Felt like a change for this weekend, and I decided to join the Hiking club for a weekend trip to Wasdale. Set off from the underpass at 8.30ish and arrived in Wasdale at 10.00. Put tents up and had a chat about where people wanted to go. Ended up going up Black Sail pass, over looking stead, and traversing across and up to Pillar. The views down to Ennerdale and Black Sail hut, and across to Red Pike, High Stile and along the ridge to Haystacks were spectacular, the conditions were perfect although the snow was hardly in winter conditions for any serious crampon and ice axe usage. On top of Pillar, it began to get dark, and as we headed for Scoat Fell a particularly amazing sunset set on. Followed the ridge round to Red Pike and Stirrup Crag where we had a food break. Suddenly realising the ground was moving; we looked down and saw the ground moving in waves! We came to the conclusion that we were standing on a semi-frozen mud bog where the top was frozen and the mud was moving beneath us when we stood on it ... was quite amazing how much this thing was moving! Carried on to Yewbarrow then came off the hill and walked back along the road to the campsite ... and the pub. It was pretty cold that night, and I was glad of my cosy down sleeping bag.
The next day, we walked up to Great Gable, and headed up Scafell way, joining the Corridor route, and nipping up to Lingmell before summiting Scafell Pike.
Drove back to campus, where Alex got on the roof for the drive through campus. I must remember to give the hiking club back there tent, which is still in my kitchen. All in all, was a good weekend, met a lot of new people. Must go out with the Hiking club again at some point.

ONCE-UPON-A-TIME RACH AND CLAIRE CAME TO VISIT =P

This week has been pretty hectic, I’ve not had much work to do as of yet in these modules, and no practices in the afternoons, so I’ve been spending allot of time doing ether thing.

Monday night, got back from karate and met Lindsay, went back to mine to watch pride and prejudice and eat cake, we were both so tired though so we cut the night short at about 10:30 and went to bed. Tuesday night I, Lindsey, Amy, Struggles, Matt and a few others had a kitchen / film party at Lindsey’s. Ending up watching Moulin Rouge, then part of the Lion King, then Euro Trip! (Which I’m not a fan of). Me and Amy had a go at table wrestling round tables at some point and I got confused when I thought it had too many legs ... fan was also had spinning round the room on a desk chair. Most people left at 1ish, and me and Matt left at 2ish, or rather I left and dragged Matt with me.

Wednesday was a nice sunny day, a good day for a climb, so that what we did. I and Matt sweet-talked Rachel into driving us there and she really enjoyed the climbing too! Went to Trowbarrow where we did a few routed before it got dark including ‘Jomo’. Wednesday night, me and Amy were scared about going to Karate as sensei Frank Brennan was teaching ... a 7th Dan black belt. Wasn’t too bad in the end.

Thurday went to another meeting about going abroad and I spent most of that night looking at Colorado, Calgary, Ontario and Iceland universities ... still undecided.

Rach and Claire came on Friday for the weekend. We put up the bed and did the Lancaster campus tour, bought allot of cake, and then went back to make potato wedges, which took hours ... it was really late by the time we got to watching films and eating excessively! Stayed up late into the night talking as usual. Got up the next morning or rather Rach and Claire climbed into my bed with me ... made breakfast and got the bus to the station. The plan was to go to Ambleside for a walk, but the train was rather expensive and to we decided to explore Lancaster instead! Ended up at the tourist info! Then went for an adventure in historical Lancaster, where we made a friend on the bridge! Old man Boris ... Old man Boris told us how he built part of Lancaster uni when he was 16 and kept waring us about the ‘Bad lads in Lancaster!’ at some point during this convo I dropped my camera batteries over the bridge ... don’t know how that happened exactly! We chatted for about 10mins then he suddenly said, ‘I once went to B&Q and a man in an orange boiler suite asked me if I needed decking ... I only wanted some screw drivers!!!’ then he walked off. Anyway, we had fun navigating around Lancaster and going in River Island in waking boots!

