Our Senior Administrator, Sarah, is always looking for a new challenge or adventure in her life.   Her latest holiday from work saw her enjoying her new hobby, Kayaking, and she managed to slip in a Zipwire experience during her break too!

“I have recently taken up another outdoor activity – kayaking. My friend has had an inflatable kayak for years and suggested I try it out to see whether I liked it. After 20 minutes on the River Nene at Nassington, I was hooked and ordering my own kayak and accessories, which included foot pump, life jacket, and boat shoes.

A week later, after a few hours “paddling my own canoe” on the Nene near Oundle, there was no question about the kayaks coming on holiday with my friend and I as we headed off for a week in North Wales.

Not too far from the holiday accommodation, Llyn Padarn, a lake in Snowdonia, offered the perfect spot for my first real kayaking adventure. It measures approximately 2 miles in length, so paddling all the way around the perimeter took several hours and was great fun. There was a perfect launching spot with a “beach” area close to the car park, so getting into the water was easy.

Although a little windy and overcast at the start, the sun soon broke through the clouds and there were lovely views over the lake and of the surrounding mountains. The lake was quiet with only a couple of paddleboarders and a brave swimmer in the water.

At lunch time, a grassy bank was a nice spot for a picnic and a break. The only chore is deflating, cleaning, and drying the kayak after all the fun, but it’s worth it. I’m very much enjoying this new pursuit and will be getting out on the water a lot in the future.”

To inject a bit more “excitement” into her trip to Wales, Sarah enjoyed a trip to  Zip World where she enjoyed travelling 100mph down a zip-wire with a smile on her face from start to finish!