Friday 26 June 2015

Back to Basics, Back to Blighty

The National Cycling Arena - Impressive!

We have been back to the UK - a week now and could best be described as an odd mixture of drab and hectic; the weather has been very un-June-like, cool grey and breezy and we have been really, really busy - the contrast to out 'normal' life is quite extreme.
I have managed just a single day out on the Grit so far - with the usual suspects and we have also squeezed in several walks in attempt to keep fit, locally or a little further afield - including a brisk evening round of the Burbage Valley.
A Burbage Round - a classic leg stretcher
I spent a day at the National Cycling Arena, attending a symposium by the Outdoor Writers and Photographers Guild on "the Future of Outdoor Publishing" and there was an element of 'doom and gloom' about the whole thing, though at Rockfax we seem to be bucking the trend of falling sales and shrinking markets for print editions of many of the outdoor titles  - long may it continue.
We have booked a month in northern Sweden and Norway for August - that should be a bit different from the hot and sunny south. When we checked the prices, flying into Sweden and hiring a car there was about 1/4 of the cost of the same deal in Norway - that's a no-brainer then - Lofoten here we come!

Wednesday 10 June 2015

Pyrenean Peace and Quiet

Plateau de Beille - 7000' and 'cool'.
So it was back to (one of) our favourite places - the Ariège. Colin has been dispatched over the mountains and we have had a very pleasant and quiet week in the mountains. It is mid-June and the place is still virtually deserted; the various camp-sites and other business here must have an incredibly short season in which to make their money which is just fine by us - we should be out of the way before the hoards arrive.


Andorra - in the mountains
It has been warm to hot and a quite thundery but we been heading up high to escape the worst of the heat. So it is homeward(?) in two weeks to catch our breath and think about what to do with the summer - Ireland and Northern Norway have been thrown into the hat so far - let's see what the weather Gods throw our way.

And it Continues

Exploring the coast north of Altea February in the Costa Blanca Three weeks on and we are still seeing slow improvements in my stamina, bala...