Blogs from Brecon, Powys, Wales, United Kingdom, Europe - page 3

Brecon Beacons National Park, Wales The bus came a little after eight am and we took it to Storey Arms, and outdoor center, and the trailhead. Before leaving we took a way-point on the GPS. We have a guide and a map, but this is all new to us. It is not a loop trail, so it will require us to take the bus and hike the trail and then to find our way out of the park, across some sheep fields, farms and then back to the campground. The Brecon Beacons National Park has the lowest profile of Wales's three national parks. Rounded, spongy hills of grass and rock tumble and climb around river valleys that lie between sandstone and limestone uplands, peppered with glasslike lakes and villages that seem to be hewn from one ... read more

It's Adam's birthday again - so that must mean it is time for another weekend in Wales! This time we headed off for a canoe/walking adventure in the Brecon Beacon National Park. Saturday was canoe day and we hired Canadian canoes (except for Pete, who was on the 'rescue' surf ski) and canoed from Wales back into England along the River Wye. The canoe adventure was a very sedate one (those of you that hear from Adam will know about his 'great UK search' for rapids) but very lovely. This also meant that we got to appreciate the fauna, including a number of ducklings and cygnets out for a swim with mum and dad. We were well nourished during the 10 mile journey with ANZAC biscuits cooked by Sophie for morning tea, a delicious pub lunch ... read more

Like everyone else, we made the most of the Bank Holiday weekend and headed out of London. We were really keen to re-visit Wales as we loved it so much last time. The Brecon Beacons is a National Park packed with miles and miles of walking. The terrain varies from beautiful farmland, steep mountains, woods, open moors, rivers and waterfalls. Our first stop was the quirky village of Hay-on-Wye. The ‘second hand book capital of the world’ - what a great place! A book lovers dream with about 40 bookshops. Even the green underneath the castle was covered in book shelves. We could have stayed all day but we would never got any walking done! We stayed in an awesome little B&B near the old bridge in Crickhowell. After a snack we set off to do ... read more

Sunday 30 December 2007 - 5.45am! The alarm goes off, alerting us that it is time to rise and shine for our fundraising training hike into the mountains, in the Brecon Beacons National Park. Setting the alarm for 5.45am appeared to be a great idea the night before, but now seemed ridiculously early as we slowly awoke bleary eyed, and noted that it was still pitch black outside and very very cold! We embarked on a family training hike today with Steve's dad, Oliver and Steve's brother Malcolm, and drove from Gloucestershire into Wales to reach the start of the hike. Despite being so early in the morning it was glorious to see nature bursting into life and sunrise was beautiful. On reaching the starting point for the 'Brecon Beacons Horseshoe' hike, we had an initial ... read more

Well it's not every day you can proudly say you have competed at an international level in sport but I can now! Today I competed in the World Bog Snorkelling Championships! This wacky event is organised annually by a group of Welshmen who seem to enjoy thinking up crazy things to do over a pint of beer. Check out their website at green-events.co.uk. The event took place at Llantwyrd Wells (not pronounced at all like it looks....you kind of need to do a hacking 'kl' sound at the start followed by numerous vowel sounds which are unfamiliar to Aussie English, finished with a rolling 'r'!) The town is situated in the middle of Wales close to the beautiful Brecon region, amongst rolling hills dotted with grazing sheep and tiny roads fenced in by hedges. It involves ... read more