Christmassy Feelings...

That's it - we're off now until the 5th January - woo hoo! Sophie and I have lugged everything out of the old office....and into the new. So, whereas before we were spread out over rather a palatial space, we are now all cwtched up together in the old booze cupboard...hic.

It's nice, we like it. So, off I go now, and back to work on the 5th. This will always be known as the year of the 'build' and here we are, all finished, pleased as punch, and ready for a happy 2009 (we are taking an optimistic tack on this, we've had enough of gloom mongerers).

Oh, and for me, it was definitely the year of the 'dissertation', my friend and fellow student Bev likened it to giving birth to a very large baby without any pain relief......so all the 'bearing down' paid off and this Monday I was the proud recipient of a scroll, and I got to wear a silly hat too. Piccie of Amy and I on our graduation day below. Have a SUPER CHRISTMAS!

A happy day...a very happy day!!

Yay! We got it!

It's taken us nearly 3 years - but all of the hard work has paid off. This morning we've just had our Visitwales grading and....the Preseli Venture Eco Adventure Lodge is now officially West Wales and Pembrokeshire’s only 5 star activity centre.

Big cheers to everyone involved and well done all round - Nick and Sophie for their vision, Nick for all the actual real hard work of building and supervising the project, Jon K for his painting skills, Sheldon for being such a special electrician, Tony and Kevin for their woodwork, Peter our plasterer extraordinaire and too many other friends and willing workers to mention by name. Thanks to all of you...blub!

A sad day...but a good day

Our lovely, lovely Loz is off to pastures new! After 5 years at Preseli Venture she's packed up her spotted hankie, mounted it on the end of a long stick, and she's following the yellow brick road to WOOKEY HOLE of all places, where she has heard the streets are paved with gold...

We will miss her so much, but we wish her LOTS of luck at the Wookey Hole Inn with Rich and the rest of the gang, and maybe we'll see her there! So, tomorrow night, that's Thursday, we're going along to the Duke at Newgale to say 'au revoir' to Loz, we'll be there from 6.30pm, because we plan to eat egg and chips and play pool and drink pints. Come along too, if you fancy :)

Random acts of kindness

Sometimes people you don't even know do lovely things...a chap called Dan sent me an email with some snaps of our group sea kayaking at Abercastle and asked me to forward them to the group. Was very sweet of him, he was just here on holiday, and must have seen Preseli Venture written on the side of the bus! What a nice thought though - I'm going to try a random act of kindness every day - we'll see how it goes, karma and all that :) Anyway, thanks Dan.

Coasteering ad furore

You might have read of the furore created by the Isle of Man's most recent ad - featuring one of their key adventure providers jumping off of a cliff:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/3234447/Isle-of-Man-tombstoning-advert-under-fire.html

Well, he's wearing a wetsuit, a helmet, a buoyancy aid, I'm sure that he has all of the correct kit, is well trained, and affiliated to the relevant governing bodies. I bet he even told his wife/mum/partner what time he'd be back for dinner.

You see, tombstoning is not coasteering. So, whether you're in the Isle of Man, or here in Pembs, if you want to jump off some cliffs, best do it with someone who knows what they are doing. Yes?

Preseli Venture updates....

I am back at PV after three long weeks that consisted of;

-finishing off a long stint in London, met some lovely folks, more of that below
-finishing my dissertation, it's done and handed in - yippee!
-going to Jon K and Angharad's wedding, and also Tootall and Louise's wedding. That's 2 of our hunkiest instructors all married off
-cutting a dodgy fringe in my hair
-shaving off aforementioned fringe, and the rest of it too

So, back at the desk and ready for getting PV all sorted for 2009!

So, met some great folks in the big smoke and told them to get themselves here for some fun times and frolics! Well, they did come and see us, just found some nice blog posts:

http://kourtneyintheuk.wordpress.com/2008/09/24/catching-up/

http://blairrmiller.blogspot.com/2008/09/welsh-adventure.html

Thanks for coming ladies!

off to the big smoke!

