A Simple Life of Luxury

I thought I’d give my Dad (who is something of a master carpenter) something to inspect, and no doubt laugh at, next time he visits us in Wales. So, yesterday afternoon was spent building a pergola in the garden.

We had plenty of wood left over from the construction of our timber deck so out came the tools and with no real plan I started chopping it up and fixing it together. It actually went fairly well and although it looks a little out of place at the moment once I’ve built another flower border on the other side of it and have some climbing plants on it it should be a nice garden feature and effectively divide the garden into two.

I’m sure I’ve built it wrong, no doubt it isn’t perfectly square and I’ve used the wrong joints, but it was supposed to be fairly rustic and it seems fairly secure… Of course with the winds we get here it needs to be and we shall have to see how well it fares once it has a proper battering.

Now I have to find some plants that will cope with the wind, the salty air and the sandy soil and ones that will climb as most plants don’t dare tick their heads much higher than a couple feet around here.

We thought we’d treat ourselves to dinner out last night and as the Wild Fowler is no longer doing the 2 for 1 offer we thought we’dgive the Rhydypennau Inn a go. We hadn’t been there fore a while and yet again it had changed hands since we were last there (or at least it appeared that way).

We waited a bit to order, but not too long and then ate our food which was nice. Nothing special, but there was nothing wrong with it either. We then sat there waiting for our plates to be cleared and to order pudding, but it took ages for anyone to come to us. We waited some more and eventually after an hour of waiting decided to give up and by some ice cream from the Spar instead!!

We therefore got up and went to the bar to pay, but were told to wait a second whilst they got the bill. 5 minutes and we were still waiting to pay. Another 5 minutes went by and we asked again, and eventually after standing at the bar for 15 minutes trying to pay we were served and able to give them some money… I’m sure most people would have walked out by now without paying!

To make matters worse when we paid, there was no change in the till so they had to go off searching for some and when they did give us our change they actually short-changed us as well… Only by 4p it has to be said and therefore I couldn’t be bothered to make a fuss as we would have looked pretty silly making a fuss over 4p, but after waiting for over an hour to be served and 15 minutes just to pay it was all a bit of a joke…

At least we saved some money on pudding as we got a vienetta and some ice cream from the Spar for the less than the price of one pudding in the Rhydypennau Inn.

Don’t think we’ll be going to the Rhydypennau Inn again too soon.

As a new YHA member I was looking at the location of Youth Hostels last night and dreaming about the idea of walking around the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path stopping off at the Youth Hostels on the way. I’m not sure if it is possible yet to do this, but I’ve always wanted to walk the Pembrokeshire Coast Path and maybe when Morgan is a little older we’ll do it.

However, Pembrokeshire is just a start, according the CCW work has started on a 6 year project that will eventually lead to an all-Wales coastal path. Walkers will be able go all around the Welsh coastline on a continuous path by 2012, says the Countryside Council for Wales.

Sixty per cent of the coastline is already accessible, but the plan is to create new sections of path and upgrade others to improve access to horse riders and cyclists as well as walkers. Now that gives me some ideas!

We’ve just got back from a ‘proper’ family holiday in Slovenia. We stayed in Kranjska Gora in the NW of the country. It is a small resort town, aimed at snowsports in the winter and wlaking and biking in the summer. We were there at the end of the winter season so the snow wasn’t great whilst we were there, but we did manage to snowboard every day, and then on the last day it snowed properly so at least we got to see it in ‘Winter Wonderland’ guise.

Overall we had a great time. Morgan enjoyed the kids club and the swimming as well as playing in the snow. Anna and I had fun snowboarding, although Anna ended up with a few more injuries than I did! The hotel was nice, the locals friendly and we made friends with some other holiday makers there. I managed to do some geocaching whilst there as well.

Getting there
We flew from Manchester and the drive up went without hitch. We parked at a budget parking place which only cost £13.99 for the whole week and were mini-bused into the airport. We were extra early so had a bit of a wait in the airport but that was our own fault. We then got on the plane and found out that one of our fellow passengers had decided they were too ill to travel, so all the luggage had to be taken off so that they could find their luggage. This meant we missed our take-off slot and were sat in the plane on the runway for an hour and a half.

