England 2006
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The Balettie Bunch invade England!
More pictures can be found here in our England 2006 photo gallery.
UK 2006 - Day 6: Hiking the
MalvernsPart 10 of the England 2006 trip
report:
Yesterday took a lot out of all
of us, but we had a *great* time in
Stratford-upon-Avon and Warwick Castle!
Unfortunately, it really hit Sam (Julian
and Jenny's 2-year-old son) hard... he was
really feeling puny.
So, we
decided that today would be the day that Jenny
and Sam stayed home to rest, while Julian took
the four of us on a long hike up into the nearby
Malvern Hills. This range of hills splits the
two valleys of Herefordshire and Worcestershire
and is supposed to provide some of the best
unobstructed views of rolling English
countryside! We're all looking forward to this,
so after a nice light lunch (ham sandwiches with
Branson Pickle... yum!!!), we pack up water
bottles, make sure we're all dressed properly,
grab the camera (duh!), and go!
As we
drive up the slopes towards the start of the
well-laid-out hiking point, we comment (again)
on how fantastic the weather has been. Our car
park location is at a spot at the Southern end
of the Malverns chain. At the top is an old
Roman fort location, where you can still see the
earthen walls built up for defense. I'll have a
picture of that later.
So... we set out
from British Camp!
The trees and flowers are
in full-bloom along the route and provide
(shock!) some nice photo ops for me... I really
like this thistle shot:
There are some sheep along the way... we
can hear them before we actually see them,
between their "baaaaa-ing" and the bells around
their necks.
As we break out of the tree-line, the
first in the chain of steep hill climbs shows
itself to us:
Looking back, here's a
good shot of the Roman earthen fort above
British Camp:
Here's the first (of
many) shots of the Worcestershire valley on our
climb (don't worry... I'm not going to post them
all here -- go here, though, if you want to
see more):
Topping the first hill
shows the next hill in the chain... but wait!
What is that off to the right of the hill?
There are people
*parasailing* above the hills... apparently,
they're using the hills as their launching point
and floating to the valley below. It is *quite*
breezy today, which helps alot as there's no
other protection from the Sun!
I got a particularly good
shot of one that flew by at (our) eye level, as
we climbed towards the summit!!!!
Continuing the
climb...
<
... and a few more nice
shots from the peaks:
At the peak point, we
take another family portrait!
... and here's a shot of
me with my buddy, Julian:
Heading back down, we get
back into the much-welcomed shade!
... and some really nice
wildflower shots:
At the north end of the
Malvern hills, we stop at "The Wyche Inn"
(pronounced "witch"... it's the "olde English"
spelling!!!) for refreshments! YAY! PUB
ALE!!!
We all enjoy the break in
the shade before we head back:
On the way back, we take
some lower, shadier routes:
... and stop to fill up
our bottles at one of the natural springs that
provides England with some of the best, coolest,
freshest water!!! There is a company that
produces bottled water directly from these
springs... we got it for free!!!
That night, we went
grocery shopping (at Tesco's)... we got lots of
yummy stuff and called it a great (but very
tiring!!) day.
More fun to come
tomorrow!!!!
This way for more adventures!!!!!
-or-
... back to the Adventures in England page!
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