Before our other friends joined, I was alone with Bettina (my friend who hosted us) and her family. She had a plan with me, cycling. We were getting some cookies in the supermarket and left for a long way. We were cycling the days before already, due to that sitting down on the bike wasn’t the most enjoyable thing out there.
After a while, we were trying our skills out at the bumpy road, specially made for bikes. It felt super scary driving along there. I found that weird, due to the fact, that I do way more dangerous stuff, then that. Bettina for sure did it better than me, by far!
The road had no end, at least it felt like it. It got really nice, after reaching the coast. We were driving along the cliffs, which was amazing and 100% trust needed to be there for the quality of the bikes. A fall off the cliffs wouldn’t be fun at all.
We were getting down to the beach and went for a swim, at least Bettina did, I just wanted to relax, because I didn’t want to drive back home with wet clothes.
Marcel is arriving!
Marcel, a friend from near Luxembourg, who I meet from Couchsurfing as well, arrived and we were going, after eating a bit, cycling. This day was rougher than all the days before. We were cycling to the New Forest, up a giant hill, to see some dears. It was hot and not that enjoyable, that’s why I decided not to join the day after.
We were cycling for about three or three and a half hours to finally arrive back home. I was exhausted, also because Marcel and I decided to do a just for fun wrestling fight on top of the hill.
It was time to meet a friend from Bettina at the end of the day. We went to the meadow with the many horses, which I mentioned in the personal blog post before. We were walking for a while and had great conversations there.
Fish and Chips
It was friday, so fish and chips day. We were driving with the car down to Milford on Sea right after the walk mentioned earlier. I wasn’t sure if it was so common to eat it on a Friday, but a long waiting line appeared in front of us. It seemed like more than 20 people were waiting there in this small town in the waiting line.
After we received our food we drove to the sea and enjoyed it there. That is a tradition, which I can get used to. I was just getting fries, which was fine for me.
Ashraf arriving
Now the final friend was arriving in New Milton, before it was time to get on the way to the cheese rolling. I also know him from Couchsurfing, we all four got to know each other at the same night, when I was organizing a game night.
This day it was again time for cycling, but not for me, I just wanted to have a rest day, after every day exploring, it is always important to take a rest day.
For me it was perfect, I was writing a bit, to reflect on my trip a little bit and getting back to it!
At the end of the day, we were meeting another friend from Bettina. We went for a little trip to Christchurch. It was a town, where a little food festival was happening. The food festival was already finished, after we were arriving and many drunk people were walking in our direction.
We were walking along the waterfront and having all the boats next to us, which was nice to see. I was flying up with my drone, to capture the surroundings. A nice looking church was quite near the water, which I liked to see in the contrast. In general Christchurch was a pretty looking town.
After we were done walking along the water, it was time for us to go exploring the town by walking as well. We were walking along the church and up a hill at which we had a great overview of Christchurch. It was very peaceful and a bit crowded, due to the weekend, many people came to drink. On our way home, we also went to a bar, where some of us were getting some alcohol to drink as well.
Let’s go to Gloucester for the cheese rolling event!
Before getting on the street to Gloucester we were invited to a birthday party on the nearby beach. The party was great, we were able to go for a swim and enjoy some BBQ!
It was a three hour drive to Gloucester, we had all of the stuff in the car, the big tent for everyone, sleeping bags and also our luggage of course. The ride started really well, we got out of New Milton and a sign of Gluecester was also seen on the road. We were driving with an older car and that was something we had to realize. Marcel and I were singing in the back, so we didn’t realize what happened. The car made funny sounds and even smoke came out in the front. We had to stop somewhere and were waiting for the car service to arrive. During the waiting time, it was time for some card playing. We made it halfway at that time.
The car service arrived, but nothing was there to do, the car was done! Long story short, Bettina got picked up and we three had to make our way further down the road. Time for hitchhiking! We were three guys standing on the side of the road, the chances of getting picked up weren’t high in my mind. It didn’t look good and Ashraf already started getting annoyed and wanted to book a taxi already. I am not a person who is giving up so quickly which was also good, because someone actually picked us up! He drove us 30min in our direction and let us out at a gas station.
The Saving Team!
