Adventure is all around. If you want it to be.

Looking out across the Arnside Viaduct

We weren't planning anything adventurous, just a Sunday stroll up and over Arnside Knott then down to the Old Bakery for afternoon tea and cake. We just wanted to be out together enjoying the bright sunny afternoon and cool autumn air.

Sticks at sunset

But the potential for adventure is all around when you're open to it. And so a simple stroll became an exciting little scramble, off the main path and up some loose scree slopes.

A moment's panic.. will I be back at school on Monday?

Enough slipping, sliding and exposure to panic the boys into silence and obedience for a while.

It's cool up here, once you get your footing

Then, slowed by our slithery ascent and with the afternoon sun dropping low in the sky we ambled late into town to find the Bakery already closed.

So we stopped instead to take in the setting sun and found ourselves watching the village fireworks display, postponed from Saturday due to atrocious weather.

The stone jetty at Arnside , a fisherman's paradise

Rockets, firecrackers and catherine wheels, whistled and screamed off the little stone pier, piercing the advancing gloom, casting red, green and silver streaks against the darkening orange of an estuary sunset.

And fireworks too, can you believe it?

With fireworks finished and the real stars emerging we warmed cold hands and feet in a local pub, taking an evening meal instead of afternoon tea, filling our bellies with fuel for the hike home.

End of a perfect outing.. you could not have planned it.

Then heading back, in the darkening night, a family torchlight procession through blackened woods, clammy hands pressed together for warmth, comfort and to keep dark thoughts of elves, witches and goblins at bay.

You don’t need to go far for an adventure. You don't need to book it, plan it or pay for it. You just need to look for the opportunities that exist to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary. Adventure is all around, if you want it to be.