I think it's safe to say that canoe slalom isn't my cup of tea - I got beaten by small children at a couple of div 4 events several years ago, and did one interclubs, but in general I prefer my paddling without the competitive element (and definitely without the pushy parents).
But when CCC's slalom enthusiasts decided it was about time an event happened at Symonds Yat again, it was with the understanding that the whole club would be expected to help out, not just the stick chasers. Not a problem!
Vast amounts of planning, organisation and general stress later, we had ourselves a two day event with about 150 entries each day.
lots of sticks
I was only around for the first day, helping out in the control tent with the oh-so-retro timing system:
note gaffer tape
Despite a few small hiccups things mostly ran smoothly, if a little behind schedule at times... I don't think I'll be following my dad and brother into the world of timekeeping somehow.
Not bad for the first event at Symonds Yat for 20 years, and the first one organised by our club. Especially if you consider that the majority of our volunteers aren't regular slalomists!
Feedback for the event has been very positive, and I believe it's pencilled in the calendar again for 2015. Well done Ali, Dave and John for sorting it all out 
What better way to spend a bank holiday Sunday than getting up ridiculously early to go and watch about 2000 people run over a bridge?
That's not selling it well - I was actually pleasantly surprised by how fun my first half marathon experience was. Spectating, of course - and cheering on Rachael who is mad enough to do this kind of thing regularly.
They started half way across the bridge, ran into England, around some roads (including a hill of some sort), then all the way back across the bridge into Wales, finishing at the event village in a field next to a business park.
Meanwhile I had a leisurely wander across the bridge, taking loads of photos and generally enjoying the novelty of standing in the middle of the M48.
I'd walked about three miles and made it to roughly the 11 mile marker sign when the first runners came flying past. Crazy fast! From there on it was an ever increasing stream of runners, who we clapped and cheered as they passed. Fantastic atmosphere
Last full day in Iceland - no bus trips! Instead we bought a Reykjavík welcome card and hit the museums.
We started with the maritime museum, which was very much like any other maritime museum, but with more dried fish. There'd been a fair amount of fishing related stuff at the folk museum too - as obviously the sea is rather important in the history of small island countries!
Then we went to the 871±2 settlement museum - located under a random hotel, where they found the remains of a longhouse during building work. This one was really interesting, and nicely done - all around the wall was a panoramic display, which played little films/animations when you stood in the right spot.
the longhouse, and panoramic display
The information signs around the longhouse itself had buttons so you could light up the area they refer to, and there were also a couple of interactive video things that went into more depth.
We briefly popped into the city hall to see the huge relief map of Iceland they've got there. Felt a bit sorry for the staff who had to keep telling people not to touch it...
Possibly my favourite visit of the day was Volcano House, because volcanoes/geology/ science are all fascinating. This has a small exhibition of different types of volcanic rocks, including ash samples from Eyjafjallajökull (2010) and Grímsvötn (2011) - the former a lot 'scratchier' and thus more dangerous to aeroplane engines!
The cinema bit shows two films. The first about the 1973 eruption on Heimaey in the Westman Islands, and the second about Eyjafjallajökull. Obviously I have some first hand experience of the chaos caused by that one, but that doesn't mean I don't want to learn more!
Hallgrímskirkja is a big ass modern church. Not quite the tallest building in Iceland, but fairly imposing from a distance.. though weirdly not so much from up close.
I think this was the third church visit of the week, and still no bursting into flames. I was impressed by the simple yet striking architecture:
We got the lift up the tower to the observation deck, where on a clear day you'd get fantastic views of all sorts of faraway mountains. We mostly saw cloud, but it didn't stop me taking far too many almost identical photos of the city from above!
After a bit of souvenir shopping, we finished with a delicious meal at Icelandic Fish & Chips - including my final portion of skyr, a lovely thick yoghurty thing which I'd been attempting to eat my bodyweight in/try all the flavours of.
So yeah, that was Iceland I loved it, as did mum. I definitely need to go back and do something a bit more active/outdoorsy though - and eat more skyr. Nicer weather might be good too.. or maybe some snow and aurora...
tags: Forest of Dean paddling 
