Happy 30th

This month, I hit a milestone in my life. On 7th April 2014, I became *spoken through gritted teeth* THIRTY years old...

As someone who has always thought of "Happy Thirtieth" as somewhat of an oxymoron, I have to say that I wasn't looking forward to it much. You see, thirty is a significant age: If I were a professional sportsman (I know, it's hard to believe that I'm not, looking at my physique), my career would be approaching an end and I would have to start considering what I will do afterwards.

Having said all that, I have to give an honourable mention to my wonderful wife, Harriet. All jokes about how ancient I am aside, she has made this part of my life a memorable time. For those of you who know Harriet, you will know the following two things about her:

1. She is hugely organised.
2. She cannot keep a secret.

On the occasion of my thirtieth birthday, Harriet remained resolute on attribute #1, however she managed to buck the trend on #2. She managed to keep my birthday plans a secret for THREE MONTHS up until the night before. Not all of you will appreciate the significance of this, but let me tell you - this took a gargantuan effort on her part!

The plan was that we were going to Pembrokeshire in Wales for the weekend. Harriet's sister, Charly (Charlotte), used to live and work down there and Harriet would often go there for a quick visit or a retreat. She has often described to me how much she loves that place. Once we got there, I could see why. Pembrokeshire is beautiful.

The most spectacular was Barafundle Bay. A beautiful little cove surrounded by cliffs, this beach was perfect. We had sunny weather (very un-Welsh!), we had sand and we had almost exclusive access to one of the nicest beaches I've been to. I can't really do it justice in words, so here are a couple of pictures from our visit:

This was not the pinnacle of our visit to Wales though. Oh no. The main secret Harriet had tucked up her sleeve was that we were going coasteering! For those of you not in the know (much like I was), Coasteering is an adventure sport where you don a wetsuit and helmet, swim in the sea, climb cliffs and throw yourself off them. It has to be one of the best things I've ever done. I started with my fair share of trepidation, but it ended up being the most fun I've had in ages.

The weather was rubbish that day - we even called up to confirm that it was still on. After being told they do these kind of things during hurricanes, we carried on stoically and met with the company that was taking us out. We got ready and met our guide - "Safety" Will.

"Safety" Will - Our indomitable coasteering guide.

Unsure of whether this was ironic or not, we (Harriet, Me, Will and Al - A Spanish exchange student helping out at the Coasteering place) set out on our adventure. As it turns out, the moniker "Safety" Will was actually both well-earned and ironic. Though he was clearly bonkers, he was very cautious, considering we were on rocks with a 10 foot swell bashing us every few seconds.

Coasteering!

We battled around the coast, climbed up stuff, jumped off into the sea and basically had ourselves a brilliant time. We finished off in a flooded quarry where Harriet and I jumped off some pretty high platforms just to prove how epic we are. A great day!

Yes. It was cold.

After more great sights including St David's (the cathedral is particularly beautiful), Folly Farm (The Zoo where Charly used to work), Tenby (pretty seaside town) and much more, our weekend was over. What a great time we had. Good work, Harriet.

St David's Cathedral.

So now on to more adventures, where both crazy and peacefully sedate things await us as we visit new places and meet new people. Life has a lot more in store and there will be many twists and turns up ahead.

Harriet enjoying what Folly Farm had to offer!

Though it seems difficult at times to accept that I am now out of my twenties and almost half-way to retirement, it also seems obvious to me that there's still a lot to do.

Life does indeed begin at thirty!