Christmas Day

Christmas at home this year with 6 of us - Cherry, Colin, Max, Kasia, Hannah & Les. A nice turkey from Damn Delicious. 

 

Northern Ireland pre-Christmas Trip

Colin, Cherry and Hannah headed off by car to the Cairnryan to Belfast Ferry on Friday morning. A fairly pleasant trip with the worst of the very cold weather just passed.

We arrived with Maxwell around 6.30 pm but had some work to do to defrost the ice on his driveway and give a narrow safe route out to the car. We met Liz at the golf club and had an excellent buffet dinner followed by music and carol singing with the Salvation Army Band.

On Saturday we took Maxwell out to Bloomfield to do Christmas shopping for the Hendersons. We then headed to George Best Airport to pick up Max. In the evening the 6 of us had a nice dinner at the Old Inn Crawfordsburn.

On Sunday we had lunch at the Royal Ulster Yacht Club before heading off for the ferry home. We managed to watch the whole of the World Cup Final on the boat.

Gran Canaria 2023 and 30th Wedding Anniversary

Back to our favoured Lopesan Costa Meloneras hotel with the big circular pool for a relaxed week in the sun and warm weather. The weather didn't disappoint with clear blue skies and temperatures in the range of around 18 - 26 degrees C pretty consistently every day.

Colin was out on the bike for a few hours every day. Did one group ride up to Soria and the rest individual efforts to Ayaguares or the road towards the Pico. 

Cherry enjoyed the swimming and a bit of drawing/painting.

Nice meals out every evening and even quite enjoyed the evening shows in the Plaza. 

Climate Action Walk

Cherry, Hannah and Colin gathered at St Andrews Square for a Walk for Climate Action as the COP was happening in Egypt at this time. A friendly walk through town finishing at Parliament.

 

Broughton Hill Race Marshalling and Mountain Bike Circuit

On Saturday 15 October I headed down to Broughton for a day hill marshalling at the British Hill Racing Relays. A big crowd from all over the UK running 4 legs in the hills around Broughton. I was at the most remote point on Leg 2 on top of a hill. It was a cold and windy day and was very pleased the rain stayed off for the duration of my time on the hill. The photos make it look rather more pleasant than it actually was. It was a fair walk to the hill and spend around 3 hrs out on the hill top. Kudos to the club for hosting the event and I am in awe of those organising such a complex event.

Having got a taste for the hills and seen various MTB friendly trails I headed out on 23 October on a loop from Broughton through to Stobo and back. I'd done little bits of the route before on Natural Tweed event.  Lovely route - very remote.

Braidburn Valley and The Steils - Orienteering Event

I was nominally the organiser for the O event at Braidburn Valley but with the planner away I took on the duties of putting out controls. A long time on my feet from around 8 am through to 1.30 pm putting out and activating contols. A bit of a rest helping at the start before heading out to collect controls at the end. A long busy day but pleased to help put on an event every so often.

Stirling 10K

A nice sunny Sunday morning for my first flat 10K in a fair while. Reasonably pleased with a 49:24 time. Quite a nice course and event.

Visiting Maxwell

Arrived on Thursday evening by car and ferry for an extended visit to Maxwell with a focus on helping him out as much as possible.

 

Glasgow Parks Championships

This is one of my favourite orienteering events although I always seem to manage to mess up with some horrendous errors even on the easiest of courses. The plan was therefore to make sure I orienteered accurately and didn't make any big mistakes.

Race 1 was Linn Park which was a new one for me. Huge blunder on Control 1 when I headed very deliberately for Control 2 rather than Control 1 losing around 90 seconds. One understandable mistake later on at 8 that many struggled with.

Race 2 was at Queens Park which I've raced at before. Went well with no material mistakes.

Race 3 at Pollok Country Park went very badly. Felt like Bingo controls to me although others seemed to cope fine with it.

A bit disappointing to perform so badly.

Final Run and Journey Home

Colin headed off for a possible munro on Friday morning but found the weather a bit miserable and clouds over the mountain top. Started running with the aim of a 1 hour trail run with the possibility of tackling the hill if conditions improved. They didn't and the trail became a bit of pathless bog a little before the 30 min mark so headed back at that point. Running form wasn't good.

Packed up and then did the roughly 3 hour journey back home.