On arrival in Salzburg we had a small issue getting our luggage as the baggage handlers didn’t seem to know which carousel it was one. After being told it was on a different carousel 3 times by the airport staff and waiting at each carousel for a while it eventually turned up in a pile in the corner of the airport. Once reunited with our luggage we got on the coaches ready for a 3 hour transfer to Kranjska Gora.

On the coach the First Choice rep went through our booking for snowboard hire and lesson and informed us that I hadn’t booked board hire. I definitely had, but they were certain I hadn’t so we decided to sort it out in the morning at the meeting with the reps. Not a great start as we were now worried that I wouldn’t have a snowboard and would have to pay again to hire one.

The Hotel Alpina
Once at the Hotel Alpine in KranjskaGora it was getting on for midnight, so we had had a long day which started at 5am in Ynyslas. Thankfully there was some cold meats, cheese and bread waiting for us along with some biscuits and a drink, so after eating that we fell into our beds. The hotel was really nice, fairly plush, but nothing too special which is just the way we like it as it allows us to relax without worrying about too much. Breakfast was good with a choice a cereals, sausages, bacon, eggs, cold meats and cheese, yoghurts, croissants and bread, along with juice and various coffees etc.

We were booked in for half board and the dinners were nice too, plenty of choice and plenty of it as it was a buffet dinner. Coffees and cakes from the bar were also really nice, and the hotel was well situated just a little way up the hill overlooking the town and right on the edge of the ski slopes. The kids club was also in the hotel and there was storage facilities for our snow-boarding kit.

First Choice - Second Quality
As already mentioned, the snow wasn’t great and things weren’t looking good on the way to the meeting with the First Choice Reps. At the meeting we argued our point that I had indeed ordered and paid for board hire, but they were having none of it and were trying to get an extra 70 Euros out of us. We didn’t give in and headed off to the hire shop anyway, already stressed and ready to argue our point there. As it happens the locals in the hire shop didn’t even look twice and simply gave us the board so we were glad we hadn’t given First Choice an extra 70 Euros! We’ve since double checked our booking and it clearly states Board and Boot hire as separate items, so we did definitely order and pay for it and First Choice were the ones in the wrong.

The meeting also confirmed that the snow wasn’t great and only a couple of lifts would be open. 3 out of the 19 available. One of those was on the world cup downhill black run so out of our league and the other two were on the same slope, so really only one run was open. Of course First Choice were willing to sell you excursions to higher slopes, but not with any discounts, so that would cost another couple of hundred Euros for each day and wouldn’t have worked for us anyway as Morgan was in the Kids Club at Kranjska Gora so we couldn’t head off elsewhere.

We had other issues with First Choice too, as I had booked separate snowboard lessons and kit hire rather than a ‘learn to board package’. This was supposed to give me separate lessons at a higher level to the learn to package, but as it was the end of the season there weren’t enough instructors so I was grouped with the learn to group and therefore didn’t really get any lessons at my level. I brought this up with the rep and he said he’d meet me at the ski-school the next morning. he didn’t turn up and was also never present in the hotel at his allocated times, so I was unable to sort this out. The instructor himself was fine and did towards the end of the holiday try getting me to do a little extra, but overall I didn’t get the instruction that I had paid for, and the First Choice reps did nothing to rectify the situation.

Kids Club
The Kids Club was in the hotel and although Morgan was a little tearful to start with he enjoyed it there and had fun. This was also run by First Choice, but was better than the rest of the service we had from them. The staff were friendly and nice to Morgan and they did plenty of activities depsite the lack of snow.

