dailyconnectionwithnature Europe travel vanlife

Birthday beach times

August 18, 2019

In the morning we drive to Hay-on-Wye farmers market where I snag the very last of the season’s cherries that have ripened to deepest burgundy in the summer sun. We eat savoury muffins of spinach & butternut squash and pizza slices warmed on a hot pan for brunch before beginning the drive west across Cymraeg landscapes whose undulations mirror the slate-grey clouds overhead. On the beach in Borth the hounds run in wild circles, tails whipping like helicopter blades when attempting an emergency stop as they barrel towards us at breakneck speed. After a week in farming country, walked only on the lead, we can see how good it feels for them to run free as they leap like gazelles or battle like hippos – swinging jaws stretched wider than their heads. Around 4pm we shrug unfit bodies into wetsuits and head towards the tumbling waves, body-boards underarm. Deceased jellyfish dome in opaque wobbles on the sand as we skip past into a warm, tea-brown sea and I think how different this is from the crystal-clear cold blue waters of our winter on Crete. Still, the white murmur of the water is soon hauling us shoreward as we whoop like children at catching a powerful wave; the soft thud of a jellyfish against shin makes me shudder, and thankful I decided for the wetsuit. Later, we eat leftover bean chilli & bread with cheese then I beachcomb for driftwood (a surprisingly good haul) before settling around the fire to drink oatmilk hot chocolates with Irish cream as we bask in the power of a full sturgeon moon… happy birthday to Andy Garside, my partner and best friend. These adventure-filled days are some of the best of my life and I’m loving how beautifully they’re unfolding beneath our feet. ? Andy ❤️??

(Sorry for the delay in posting this – I’m having some tech problems with the blog this month – something keeps causing a fatal error :-/ – but I hope to have it sorted soon).

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