While driving in the car Tobias and Jep, the other friends who wanted to join the cheese rolling, were arriving in London and actually got them self a rental car. We just had to wait two hours, which wasn’t bad though.
During the two hours, we played some cards again and enjoyed the green patch of the gas station. Not my first time being stuck at a resting point on a highway.
Tobias and Jep arrived, it was great, sadly they had an electric car. We arrived in Gloucester and had nowhere to stay, until Ashraf was booking a hotel for the night, which everyone besides me was joining. I was sleeping in the car, to make sure the car was charging, because we had to get back the next day already to London.
Gloucester in the morning
I had a terrible night and ended up going for a walk at 5am, not my usual exploring time, but the car wasn’t charged and I couldn’t sleep anymore in the car. We were charging near downtown, so it wasn’t even a long way there.
I was walking along the biggest church which was, to be honest, really impressive! Also the city itself was looking great, quite old houses which looked really authentic and also clean. There was nothing to do really so I ended up checking on the car again, which was after my little walk was almost done, so I drove to the hotel. Everyone was still sleeping, until I had to pee and woke up everyone after. I tried to get them ready, the upcoming event made me nervous and I really wanted to be there on time. All four guys were really chill and wanted to take it easy, but they realized that I wasn’t in the best mood, due to the rough night and the nervous feeling.
Everyone in the car and let’s go! We were getting closer to Coopers Hill, but the main road there was closed. We had to drive all the way around, to find another road which was also closed. It took a while until we managed to find the right spot to park. Hundreds of people arrived already, more than three hours before the first race.
Getting to the cheese rolling
After grabbing some food, it was time to walk a bit over a kilometer to Coopers Hill. It was hard to find, but luckily there were many people wanting to reach the same spot. We were walking up one hill, after another and it actually took quite a bit to reach, not sure if it really was just a kilometer. We crossed some meadows with cows on them and had to climb fences.
While reaching we realized that most people are just there to watch and not actually running down the hill. After arriving at the hill, we understood why. The hill is in reality worse than in every picture and video, which you can find online. You look up and you are thinking “Oh that is a really stupid idea!”. All of us weren’t sure if doing it was still an option.
Getting up the hill was the first challenge, it wasn’t as easy as you might think. While walking up you need to take care of not actually falling. We made it up and looked down again, a stupid idea, the hill was looking worse then from down the hill. There was no good angle of this hill.
I was hearing people talking a lot, some of them were also drinking, to not need to do it sober, not stupid but our group was sober. The hours were passing and the nervous feeling was not getting lower. I was running up and down the hill with Tobias, to get a feeling for it. While walking down, I actually fell for a little section of the hill, which the people next to it enjoyed.
The time was getting done and we got in position to get into the race. Only 24 “lucky” people per race were allowed, so it was important to stand close to the gate.
The first race of the day
The organizers were bringing the first people into the Cheese Rolling race. Jep, Marcel and I were three of the 24 of them. One guy from Switzerland who we meet as well. We were sitting on top of the hill for more than 10 minutes. The crowd got wild and we were getting more hyped as well. Realizing that shutting the head off was the only option. One minute before, I was doing exactly that, telling myself “you are just going to run down!”. One to be ready, two to be steady, three for the cheese and four, We started running. After a short moment the running turned into falling and falling and falling.
For the first half of the race, I was falling quite controlled, being able to make sure I got without big pain down that hill. Rolling over my back and arms. The guy from Switzerland and Marcel appeared in front of me, I was crashing into them from behind and did a flip. After the flip I had no control over the race and my body anymore. Good that there was just one direction, down the hill. I made it to the bottom, got up and fell down again. I was extremely happy that I didn’t break anything and was hyped to do it again. Went back up and tried to get into another race, which was sadly not possible, too many people wanting to do it and at the end a full medical tent.
Final hours of this trip
We left the car and made our way to London. On the way we were charging the car quickly and got ourselves some food and beer.
Arriving in London, giving the car away and sitting down on another green patch and drinking victory beer, not for winning the cheese, but for making it and not breaking anything. Also for enjoying each other’s company and being happy for having a great week!
We were sleeping at the airport after that, because the flight was at 5am. Ashraf was sleeping in a hotel again and joined us later at the airport.
Now a few days later, the next trip is starting, stay tuned!
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