Gower Trip - Rhossoli & Worms Head

After Oxwich, the weather started to clear late morning and with the low tide hitting about mid afternoon, I wanted to take the boys to beautiful village of Rhossoli and see if we could hike across to Worms Head.  Worms head is a tiny spine of rock that hangs off the Western tip of the Gower, and you can only cross over to it at low tide when a rocky land-bridge is exposed.   Historically 'Wurm' is another word for dragon and the rocky outcrop is called this due to its resemblance to a sea serpent.  

 Worms Head off in the distance and waiting for the tide to recede before making the crossing

The crossing and pictures taken from the Island

Looking at the seals far below.  Third shot you get a good view looking back to the mainland with the land bridge exposed

Shots of Rhossoli bay - considered one of the most beautiful beaches in the UK

Gower Trip: Oxwich Castle

On Sunday after packing up our campsite, the plan was to head further west on the peninsula and do some exploring.  A few miles from the campsite we decided to take a detour to check out Oxwich Castle.  Not much different than other castle ruins we have been too, but the boys love to climb around (as long as no-one is looking:)  Bit disappointed that they charged £3 per person to get in to this one...

Camping on the Gower Peninsula - Three Cliffs Bay

This past weekend I took Hunter and Noah camping on the Gower Peninsula of South Wales.    The Gower is a beautiful are with amazing beaches.  People come from all over to stay there.  The site I booked was a place I tried to get to last year but was full.  It is called Three Cliffs Bay Campground.  In 2006 the Independent ranked it the best campsite view in the world.  Its definitely must be up there for sure.  

View from the Campsite and our setup

Ice Cream and dinners at the local pub

Hiking and playing at the beach and nearby Pennard Castle 

Beach Day and climbing up to the highest of the 3 cliffs

Coity Castle & a Sunny Day

This weekend, we wanted to get out and enjoy the summer sun.  It was a little cool for the beach so I packed a picnic lunch and we headed over to another one of the castles in our home area - Coity Castle near the village of Bridgend.  We first ran across Coity Castle last year when we were going to a baptism at the church next to it, and took a mental note to visit it again when the kids were in proper play clothes. 

 More pictures of climbing on the walls

View out through one of the broken castle windows towards the church with the surrounding countryside

Summer 2013 Visit to Bend

Just returned from a work trip back to our headquarters in Bend Oregon.  A couple of my colleagues from the UK were with me this time.  We were there over a weekend so took advantage of the nice summer weather and events in central Oregon.  Link if you cannot see the video below


Barafundle Bay - Pembrokshire

With the amazing weather we are having, I took Friday off and we decided to pull the kids out of school since there is only a week left anyhow until the summer break anyhow.  We decided to take a day trip to west wales in Pembrokshire to a place called Barafundle Bay after a recommendation from an office mate.  The reviews were good too!  According to wikipedia, It was ranked as one of the top 12 beaches in the world in 2004, the good holiday guide ranked it as the best beach in Britain, and in 2006 it was rated as the best spot in the UK for a picnic by Country Life magazine.  Plus its a little out of the way to find, and requires about a 15 minute walk along a coastal path to get to it which keeps the hordes away.  

The walk from the car park to the beach - beautiful:

Fun at the beach:


Elderflowers

Summer is a bit late in coming this year, but normally in the UK and northern Europe the elderflower blooms.  As I understand it the flower typically blooms in late may and June, but they have been in full swing this year in the second half of june and now into July.  They are quite nice turning an otherwise dull bushes into brilliant colored trees.  Take for instance this picture below of the elderflower growing out of the old church across the road.

Here is the same location a few weeks back prior to bloom.  In addition it turns out that it can be used to make a very nice (non alchoholic) beverage referred to as Elderflower cordial.  I probably will not end up making it on my own but I did end up buying some pre-made elderflower sparkling beverage from a local UK farm.  

Kelly and I sampled it last night while enjoying the nice summer evening and it was really good.  It actually had a very light, flowery taste to it. 

Also - here is a good article on the elderflower as well.