Cows and Canoes!

What a busy last few days this has been! This past weekend (July 12th) was packed full of so many different activities it makes my head spin thinking about it! 

It all began with a trip into the south side of Sussex organized through the school with my fellow classmates. I think it was somewhere near where I went on the Seven Sisters hike (check it out below if you haven't already). We all got loaded up into this van and headed over to where the hike for the day was to start. The road there was so incredibly narrow and so full of trees that its a wonder that the van still has paint on it. The trees claw up all of the tall vehicles that go through there.

We finally got to the spot where we were to start our hike, the first step off the van and I was already avoiding cow pats (short for patties). We hiked through grasslands and thin forests, across rivers, and more cow pats than I have ever seen all at once. At the end of our short hike we all arrived at the base where we were to do the rest of the days adventures. 

 

There was so much to do and not nearly enough time so we all split into small groups and went through all of the different activities. My team started off with the canoes! About four of us in a canoes took a trip down the river.. trying to navigate at first wasn't so easy, and even towards the end we ran into some brush on the side of the water, which ended up being stinging nettle, which if you have ever touch you, you know that it is really really not pleasant.

This plant (which I don't have a picture of yet) when lightly brushed against your skin makes you feel like your hand is on fire while in a cactus.. yep definitely not fun. I had it on my hand and my arms which created welts and a burning sensation, but strangely enough after 30 minutes the pain and the welts were gone. There is a plant that grows next to it that allegedly when you rub it on the affected spot it heals you instantaneously, but most people aren't sure if this is actually a cure for the pain, or just a placebo effect.. still I wish I found some of those dock leaves!

After our canoe ride we took a lunch in the middle of the field, surrounded by cows, what do we eat? Hamburgers of course! homemade delicious hamburgers, the food they made on this trip was all specifically homemade to display the food culture, so even at lunch time I was learning about the things around me and more about England. The drink on the right is called Elderflower Cordial, it is made with these Elderflowers that only bloom in May. They pour hot water and sugar over them and add local berries as well as lemon. All of it is edible and very refreshing. I would compare it to the way you would drink a glass of lemonade on a hot day. It was the best thing to drink after that canoe ride. If you look closely at the plate of food on the let you will notice the orange flower next to the burger in the salad, I was really surprised how many flowers they actually consume.

 

 After lunch we went mountain biking! We ran through an obstacle course of forest, field, and of course more cow pats. Its harder than I expected it to be, mountain biking makes you focus so much on keeping balance because the ground is so uneven. One girl even flew over her handle bars!

 Then was story time! After all of that physical activity we were all ready for a nap, so we laid underneath a large tree and listened as this story teller told us of old myths and folktales from the area, we learned about ancient dragons, and lost lovers, when he wasn't telling us the stories he was playing the flute that only added to the deep relaxed feeling that comes from good story telling.

He even let me play the flute too!

 Finally our trip ended with some homemade chocolate cake and a local game of stool ball!