Rambling

I've recently been on a nice hike around the Rhondda Valley, South Wales. I went with my local walking group the Cardiff Ramblers which was brilliant. Me being the ripe old age of 24, I considerably lowered the average age of the group! To be honest it was very refreshing to be surrounded by a wealth of age and knowledge. If find that people that have been on this planet have a lot more interesting things to say than I have so I was quite happy lapping up all the general knowledge they were throwing at me.

As we walked through woodland, fields, housing estates and cemeteries, in true welsh style the rain didn't stop! And to add to the excitement we had to walk through farmland in undercover fashion, hoping we wouldn't be spotted by the angry farmer! Our walk leader for the day had mapped out the route a few days before and was harassed by the landowner in true 'get off my land' fashion! However, we managed to pass through without ay trouble.

Just thought when I thought the walk couldn't get any better an elderly lady,Diane, revealed that she had left her glasses at the first toilet stop. As were about 8 miles into the walk, this meant she pretty much had to circle back around to the very beginning to see if she could find her specs. As she wandered off back to the beginning we all wondered how she would cope searching for her specs without being able to see properly....watch this space to find out how she did.

One of the most groundbreaking things I discovered on the walk was the notion of 'Gentleman forward'. I had no idea what was going on when someone bellowed this phrase and all the men marched off whilst I was told to stay put with the other women. This I learnt was the way in which that everyone could discreetly 'spend a penny'-genius! It was not only this that was memorable of the whole day but of course the amazing views of the valleys and the site of Avonmouth distantly in the background.

It was a grand day out. Luckily the weather cleared up towards the latter part of the day. After finishing the walk and heading back to the start point, joy of joys as we found out that Di had found her glasses. A happy ending. I cannot wait until I have another rambling adventure and I have to say, I think 54 is the new 24.