The Happiest 5km on the Planet

After yesterday’s antics at Kew Gardens my legs were seriously hoping for a day of R&R today but then I remembered it was the day of the Color Run (apologies for the spelling error but that is its official spelling!).

Bethany and I signed up to this in an impulse moment a few months back when we saw it was coming to the UK for the first time. The Color Run, aka the Happiest 5km on the Planet, started in 2012 in the States and has grown from over 50 events and 600,000 participants to over 100 events and over 1 million participants this year. The big day really crept up on us but luckily the un-timed run is more about having a great time than getting your personal best time.

We also recruited Christina and Lizzie to join us and Jon volunteered to come along and take some pics of the atmosphere. So in the mid-afternoon we all jumped on the tube to Wembley Stadium. 

We all thought this would be a relatively small event but we got off the tube and were suddenly lost in a sea of white Color Run t-shirts and headbands. 

We joined the masses and were herded off to the starting area where we got involved in some warm-up entertainment. The sun beat down on us for a good hour while we waited to be let off but luckily the atmosphere was great so it didn’t seem too long.
 

And then we were off!!

We jogged (or walked due to the bottle neck) on greatly anticipating the first colour section. In no time at all we headed round a corner and saw the pink arch (and Jon!). We rushed in and started to cover each other with the pink powder…

Having enough pink on our t-shirts and ourselves we jogged on towards the blue section. Yellow came at 3km and the last colour section of orange came at 4km. 

By this point the sun was so hot that I think we were all fairly happy to be reaching the end. We sped up for the last kilometre and raced towards the finish line covered head to toe in a rainbow of colours. 

Crossing the finish line we could already see the post run festival. Each participant was given one last paint packet to use in a mass powder throwing session. The DJ counted down and suddenly the whole sky was filled with paint powder.

The event atmosphere was fantastic, everyone was so happy and there is something so fun about getting covered in brightly covered paint powder. I would definitely recommend it as a fun day out and, given the popularity of the first event in London, I’m sure it’ll be coming back in 2014. The Color Run is also taking place in Brighton, Belfast and Manchester over the next few months (more info can be found here). Book your place now!

Kew Gardens

Yesterday Mini, Nat, Jon and I decided to do something ‘London-y’. As it was such a beautiful day Kew Gardens seemed like the perfect option so we hopped on the train south…

On arrival we were presented with a map which took us all by surprise – Kew Gardens is huge and there seemed like A LOT to do in just one day!

Armed with our maps and a slightly larger itinerary than we had anticipated we headed straight to the Rhizotron & Xstrata Treetop Walkway.

Opened in 2008 the walkway is a vertigo inducing 18m high, which may not sound like much but you realise how high you are when your eye line is directly in line with the top of a tree.

Along the walkway there are several information boards to explain what you’re looking at and lots of info about trees.

After the walkway we all felt like keeping our feet on the ground for a bit so we wandered over to the Pagoda. This was completed in 1762 and was supposedly greeted with disapproval by some, most notably Sir Horace Walpole who complained as he could see if from his home in Twickenham. It stands at an impressive 50m high and at the time was the tallest reconstruction of a Chinese building in Europe.

We wandered from the pagoda down the beautiful Pagoda Vista to the rose garden and palm house where we saw the first of the Bompass and Parr 2013 IncrEdibles installation – the tea party. 

The IncrEdibles installation is a celebration of the amazing edible plant world. There are more than 12,000 edible plants but people get 80% of their calorie intake from just a dozen of cereals and tubers so their aim is to educate the world about the bounty of edible plants. The most interesting fact I found was that cherry pips when chewed create cyanide – something to note in the future!

The tea party featured tea pots filled with tea plants, herbs in tea cups, trees and lots of information about each of the plants.

The next IncrEdibles feature we saw was the Tutti Frutti Boating Experience…

We couldn’t resist getting on the water so we donned our life jackets, - a sexy look…

… jumped in our boats and rowed over to Pineapple island through the Banana Grotto. I wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise so you’ll have to go yourselves to see what that entails! Jon did a great job of rowing while us girls relaxed in the sun.

We then visited the bit I was most excited about, the Waterlilly House which houses the giant Victoria amazonica.

We could only spend a few minutes inside as it was overwhelmingly humid on such a hot day. But we did manage to check out the Flavour Fiesta exhibit telling us about the world’s hottest chillis.

For the rest of the afternoon we wandered through the rock garden…

…saw Kew Palace…

… went through the Princess of Wales Conservatory to see the cacti…

…walked through the Palm House (the palm fronds were enormous!)…

… and lastly went to the Japanese Minka House situated in the Bamboo Garden. The house was donated to Kew in 2001.It originally stood in Japan in suburb of Okazaki City and was used as a family home. When the Yonezu family died in 1993 the house was relocated to Kew. Inside the house signs taught us all about the silk trade in Japan and the use of bamboo.

By closing time we were exhausted from all the walking and feeling hot and sticky so we sauntered back to the station via the ice cream van and the pub for some much needed refreshments.

I would definitely recommend Kew for a day trip. It feels like a little piece of countryside in the city and on a day like yesterday it was pretty much perfect!

