, the local sports club holds a fundraising ball.., (formally known as hampers and champers) where you buy a ticket, dress up nicely, bring your own food and party the night away with a dj, live band, etc... I wasn't going to go, but a spare ticket appeared, my arm got twisted rather firmly, trowsers, shoes and a very bright shirt appeared and it woulda been a shame to waste it, so I had a great time!

Sunday was definitely about recovery.., breakfast consisted of 3 rashers of bacon, a couple of hash browns, baked beans, scrambled egg, toast, and a rather bloated stomach. Then Hannah kindly took me for a drive to see sights and take photos right the west end of Cornwall. we didn't go to "land's end" because it's a tourist hole, but we did get a good view of it from some much nicer cliffs. On the way there, we dropped in to an amazing, beautiful enclosed beach, with absolutely icy water.., (I lasted about 5 mins in a wetsuit)

Also, I got a chance to scramble around on the rocks there. So that (and the bbq dinner) was just the icing on a wonderful, but tiring weekend.

Another thing i discovered on Sunday was Cornish icecream... light fluffy, slightly watery, but still delicous!!., I've possibly discovered a guilt free desert.., (until you look at the price of it)

Cornwall., (or more precisely, St Agnes)

While I was in Princetown, I recieved an email from my long lost (although I'm not sure you can loose someone if you never saw them in the first place) second cousin, Jenny. So, since I was in the neighbourhood.., (well, not too far away anyway), and Cornwall is kinda out on a limb geographically, I figured I may as well visit, and well., that's where I am now.

Firstly Cornwall is beautiful, and soaked in history. much of the landscape was formed by the mining of tin and china clay over a centuary ago. The rural roads are narrow, winding, and wild flowers grow high on the sides. (the result of this is rather an exciting experience for passengers in fast moving cars, travelling around blind corners without enough road to comfortably fit 2 cars). There are also the trademark sections of road with trees growing over from either side, forming a leafy tunnel.., (I hate to think about the state of those stretched of road during autumn)

St Agnes is a village on the north coast of the Cornwall peninsula, the people here are laid back and friendly, Surfing is possibly the most common past time, along with casual games on the beach. Apparently the place is somewhat boring during the winter, but the people seem to be so wonderfully friendly, I doubt it. Truro is a large town relatively close to St Agnes, and many of St Agnes' residents, including Jenny work there. Truro is home to a hospital, and med school. Rob, Jenny's nephew and Richard Jefferies (who visited nz a few years ago)'s brother also lives here and works as a physio at the hospital. Consequently, many of the people I've met since I've been here also work at the hospital.

The Sea cliffs off St Agnes are riddled with tracks and make for a rather intersting, and incredibly scenic bike ride. The nearest hill (and the biggest in quite a large area is topped by the beacon (I can only assume that at one point in time, it had navigational markers atop it, now, it just has a survey point... and wonderful views across hedged meadows, out to the windmills, and, of course, across the endless sea.)

Princetown...

Well.., I survived..., and managed to do it without sleeping in the coach station, the maritime mission, or the Salvation army charity hostel. Before heading to Plymouth, I had tried to book in to back packers, but I could only find one online, and it was booked out. I figured that there must be more in town, but after walking to the information centre in the rain, I found out that the cheapest way to get a roof over my head would be to pay at least 45 quid for a room in a B&B.

I was just about ready to pay a huge amount of money for a night of not being mugged when I heard that there is a camping ground just out of plymouth... so, off I headed, not too keen about spending a rainy night in a bivi bag and a rather too warm sleeping bag. Fortunately, I found a hardware store on the way, and bought a tarpaulin and some string.

Bus fare each way: 1.5 quid
tarpaulin: 4 quid
string: 2 quid
a small patch of grass, no decent tv lounge, etc. (but free showers): 8 quid
not getting mugged whilst sleeping under a bridge: priceless!

I did my “tent” up a little tight so woke up a little damp in the morning, but it was far preferable to the sweaty mess I'd've been in, had I just slept in my bivi bag.

I left the camping ground nice and early, arriving at the bus stop at around 7am. only to find that the first bus didn't arrive until after 9. I had 2 hours wandering round Plymouth, (carrying far too much as per usual) and managed to buy a few pegs for my tarp and a map of dartmoor. The guy at the shop managed to convince me that I needed a compass too, but gave me a pretty good deal on them.

I finally arrived in Princetown at 12:30 today, signed into the backpackers, where I'm the only guest. I dumped my bags, and after a chat with friendly locals and a bite to eat, I headed out for a wander round town, and a little countryside. Dartmoor is a wonderful and somewhat unique area where everyone has legal walking access to most of the farms. It's sorta a combination of farmland and national park, with wild looking horned sheep, cows and miniature horses wandering around. In the course of my wandering I headed up to the top of the highest peak near town (complete with TV mast)... I figured that the mast was probably pretty close to the highest point, so I was heading toward it when all of a sudden, it disappeared, then reappeared, slightly... anyway, I got to the tor at the top of the hill and looked at the wonderful lack of view. It was at that point in time that I realised how important my new compass may be in the next day or 2.



