Pembrokeshire (That is in Wales)

ROAD TRIP

In late March, the Geology Department went on a 6 day field trip to Pembrokeshire, which is on the coast of Wales.  In Wales, they speak English and Welsh, which is a language that uses a lot of consonants.  There was one boy on the trip called Josh who was Welsh, and he proved to be our friendly go-to guy on all things about Wales.  We had to provide our own transportation to the field, so I rode up in a car with Gosia, Laura, Camilla, and Grace.  We had a great time driving out, as the weather was most favorable.  After a solid day of travel, we finally arrived and found our chalets--which we much nicer than anticipated. After a bit of introduction, we called it a day and hit the sack.
The next day wasn't the best of weather, as it was raining.  We had also had a 20 minute walk to the bus along a muddy trail, some people even ended up falling and slipping into the mud.  I almost took a spill myself, but managed to dive into some bushes at the last moment and thus avoid a catastrophe for my camera.  Even though the weather wasn't the greatest, we still managed to have a good time in the field.

Tidal Cave

Luckily, the rest of the weeks weather proved to be absolutely smashing. We toured all around the coast, and saw loads of cool formations--from faults and folds to coal veins and fossils. 
Because we were in chalets, we had to cater ourselves, which meant packing lunches and cooking dinner. You'd be surprised how hungry a day in the field can make you.
One of the most bizarre things that happened in Wales happened on the coast in the middle of the week.  Whilst in the field, we heard booms in the distance.  We were then told that the Ministry of Defense had land nearby, and they were having a 5 day war game using live ammunition.  They were using tanks, artillery, and small arms fire.  Apparently in preparation for a ground invasion of Libya.  I tried getting video of it so you could hear the booms, but the wind was too strong and it drowned out the sounds of the battle.  They also told us not to stray too far, as there was no clearly defined boundary between us and the MoD.

Castle

The weather was so nice that I decided to try swimming in the real ocean!  The other guys decided to come with me and we swam around.  They all got out because they said it was chilly, but once you swim in Minnesota lakes soon after the ice breaks, not much else can seem terribly cold. 
On the last day even more of us got into the water at the beach, and we had a blast in the sun.  On the way back to the car we started finding loads of dogfish,  One of them was massive!
Also, at the end of the trip, the supervisors gave out prizes, including one for most entertaining, which I somehow won.  The prize was a chocolate egg and a bottle of wine. 

Sunset

Needless to say, it was an absolute blast, but it also signified the end of the my geology here in England, and it will be the last time I will be with the rest of my geology class.  *Tear*

Group Photo

Me and Geology

Cliffs

Water time!

Jamie with the sharks!