The end of the year naturally lends itself to reflection, an obvious opportunity to look back and recall some good memories from the last 12 months. And that’s exactly what I’m doing in this post – my year in review.
These posts can sometimes seem gratuitous, a little show-off even, but hopefully you enjoy this for what it is meant to be; an opportunity share (and re-share) a few of my favourite memories from the past year, draw a bit of a line under it, and end the year on a smile. I give you, twelve experiences that made my 2022 a year to remember.
Year in Review 2022
01 Potters’ Wheel Experience at Eastnor Pottery, February
I had so much fun over at Eastnor Pottery, courtesy of Red Letter Days, way back in February. Good friend Sarah and I each threw two pretty reasonable pots following the excellent and friendly instruction of Jon and Sarah; it felt like we were in good and knowledgeable hands.
It was a Saturday morning very well spent, and an experience I would highly recommend to anyone who fancies seeing if you could be a master potter. Honestly one of my favourite memories of 2022, and it wasn’t even outside!
Pottery is wonderfully accessible. Given enough time and patience, I could definitely see myself making a cupboard full of mugs, plates, bowls, and other pot-shaped things. It’s probably a good job I don’t have the space to keep a potter’s wheel at home, I’d have no time for anything else.
Read about my pottery experience in full.
02 Surfing Lesson at The Wave, April
I joined a small group of beginner surfers for a sunset lesson in the predictable white-water waves of the artificial lake at The Wave near Bristol back in April.
At its most basic level, my gifted surfing lesson at The Wave was a most excellent way to spend One Hour Outside. More than that, it was an opportunity for a mini adventure, to test my resilience, to let my body and mind remember something that it once loved, and to very much be in the moment. I came away utterly exhausted, but oh so satisfied – a perfect combination.
I even got to stay at The Camp, The Wave’s onsite accommodation. It reminded me how much I like the simple life; spending a night away in such a nice setting helped to elongate my adventure into something that was more than just a quick hit.
Read more about my surfing lesson.
03 Exploring Portugal by Motorbike, April/May
I spent just under three weeks road tripping in Spain and Portugal with my husband and friend back in spring. We took our motorbikes over using Brittany Ferries service from Plymouth to Santander, riding a little over 2,500 miles in two countries, slowly meandering our way down to the south-western most point in mainland Europe and back. I very quickly got into the swing of living the road trip life, planning just one or two days at a time, and with the very simple aim of having a nice time.
Our objective was to explore Portugal in the main, and we spent most of our time there. And I think it’s okay to admit that central Portugal, especially, was a revelation. It was vast, open, quiet, and beautiful in its ruggedness.
We made good use of Simon Weir’s suggested biking routes from Biker’s Europe: 60 Must-Ride Motorcycle Routes, linking some of his ideas up with particular mountain views and other interesting-looking places we’d earmarked on our travel Google map.
There’s no specific post about trip yet, but you can read a little more in Weekly Blog Episode 106.
04 Pony Trekking in the Brecon Beacons, May
Here’s something I didn’t expect to do in 2022… or ever.
We had an afternoon on a suitable-for-beginners pony trek in Wales with Grange Pony Trekking courtesy of a Buyagift voucher we received for Christmas last year. It’s something my husband was very keen to do, and never one to turn down trying a new outdoor activity, I went along for the ride (literally!).
This experience was a far cry from having a riding lesson in a School; this was a real introduction to pony trekking, and I loved that about it. The fact I was in my natural habitat – out on trail – made it much easier for me to relax into it than if I was being judged on my performance in a lesson setting.
My main hope for my pony trekking experience was to come away having enjoyed a different way to spend One Hour Outside, without having any kind of meltdown, and to understand a little more why people love horses so much. And I would say I did achieve that.
Read about my pony trekking experience (and why it was hard!).
05 Freshwater West and the Wales Coast Path, June
I have had my eyes on this short section of the Wales Coast Path for a little while. In fairness, I’ve had my eyes on the whole of the Wales Coast Path, but I’m not going to find time to walk the full 870 miles any time soon, so I’ve been looking at circular walks that take in sections of it instead.