Made a mess (pancakes) when we got back, then got ready to go out and watched Claries ‘LIPA’ DVD’s and watched the sing along version of Hairspray (and sang along). Had problems with the shower which was flooded and transformed into a wet room. Also I had issues getting dressed, as I’ve put weight on since I’ve been at uni and half my clothes don’t fit!! I have now decided to do something about it as I am also a stone heavier than this time last year!! Went round to Matt’s for a few mins before we went out because Rachel wanted to take pictures of his kitchen. Ended up in Toast and Elements where I scared off a stalker by yabbering on about geology and climbing ... hehe ... got in about 3ish, had a toast feast and went strait to sleep. When to see the lights in Lancaster the next evening ... was luminous.

RACHEL’S 19TH AND CHESTER ZOO!

Yes ... a 19th birthday spent at Chester zoo!

Got on the train after my 9:00am exam, Dad picked me up from the station, and headed back to Southport. Spent late Friday night sorting out stuff for going abroad with my dad and looking into ML’s and SPA’s and an appealing navigation course run by Andy Brown.

Went down to the climbing wall on friday night to sort out my D of E service with Jenny. Woke up Saturday morning extremely disoriented, thought I was still at uni, only to wake up not even in my room at home, but in the spear room as mine is being decorated! Make a cooked breakfast for me and Vicky, and then we headed into town to find her some new jeans and to get me a hat. Met Mum at cafe Matisse at 1:15, then went to the cinema to see High School Musical 3, much to Vicky’s embarrassment when I started singing along (having downloaded the album before the film came out!) ran into a few old friends from Dancing, and chatted for a while.

Went to Rachel’s for about 8.15, and had a good re-union and got excited about going on holiday in the summer! Emma came later and brought ‘You’ve Got Mail’, one of my fav classic films (although we never got around to watching it really). We stayed up late that night.

Met everyone the next morning at 9:00 at Elim. Jon and David were driving me, Emma, Rach, Claire, Eddy, Hannah and Nicole (meeting Bex there) to Chester zoo!!

David got confused when the ‘reliable’ sat-nav told us to ‘take the 1st exit’ at an imaginary roundabout! Finally got there, and I got the camera out as usual. Headed for the cafe and got a chocolate muffin and a hot choc. It rained for most of the day, but fun was had by all, especially when watching the elephants ... (private joke).

I didn’t have fun in the bat cave and Jon had to hold on to me when a bat flew across us, I panicked mistaking the bobble on top of my new hat, for a bat!Got some lunch, then me Rach, Emma, and Bex went for a last look around in the rain while Jon and Claire went to the gift shop and the others had gone home for band practice. Got very sleepy on the way home in the car. Rach fell asleep and I used my scarf as a blanket across her, Claire and me =]

Jon did a good job driving through all the road works on the m-way on the way back, but it gave us chance to talk over a summer holiday trip! Thinking of getting a cottage somewhere for a week or 10 days, chilling, and having some adventures perhaps. Also planning a tips to Wales at some point, and a 20’s party at Christmas, not to mention the annual secret Santa day and new years eve party at Bex’s and Adam’s!! So many good times to come ... =]

Got back to uni a few hours ago, stocked up my cupboard with food and put up my pics on my wall. Matt came to pick up some food from his parents and then I wrote this blog! New modules starting tomorrow ... I may do some work this time ... and do some exercise too ... maybe ... =]

ULTIMATE NIGHT! ARRRRGH!!!!

Ultimate night is the mountaineering club’s social event of the year! I can see why! With the dressing up, stupid games and free stuff, it certainly was a night to remember ... the ‘ultimate night!’

Got to Lindsey’s at 7:00 with Lindsey, jojo and struggles already there (Mark appeared later). Got our pirate gear on, and after spending 20mins trying to fasten my waist-coat, decided I needed to do some exercise in the coming weeks! My flat mates had helped me make a sword earlier in the week, and I was in full pirate mode! ARRRGH!!!

Got on the bus and accused the driver at sword point of ‘steelin me treasure!’ thought up rank names on the bus and harassed everyone. Jumped off the bus in town only to run into international rescue!!! The THUNDERBIRDS!!!

After getting our sheets from ultimate outdoors, we began to go from pub to pub, from bar to bar, club to club, completing idiotic challenge after idiotic challenge (and doing pretty damn well I might add!). One included someone belaying a chalk bad with a pint in it up the bar and someone trying to (and succeeding with minor spillage) to drink it! At other times people were blind folded and chalk balls were thrown, chalk feet prints were left by Mark all the way to the next bar I think.