Snowboarding Lessons
Despite the lack of snow and me being in a learn to board group the group and instructors were good. The first day was a bit of a wash out with slushy snow, rain and an instructor who was a little difficult to understand, but things improved the next day and the group (Me, Anna, Tom, Isobel, Kate, Anna and Estelle) all got on well. I had already boarded a bit so could already do the basics, Estelle had to. Tom picked things up quickly as did Kate and Anna, and Isobel was a skier so caught on quite quickly too. Anna doesn’t normally do these sorts of sports so picked things up a little slower and ended up with more bruises than everyone else, but still enjoyed it and could turn in both directions by the end of the holiday. To start with Tom, Anna and Anna struggled with the button lift and Anna even said that her aim for the week was just to get to the top, but she managed that earlier in the week and from then on didn’t look back. until hurting her arm and having to sit out of the last day of lessons.

Apres Ski
The hotel we were in was part of a chain of about 6 hotels in the resort and we were allowed to use the facilities in the other hotels, so afternoons were generally spent in the swimming pool at Hotel Larix. Morgan loved the pool and the hot chocolates afterwards, and the hotel itslef was right at the bottom of the slopes so we could watch people on the slopes from the pool

Kranjska Gora itself is ideal for families, the whole resort is compact and the main slope that we were on meant that everything was happening in the same place all with easy access to the things we needed. This may have been a little different if all the slopes were open, but for the week we were there it was ideal for use and would be good if Morgan was in ski school too.

I went on a few early morning walks to find some local geocaches too.

We went sledging and built some snowmen too and Morgan enjoyed the snow even though there wasn’t much of it. Typically, just after we gave our hire kit back on the last day, it started snowing heavily and on the morning of our departure the new snow was knee deep, so Morgan and I donned our snow-clothes and got out and played in it a bit before setting off on the coach. It was a shame the new snowfall didn’t come earlier in the week, but I guess there is little we can do about the weather.

We can’t wait to have another winter sports holiday, we would go back to Kranjska Gora again, and may even o with First Choice as they were the cheapest, but we would make sure they get the booking right and wouldn’t rely too much on them for the hire and instruction etc. However, if going to Kranjska Gora again we might go a little earlier in the year to get better snow, or may look to go elsewhere where snow is more likely.

Overall it we made themost of the conditions and the location and had a great holiday, but it could have been spoiled by First Choice if we had let their inefficiencies get to us.

Full details of my snowboard and geocaches sessions can be found in my diary entries at Forces-of-Nature and here are a few photos

I spent a weekend in North Wales recently and had my first real taste of Youth Hostelling. Steve and I stayed at the Snowdon Ranger Youth Hostel, on the west side of Snowdon. We were in shared room that had 6 beds, but luckily we were the only one in it which was nice. There were other people staying at the hostel, but obviously the owners had put us all in separate rooms, which was good of them.

The rooms were clean and comfortable and the Hostel had a few useful facilties such as a bike store, a really good drying room and of course they offered food. Both the breakfasts and the evening meals were good with plenty of quality food, just the way we like it. The lounge was comfortable too with lots of local interest books and magazones to read and overall it was a good place to stay.

The location is perfect for wandering around Llyn Cwellyn  and the surrounding hills and for some easy walks to the Summit of Snowdon. We chose to take the Snowdon Ranger Path to the summit. I’d never walked up this path before and didn’t know much about it, but it proved to be a quick and easy walk to the summit. The path starts right niext to the hostel, zigzags its way up the first little hill and then levels off a bit before hitting the steeper climb to the Snowdon railway line that comes up from Llanberis. This section of the climb was a little steeper and harder going, but the path is well defined and fairly easy under foot. There were great views down to Llyn Cwellyn all the way up the climb and the views beyond the lake to the surrounding hills were pretty spectacular. We also had a view down the valley towards Llanberis at one point.

Once we crossed the railway line we joined up with the Llanberis path and all of a sudden there were people all around us! Another benefit of the Snowdon Ranger path was that it was quiet in comparison to the paths coming from Llanberis and Pen y Pass. It wasn’t far to the summit from here though. In fact is was such a shrt, quick walk that it almost felt like cheating and is certainly recommended for those who want an easy approach to the summit.

