A Welsh adventure

So over the last few days I have been down in South Wales!!! I have been down there doing field work for my job collecting soil cores but its been a really great time! We were put up in accommodation in a very posh centre-parks like place called "Bluestone" with water park, activities, pubs, restaurants and big log cabins! The company paid and it was actually a really good deal, being relatively cheap and getting free breakfast, free pool use and a free activity!

So the travelling was probably the worst bit, because it seemed to take yonks driving over from the North West to South Wales, 5-6hrs in fact! On the way, we took the shoter but slightly slower route across the beautiful mountains. Saw where I would be white water rafting shortly, saw the cosy little villages and pubs and even had a bison burger from a bison farm with actual bison's in the field! And it was megayum. Then we carried on getting stuck in roadworks and by this:

 

 

This tanker ended up getting stuck at roadworks and we all had to reverse half way down the mountain pass so that it was just (only just) wide enough for another tanker to pass, followed by another lorry, then a mini bus, numerous cars, a large bus and another two lorries! They all came at once! That was a good 20 minutes...but good views:

 



 

We arrived to Bluestone, which had its own toll-like drive through reception to get your key and a car park in which you had to get out and the only transport around the village was bikes or golf buggies!

Our Log Cabin was like this:

 

Proper modern and posh inside with everything you need! Definitely one of the nicest place we have been put up for field work.

So the village complex was pretty huge, had a couple of pubs in the centre, shops a spa and restaurants. They even had a hoe down on a Saturday night and Carribean Beach Party up at the waterpark!

 

 

There was lots of activities, raft building, kayaking, high ropes course, loads for the kiddies and this tournament field, with archery, clay pigeon, crossbow and catapults!

 

 

Down at steep ravine the high ropes course was dangling above in the trees with this huge bar/restaurant below, it looked like something from the movies! Wasn't open like but in summer I'm sure it would be great with the river running beneath and people above doing the high ropes.

 

 We chose our free activity to be outdoor laser quest!!! Paintball without the paint as they kept saying, it was actually pretty good, only a small group but only a small field and enough people to shoot and many of the usual capture the flag type games were played. The guns were huge and even had a scope, they made sounds of your gun firing and you had to reload. When you got shot it would make the sound of someone getting shot..... and then after 10 shots you were down and out.

Our team kicked ass.

 

 So the accommodation was great! But to prove I did actually work whilst I was down there I took a picture of our metre core being jacked out of the ground in the Miscanthus field. At this point the equipment was stuck due to the gravelly soil at depth. The yellow machine on the ground is Kevin essentially a road breaker type machine but used to hammer in the cores. This contraption once set up lifts the core out of the ground by pulling the levers up and down..... unless they are stuck. In this field we had to have two of us hold on to each pole with our legs wrapped around the pole and had to thrust and bounce at the same time so that enough weight was on to pull up the core. Most of the time it is much easier and there is no need for the exhausting manoeuvres and dropping to the ground. All fun though. Kevin did misbehave however and didn't start up some times, we managed to fix him however and the arable, grass and willow fields were all cored up! We had to watch for a huge gas pipe that went under this field however, after only realising with warning poles and the farmer forgetting to tell us! The willow field was very very brambly and thorny! 

 

 

So that's my week in the field down in South Wales it was fun and I look forward to the next adventure. Fieldwork is Fun!