Basing myself at Gupton Farm Campsite, a National Trust campsite which sits on the Wales Coast Path close to Freshwater West and Castle Martin, I planned to walk a couple of sections of the Wales Coast Path. As it happened, I only walked one – the last day was a wash out, so I ended up exploring Tenby instead as that seemed a bit more weather-appropriate. But I did manage a lovely 12-ish mile circular route around the Angle Peninsula on my first day away. Starting from my tent, I spent six hours taking a slow wander around this wild and rugged part of the coast. It really was a wonderful hike.
I still have a blog to write about this trip (and a video to make, maybe!), but there’s some more words in Weekly Blog Episode 109, and this Instagram story highlight.
06 Riding an Ubco – and a Polaris Side by Side, June
I was given the opportunity to attend this year’s Adventure Bike Rider Festival as a guest, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. My standout highlight remains having the opportunity to ride two very different engines – the little electric Ubco (which I was a little disappointed didn’t get delivered by Santa at the weekend…), and the ridiculous Polaris RZR side by side.
There were a handful of different electric bikes on display at the show, but the Ubco stood out as doing something – and looking – a little bit different. I giggled my way around a short section of the off-road trail, and I honestly have not stopped thinking about that little bike ever since. I can genuinely see myself having one of these as a commuter at some point, as the 75-ish mile range and near-30mph top speed would be great for city riding. But it’s the off-road capabilities that would be the real reason to get one – it would also make a brilliant toy for local green lanes, and would be much kinder to the environment than a traditional dirt bike. Want.
In complete contrast, I also got to test ride a Polaris RZR on the expert section of the on-site adventure trail – and I think there is still mud from that experience in my Arai lid even now. My steed and I slid around corners, whizzed up and down steep hills, and splashed through a massive muddy water crossing (apparently titled “the bog”). I know my demo RZR had a limiter on it, but honestly, I didn’t care. It was such an adrenaline rush, and one I hope won’t be a one off – I need more side-by-side action in my life.
I wrote a feature about the ABR Festival, which includes some more words on my experience trying both the Ubco and Polaris RZR.
07 World’s Largest Female Biker Meet, July
On 24 July, I joined hundreds of other female motorcyclists at the Triumph factory in Hinckley, for the World’s Largest Female Biker Meet.
Rolling up just after 11am, I was biker number 563. By the cut off time of 3.30pm, 1,549 female bikers had gathered, and a new world record was set. It was a fabulous event to be a part of. And, of course, I can now say I’m a world record holder!
Organised by Moto Advisor, a social group set up by biking enthusiasts Sherri Woolf and Nimi Patel, the event aimed to bring together female bikers in a friendly show of our place in the wider biking community.
What was really very cool about the whole thing, what the World’s Largest Female Biker Meet demonstrated to me personally, was just how broad and varied the motorcycling world is. And how I, a 40-something-year-old outdoors loving lady, riding a little 14-year-old GS with lowered suspension so she can reach the ground, is a member of that community.
I shared some more words and photos in this post.
08 Claiming a Local Paddle Spot, All Summer!
Over the last nearly-six months, my new Aquaplanet inflatable kayak and I have had some lovely local adventures together. One of my favourite memories of 2022 is being able to say I’ve got a “local put-in” – the place I go when I have a morning free and fancy a quick paddle.
I have thoroughly enjoyed rediscovering paddling as wonderful way to get One Hour Outside. It’s been wonderful to explore my local area in a very different way. I’ve seen places I’ve walked regularly from a very different perspective – and there’s still much more to see.
My favourite moments have been when I made the effort to get up and out early in the summer to be on the river before everyone else. To be honest that’s how I like my hiking, too – get out when the car park is empty and arrive back ready to go home when it’s full. I’ve enjoyed calm waters, had brief but pleasant conversations with fishermen and other boaters, paddled under bridges – with trains going over the top, had private displays from wildlife, and had time to think.
I recently shared my review of my gifted kayak.
09 Hiking the Isbourne Way, August
The Isbourne Way is a local-to-me linear route that follows the River Isbourne from where it rises on Cleeve Hill in the Cotswolds AONB, to its confluence with the River Avon in Evesham, Worcestershire. I walked the waymarked route with a friend at the end of August, making it one of the very few ‘proper’ day hikes I did in 2022 (which makes me sad in some ways as there are so many on my to-hike list!).
Joining up existing footpaths into a route starting at the Washpool on Cleeve Hill, it passes through the villages of Winchcombe, Toddington, Wormington and Sedgeberrow, and ends at Evesham. There are farms, villages, churches, country lanes, woodlands and orchards, bridges (some more rickety than others), and even some big views.
