Despite the ferocious weather and remote location, everyone managed to find the hostel on Friday night, but failed to meet anyone else in the local pub. The accommodation proved to be exceptionaly comfortable and soon everyone had settled in. However, picking a dorm above the cosy sitting room was probably not a good idea…

Saturday:
The main walking group, consisting of at least Chris, Maria, Edmund, Robert B, Anna, Wendy, Rosie and Rob N, embarked on a gentle 645 mile walk via Dunkery Beacon and Middle Earth. Chris's map reading skills were beyond reproach as he skilfully navigated through swathes of two foot high heather over which his stature enabled him to glide with grace and ease, but leaving his followers tripping and stumbling haplessly after him.

Edmund hadn't been dissuaded from joining the expedition merely because he had no walking boots. He set off in his Hush Puppies and was proud to discover that, once comfortably full of mud, they served better than the £350 high tech mountaineering boots being trialled by Rob N. It was at around mile 235, well before half way and somewhere around the group's trials with the washed-away beach, that Rob was found cutting up discarded plastic bottles in an effort to make replacement boots for himself.

Rosie walked the entire expedition as though it had been a simple afternoon's stroll on Exmoor, volunteering for another walk the following day as though nothing unusual had happened!

Aware that Chris was the expedition leader, Wendy was taking no chances and packed several 60 meter full ropes in her rucksack, claiming that it was to help her train for the next epic trip in Chile (God help them). A quick test whilst her back was turned, suggested that there were several full racks and a fold-away stretcher in there as well.

Anna, the group's modest athlete, kept spirits up with a never-fading radiant smile. There'll be many a New Zealander back home marvelling in her tales of reaching the highest point in Exmoor: A dizzy height, at 65 feet above sea level, that many New Zealanders never get down to.

Maria was the group's guardian angel, its very own Gandalf. She brought a tempered calm, waiting at river crossings and busy road junctions for stragglers, whilst the impetuous forged ahead impatiently.

Needless to say, it concluded with its own late night epic decent from the Exmore mountain passes into Minehead, where the group evenly split into the 'taxi home' and 'damn well going to walk the last two miles' camps. Comfortable in their steamed up taxi, and with help from the driver, the shirkers recalculated their route at 643 miles, but comforted themselves with the knowledge that the two mile drive represented at least one pint's drinking time; time well used a little later.

Robin, Margaret, David B, Jane, Hilary, Vanessa, Lucy, and Sarah choose a slightly less ambitious itinerary. They went from the hostel to Selworthy and onto the coastal path via the villages of Horner and Bossington then back to Minehead. Well at least that was the plan. Due to a lack of map reading, they actually arrived at Wooton Courtney instead of Selworthy (they are 4km apart!). This was particularly upsetting, partly because Selworthy is reputed to have a teashop but also because David and Sarah had been trailing behind the main group taking photos and they couldn't be sure that they would follow. After some minutes of waiting Sarah and David arrived, apparently pleased that they had correctly navigated their way to Selworthy!! A particularly quaint teashop in Bossington saved the day as far as sticky buns were concerned, the weather stayed mostly dry and they reached Minehead by dusk, so in all an excellent walk.

The die hard climbers headed over to Baggy point. Shane, Kate, AG and Brad all climbed on The Long Rock. Encouraged by the initial sunshine (honestly), Brad started off by attempting Pickpocket (HVS) with Kate. However the weather gradually deteriorated to sea mist and light rain, which along with AG's certainty that he was actually on an E3, sapped Brad's enthusiasm until, after much swearing, he backed off. Things then got better: the sun came out and Brad lead Sting (VS) and Shangri-La(HS), while Kate lead Lost Horizon (VS).

Andy, Tom, David D, Steve, Nick and John decided to go mountain biking, or perhaps more accurately, pushing their bikes up very steep hills and careering down the other side as fast as the mud/gravel/rocks/punctures/cow shit would allow. Things got off to a slow start when Andy suffered the first flat tyre of the day whilst still within sight of the hostel (despite having spent most of the morning applying patches to the offending inner tube). Things then went downhill, both literally and metaphorically. Owing to a slight navigational error they found themselves careering in to the centre of Minehead, where it was Nick's turn to have a puncture. This gave Andy a chance to adjust his navigational technique by a) looking at the map, and b) looking at a compass. They were soon back on track and eventually found their way to the top of Dunkery Beacon. From there it was one insane bike busting downhill to Dunster, accompanied by shrieks of "ride it, cowboy" from Mad Melvin. By now they were all totally covered with mud (and worse), although Andy had taken the wise precaution of borrowing someone else's jacket (thanks Margaret, I'm sure it will wash out!).

Cheryl and Simon also went cycling, but wisely opted for a far more sedate (road) cycle across the moors.

Dinner: Despite everyone's best efforts at navigational ineptitude, everyone arrived in Dunster in time for dinner, which is almost unheard of in recent years. Much beer was drunk, tales swapped, and a good time was had by all. Wendy clinched the annual F***wit award, but lack of space precludes me from going in to full details here. Suffice to say that she had amassed a considerable body of work over the year. Well done Steve for an entertaining nomination speech.

Sunday

Rob Brookes and Brad checked out the surf at Croyde Bay, but opted for the drier option of climbing at Longrock Slab, Baggy Point. Brad lead Twinkletoes (VS 4c) and Rob lead Lost Horizon (VS 5a). Meanwhile on the nearby white rock of The Promontory, Shane, Kate, AG and Jane did there stuff. Robin lead both Ben (S) and Marion (HS) and Jane had fun belaying with twin ropes for the fist time (whether the leader enjoyed the experience is not recorded).

Steve and Nick went mountain biking again in the area near the hut, without getting lost and without any punctures.

Various walks were completed, all of them less ambitious than the previous day's. Simon Atkins, Cheryl, Hilary, Sarah Glover, David Bowyer and Katherine completed a section of the coast path from Porlock Weir. Another group consisting of Alix, Lee, Rosie, Helen and Eileen completed a similar walk despite a typical MMC faff involving confusion over which car park they were meeting at and the fact that much of the coast path has been washed away.

For Tom, David D and Mark it was a case of 3 men and 3 babies as they took their turns at parenting. They went on a tea shop traverse and a walk in the castle grounds. They were feted on their rounds - "Oh there's another baby, and another!" cried elderly ladies. Space was made for them in cafes, staff clucked around and passing men quipped "drawn the short straw boys?". "Not at all" they sung in unison, "this is the best day of all!"

Lastly, many thanks to Henry for his superb organisation. No doubt good training for your new job as ski rep

AE