Last Friday I finally made it to the New Forest with Genevieve! We planned on walking a path I found in a guidebook, but I mostly led us astray through the woods. The trail and a animal paths look very similar, and both are hard to follow because there is a ton of mud. Genevieve tried to jump across a stream when the bank collapsed, and she was soaked for the rest of the hike. Wild ponies abound, though, and I got to pet one. I think it just wanted food, though. Regardless, it was nice to get out of the city of Southampton for just a little bit.
We took the bus into Lyndhurst, a town in the middle of the New Forest. It's a beautiful town, with a quaint old church, and a Maserati/Ferrari dealership. Our bus barely got us there, however, because the engine coolant was leaking...the New Forest was very elusive. After our hike (the British call it walking), we weren't sure how far back to the bus stop, so we tried our luck hitchhiking. The 4th car picked us up! It was a really nice BMW wagon, too. The driver offered to take us as far as Totton, only 2 miles from Southampton, but we declined and had him drop us at the bus stop. We should have gone to Totton--the bus was 40 minutes late (Wilts & Dorset--no good!).
Last Monday I had a practical on the RV Callista, and the weather also was beautiful! The lab was mind-numbing (all we did was lower a T/S probe in 3 spots), but it was nice to be on the water and in the sun.
Today Kate was visiting, and I went back to the New Forest with her. This time I brought my GPS to keep a sense of direction, and we had a really nice and relaxing 5-mi hike across some beautiful heathlands. We were going to try to do a hike on the Isle of Wight, but overslept (what's new?).
Tomorrow I'm heading up to northern Wales with the Mountaineering Club to do some climbing near Tryfan!
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