In all, our day hike was somewhere nearing 18 miles. While the official Isbourne Way route is just over 14 miles, we had to get up and over Cleeve Hill to start with, and then extended the end to a cafe in Evesham town centre. Walks should always end with a treat, it’s part of the fun.
You can find out more about this hike in this post.
10 South West Road Trip, September
We took a week off work in September to explore some of the nicest places in the South of England and Wales. In part, we were picking up where we left off on our National Parks and AONBs trip a couple of years ago. But really, it was an excuse to check the sea is still there, revisit some places from my childhood, and see if road tripping in the UK has gotten any less busy now travel restrictions abroad have been lifted (spoiler, it hasn’t…).
Of course, after a summer of amazing weather, we chose the week the rain returned for our trip. It wasn’t too bad – I mean, we did get wet, but we also managed to dodge the worst of it. Even with the weather, it makes my year in review list because we really were able to see some of the best views here in the UK, and I just adore exploring the world by bike.
Our trip had us ride a little over 1250 miles through the Mendips, Quantock Hills, Exmoor, Dartmoor, the Tamar Valley, Cranborne Chase, Studland, the New Forest, and the South Downs (and some other places!) – finishing off with a couple of days in the Brecon Beacons National Park. My favourite day? Taking the King Harry Ferry from Philleigh to Trelissick down in Cornwall, which was five-minute and £2-each blast from the past for me; any motorcycle trip is made more exotic with a ferry crossing, however short!
I really am behind on blogging about my 2022 road trips – hopefully I’ll catch up at some point in 2023! (I’ll finish my Coast to Coast Adventure Journal series first!!)
11 Views in Athens, October
I absolutely love a city break, and this year we got back to working our way around the many cities in Europe by heading to Athens for a short autumn break in October.
We saw all the sights you’d expect, including getting up early to visit the Acropolis when it opened to avoid the crowds bussed in on organised tours (always a good idea!). It was beautiful and very interesting up on the hill, I especially enjoyed seeing the Odeon, which was being set up for an orchestral concert while we were there.
The other highlight of the trip was exploring the Panathenaic Stadium – the home of the original Olympics, as well as the modern version of the Games. It’s simply massive; you can fit 60,000 people on the marble benches (but bring a cushion if you’re wanting to sit down for any length of time!).
It was warm and sunny, the food was tasty, and we had the perfect combination of urban wandering and relaxation.
I’m unlikely to blog my trip to Athens, but if you’re heading there and are after some tips, give me a shout over on twitter.
12 Hiking Red Pike in Winter, December
A couple of weekends ago, a friend and I took to the trails to reclaim Red Pike from a somewhat difficult and emotionally draining memory I’ve had since my coast to coast hike last autumn.
We hiked from Buttermere to Bleaberry Tarn via Old Burtness and Sourmilk Gill. We were dressed and prepared for weather and conditions, but very conscious that this might not be a summit kind of day – the fells were in charge (as they should always be), and we weren’t going to argue with them. Winter on the fells is no joke; we were ready to turn back at any time. Thankfully we had fabulous weather in the main; a couple of snow showers rolled through, but the views stayed open for us.
After a tea stop in the shelter of Bleaberry Tarn, we decided to “have a look” at the path up to the summit of Red Pike, and just kept going as conditions proved reasonable. It was a long and slow hike up, and then down again (via Ling Comb, with a quick detour to summit Dodd next door first), but it was nothing short of brilliant.
It might have been a challenging day out (I might be healthier now, but my fitness could definitely be improved…), but it easily makes my top memories of the year, without a doubt.
There’s a Red Pike adventure journal post coming next week, but in the meantime you can see a bunch of wintery photos in my Instagram story highlight.
My Wish For 2023
With 2022 successfully reviewed, it seems only right to give a bit of thought to the year ahead. Will it be “new year new me”? Nah, no thanks to all that. You know I love a list, and the striking of midnight on 31 December is a pretty good time to write one, but so is any other day of the year. So, it’ll be the same old me. And in fact, I think I’ll make 2023 more me than ever.
With every seriousness, I’ll leave this year in review post with this great and relevant quote from Neil Gaiman. I hope you will remember this as we ready ourselves to move into 2023, and throughout the year ahead:
“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re doing something.”
Neil Gaiman