I'm off again on Wednesday to London, looking forward to it! Catching up with friends old and new, see you there if you're around, let me know. Last time I saw Damon Albarn on the escalator at H&M, I tell you, thrill a minute in the big smoke!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch (lodge), Jon K is off on our second sea kayak odyssey, with another gang of bright eyed and bushy tailed sea kayakers. He drove all the way back from the Alps to take them out, thanks Jon :)

Ouch!

Ouch indeed! Rowed around Ramsay Island on Sunday in our annual longboat race. Hands now in a dreadful mess, was horrid at the time, but looking back on it - it was splendid to be part of such a wonderful event. Flat sea for next year though please.

Inaugural Sea Kayak Odyssey

The week of 21-25 July will probably go down in Preseli history as being the week that the sun shone, that the sea was like a mirror, and that we had the loveliest bunch of guests come to stay.

The inaugural sea kayak Odyssey event went down a storm, our kayakers slept under the stars, fished for their supper, cooked afore mentioned fish, kayaked into caves, spotted seals, circumnavigated offshore islands, and left their footprints on secret sandy bays. Thanks Martin, Shella, Jeremy, Pam and Robin for joining us.

TruTourism

'Can jumping into the sea really benefit your business?' asks our good friend and tourism consultant Andrew Lloyd Hughes. You can read what he thinks about Preseli Venture's corporate teambuilding and leadership offering here:

http://trutourism.wordpress.com/2008/07/10/can-jumping-into-the-sea-really-benefit-your-business/

as well as Andrew's other very relevant tourism musings.

Cheesey Grins all round

Following on from the award ceremony post - here is a piccie of Sophie and I at the Pembrokeshire Tourism awards - grinning like loons and recieving our 'Green Achievement' award. Thanks to Pembrokeshire Photography for the photo, they've got lots more at http://www.pembrokeshirephotography.com/

Sophie and I must be kneeling down, in real life we're much taller.

Is that really where I live?

Sophie just walked into the office and looked at my computer, where I was taking a look at Antonio's photos from the weekend. 'Is that New Zealand?' she asked. This was last weekend, at a bay just round from Solva, where I live. Antonio and his friends took a full day trip with Jon Kellie, and rocked up on this little bay for their lunch. Really, you couldn't ask for much better than this. And it's just on our doorstep - not in New Zealand! Thanks for the photos Antonio, and good luck with the wedding.

PV on TV!

Did you want big country last night on BBC2 Wales? I missed it, but watched it on iplayer.

It was handsome National Park ranger Ian Meopham, and Nick, and the lodge, and Loz, Sophie, Helen, Jackie, all the guides - and me too! Climbing, of all things.

Pembrokeshire never looked so lovely. This is a great series, looking at the stories and the people in all of Wales' National Parks. Well worth a look.

Award Winners!

Sophie and I went along to the Pembrokeshire Tourism 2008 awards on Friday night, we were one of the 3 finalists for 'Green Achievement' award.

Well - we're not really girls for glamming up, but we cleaned our teeth, brushed our hair and generally tried to make ourselves look presentable. No mean feat.

On the way to the awards, we talked about what we'd say if we'd won - 'thanks very much - say no to the dualling of the A40', or perhaps 'thanks very much - remember to lobby your local MP for better public transport to west Wales' - go radical girls go!

As it turned out we did win - woo hoo! We sort of stumbled up on stage and said 'thanks very much' and then ran away.

It was a good night, and we got a lovely award plaque, and some nice photos of us recieving the award. Except I look like an overstuffed sausage, c'est la vie eh?! Photos to follow, for all you saucisson fans.

Wee Wee Monsieur!

I just found the Porthgain ladies interview, it's available via Radio Scilly, where they have an archive of the gig championship coverage:

http://radioscilly.com/gigs/

It wasn't as bad as I remembered, although was sufficiently embarassing to make my cheeks redden. This link might take you straight there, if you don't have a problem with your 'plug in' (whatever that is):

http://radioscilly.com/files/porthgain_west_Wales.mp3

And another funny thing - the chap running Scilly Radio is none other than Radio Pembrokeshire's Keri Jones - who has obviously upped sticks to move from one beautiful place to another. Good luck in the Scillies Keri!

Welsh ladies rowing victory!

