The last few weeks have absolutely flown by, but I’ve finally found the time to sit down and reflect a bit on a couple of cracking weekends spending some time in beautiful places with a few of the family.

First up was a hike in the area formerly known as the Brecon Beacons, recently rebranded as ‘Bannau Brycheiniog‘. As with all name changes, lots of mostly older and more change-resistant people get very grumpy and dig their heels in about using a new name. Personally, I think a Welsh name for a Welsh national park makes great sense. We don’t call Mont Blanc ‘The White Mountain’ do we.

Anyway, my cousin Sofie had been wanting to join me on a camping trip and it was great to have her along for some company. She’s thinking about walking a large stretch of the South West coast path, so a night in the tent and hiking with a larger pack on made for good for a bit of preparation. We were blessed with absolutely dreamy weather, and a view right out across the North Devon coast and Pen Y Fan to the East. I joked that this was probably the best distance to see it from on a sunny Saturday afternoon. Not to be too salty, but ‘celebrity hilltops’ aren’t my idea of a good place to be. Still, better a crowded mountain than thousands of people sat watching Love Island or whatever the alternative is.

On my top secret ranking scale of walking buddies, Sofie scored a few extra points for bringing some homemade sloe gin, and I think I was deducted a few points from her ranking for putting too many chillis in the noodles. Sorry. All in all, we had a great weekend out, topped off by a stop in a Lounge in Newport for a cooked breakfast.

One of my main takeaways from the weekend was that I need to get my eyes tested and start taking glasses while walking. Otherwise, I will continue to think that distant sheep are rocks. I’ve not long been wearing glasses and feel that in combination with the moustache I’ve decided to cultivate they make me look pretty fucking creepy, but whatever, needs must.