Last weekend we’d decided to go to the Midsummer on the Gower orienteering event, persuaded Christine’s parents to go, and persuaded our visiting Australian friends and family to meet us there. Needless to say, the forecast for at least the first half of the weekend was therefore rain and strong winds. All the more fun given that we were camping! Our new tent (Vango Halo 400 – a lot lighter and quicker to pitch than our monster holiday tent) stood up to the challenge though and there was always the in-laws campervan to retreat to in search of a solid roof and walls.
The Saturday’s event was a fun 2×2 relay on nearby Whiteford Burrows. It was a bit of a trek down to the start for the kids but, after a slow start, the children were all eventually playing together. Christine and I formed a team. I quite enjoyed the short loops round the dunes and we finished in a respectable fifth place.
Unfortunately the rain returned in force as we returned back to the car but had abated again by the time we arrived at Rhossili where we regrouped with Andy, Nat and family and headed down to the beach. It was a bit windswept but in the shelter of the cliff we had fun building a sandcastle and the girls tested out the temperature of the water.
On the Sunday, it was another short drive to Broughton Burrows. Christine and Nat ran first so Andy and I took the children up in to the dunes along with Vanessa and her two. The children had great fun taking it in turns to race up the dunes. And then when they were done with the sand, there was always the children’s playground handily located next to the car park.
I had a reasonable run. Not particularly fast through the terrain and my routes could have been more direct but no great mistakes either and I had my second fifth place of the weekend.
It was great meeting up with Nat and Andy again after so many years. It was the first time we’d met Ella and Katy and, being much the same age as Emma and Duncan, it was lovely to see them all playing together. Through their blog, I felt we already knew them so well (and you can find out what they thought of the weekend there!). We’re looking forward to meeting them all again before they head back to Australia.