A Funny Thing About Rugby.

While at Barings Head, some boys were trying to teach me to play rugby. One of the main rules of rugby is that you can not pass the ball forward, only behind you. So basically I looked a little silly at the beginning of every play when I would run across the line of scrimmage, turn around,  and yell "I'm open! I'm Open!"at the guy with the ball.
They would laugh back, "NO you're not!"
Right... This isn't American Football.

Bouldering Barings Head

A Little Misty in the Morning 

Ash and I Climbing

That's a big Rock! 

I didn't even know I could get up rocks this high! Barings Head is a large rock formation right on the beach. Bouldering, is freestyle climbing, without any ropes (only a "spotter"). Around the rocks at Barings Head are piles of shale cushioning any sort of fall, making any climber a little braver to get up the rock faces. There was one track specifically that took multiple attempts. I could find the right handholds, and then pull my body up to steady my feet, knees folded all the way up into my chest. This was the hard part. It took all of my strength to straighten my legs and propel my body up the rock. The problem was the lack of handholds at this level, forcing you to instead put pressure on the sides of the rock and lean forward while trying to move your legs again. Needless to say, when I reached the top I felt extremely accomplished. After a day of Bouldering and a little rugby on the beach, we stopped and picked up a pack of cider just in the nic of time to drink and watch a beautiful sunset. Talk about a perfect day!

SUNSET

CIDER