We had the knack for getting completely hopelessly lost in-between almost every bar, not helped by the fact that we insisted on running everywhere to get there faster and win! Got separated somewhere down Lancaster in-between the last bar and the canal.

By 10:30, most groups were at the last bar, had a while to chat to people, and I managed to start a bit of an ice cube fight with the ice cubes I stole from the last challenge (I have a thing for ice cubes for anyone that doesn’t know!). Points were added up, and we came 3rd!! Winning a nice rucksack, and lots of free stuff inside it. Lost of other free stuff was thrown at us during the course of the night too!

Decided to head back about 11.30 as me, Lindsey, Struggles, Mark and Matt had a 9:00am exam the next morning! After waiting a while for a bus we worked out they had stopped, and got a taxi. On the way back, Matt discovered his rucksack did indeed have two straps (a concept he had been struggling with for the last hour much to the amusement of everyone else). We stopped for a quick climb up the back of spar, and struggles got electrocuted by putting his hand fully into the light! Back to Lindsey’s to collect stuff then we headed back to our flats.

Certain people still had blue faces in the morning after being ‘smurfed’ by some blue smurfs. We were all pretty tired after going home at 2:00, only to panic and start revising! Exam went ok, just hope I’ve got the 60% I need to go abroad next year!

Bassenthwaite weekend

Packed everything up the night before in my new POD black ice rucksack and met everyone down at the underpass at 5.30 after an interesting maths lesson with Struggles Matt and Rachel in which the only thing I learnt was that Pizzeta was 15m to the right of the room. Along with my POD I had bought a few dry bags, chalk bag and chalk from ultimate outdoors 20% off night. I must have que'd up 4 times, and we all had to go to the pub after to recover.

Set off in the mini bus and I fell asleep straight away, arrived at 7.15ish, me and fran claimed a corner of the room, unpacked, chatted etc .... Anna and others on the exec did most of the cooking and cottage pie was on the menu for the first night. Was upset by the lack of gravy but otherwise it was amazing. Woke up early at 7.30 to the sound of Anna shouting BREAKFAST! NOW! Soon we were all packed up and everyone on the ropes course headed for Sheppard Crags. Andy Brown took the course, (who I already know from snow and ice) and despite the horrendous weather, we all had a good day. I think I ended up helping out more that being helped on that day. I fixed some gear at the top of a pitch, taught people how to abseil with a prussic and how to belay with an Italian hitch etc ... we were all glad to get to the cafe at the end I think! Had a chat to Andy back at the hall and I’m thinking about doing my ML and one day SPA. Ill have to get in some serious lead climbing and practice my navigation skills though!

That night, me fran, Lindsey, mark, struggles and a few others helped out in the kitchen, the night then proceeded to table wrestling, wall climbing and cardboard box snogging well demonstraited by Matt. Amy now had some impressive bruises. Got up very confused on the Sunday as the clocks had, or were supposed to go back! Anna forgot to change her clock and got up to make breakfast at 6! Due to the rain over the last few days, we couldn’t get down some roads as they were policed off. Ended up in Keswick car park, then ... the mini bus door fell off! (Sort of). As a result I ended up spending allot of money in ultimate outdoors on quick draws and almost buying a hat in needle sports. We all got to Keswick climbing wall at about 1ish and had a good boulder around for a few hours. The other group got there allot later as they had had an epic journey in Borrowdale trying to rescue 2 ropes ... getting two others stuck in the process, but all was rescued in the end. All in all it was a good weekend ... although with less climbing than expected.

‘QUICK-DRAW BAR CRAWL’ AND OTHER DANGEROUS ACTIVITIES’

Had our first fiend tips to Kingsdale vally to see some terminal morains, glacial erratics and EUGENE THE UNCONFORMITY (an old friend of mine and Becky's) was a good day in all apart from not being able to open the mini bus when it started raining when we got back.

