It seems like only a few days ago I was thinking autumn had crept up on us, and now it's time for winter too. Despite the cosy crunch of leaves underfoot, a gentle tap on the head from a falling acorn, and the familiar smell of fallen apples, there is a chill in the air.
Saturday morning we set out on a gorgeous sun drenched morning, and despite looking cosy and happy (happy I was), I spent most of the day shivering. The first few days of cold always take me a bit by surprise. One minute you're swimming in the sea and sipping lemonade until the middle of the night, the next you're tucked up at six, huddling into a hot chocolate and having urges to knit about 10 hats. Or is that just me? Probably just me. I'm an old lady at heart.

Anyway, despite being a hermit as of late, this weekend called for an adventure. Leon's mum was down so we took a day trip out to the Lost Gardens of Heligan, which neither of them had been to before. I last time I visited was last year during summer, and then before that was about 4 years ago with my family. At that time I was planning to become a fashion designer in London, and now here I am being a little country bumpkin tree-hugging zoologist in Cornwall.
Funny how things change ;)
 The gardens were beautiful and still full of colour. There were bright squashes and festivities throughout the acres of land, and we even saw a few little witches and devils!
 Of course, my favourite area is always the flower garden, filled with roses, dahlias and chrysanthemums. Spring feels like years ago, so seeing a patchwork of beautiful colours and petals.  There was also still a variety of herbs growing that put my little windowsill pots to shame, and rows of beetroots, apples, chard and cabbages. I'm so excited to come back in spring to see how the gardens change each season.

 The last couple of times I've been, there are normally some chicks hatching in the barn, however being Halloween, this time there was tarantulas and stick insects. I've not included photos of those for my friends who despise creepy-crawlies, but here's a photo of some beautiful geese instead. Don't say I don't treat y'all ;)  There were also ducks, turkeys, goats, sheep, pigs and horses. 
 And finally, every corner of Heligan has something new to explore. My favourite sculpture is the 'Mud Maid' which was made in 1998, so she's the same age as me! She's made from timber and netting covered in mud, sand and cement. Her hair is planted with Woodsedge and Montebretia and ivy has been trained to clothe her. She's so peaceful looking, especially with the sun setting behind her, it's hard to feel stressed whilst you're in her presence. 

Emma xo

Which leads us to Monday and Tuesday.  I think these two days were for nursing hangovers (I won't name any names) and just generally being a bit lazy because it was so hot! We can't complain too much though, because reading and writing under a horse chestnut tree and playing basketball are pretty good ways to spend the day. There also turned out to be a blow up pool in the garage, which took the afternoon to fill up but was very worth the wait. We also had a feast cooked on the breeze block BBQ that the guys made. Oh, and of course a bit more beer for the less fragile souls among us.

Thursday was dedicated to packing and tidying whilst dancing to Michael Jackson, leaving us Wednesday to enjoy fully. We spent the day adventuring around to local water park before heading to a beautiful cafe in the evening. Aside from being told to get off a few rides because we were too big, the day was filled with plenty of giggles with a good dash of competition. Any onlookers would have thought that we were treating mini golf like the Olympics!

L'Autre Cafe was a set next to a stunning lake, and was a combination of a cafe, vintage shop and art gallery. We spent our time browsing quirky items and relaxing in the hammocks until it got dark. After finishing our delicious meals, 7 brave souls started partying into the night. Once again, I have been told it was really good fun, however after one game of beer pong I fell asleep. So I'm afraid you'll have to ask them yourselves how fun it was (and if any of you party animals are reading this, leave a comment below on what I missed!).



 

Boulder's Beach

 During the first few days of settling in, we visited the penguins at Boulder's beach and explored Simon's Town which was beautiful. The sea and sky were brilliant shades of blue in the heat, with my senses bombarded with local music, tastes and smells. Local men danced in their bright outfits whilst we sipped lychee juice and admired the views.

Simon's Town

 Cederberg Mountains

The next four days were taken up by a 1250km motorbike trip! We explored the Cederberg Mountains followed by desert and coast and villages in between. On the first night, we stopped off at the Cederberg Oasis overnight which was stunning. It featured a backdrop of the mountains, and we were so far from anywhere that there was no light pollution. The owner of the showed me different constellations and also the big splash of the Milky Way that covered a huge stretch of sky. If ever I've felt small, that was the moment!

