i think i’ll go sea kayak along the wild welsh coast now

this is my dear friend graham beisly. you can call him beez. he was the ward mission leader in my last area (reading) and because of his dedicated service, quirky personality and genuine goodness, i became really close with him and his family in the last months of my mission. he is like a favourite uncle or dear old family friend to me. beez is pretty adventurous, and he would always tell us sisters about his neat trips to do fun stuff around britain. of course we couldn’t go with him as missionaries, but ever since i went home beez and i have talked about him taking me to some of his favourite spots when i got back over the pond to visit.

so – this summer graham took me to wales to go sea kayaking and to scotland to go walking in the highlands. he made us meals and make sure i had everything i needed, and showed me some super cool stuff, and drove me around, and made me laugh and … i am amazed at his generosity and kindness. i’ll never forget the cool things i got to do because he brought me around. this man has a golden heart.

we drove 4 hours to the west coast of wales, past the devastatingly cute town of cardigan.

we ate lunch at that darling blue facade cafe and drove around with the kayaks on!

and then we spent a day and a half kayaking on the open sea. these pictures don’t do it justice – the scenery was outrageous. by the end of day 2 the sun came out brilliant in the azure sky and made the kelly green of the hills, the slate gray of the cliffs and the aqua of the sea sparkling and silken. we saw a stellar sunset and five big dolphins flipping right by my boat! we ate lunch on the sand in a completely untouched cove, we both capsized once coming in to shore, and our last three hours were constant paddling against strong waves and winds. it was all a grand adventure.

the drive home was holy-cow-this-is-so-pretty-i-want-to-swoon-and-holler type of beautiful. it was golden hour and my arms felt like they were made of jelly. the deep blue of the sea and true green of the hills, singing along with adele, small country roads and then stretching highway through lush land, a sweet brand of exhaustion… the end of a great excursion to wales.

simplistic, pale, blah compared to what i really saw whipping past us!

i love the sea because it reminds me of eternity. that intersection of land or mortality and sea or eternity is striking and beautiful.