Just got back from our 4th year competing in the World Pilot Gig Rowing Championships in the Scilly Isles. I row for Porthgain ladies - and as the only ladies gig rowing team in Wales - we always come first for Wales, every year - so technically we are the Welsh ladies champions - yay!

This year we came 51st - out of 108 ladies teams who came from all over the South West, and also Holland, and a team from the US. 108 6 oared gigs, out at sea, jostling for a space on the start line is a pretty impressive sight, and when you're sat in the boat, heart beating fast waiting for the starters orders, it's actually a scarey place to be.

After the 4th race of the weekend, a gruelling slog from Nut Rock Tresco to the beach on St Marys, we fell out of the boat and onto the golden sand. Ffion had kindly offered my services to a radio reporter, who interviewed me about the races and about being on the only Welsh team in the championships. Instead of doing us proud, I spoke about weeing into a dry bag on the start line. Well, when a girls gotta go, a girls gotta go.

And after the rowing is finished there are islands to explore, beaches to comb, and pink champagne to be drunk.

Thankyou mystery person....

who nominated us in the 'Green Achievement' category for the inaugural Pembrokeshire Tourism awards, that was very nice of you. We're one of three finalists in the category, and we'll find out who was won on the 16th May.

The bluebells...

...have arrived at Abermawr and they look beautiful - they're just starting to come out, so we'll have a carpet soon! We have spots on the May 2-4 Bank Holiday weekend, let us know if you're up for some bluebelltastic adventures.

Distracting View

This is the view from the new lodge dining area;


Lovely, isn't it?

roof on

Tristan is back! I haven't yet tested him to see if his geographical awareness has improved, but he managed to find us again, so that's enough for us. He's roofing the new bedrooms, and it's a lovely day for it.

And a roof on the new corridor too - it's all coming together and looking great. Here are the boys, mid discussion, and not a builders bottom in site. Which is a shame.

Preseli Venture - fuelled by coffee

This is what keeps Lorraine and I going:

Ah, coffee. I dread to think how many cups a day. And the nicest thing? Sitting out in the sun, supping up the rays - and the caffeine.

Another busy day at Preseli Venture, honestly!

Trusty Steed

I've never had a road bike, and today I borrowed Pete's bike to bike to work - 10 miles. It's got one of those saddles that probably makes you infertile - and even my padded pants didn't really take the edge off of the pain.

Anyway, cycling to work was quite nice, the sun was shining and the lambs were gambolling in the fields. So - cycling to work when the weather is nice is a good idea I've decided and also;

-it makes you fit, I am hoping for muscular calves as a result (how long will this take?)

-it saves money

-if you are of a 'green' persuasion you'll be interested to know it's better for the environment than driving - doh

I read that as a business you can offer a tax exempt loan scheme to encourage employees to cycle to work, there's some info here:

http://www.petrolprices.com/cycling.html

Just imagine the kit that you could persuade your employers to buy! And all in the name of good environmental practise - yay! Though no doubt they'd probably draw the line at spokey dokeys.

Something different for the weekend?

A VERY long time ago, when I first started working at PV, I can remember a gentleman called Andrew Eames coming for a visit. He was writing a piece on our Adrenalin Cocktail weekends for the Evening Standard. He was nice, a little taciturn, one of those guys who doesn't give much away.

Anyway, the piece was fantastic, the write up of the weekend 'awesome' (ha), in fact it's still on the wall in the lodge, still makes me laugh when I read it.

'Something different for the weekend - 52 seasonal breaks for the imaginative traveller' is the name of the new book he's just written, and I was honoured and touched when I saw he'd included the Adrenalin Cocktail as one of these breaks! Even more so when he writes;

"In 25 years as a travel writer I'm lucky enough to have been to a lot of places myself, but many of them didn't make the cut as far as this book is concerned. This collection centres on those which really rocked my boat; those that had the tingle factor, that changed my opinion of something, someone or somewhere. I'm fairly convinced that some of them will rock your tingle factor, too."

We do hope so - we do like the idea of being purveyors of the tingle factor!

It's a great book with a load of ideas for exciting weekends away - you can read about it, and buy it here; http://www.bradt-travelguides.com/

And Andrew, if you ever get to read this, thanks very much, and please do come and tingle with us again soon.

