The promise of blue skies, calm seas and warm rock lured us out the the far side of Anglesey to run a rock climbing skills course, but the weather didn't quite play ball! On reaching the famous 'White Arch', the clouds still remained in place.
A cold wind was also blowing onto the slightly greasy rock of the cliffs. Wrapped up in fleeces and waterproofs to combat the wind chill, we all agreed that conditions were not quite conducive to a fine day of climbing. Luckily, we had a plan B, in the form of a sub-terrainian adventure. The students rigged some rock anchors and I abseiled in to a slot in the cliffs that put me in the back of a cave at sea level.
I'd never actually been down 'the slot' before, so was trusting John's judgement as I disappeared into the dark! It was incredibly noisy as the (only small) waves, crashed into the back of the cave and further into unseen passages. One by one, I was joined by the students and we sang songs that echoed around the cavern before climbing out on the seaward cliffs.
The rocks are super old around here and have fantastic features in them.
After a rousing rendition of 'Happy Birthday', which thundered and echoed around the chamber, as John made the final abseil to join the team, we all made it back to the cliff-top, where John shared his birthday cake with us at our cliff top party!
Somewhat typically, as we walked back to the minibus, the weather front finally passed and we literally walked into the blue sky and sunshine, while noting the dramatic cloud band that had been slow to clear the island.
Back on the mainland, all was clear and we were only slightly jealous to find out, back at base, that the other climbing team had been in the sun all day, climbing in short sleeves!
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