We descended along the Rhydd Ddu path, which again was well defined and fairly easy going. The very top part along the ridge had a few spots that induced a bit of vertigo in Steve, but I don’t think the strong winds (up to 70mph) were helping. other than that it was a nice easy path and once again not too busy.

Climbing Snowdon from the West may not be the conventional routes, but they are easy and well worth the effort. If you stay in the Youth Hostel then this is the obvious way to reach the summit.

Why no photos?? Because I’m useless and forgot to take any!

I haven’t long got back from an outdoor weekend in Wales.

First I drove to Liverpool and Anna, Morgan and I stayed in a Travel lodge for the night so that I could drop Anna and Morgan off at the airport early in the morning so that they couldget the plane to the Isle of Man. I then drove to Dinas Dinlle near Caernarfon where I met Steve so that we could go windsurfing. The wind was pretty strong and in the end we went out at Foryd Bay for some shelter, but even there the wind was too much so we headed off to the Snowdon Ranger Youth Hostel instead.

We then went for a nice walk around Llyn Cwellyn and found a few geocaches before signing into the Youth Hostel. here I realised I had lost y credit card so after a few frantci phone calls I had cancelled the card and made sure no unauthorised transaction had been made. I then had to borrow some money from Steve so that I could fill up with Diesel in order to get home.

After dinner in the pub at Rhyd Ddu we got some sleep ready for an early breakfast and an attempt on the summit of Snowdon. We had an easy walk up the Snowdon Ranger path and back down the Rhydd Ddu path before walking around Llyn Dwyarchen and then up the steep path to the summit of Foel Rudd. Dinner this evening was in the Snowdon Ranger Youth Hostel.

The next day we woke with rather sore legs and after breakfast we headed off to Dinas Dinlle for another windsurf. We started to rig but the wind dropped so we did a geocache whilst waiting around for a bit and then headed off to Betws y Coed where we had a look around the shops. We then went to Llanrwst and had a mountain bike ride around the Marin Trail. Our legs weren’t really up to too much, so we had a nice easy ride around taking in the scenery as we went.

Steve then headed off home and I went to the Betws y Coed Youth Hostel where I was staying for the night. After a chat with the others staying there, a little walk and dinner in the Swallow Falls hotel, along with a phonecall to Anna and as it was mothers day my Mum, I headed off to bed ready for another early start the next day.

Monday dawned with some snow flurries but generally cool and sunny so I had breakfast and then went to the Marin Trail again and despite the very tired legs forced myself around the trail again, before heading off to Liverpool to collect Anna and Morgan from the airport.

All in all a good weekend, the hostels were good, the windsurfing was a little frustrating but the walking and mountain-biking were top class (If I get time I shall write about these in more detail). North Wales is quite a playground really. I think Steve enjoyed himself too, and thanks for lending me some money Steve otherwise I would have been stranded!

So, how are you all doing, no doubt many of you started a fitness regime in the New Year and now its crunch time. Have you kept to it? Are you still motivated? How can you keep it up?

It can be difficult, work and family commitments get in the way, the weather isn’t great, the days are still short and you have learned to live with the extra few pounds put on over Christmas, but don’t give up now. Staying motivated is difficult, but you’ve put in a month of work to develop a base to work from so stick with it. Hopefully this article will provide you with a few tips for staying motivated.

Record your Training
Athletes record their training so that they can track their progress and find out what works for them. Now, i’m no athlete and you might not be either so you may think that recording your exercise sessions isn’t necessary, but it all helps with the motivation. It is all too easy to miss a run because it is pouring with rain or not go for a swim because it is cold and dark outside and there is something on TV that looks interesting. Such things are fine, but before you know it you haven’t done any exercise this week, and then that becomes none for two weeks and that’s it, game over your new exercise regime has ended. Keeping a record of what you’ve done makes it easy to look back and see just how good you have been. Lazy weeks are fine, but knowing you have had a lazy week means you can make up for it the next week. Seeing lots of entries in your training diary is a boost and helps keep you motivated to do more.