More gushing....

I'm having another moment I'm afraid. I read Kimberly's blog and Rachel's blog and they made my feel and warm and squishy inside.

Here they are:
http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/Wales/Pembrokeshire/blog-252309.html

http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/Wales/Pembrokeshire/Haverfordwest/blog-252468.html

and maybe they will make you feel all warm and nice too.


I promised them frolicing...it appears they went ahead and froliced!

Honey Fungus on youtube

I know Jon Kellie's name pops up alot, it's because we love him! Himself and Angharad are off in the Alps, playing music for the snowy fans out there. If you want to experience honeyfungus for yourself, here they are, here. Come back soon you two, we miss your mellow tunes!

Caitlin in London, in Wales!

http://caitlinlondon.blogspot.com/2008/02/weekend-in-wales.html

adventures in Wales - nice helmet Caitlin!

Our famous friends

Nigel and Alun have written a lovely book on sea kayaking - you should definitely check it out! Don't know where Nigel has found the time, in between building our new lodge and landscaping the courtyard area. He truly is a man of many talents - and a really nice guy to boot! Anyway, this would be a really great purchase, to read up, before you come along on a PV sea kayak weekend - we already have our copy,and it's fab.

Busy day today...

It’s sunny and beautiful outside, so I went for a little walk outside, tosample the air. The lodge and grounds are a hive of activity, I even caught a glimpse of a lesser spotted Sheldon. I'm not sure where the loveheart came from, I must have pressed a special button on the camera.And then I found a special wooden statue that used to be in a hidden place around the side of the sunroom, and now it has pride of place in the new courtyard.
It sort of reminded me of someone, see what you think...
I took a piccie of the new courtyard from upstairs. The view down to
Abermawr is fabulous.

Jacie's blog

Jacie came to see us last weekend along with about 20 of her friends. The weather was fab, crispy with blue skies, the best that Pembrokeshire gets in January. Anyway, they had a blast - you can read about her adventures here:
http://jacieinlondon.blogspot.com/
Thanks Jacie - have an adventurous semester in the UK!

STA travel...so hot right now

One nice thing about the stints in the big smoke is familiar faces.
Simon and Kate at STA always make the days more fun. Here they are, looking special as ever. Did you know you can book Preseli Venture weekends through STA? Well, you can!





Ah, Brian. Every year I see him. He always asks me how the horses are, and I have to explain to him we don't keep horses at Preseli Venture. The memory of a goldfish - but definitely one of the jollyest and most likeable characters I know.





And then there are new people too. Here is Erica, fresh off the plane from the good old US of A, finding her feet in London and settling in to a whole new world. She LOVES cows. But in a good way.

Adventures - London stylee

I'm in the big smoke , meeting lots of lovely people, and telling them all about Pembrokeshire! I feel abit of a bumpkin, a country mouse, pulling bits of straw out of my hair.

In an attempt to glam up and fit in to the London set - I paid someone to put goop on my eyebrows and then wax them off. Ouch.

It's all abit overawing! Hamming it up in Chinatown, shortly before we saw Pete Burns chowing down outside Ed's easy diner. London's fun, but gosh it's expensive. Home soon!

Love at Preseli Venture - a historical perspective

Just got this email from a lovely lady that came to stay with us, a good few years ago now;

"Just wanted to drop all at Preseli Venture an email with what will hopefully be an interesting update!

In 2005, I came to your centre as a lone female to join the 'Adrenalin cocktail' weekend over the May bank holiday.

One evening round the campfire I attempted to slip back to my caravan for a cardigan. I never made it back to the campfire as I was intercepted on route by one of the stag party, Chris... And as it turned out, his bold move was the right one to make - we have been together ever since, and are now expecting a baby in June!

We obviously have very fond memories of that long weekend in Wales, and wish you all well. Maybe we will come back one day as a little family!"

Aaah! Find love at Preseli Venture!

Happy New Year!

Ah...it's good to be back! First day back at work yesterday. This was home for part of December - camping on the beach in Oman, snorkelling by day and campfiring by night. Just like Pembrokeshire - only hotter!













But it's nice to be back, and we're all ready for action. See you soon!