My friend George set herself the challenge to swim every day in May... it's not been the best of weather this month though, yet she's persevered and I've been on hand to join in whenever I can.
So, as a bit of a change of scenery, this past weekend, we borrowed the quad bike and headed out across the muddy fields on an adventure to the river that runs along the bottom of the farm.
Now some of you may remember the last time I rode a quad bike I had 'a little disagreement' with a wall... I still maintain it was the bike not steering properly and not just my blondness of grabbing the throttle and breaks at the same time... however, Farmer Nick agreed that I could borrow the bike after some intensive training!
I think he wasn't impressed with me laughing; clearly I was not taking the training seriously enough!
However, after training was completed, and George plucked up the courage to hop on the back of the bike, we were off... The mud was deep, the wind was wild and the rain was proper wet (that's Devonshire for tipping it down!), but we were not deterred and the air filled with giggles and a few screams, as we made our way across the fields to the river.
Now, this spot on the farm is my favourite place. It's where I like to head for some me time, to pop up a tent and just be at one with nature. On this occasion however, it was rather flooded and soggy, definitely not a day for camping, but perfect for a swim and play in the water.
The river was in full flow and we waded through the muddy path, created by the cows coming down to drink, to find a good spot to climb in.
My normal bathing spot had disappeared but we found a suitable place to enter the water, where we could walk down stream to a pool created by the oxbow in the river and a fallen tree.
The current was pretty strong, which made for a fun swim and a spot of racing... I kept losing as I was in the stronger part of the river (that's my excuse!!), then we clambered over the tree to a really deep pool for some 'Hobbit Jumping'. Now this is a new sport... basically you clamber up on a slippery mound, crouch down like a Hobbit and hop on in to the pool; hoping you reemerge! Safety was key here, so a safety stick was installed and hands at the ready to pull one another back to the shallows, so you didn't get swept down the river/in to the tree!
It's amazing the fun you can have in a pool of water with a little courage and imagination; and as always, we exited the water with grace (!), feeling amazeballs, with huge grins on our faces and our skin red and tingly from the cold.
We got dressed, found a log (I nearly knocked George out as it tipped up as I sat down, just as her head was at stick level... oops!), and enjoyed our custom hot chocolate with Baileys to warm up... As we sat there under the trees listening to the birds and water hitting the canopy above, we reflected on George's journey to date this month and what an awesome experience it's been, with some great swim spots across Devon explored.
The rain was still battering down as we excited the shelter of the trees and hopped back on the bike for our return adventure through the mud to the farm and a nervously waiting Farmer Nick!
A fantastic few hours out, just living our best lives...
Here's the video of our little adventure; just click the photo to play in a new window:
Thanks for reading and I look forward to you joining me on my next adventure...
Welsh Wales is on the radar; so watch this space for our 'Devon MTB - Girls Who Shred' stories from Wales.
Comments