New Forest: Day Two

After a lovely lie in and a huge breakfast of pancakes, maple syrup and bacon (is there anything better?!) we checked out of the hotel and headed in to the forest to explore.

We started out by heading to Bolderwood to see the deer.

We decided, after analysing the information boards, that these were Sika deer…not 100% on that though as we are not deer experts! I think most of the deer were sheltering from the heat but these ones looked content enough.

From there we sauntered in to the forest not really knowing where we were going with Jon singing teddy bear’s picnic in a sinister tone to freak me out but the scenery was beautiful so we sauntered on.

There was no one around but we did stumble upon these fellows/ladies:

Jon kept trying to make me go closer but one of them kept giving me a funny look so I kept my distance like a good New Forest explorer.

We wandered around for an hour or so before heading back to the car and driving down to the coast. We stopped to take a break in a scenic spot. I jumped out to take some pictures of a horse and her foal…

I failed to realise that I had left our car doors open with our picnic bag on the front seat. All of a sudden what felt like every pony in the New Forest were heading towards our car. Jon heroically stepped in and saved the day – I think he may be a secret horse whisperer!

 

We waited it out for quite a while before they got bored and trotted off.

Horse crisis averted we made our way south via Beaulieu. As the name would suggest this small village is stunning:

 

We found the one tiny village shop that sold New Forest ice cream and perched by the lake to eat it.

I’ve got to say, New Forest ice cream is a cut above the rest. I went for blueberry ripple and Jon went for raspberry and meringue. Nothing makes it feel like summer more than ice cream in a cone!

In a hop skip and a jump we made it to Lepe Country Park, which sounds like it should be acres of rolling hills but is in actual fact a seaside park with stunning views!:

 

We wandered past the hordes of tourists turning a traditional British lobster pink, along the shingle beach to a beautiful spot to watch the passing sailing boats and sea kayaks.

We also found some World War Two remains. According to a very informative sign Lepe Country Park played a crucial role in the D Day landings. The beach was used as a departure point for people, supplies and vehicles, for the construction of the Mulberry Harbour and as the mainland base for the P.L.U.T.O pipeline.

The pier which troops left from can still be seen today (and the chocolate bar style blocks that stabilised the beach for vehicles)…:

I took my chance to say a fond farewell to the seaside…

 …before we headed to the beautiful gardens of the Montagu Arms Hotel to watch Andy Murray win Wimbledon.

A weekend to remember!  À bientôt New Forest!

New Forest - Day One

Last weekend Jon and I donned our flip flops, shorts and sunnies; hired a car; and headed to the New Forest for a weekend escape from the city. Despite growing up a stones throw away I have never been there for a long weekend and that needed rectifying. 

We thought we’d beat the weekend traffic but clearly everyone had the same idea as traffic was horrendous and, on the edge of my seat waiting for the holiday weather, but we made it down in good time and were greeted by a beautiful hotel in the heart of the forest and cream team on arrival. 

Bartley Lodge Hotel is my idea of British holiday bliss – rolling countryside, patio seating for sunset cocktails, old wooden beams and features, and log fires (luckily not needed on this occasion but beautiful none the less!).

 

We arrived fairly late so after some wine and dinner we hit the sack for a good night’s sleep so we’d be bright eyed and bushy tailed early the next day.  

After a huge breakfast we headed down to the coast. Passing through Brockenhurst we caught our first glimpse of the infamous New Forest ponies which roam the countryside (more on them later!).

On first sight of the sea I was immediately as excited as a small child at the seaside.

 

We decided to walk the couple of miles along the spit to Hurst Castle. The castle, completed in 1544 was built by Henry VIII. Renovations took place during the Napoleonic wards and in the 1870’s two 38-ton guns were installed. It was also used as a defense position during World War II.

 

While Jon was mesmerised by the manly fort I was distracted by the picture perfect white lighthouse next door.

 

Although is it said that a light was shown on Hurst Point as early as 1733 the first permanent light was petitioned for in 1782 so that seafaring men could safely pass at night. There have been many renovations and replacements but the 26 metre lighthouse that stands there today was placed there in 1867. There’s something so magical about a lighthouse that really makes you feel as if you’re at the world’s end…even if you are surrounded by BBQs and land is just across the Solent...

 

None the less Jon and I found a quiet spot and stopped to rest our legs and recline in the sunshine, which was scorching by this point.

 After walking around town and grabbing some snacks we headed along the coast to Avon Beach. I got lazy with the camera at this point as I was clearly far too busy sunning myself and eating so you’ll have to make do with searching the web for a pic.

I have always been quite skeptical about British beaches but I’ve got to say that Avon Beach surpassed my expectations. It was clean, sandy and the water was clear and not too far below freezing!

Jon did some paddling, I did some tanning and then we both decided we should’ve put suncream on earlier and we may need some shade so we packed up our picnic and drove back to the hotel.

I plonked myself on the hotel lawn with a good book and Jon mysteriously disappeared off before returning with the pièce de résistance of the day – chilled Champagne! Life was good (and chivalry isn’t dead – hurrah)! 

We spent the rest of the evening reading, sipping champagne and chatting in the sun.