On Friday I went out for my long-awaited night navigation by sea kayak, which is the mysterious thing I had to practice sea kayaking for in September. The October weather smiled down on us. The run of wind and rain and grey skies vanished literally just for the evening and we set out onto a glassy… More Serenity, sunset and shooting stars: night navigation by sea kayak
I’ve been kayaking before. I’ve been kayaking on the sea before – in fact, I’ve only ever been kayaking on the sea. But this post is about learning to kayak on a closed cockpit sea kayak with a spraydeck. The reason is there’s a thing I wanted to do but it’s only available to groups… More Learning to paddle a sea kayak
The other weekend I went for my first ever Moonlight Swim at Shepton Mallet lido. It’s an event they put on during the summer at the full moon and it features a two-hour outdoor swim by moonlight, firelight and fairy lights and a free hot chocolate to warm up afterwards. It’s a heated pool, heated… More Moonlight Swim at Shepton Mallet lido
I didn’t know I was going to Tintagel or I’d have 1) booked tickets to the castle 2) read my guidebook about the village 3) taken the Once and Future King with me. But I thought I was having a weekend walking on Dartmoor so I didn’t do any of that! It was my birthday… More An unexpected day at Tintagel | Camping on Dartmoor July 2021
In mid-June and late July, I went camping just off the edge of Dartmoor. It was supposed to be two weekends in June but the campsite was booked out and so I had to change my dates (and got a free night thrown in). I’d like to talk about the campsite but I have such… More Oaktree Lane Dartmoor campsite review | Camping on Dartmoor July 2021
Last week I went back to Brownsea Island for another two nights camping in a tree tent. I learned some lessons from the first time round and I want to tell you about five things I did differently the second time. 1) I didn’t take a sleeping bag You have to carry everything a mile… More Tree camping: 5 things I did differently | Tree Camping July 2021
After my last post about hiking solo, today I’m taking you along on a solo hike! I needed a Dartmoor logbook walk (10+km, in Open country – there are lots of other details but that’s the important bit) but I also wanted quite a gentle walk and my guidebook suggested this one, a Princetown branch… More A gentle Princetown branch railway walk | Camping on Dartmoor June 2021
If you haven’t read Monday’s post on how I fared with my Discover Award, go and read that now. Then come back here and see how the Explore Award went. I said last time that Antz wanted me to do a bow rescue, to hang upside down under a closed cockpit kayak and that I… More … and then I got my Explore Award!
I’ve done a little bit of kayaking before and while I’m not overburdened with talent at it, I’d decided kayaking suits me far better than sailing did. So much so that I decided back in 2017 to get my One Star Award. I got as far as booking it and then the group that actually… More I went kayaking and got my Discover Award!
I’m quite a recent convert to glamping. I’m a low-maintenance sort of bear, who’s usually going to default to her own two-man tent in a field with minimal facilities. But I have a major weakness: hot tubs. You may remember the first time I gave in to the allure of my own hot tub, when… More The Pleasant Pheasant: shepherd’s hut review | Glamping in North Dorset