Sunday, November 6, 2016

Pen Dinas and Fireworks!

November 5
Pen Dinas is a hill opposite of Constitution Hill down on the seafront of Aberystwyth. I headed out not really knowing how to get to the top. So after backtracking a bit of the coastal walk of the hiking club, treading into the unknown, and then giving up on the walking trail and blazing a path up a sheep trail, I managed to get to the top. It was a beautiful day for a climb!


Best of both: a pond and the sea!



These pretty flowers are all over the pastures here on thorny bushes. They add blooming color to the landscape!




The sheep trail I followed up to the top.... If you can even see it.... It was just a little steep.



Cattle on a hill and a town below!




Remember remember the 5th of November...
Guy Fawkes Night/Bonfire Night/Firework Night is a holiday that Great Britain recognizes as the time Guy Fawkes did not blow up the House of the Lords with King James in it. Apparently Fawkes was with a group who thought it would be better to have a Catholic head of state rather than a Protestant so took it upon themselves to see it through. It failed and Fawkes was killed as punishment. People still celebrate the occasion with fireworks and bonfires. I went with a few girls to supper and then wandered around some bonfires on the beach before watching fireworks :)
Dessert!!! And no I did not eat this all by myself, I had help :pp


Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Saundersfoot Sandy Shore

October 31, 2016
What a better way to spend Halloween than at a beach sifting sand for a marine biology practical? It was a beautiful day and I only wish we had had time to explore. Our class was split up into groups and we were given the questions: what happens to diversity when going from low shore to high shore? and what happens to particle size going from low shore to high shore? So we took samples, sifted sands, and identified organisms. What a beautiful day to be on the beach!




Sifting sand for organisms.





Identifying organisms.

Donax clams

High shore line, very different from low shore.
Harbor:

Coastal Walk

October 30, 2016
The hiking club went on a coastal walk. We went down to the seafront and followed the coast for a while until cutting inland. It was a great walk that immersed ones self in the Welsh countryside. I don't know if I will get to visit a farm while here, but walking through numerous pastures of sheep, cattle, and besides horses was a great way to see the farming atmosphere. We also saw two seals! We walked for about 8 hours and accomplished 18 miles on foot. I got my workout for the week in that's for sure!
The coast:




A view of Aberystwyth from the opposite direction of Constitution Hill.






Headed inland with lots of pastures, farms, and animals!



This sheep has two sets of horns!


More speckled sheep.


Headed back through wooded area:



Sunset: