Devil's Dyke

Hi fam!

Legend has it that there were a string of churches in Sussex, so the devil was digging a trench during the night to let the sea run through and flood the churches in the morning. A clergy man heard of the devil's plan and lit a lamp at the bottom of the valley. The devil, thinking that the sun was beginning to rise, fled for fear of being caught, leaving the job incomplete and the churches saved.

Samantha, Jes, and I all decided to road trip up to Devil's Dyke for a good hike and picnic. I mean for the first time in forever the sun was shining and we were determined not to waste a single second. We met up and Samantha drove us in the cutest car ever! Seriously, I want one. A convertible, golf Volkswagen. We were the quintessential example of girl's trip, blasting the music, letting the wind knot our hair (I seriously regretted not braiding my hair that night), and singing and dancing like the crazy loons we are. It was hilarious to have cars drive past and realize that it wasn't a bunch of teenagers, but grown adults partying it up on the countryside roads.

The views took my breath away. I'm a through and through desert girl, so to see this much green had me in absolute awe! I mean look at it!

We started our hike through the tall grass, and maybe about five minutes in I heard some rattling noises coming the my right. Being a good girl scout, I slowly started backing up and looking for an alternative footpath. Well imagine my surprise as Jes and Samantha continued trotting on, not worried or panicked by this snake hiding in the bushes. So I shouted out to them that there were snakes and we needed to leave, only to have them bust out laughing and say, "the only predator you'll find here is a dog running up to you for tummy tickles." Yup, that's right, I went into full panic mode over a BUG. To be fair, in Cali we have rattle snakes, and I've come across quite a few in my hikes, so my instinctual panic was not wrong, just simply irrelevant in the countryside. Oopsies.

Jes told me that  the only predators in England, are foxes, rabbits, cows. Because apparently cows are predators of grass? This is Jes' list, not mine so you can take it up with her the fact that rabbits and cows don't really count. Although, they might have adders in some parts of the country? But not where we were. The worst thing we came across was stinging nettles, which are itchy leaves, but oddly the doc leaf grows right next to them and will take the sting away. Nature is weird, but oddly convenient on this little island.

I passed by cows, HORSES, and lambs (but unfortunately no lambies, apparently it's past their season). If you think the passing farm animals on your hike is weird, don't worry you're not alone. But it's kind of nice not having to worry about bobcats or coyotes. We kept following the footpath but losing it in little towns here and there. It was a good excuse for me to take more pictures though!

We may or may not have gotten horribly lost without adequate cell service, and somehow ended up at the very bottom of the valley. And when I say bottom, I definitely mean the lowest point of the gorge only to realize that our car park was at the tippy top and off to the left. We were already two hours in and literally the only place to go was up. Sooo we took a few breaks and one step at a time made it back to the top. I wish you could see the distance, but the green all melts together so you'll just have to take my word that it was far.

Thank god for Samantha being the older and wiser one because she packed a picnic! Guys back in America, we are missing out. You will not believe the options of cheese they have here! I was so overwhelmed and I literally knew none of the names. Thank goodness I had natives here to show me the way. If you're wondering what we packed in our little basket, it was three loaves of fresh tiger bread (we pretty much finished 2 ½), three types of cheese (camembert, mild cheddar, and some other white one), grapes, chili tomato houmous (that's their spelling here not mine, you know how crazy the Brits are with the letter u, so excessive), and ginger beer (pretty much a spicier version of ginger ale).

We literally sat there for hours just chatting, napping, and eating while taking in the silence that surrounded us. We started our own little dance party (much to the chagrin of others) and played around with juggling and poi (not on fire tho). The circus in me knew kind of how to do poi, at least I'd like to think so, but juggling was absolutely hopeless for me. This is why I stick to aerial arts guys, that totally normally hand-eye coordination you were supposed to be born with simply isn't there for me. Jes had a lot of fun laughing at my expense. Also you know Samantha is a true goodie just by the fact that she brought circus stuff to a picnic…what is that saying about birds of a feather?

After four hours of sitting and chatting, we decided it was time for dinner and to make our way back to the sea. And by dinner I mean the best gelato on the island, because I'm an adult, and adults can eat ice cream for dinner whenever they want. I just know that my 5 year old self is so proud of this 25 year old decision.

If you thought I couldn't top ice cream and sunsets on the beach, just wait until you hear what happened next. Samantha heard of this little bar called Neptune with a live band that supposedly played blues. So we went and got ourselves a seat before the bar became too crowded. If you're thinking that a bar called Neptune would be filled with mostly old people reminiscing about their past over pints of beer, you would be 100% correct. Think dark wood, a rather broody bar tender, everyone literally knowing everyone else, and vintage everything on the walls. I think the patrons were genuinely confused as to why three giggling girls want to hang out here instead of the latest and greatest. That is until the blues music started. You know I simply can't help myself with music, I just need to dance. Well, Samantha actually goes blues and swing dancing. So your girl here spent the night dancing blues with her new friend Samantha and it was So. Much. Fun!!! I miss dancing so much, it just makes me so happy and I automatically am laughing the whole time. Maybe I'll pick it back up when I come home.

The three of us stayed for all the sets the band played and then ambled our way back to the car to pick up the perishables left in the trunk. See Jes? Everyone will know what I mean, no one says "gather the food in the boot" hehehe. And then for some reason we started singing throw back songs from our middle school days. Jes and Samantha started to sing the beginning of one, and I was like no, I don't think I know that song. And then Samantha went "sure you do! It goes namanama namanama" and started jumping around. And jes was like no no then started singing other random words but not the right ones. Me I'm off to the side terrible confused until Jes goes "the song is Jump Around!" So it's midnight, we're on the street alone pretty much, in this super residential neighborhood singing and dancing to this song, scaring anyone who would potentially walk down the street off. If only they knew it was just the three of us being our goofiest selves.

And that my friends, was the end of a perfect day. Don't worry we all made it home in one piece, giggling enough to give me an instant six pack. Can't wait for tomorrow!

Xx,

Carolyn