My first spot of bouldering

I am only working half-days this week as I am about to start a new job.

So far in my afternoons off I have been shopping, watched the Christopher Robin film and eaten out.

Yesterday I tried bouldering for the first time. It is surprisingly harder than climbing with ropes. You have to hold your weight up with your arms at times and climb down once you are at the summit, if you can.

I wanted to do climbing with an automatic belay, but unfortunately my demonstration was too rocky. I had forgotten how to put a harness on, so I was not allowed.

I managed to do the easiest route, but that was hard enough. Those are the blue chunks you can see on the picture. After an hour, my limbs were aching and I was tired. Climbing is a full-body workout and tones you all over. It is also good for stretching out your back if you get backache. I watched an instructor nimbly demonstrate with ease, bulging biceps and incredible flexibility as she flung herself around like a spider, hugging the fake rock.

The session was only £8 as I still get student rate. It was £10 standard price.

Some use bouldering as therapy and you can even get it prescribed by a doctor. This could be because it allows you to concentrate solely on your route, the location of your hands and feet and your next move. It is a form of mindfulness – being present in the moment.

I then went to netball and we won the match. It was a great feeling because we fought so hard for it. I had the advantage, as my opponent was smaller and slower.

Get down to your local bouldering wall and have a go!

The Picturesque Pyrenees

There is something sublime about walking in the mountains.

Once you get up there, that is.

It was a long, hot ascent to the summit. The summer heat made our clothes stick to us as we stumbled up the winding fir tree forest path. The unforgiving ascent seemed endless.

At one point, the path disappeared and we were launched into ferns.

Another path had eroded partly off the mountain, and we had to lean into it to avoid sliding off.

But it was all worth it when we spotted a Griffin vulture soar out of the clouds, low above us. It flew serenely on the thermals, surveying us scrambling about on the peak.

A brightly coloured patchwork of alpine flowers decorated the ground and the mountains in the distance were blue and green. You felt like all the city stress was slipping away down the slopes as you inhaled the fresh air and became absorbed in sounds of nature.

One day we had a wild swim. The water was not particularly cold. The lake was encircled by pine trees and reflected the blue sky like a mirror. When we stood on the bottom, little fish came and nibbled at the dead skin on our feet. A complimentary pedicure.

We walked away from the heat of the valley and up into the Pyrenees over two days, each route lasting around 7 hours. We walked slowly on GR tracks – French for big walk, taking plenty of photographs of the breathtaking scenery. We were staying near the picturesque French village of Seix, where we saw an impressive firework and kayak flare display for their festival.

When we got down, hot, sticky and weary, we enjoyed tasty French food, full of flavour. Even their tinned beans were perfectly edible.

Our Air B’n’B host had friends round one night. They shared pineapple-infused rum with us from La Reunion, an island that is a French colony, and invited us to go on a traditional morning walk up a mountain with them. They were meeting the Spanish at 9am at the summit border. The French were bringing cheese and the Spanish were bringing wine!