Pool and wine

St Saturnin vineyard

Having worked our arses off all year, Rich and I try and get some holiday time. As well as caving, diving and exploring, we try to grab some quality time together.
This normally entails Rich snoring on the sunbed while I read, swim, sunbathe and repeat.
I often have to save up annual leave from work to get a decent amount of time in the Herault, as it's a two day journey each way.
Relaxing isn't something we do very much of, but we do try.
Camping val d'Herault is fairly quiet this time of year. The pool is cold but the river is still warm and the vineyards are still open.

St Saturnin vineyard

Our new favourite restaurant

Our new favourite wine!

Fab menu with fantastic food

The restaurant is in the Bueges valley, with a view of the entrance of Garrel, the cave we pushed
over the last few years...

Campsite pool

Rich

Rich in action

L'Esquirol

Christine rigging

I had heard about the cave but had never got around to actually going there. This is not surprising as it really isn’t easy to find. Jean Tarrit met us at St Maurice de Navacelles and we followed him through some winding lanes and through an obscure farm fence and down a track to a clearing. The cave was a short walk up from the parking spot. 
With only 4 hangers between us, rigging it was inventive and I set about it carefully. Ashley followed me down and we set up the radio location aerial on a flat bit of floor on the other side of some big decorations.
Ash then buggered off for half an hour into some wretched, muddy crawl while I set up my camera and tripod to take photos of the pitch.
Meanwhile, Rich and Jean set about doing the location on the surface and, true to form, they got a good 'null' with the help of dive spools in a prickly bush.

Ash on the ascent

Ash came back absolutely plastered in red mud having found the most horrid passage in the cave. I photographed him as he headed up the pitch and followed shortly.
Rich then kitted up and headed down the pitch to have a look around the chamber and retrieve the underground aerial.

Pleased with the job, we were heading back to the camp site when we found Jean searching the car for his lost phone. We searched everywhere but could not find it either at the cave or in the road. Fortunately he eventually found it - in pieces in the road a little further up from where we had stopped.
Not a great ending to an otherwise pleasant day.

Ash heading down L'esquirol

Rich radio locating

Rich in his favourite position!