It had been a nice break and interesting to stay somewhere else for an extended time. The house was good and lots to see and do in the area - mainly outdoors activities. Did rather less than expected in terms of hills and cycles but found it challenging due to accumulated fatigue. Not sure that I would do the same plan again with probably a preference to be at home over the summer to allow garden activity to be included in my schedule. Specifically focussed shorter trips away might be a better plan.

Strathspey Stream Railway

Another slightly damp day and conscious of tired legs went on the steam train with Cherry. The soup, sandwiches and tea was pretty good. The train journey itself and the destination was a little underwhelming with not a lot of distance covered and quite a lot of time stopped. Had expected Broomhill to be a bit more of a destination for a wander rather than a station in the middle of nowhere.

 

Glen Feshie

Colin drove to near Feshie Bridge and mountain biked as afar as he could enjoyably go down the left bank and then along the right bank before looping back round to the start. Nice weather again and stunning scenery. The trails were mixed in terms of rideability. Forget to bring puncture repair equipment and legs were somewhat too dead for any serious climbs which was one possible option up to a munro. Feeling the accumulated fatigue of 4 weeks with a higher than usual amount of outdoor activity.

Around 28 miles over 3.5 hours.

In the evening we had some very good food at the Boat of Garten Hotel.

Inverness Visit

With the good weather finally breaking we planned a day out in Inverness with options for indoor activities. It wasn't a long drive from Aviemore and we stopped en route at the eco friendly housing development we had first visited when newly built more than a decade ago. It was looking a bit more lived in now but still not quite feel likely a homely estate.

Our first stop in Inverness was the botanic garden with the attraction of indoor glasshouses. The weather was good enough though to wander outside as well. It was a small garden but all very well kept and attractive.

We had a nice walk along the banks of the Ness via Ness Island into the town centre to visit the Inverness Museum and Art Gallery. It was OK but no great. 

On the way back we squeezed in a quick round of mini golf. The course was good with a decent well kept carpet and some challenging holes. The result was declared null as Cherry had a super bouncy ball that bounced back out of the hole or off the course.

A' Chailleach & Carn Sgulain

Cherry headed back to Edinburgh for a few days on Saturday. On Sunday Colin headed out again for some munros with the weather still fantastic but threatening to break soon.

A short drive to Newtonmore for the start of the trek and this time the aim was to go light and fast. The legs weren't fabulous on the outward journey which was pretty rough in places. The route from the first to second summit was pretty quick and then had a lovely run down. Completed the pair in 3 hours.

 

Gordon Castle

A day off from any exercise and a longish drive to Gordon Castle to see the large walled kitchen garden. It really was stunning. A lovely mix of free & veg with flowers and looking in prime condition today. There may be elements that were more for show than for harvest but nevertheless very impressive.

 Afterwards we drove on to the Scottish Dolphin Centre at the eastern side of the mouth of the River Spey. It was a windswept location when we saw one seal at the mouth of the river.

Braeriach, Angels Point, Cairn Toul, Devils Point

With another day of fabulous weather todays plan was for a big Munro day. Started early by bike and cycled to Coylumbridge and then as far towards Lairig Ghru as was pleasant on the bike.

The first climb of the day up to Braeriach was the hardest after which there was a long walk at high level round the massive corrie but not too much steep ascent.

The descent from Devils Point was pretty straightforward but the long walk back up then down the Lairig Ghru was pretty tiring in the heat. 

My sun lotion (and it later transpired my compass and dibber) had gone missing in the early part of the walk so ended up wearing waterproofs part of the time to protect from the sun.

The cycle back was a pleasure and still felt pretty good on the return. Stopped for a quick pint at the Old Bridge Inn.

 

Cycle to Nethy Bridge

An easy paced exploration of the paths and trails in the local area. Initial focussed on the various paths off the Route 7 path between Aviemore and Boat of Garten. Some lovely trails - some of which led to the landfill site and sewage works. Other paths led to surprising stone circle with a pine tree in the centre.

Lunch at the hotel in Boat of Garten where I bumped into Cherry who was doing a similar sort of trip on her bike today.

After lunch visited Milto Loch then cycled onwards to Nethy Bridge for afternoon tea and cake before taking the quickest route back home.