It is up to you how far you take this, you can use sophisticated fitness training software to analyse your performance, track distances, times, heart rate, diet and much more, or you can just make a note of each session you do in a simple diary / notebook, but keeping some sort of record is a great way to stay motivated.

Spice things up
Fitting training into our busy schedules often means a quick run around the block or local park and doing the same route time and time again can get monotonous. Try to spice things up a bit, plan a run or bike ride somewhere you haven’t been before. Not only will it make you look forward to it, but the new sights will take your mind off the training and make you enjoy the experience.

Alternatively, do something different. if you always just run, then go for a bike ride or a swim. Go to the gym, play squash, anything really. It’ll break the monotony, motivate you and will also work different muscles and maybe teach you new skills. After all, if you can enjoy your exercise then you are going to stick to it.

Spend some Money
Always a good one for me. if I spend some money on a new toy; new running shoes, new bike, heart rate monitor, then I feel compelled to use it. I do of course love gadgets, so getting a new one motivates me to get out there and use it. Once again, it adds a new dimension to the monotony of training and helps me stick with it. It doesn’t have to be a new toy either paying for a gym membership can work just as well.

Train with friends
Training with friends can be a great way to keep you motivated. Once again, it doesn’t have to be full-on training, just taking a friend out for a nice bike ride is enough. First, if you make arrnagements to meet someone to go for a run, bike ride or for a game of squash etc. then it isn’t so easy to just not bother. They are relying on you to be there so whatever the weather and other excuses that may have persuaded you not to go on your own, you;ll still turn up. You’ll enjoy it more with company, and often the comnpetition element will spur you on to work just that little bit harder.

Training with people of varying abilities is good too. If they are a little better than you then you are motivated to try a little harder and being a bit better than someone ele is a great morale booster.

Learn to enjoy it.
It is all to easy to think of your exercise sessions as a chore. But why? No doubt once you are out there doing it you are actually enjoying yourself and the sense of acheivement afterwards makes you feel great. So, why is it a chore. More to the point, however reluctant you are to get out there, it has to be better than work or slobbing in front of the TV. Spice it up, do something you enjoy and excrcise becomes something to look forward to rather than dread.

Join a Club
There are clubs out there for all sorts of sports, joining one can provide you with motivation, new training partners and the ability to learn new skills. Almost all clubs cater for and welcome beginners, so don’t worry about being the slowest. In fact you’ll probably be surprised as there is almost always other beginners, some of whom may be less fit than you, which can be a great motivation boost in itself. And even if you are the slowest then you will be welcomed with open arms/

Think of the benefits
I’m not going to go into the health, weight, physical or physcologial benefits here. We all know them and we are all exercising for one reason or another. But remind yourself of these now and then to keep yourself motivated. It felt worthwhile doing it when you started, so it is still worthwhile now.

Think of the downsides
For some people thinking of the benefits is enough motivation in itself, but thinking of the downsides can be more motivating. Don’t just think of the health risks of not exercising but think of the work you have put in until now. Stopping now will undo all of that just as you are getting to a point where it is starting to do some good. Progress can be slow, especially to start with and building a suitable base takes time, but once you have done the exercise sessions become more enjoyable and the improvements really begin. Don’t stop now and undo what good you have already done.

Set yourself an aim
Your first aim was probably just to do some exercise. Now that you’ve started why not challenge yourself. maybe you could enter a race? Its not as mad as it sounds, most races have entrants with all levels of abilities and having something to aim for can keep you motivated and training hard. if racing isn’t your thing then just set yourself goals to run for a certain distance or time, to cycle a certain number of miles in a week. Having an aim can make it all seem more worthwhile and the feeling of acheivement when you fulfill your aims keeps you going for the next challenge.

So, there you go. No excuses now, get out there, get fit and ENJOY IT.

Anther busy weekend has been and gone. It was the Aberdovey Windsurf Demo weekend and typically there was no wind at all forecast. I did show willing and drive around to Aberdovey on Saturday morning and had a little look at the kit. Not much was happening but seeing as there was no wind at all that wasn’t surprising.

