Hike from Hastings

We went for an awesome hike from Hastings to Rye last weekend- 22&23 Sep. The hike was 20km and started in the sea side town of Hastings... We had to carry all our food, water and camping equipment. God blessed us with amazing weather. There were 8 of us who set out on the adventure; Braam, Erna, Heather, Marionelle, Tania, Ernst, Elmer and myself. This photo was taken on the beach in Hastings.

Hastings

This is a photo of the beach we walked along

Marionelle

You can see the 'sand' is not white and fluffy, but rather made up of little pebbles- it was hard work to walk on! Made 20km seem alot further!

Lunch on the cliffs

We walked along the beach initially and then along the cliffs overlooking the sea- such a stunning view. This photo is of us eating lunch after a morning of walking and swimming... and recovering from the shock of stumbling along a 'naked hiking trail' !!! Yes, we passed a few hikers along the way who were wearing nothing but hiking boots and backpacks! Looked quite liberating, but don't think it's something i'll try anytime soon :o)

Setting up camp for the night

We set up camp in a field along the way. In the middle of the country side, surrounded by nothing but fields of cows, we made tuna pasta over our little gas stove and watched the stars come out.

Eating berries along the way!

English countryside

On Sunday the scenery changed from sea to country side... can't decide which i love more. We walked along a canal toward the village of Rye and at one point has to walk through a herd of cows to continue!

Rye

We finally reached the historic village of Rye. Being in Rye was like traveling back in time- with its cobbled streets and quaint old buildings.

Lunch

We finished our walk on Sunday with lunch in Rye- fish and chips under the bridge.

Lunch @ the pub

Ernst and i made use of the sunshine on Saturday and hired a little rowing boat for an hour- at the lake/pond in the Epping forest. We walked to the carvery in South Woodford afterwards for a huge meal and pint of cider :o) We had such a great time together. I love my husband!!

14th September!!

My Birthday was lovely, i had such a special day and was blessed with messages and calls from all my precious family and friends. Had some friends over for pizza and chocolate cherry gateau... and rugby (with age come maturity?!). We had fun just chilling out and chatting. Can't believe i'm 24!!!

The Ceremony of the Keys- Tower of London

Ernst and i were invited by a friend to attend the 'Ceremony of the Keys' in the Tower of London last week Wed at 9:30 pm... (it takes months to get tickets as there is a long waiting list of people wanting to go) this is the 'longest shortest' ceremony and has happened every night for the last 700 years (only ran late (by 45 min) once during WW2 whilst bombs were falling on London!). The Ceremony is conducted by the Yeomen (the Tower guards/keepers) and involves locking the Tower up for the night. Ernst and I went out for a lovely meal at Brown Sugar, before heading to the Tower of London.

Last supper

Ro and Michael came over for supper last week- they are in the process of moving house and came to spend their last evening in East London, with us. We going to miss having them in the hood, but looking forward to visiting them in their new 400 year old house in the country :o)

Ernst and Cath in the bus on the way to work

St Paul's Cathedral

At least the tube strike enabled us to do a bit of sight seeing!

Tube Strike

There were tube strikes today (and for the next 2 days)- so we had to catch buses and an overland train into work today... took 2.5 hours to get to work- not fun! This is the view from the bus window- London looked like a human ant nest...

Sunset from our lounge window

Ernst and I enjoyed a meal and glass of wine after work today. The view from our lounge window was spectacular as the sun set over the tree tops... our flat sometimes feels like a tree house :o)

The pace of life...

Hi Everyone who reads my blog- sorry, I've been very quiet lately- my blog is specifically to document my life with pictures taken from my mobile phone- had a wonderful holiday in SA for 2 weeks- but my phone was dead- so unfortunately no pic's of the holiday... but it was really a special time and we made so many wonderful memories. Been back in the UK for almost a month now... can't believe it! And again, we've done so many things already- all of which I've forgotten to take pictures of! We went camping with friends for a weekend- went to Dover- where Ernst took part in a rugby tournament (photo above is taken on the train on way down to Dover... our camp sight was lovely, right on the white cliffs and overlooking the British Chanel. At night we could see the lights of France on the other side!); went to see 'Othello' at the Shakespeare globe theatre on the South bank in London; have been out with friends and of course- been working hard...