hiking in winter

this "hill" looks relatively small in the photo (but the muscles in my legs would beg to differ)

I'm not entirely sure if hiking in winter is a good idea.

The winter in UK this year has been considerably mild, and snow hasn't graced even the northern parts of the UK.
Although I'm still sick with my never ending cold, I do acknowledge that a healthy person would not find this winter especially unbearable. 

Hiking in Malvern Hills with R and his dad was an experience I thought worthy to blog about. I took some beautiful photos despite the lack of daylight. Although I don't particularly enjoy the cold, nor do I enjoy moving about while sniffling every couple of seconds, the scenery and company was indeed a good distraction from my trivial problems. 

This place dates back hundreds of years, and it's beautiful to know that there were once people living on these hills, and that there were forts built especially for defense against Lord Voldemort.

The surrounding scenery reminded me a great deal of New Zealand. 

Driving down to Wellington from Auckland in itself, you'd see landscapes that can almost be identical to what I've seen so far in the UK in terms of agriculture. 

This isn't a terribly intellectual cultural observation, considering that New Zealand was colonized by the Brits a few hundred years ago. Not to mention that they were mainly in charge of the landscaping around both the North and the South islands of New Zealand. 

On the way to Malvern Hills, and on the way back, I slept like a log in the car. 

I've said this numerous times in my previous blog entries, but I do not understand why humans can't hibernate through winter.

It would be a huge standstill in human progress...but I think people (and by people, I really mean myself) would be healthier, happier, and less grumpy throughout the cold seasons if they were relatively unconscious through it all. 

So although I did not expect to go hiking in the UK, let alone go hiking in winter, I truly appreciated and enjoyed the experience.

Would I recommend it to future travelers to these parts of the UK?

I'd first do a critical self examination regarding health, warm attire, and appropriate shoes.

I slipped an embarrassing amount of times coming down the hills due to poor soled sneakers (thanks Converse), bad balance, and muddy grounds. Not a brilliant combination for hiking in whatever condition really.

All my love always,

April