Porcupine Rest Camp

The second night was even more rustic, yet even more fun! We stayed at a place nestled in the middle of nowhere (surprise) called Porcupine Rest Camp. The night was full of cocktails, pool, fire pits and the best pizza I've ever had cooked in an outdoor oven.

We even gave The Wurzels a listen because we bumped into a fellow man from Somerset called James. I thought the trip was long enough on a motorbike, but James was actually cycling around South Africa for three months! That kept me inspired for my trip for sure.
Some other inspiring/mad people we met were a group walking in the 30 degree heat, down one of the longest stretches of road in South Africa with no town in between. Maybe the sun had made them go a little crazy, but it was pretty amazing what they were doing all the same!

Below: my shower whilst at Porcupine Rest Camp! The water was heated by a log fire and there was no roof. Maybe a bit basic for some people, but quite possibly my favourite shower I've had- who needs luxurious tiles when you have birds flying overhead and morning sunlight on your face?

Seven Weeks Port, Route 62 and the coast

 We also headed to Cape Agulhas, the Southernmost Tip of Africa to admire the view and also to dip my hands in the Indian and Atlantic Oceans at the same time. I can confirm both were very cold! This final day was a 400km loop back towards Cape Town, where an indoor shower and sofa were much appreciated after 4 days sat on the back of a motorbike!
The second week of my trip included learning to bead in MonkeyBiz, which supports local artists to earn money creating beautiful beaded animals whilst they still have time to look after their children. I came home with five animals because they were all so unique and colourful! We also explored a few vineyards, the Two Oceans Aquarium and also Table Mountain.

Table Mountain

Annnnd... I bought a rug. Out of all of the things in Iceland I bought a rug. From Tiger. Which is also in the UK. In all honesty I have been on the lookout for a rag rug for my bedroom, so despite a few odd looks I bought this one as I loved the colours. It was only the equivalent of £5 as well so a great bargain.
Finally, the wool products in Iceland were expensive, and quite rightly so as they are really good quality. However, I couldn't justify paying a few hundred pounds on an itchy jumper so bought a ball of raspberry colour wool instead. I'm going to knit a chunky bobble hat with it, and it works out a fraction of the cost of buying one ready made (only £3.70 in fact!).
So that's everything I brought back for Iceland. I'll admit the selection is quite random, but I hope you enjoyed having a look anyway! Have a great week~

Emma xo

Welcome to what is probably the biggest and most photo-heavy post I've ever written. But it's all about Iceland and pretty views, so that's okay right? I left on the Friday the 4th of March and came back to England in the early hours of the following Thursday morning, so thought I'd so a post about what we (geography students) got up to on our adventure. Hope you enjoy this post!~

The main activities started on Saturday (all of Friday was spent travelling) and we of course had to check out the main tourist attractions in the Golden Circle. Above is the amazing Gullfoss waterfall, which was followed up by visits to Geysirs and the National Park (below). This is were the North American plate meets the Eurasian plate, and that's basically as close to America as I've ever got so it wasn't just the geology students that got excited! At this point we were pretty cold so used any excuse to start a snowball fight or slide down hills, so that was all fun too. Lastly we went to a geothermal power plant (probably the least exciting part of the day, as you might have guessed!)

On Sunday we explored the south coast. Firstly we had a short walk to see the beautiful Solheimajokull glacier, followed by a visit to the black beach- although it was covered in snow so not very black at all!
 Skogafoss, in the photo below, was spectacular with the rainbow at the bottom. We also walked up the hill to the side to get a view from the top (or in my case 3/4 of the way because I hate heights). After another short drive we arrives at Seljalandsfoss, a waterfall which you could walk behind, and a secret waterfall which was super pretty. Despite getting soaked, these were probably some of my favourite places of the trip!
We also stopped off to look into a magical ice cave and have a little wander down a ravine with lots of frozen waterfalls. There's not very much to say here because the photos speak for themselves!
Tuesday... we did a 7 km round hike through the mountains to a geothermally heated river. Now, whilst the views were amazing, I must admit that the river was more of a stream! It's probably lovely in the summer, however, the ankle deep water was really hot on one side and cold on the other, so you had to strategically place yourself somewhere where there was warm water. Also, whilst I was standing waiting to get changed again it started snowing, so ended up being a bit grumpy about that! I'm laughing talking about it now but at the time I couldn't wait for the hike back (which is saying something!). I have so much more appreciation for the Revenant now though ;)

That's it! I hope you've enjoyed seeing and reading about our trip. Have you been to Iceland before? Where would you like to visit? Emma xo