After a lesuirely retreat to the backpackers, I wandered inside in time for the rain, had a shower, and headed over to the pub.., (where I felt my Scottish heritage coming through and I decided that my baked beans on toast in my pack would be more than adequate for dinner.) I might head back there for a beer tomorrow evening....

Tomorrow, I'll try to find some internet access, (if I'm not up too early for it) and then the plan is basicly to walk for 5 or 6 hours, then turn around and return via a slightly different path. Weather seems to be better in the morning, so an early start may be wise.

scary...

I'm writing this from the bus to plymouth... well, the bus after the one I wanted to take to plymouth. I'm on my way to dartmoor, in the south west of England. more specifically a small town called Princetown. where i found a backpackers with space to accommodate me for the night. There's quite a bit of rock out that way..,(apparently), and with a bit of luck, there'll be some people climbing it. I had hoped to catch the bus to plymouth, and Ihen another bus on to princetown, leaving a couple of hours after the first one arrived. Now, I'm on a bus that's supopsed to arrive in plymouth 20 mins after the bus to princetown leaves..., but due to heavy demand on this service an extra bus was put on..., I think this bus is going direct, and consequently may arrive early enough for me to catch the connection to princetown. If it doesn't, then i guess I'll just have to find somewhere to stay in plymouth.., hopefully not in a train station, or lying in the gutter somewhere.

we're currently driving on the motorway past London's sewerage treatment plant, or is it the drinking water plant?, or perhaps, having experienced the flavour of london's water, they could be one in the same.

Yesterday, I managed to catch up with Leah Dryland, to experience Ben's cookies, which, although the chocolate in them most certainly wasn't up to nz standards, were still rather delicious. Then we met a man looking for love, casual sex, or something somewhere in between in Leicester square. a realitively affordable pub all day breakfast served as a pretty filling dinner.., especially after I ate half of leah's one as well.

Right now, I'm nervously wondering if I'll arrive at plymouth in time to board the bus to princetown, (assuming that i can find where it departs from)... And if I arrive too late, or can't find the bus station, what I'll end up doing... hopefully I'll be able to upload this post asap so anyone who actually reads my blog will be held in the same suspense as I am.

London, after a week

I'm looking at the end of a nice, but not especially exciting week in London. I've seen a few parks,but none of the big ones, seen lotsa squirrels!! but haven't photographed any yet, thought about what I want to do with myself here, but I haven't really come to any conclusions. I have managed to see Sarah (who didn't realise that her office backed on to a rather large park with tennis courts and Chantelle, who seems to have settled in pretty well in her 4 months here. Yesterday I decided that I'd go to the peaks district today, but the peaks district turned into Dartmoor, and Today turned into tomorrow,after 3.5 hours of trying to work out transport and accommodation .., Fingers crossed, I might just find someone to climb with while I'm there.., but failing that, I guess at least I'll be able to have a nice wander around in the countryside..., (carrying 8Kg of unnecessary climbing gear)

The Science Museum in London is amazing.., I spent 6 hours there, and only managed 1.5 floors (out of 5 floors), and on the way there, wandering through the Imperial College of London,I found some music graduates proving that climbing on things and traditions are still alive and well over here.. (good to see :) )

London.., the begining

(this post was written on the tube on the 23rd..,just took me a while, and a long weekend to get around to posting it.)

Well,I've been here for three days now and i can't say I'm 100% enjoying it yet. I'm enjoying the generosity of my cousin Carmen and her husband, Edmond... also, the friendliness and affection of their son, Josh. But alas, the locals on the streets aren't nearly as friendly as I'd hoped. I managed to get to Brunel University climbing wall yesterday, but sorry, I didn't take my camera... as always, climbers were keen to chat, but enfortunately not many were arround, and I left wondering if I should have tried that little bit harder, or perhaps been a little more blunt about trying to sweet talk my way into someone's trip.

The Wall at Brunel has a few plastic holds, but is mostly lumps of rock embedded in shaped concrete. Good fun to climb on,and, living up to the british tradition, the wall has no fixed top rops, and you're allowed to solo as high as you like... the wall's around 10m tall...,kinda exciting at the top with no ropes or harness, and I certainly wasn't pushing grades while I as hanging round by my self. Out the back, they have a bouldering cave with some insanely difficult problems. A bit of an eye opener for this Auckland Uni Rec Centre dweller. I'm certain I'll be back there some time and wil be sure to take photos.

I'm currently on the underground, on my way into the middle of town... not too sure what to expect, but it should be exciting. Reg told me that there was wireless access on the tube, but I've yet to find it.

I hope everyone back home is doing great, and that the climbers and trampers amongst you are making big plans for the long weekend. I'm missing you all terribly.

Oh,and I'm trying to find a way to upload photos from my cousin's computer, but haven;t yet been able, so expectphotos for the last couple of posts to arrive sometime soon.