I did meet some people we windsurfed with in Dahab though which was good, but by around 11.30 we decided it was time to head off for some mountain biking. Steve, AndyW and I headed off to do the Climachx Trail and we passed a couple of the kitesurfers (Graham and Jon) on the trail. After gettgin nice and muddy we then headed off to the beach at Ynyslas for a quick surf which was really nice after a hot sweaty bike ride.

Steve stayed over on Saturday night so we had a nice curry for dinner from the Borth Balti and slobbed out in front of a fire.

Sunday was just as grey and windless as Saturday we headed off to Nant-yr-Arian for another bike ride before too many people got there. Unusually we went from the visitor centre so that Anna and Morgan could site in the cafe, play in the playground and walk around the lake whilst we were out. We did the Pendam trail in around 45 minutes and as we arrived back in the car park AndyW arrived. Steve went around again with Andy whilst I showered and had a hot chocolate in the cafe with Anna, Morgan and Jules…. A good little cycle and the whole family was happy too.

We then said our goodbyes and Anna, Morgan and I headed off to MFI to spend lots of money on some new bedroom furniture. McDonalds for lunch (see Anna’s Chicken Supreme incident), and then back home where I played around with my new lights that I’ve bought for night time rides in the woods!

Steve had the week off this week and wanted to go out for a cycle in the hills. I should really have done some work, but couldn’t resist a day playing on our bikes so we headed off to the hills around 9am. I know, ‘It’s a Hard Life!’, but you only get one life so too much work and not enough play isn’t the way to live it.

We started off on the Pendam Trail but as soon as we got going Steve realised he couldn’t change gears properly. Not surprising really as his front derailleur was clogged up with dirt and grime. there wasn’t a lot we could do about it there so I put it into the middle cog for him and off we went. Steve was a little uneasy on the technical downhill bits, but was better than me on the uphills. Cycling to work everyday for the last however many years must have paid off, and the fact that he had to stay in a relatively high gear meant he had no choice to slow down too much anyway. As we approached Llyn Syfydrin we headed off onto the northern loop of the Syfydrin Trial and did that too.

By now the sun was shining and it got really hot on the long climb back to the top. I think Steve has the bug though. Once back at home I cleaned up and adjusted his deraileur for him and got it working , so there should be no stopping him now.

Summer had by now well and truly arrived to Borth. About time, but it had turned into a beautiful day, so after collecting Morgan from nursery we went over to the beach and had a play in the sea and then sat on the hot sand in the dunes. Certainly better than working all day… Although for those of you who think I do nothing, I did get up at 5.30am and do a couple of hours work before going out.

Summer is at last back with us, so we had another family day out in the welsh hills. We took a nice drive up towards and around Nant-y-Moch in glorious sunshine. The weather really doesn’t get much better here in Wales than it was on Sunday. we then dropped down into Ponterwyd and off towards Ystumtuem where we parked up and as organ was asleep in the car I headed off across country to find a geocache.

The Bryn Bras geocache was pretty easy to find and I simply took a straight line following my GPSr right through bogs and blueberry bushes galore to the cache. The box itself was easy to find with the co-ordinates spot on. I left a geocoin and was intrigued by a small package in the ammo can that was sealed with a ote on the outside saying ‘FAO N. Gregory Sept 2007. I don’t know who N. Gregory is or why he/she has to wait until 2007 to open the package, but it is all very intriguing!

Back at the car and there was a camper van parked behind us and a German family just about to set off across the hills in search of h cache as well. We had a little chat and wished them well before heading off across to hills and wisty roads, past the wind turbines and on to Nant yr Arian. Here we had a drink, let Morgan play in the playground and then went off to pick some blueberries. There was still plenty of fruit on the bushes, although nowhere near as many as there were on the less frequented hills by Bryn Bras. Whilst at Nant yr Arian I also took a few leaflets about the mountain bike trails there as I’m planning to buy a mountain bike soon, so will hopefully making full use of the local routes.

All in all another pleasant day in the Welsh countryside.