PEMBROKESHIRE, WALES: MOST EPIC WEEKEND OF MY LIFE!!!

My Adventure Weekend in Pembrokeshire, Wales started out on Friday afternoon. We left the London Paddington Station (as in Paddington Bear :) and arrived in Swansea, Wales about 3 hours later. After arriving in Swansea, we took another train to Haverford West and that's where the event coordinator from Preseli Venture picked us up. 

It was a 20 minute ride in a mini bus back to the lodge. This is a pic of the common room/dining room. It was always toasty with a wood stove going. It reminded me of home :)

This was the room that I shared with 4 other girls. I had the top bunk on the left. 

Since we got to Wales during the night, I hadn't seen any of the scenery until Saturday morning. This was the view that I woke up to. Notice the ocean in the distance!

On Saturday morning, 12 of us were taken out to this beach-Abercastle-in the mini bus with Jon and Neil our guides for 3 hours of kayaking. We suited up in wet suits, wet booties, life jackets, rain slickers, helmets, and splash guards to cover the holes in our kayaks. From here I started to use my waterproof camera which is disposable so I need to get the pics developed, but they will be epic so it's worth the wait :) From there on out we made our way and they taught us the ropes. Even though I've been kayaking numerous times in lakes, the ocean was 100 times more crazy! Right away they had us surfing down the waves. I flipped my kayak 3 times! The water was freezing and I was trapped under my splash guard, but then remembered to rip the tab on the front like they showed us. When I popped up Neil was sitting there bobbing in his kayak and said, "What took ya' so long? lookin' at all the fish?" and I said, "Nope. My first thought was how damn cold it was, and my second instinct was to rip the tab!" The guides were really great! Really funny, but also really  informative about all the wildlife and ocean; we even saw a Atlantic grey seal sunbathing on a fishing crate! After kayaking, we went coasteering after lunch. We suited up in winter wet suits, wet socks, wet shorts and shirts, helmets, gloves, and life jackets. It was really amazing how warm the wet suits kept us even though the water was around 35F. We scaled the rocky cliffs and jumped in. The highest we went was 30 feet and only three jumped...including me! It was the biggest rush ever! Jon and Neil were doing backflips off of the cliffs, they've been doing it a really long time, so I felt really comfortable that if anything would happen, they'd know what to do. A few of the others got cold so seven of us stayed in with Jon and Neil and explored some caves and some whirlpools. They said that the swells and the tide that day were only that big about five days out of the entire year so we were super lucky! It was an absolutely blast and I was sooo tired that night! Will the chef made great homemade dinners every night, including some traditional Welsh food like as Gammon soup. 

This morning (Sunday Feb. 13), we took a 4.5 mile hike along the coastline and this is were the rest of the photos are taken from. 

We started out again at the beach in Abercastle. This is a pic of the town. 

This is near where we were kayaking. The cliffs on the left are where we did most of our cliff jumping.

A little Welsh for ya'll :)

They dropped us off at the beach around 9:15am, gave us a map, and said that if we weren't back around 12:30pm that they'd start to come look for us :) Good thing none of us fell down these cliffs!

Having the absolutely time of my life! (pre-mud up to my knees!)

The little muddy (mixed with sheep poop...)pathway we climbed down...and slipped in...

"Got a little Captain in ya'?"

The grass was really lumpy and spongy, kind of like a trampoline. I liked it, but I felt like creatures would pop out!

Sheep :)

My shoes...it got so bad that I couldn't distinguish my grey socks from my tan shoes! I pressure washed them with the hose when I got back to the lodge and there'll all good now :)

It started to rain big and cold raindrops, but then the sun started to pop out :)

Some of us sporting our ever so hot bright red rain jackets :)

Don't fall off of a cliff...you will die!

The sheep must get a little itchy :)

A wave breaking

The little point on the right is where we came from and around the bend! 

The beautiful rainbow that brightened our rainy day :)

The beach that we needed to find on our map meaning that we only had about 20 more minutes to hike!

We passed this woman on the trail and she had with her 3 springer spaniel puppies! They were having the time of their lives getting all muddy on the trail :)

We got to see so much of Wales. The coast, the farmland, and the forest/marsh areas. 

The forest reminded me of Whoville; the trees were magical and full of bright green moss and leaves. 

All of a sudden we were in a huge pasture!

Someone lives in this adorable little cottage right by the ocean!

And this one!

The tulips are already coming up in Wales!

An old barn at a farm we passed.

The name of the farm spelt out in milk cans :)

I didn't know what kind of tractor this was? Thought my dad might know?

Some cow pics for Mama :)

The road back to the lodge. Most of the roads are just big enough for one car to pass through and there are little nooks where you can pull over and let others pass you. Also, instead of shoulders, there are these big mounds built up, which also double as fences for farmers land boundaries; clever!

The entrance to our lodge! 

Our lodge! We made it!

Me totally full of mud and wiped out despite having the best time ever!

One final shot of the station in Wales. I had the absolute most amazing time of my life this weekend and I would go back tomorrow if I could! The scenery, the activities, the people; it was all surreal! If you're up for the adventure of a lifetime, go to Wales and jump off some cliffs or be a daredevil in the ocean! It's so worth every penny and every bit of energy! Tomorrow it's back to the "real world" for me. Class and my internship. Tomorrow they're sizing me up for some fittings, so it should be a fun day at work :) Only eleven days until spring break and Italy! I can't believe how fast time is flying here, but I also can't wait to be back home and see all of you smiling faces :)