Met up with the rest of LUMC in Cartmel bar, put my harness on ... for we were going on a bar crawl with a difference. Attached myself to Craig with a quick-draw and ordered drinks. The aim of the game was for each pair to go round so many of the bars on campus, having a drink at each bar, and collecting a sticker to decorate a stick – climber. First pair back to Pendle bar were the proud owners of new chalk bags! We set off at a run from Cartmel for Lonsdale ... both amazed at how well I could run in heals. Quick drink at Lonsdale bar and off to grad bar, a few shots later we sprinted to Pendle bar where we got caught by some of the exec ... and missed coming 1st by about 10 seconds, loosing to Matt and his partner.
For the next few hours, we visited all the other bars on campus (attached to each other) ... a few trees got in the way, some railings too! A few manged to attempt climbing up the overhang at the back of Spar before heading to county bar for a drinking race. Fresher’s against the exec ... we lost. At some point me and fran went back to hers for cheese on toast ... bringing some back for Andy of course! Ended up in the sugar house at about 12ish and stupidly practiced karate with Amy before dancing the night away then heading to elements for the last half hour or so. Back on the bus with Struggles, Claire and Matt X2. Went to Pizzeta with Matt then crashed into bed at 3ish ... up for 9am lecture the next morning.

LECTURES, KARATE, SLEEPLESS NIGHTS AND TWISLETON!

I must admit, its taking rather allot longer than I expected to get into the way of doing work again. I’m enjoying my course so far, particularly the ‘global climate change’ module. Met some interesting people this week on my course, and in the mountaineering club. Went home on Saturday to see Rach, Emma, Eddy and Jon and the famous Southport musical fireworks! Apart from the moment when the bridge was almost set alight ... and the smoke, they were SPECTACULAR! Despite being stuck between 2 ‘romantic couples’ that were Emma and Jon, and Rach and Eddy, it was a nice evening of friends reunighting. Walked back through Southport after, and I realised how much I had missed it. Up early on Sunday, I and dad drove up to Langdale to meet up with Neil (dad’s oldest friend and my Godfather) and Ian for a ramble. We had a spontaneous day without much map reading (which proved a silly idea when Neil started going off in the wrong direction on the way back and I had to rescue him), and we all laughed at stories old and new. May have seen a few mad scouts from ‘Splash and Dash’ on Coniston Old Man at some point (I still feel bad for not going to help Jenny out). Had a long lunch break looking over to Dow Crag and Eliminate A. Got back late me and dad tidy my room, got some food and went to bed.
Went to the mountaineering clubs ‘safety talk’ on Thursday with Struggles (a friend of me and Rachel’s from our course) then got chatting to a fair few people in Furness bar after. Went to twistleton scars today with the club, me and Lindsey nailed a few good routes with a stupid amount of laybacking and smearing involved, and got to know people. I LEAD A SEVERE! I have decided I need to buy some guide books now.
Anyhow ... we’ll see how this week goes =]

FOAM AND GLOWSTICKS!!!!!!

Lonsdale’s ‘Big Night Out’ and passed out people

Went on my college ‘Big Night Out’ last night (I think) got to the 1st bar where this guy was passed out (despite it only being 8:00) after checking his pulse I proceeded to show everyone just how crazy I can be ... I attached allot of Menu’s to him and pics were taken. Wont go into details, but throughout the night, Kate bought me my 1st drink (VK Cherry) which was my only drink of the night. I didn’t get into ‘walkabout’ as I only had my purple card on me and was told that would get me in, so when I met up with the others they gave me some of their wrist bands and I sat down in the middle of the floor to put them round my ankles. I ate a lime =] and chatted to allot of cool new people in ‘Mint’ and also stood on top of the fountain yelling ‘Lonny Lonny Lonny!!!’. We all ended up at the ‘Sugar House’, which was packed ... and we danced the night way. Got back not too late and Sam proceeded to clean the kitchen.
Had another meeting with my department, had a quiz, and the lectures started giving out free beer ... such a strange department is the Environmental one. Went to check out one of the lecture theatres with Rachel, and then headed back to cook tea and get ready for the FOAM? 80’s RAVE PARTY!!!!! More pics will go on the wall of shame tonight I think in the kitchen!! All my body paint has washed off and I’m’ soaked!
Back now! So covered in foam it’s unbelievable! Once they turned on the foam machine the whole bar was about 1m deep in the stuff ... I swallowed some and nearly choked on it! I collected about 50 glow sticks and decorated my shorts with them ... and spent about 10mins chasing round 2 guys who thought they could steal them!