Mullach Clach a Bhlair & Sgor Gaoith

Another munro day for Colin. Starting out at Achlean in Glen Feshie and taking these two fairly quickly but not at running pace. The journey to the first peak was pretty nice. An easy footpath to the high ground initially through forest and then a fairly nice high level walk too Sgor Gaoith. The trek to the second summit was a lot rougher with no clear path to follow. It felt like quite a long trek there and back. Feeling a bit fatigued by the time of the descent.

Newtonmore Highland Games

Colin and Cherry headed off in the morning to the Highland Games at Newtonmore. Spent a few hours which were moderately interesting but not a great spectator sport. Fun for the participants.

Max and Kasha climbed Bynack More.

In the evening we all had a nice dinner at the Old Bridge Inn.

On Sunday Colin and Cherry headed back to Edinburgh for a couple of days to help out with Les and work on the essential garden tasks. We returned to Aviemore on Monday afternoon.

Ben Macdui

Colin took the car to the Cairngorm Mountain car park and walked up Ben Macdui. The weather was a lot worse than the good forecast. Escaped any rain on the walk but the clouds came down to obscure any view on the summit and it felt pretty cold at times. The walk took around 3 hr 45 mins to complete.

Kasha arrived fairly late in the evening from Glasgow.

Speyside Way

We got the bus in the morning to Nethy Bridge and after topping up on coffee and Ecclefechan Cake we started a walk of around 10 miles along the last section of the Speyside Way back to Aviemore.

Some more delightful forest to walk through and a pleasant stop for lunch at Boat of Garten and just arrived in time for tea at the route 7 cafe.

 

Cycle with Max

Headed out with Max for a cycle taking in Loch an Eilein and Loch Morlich with a stop at Glenmore for coffee. Max had my MTB and I made do with Cherry's city bike which just about coped with the trails.

Hannah headed back home to Edinburgh where she was planning on entertaining friends.

In the afternoon Colin, Cherry and Max went to Loch Insh for an archery session which was pretty enjoyable. Surprisingly Colin won the competition this time. We wandered around the place trying to recall when we had stayed at one of the chalets.

 

Escape Room and Escape

With the weather not so good today we all went on an escape room adventure. It was pretty good fun and we got out in about 53 minutes.

In the evening we went back to the Scottish Steak house and had a very nice meal. The steak and trimmings was very good.

Lairig Ghru approach & Loch Morlich Beach

Enjoyed a fabulous run in the morning with Max starting in Coylumbridge and heading to just above the tree line. Glorious weather and trails really nice under foot. Max was running well - Colin good until the end when accumulated fatigue was beginning to take its toll.

In the afternoon all 4 of us headed to Loch Morlich for a few hours at the beach lying around, eating ice cream and playing ball games.

3 Lochs Cycle + Euro Finals

Colin went for a MTB ride visiting Lochs an Eilan, Eanaich and Morlich. Very nice route in good weather. The ride out to Eanaich wasn't has hard as feared. Around 3.5 hours ride time for just over 30 miles. Stopped for lunch at Glenmore visitor centre.

Enjoyed watching the Euro's England victory in the evening.

Cycle with Hannah

An easy cycle with Hannah from Aviemore to Boat of Garten via the off-road cycle path and then back via the road to Coylumbridge where we stopped for coffee. Hannah did pretty well especially in the long section of headwinds.

Cherry headed back to Edinburgh for a few days to look after Les on the evening train.

 

Loch Morlich

Colin, Cherry and Hannah visited the beach at Loch Morlich and had a walk around the Loch. Another very nice day.

 In the evening went to Balavoulin for pizza for dinner.

Bynack More

Colin headed off on Thursday morning for a fast paced munro trip. Took the mountain for roughly an hour from our Aviemore house past Glenmore and got just beyond the bridge at Bynack stable where the trail became difficult for biking. From there a fast paced ascent although mainly walking given the gradient. About an hour to the top and then a very enjoyable 40 minute run back down and then an hour bike home. Weather and views excellent and path all the way which made for a very pleasant journey.

Loch Garten RSPB Nature Reserve & Go Karting

Colin & Cherry took a short drive to Loch Garten to visit the RSPB reserve. Saw the two Osprey chicks and their mother in the next and lots of smaller birds at the feeders near the reserve centre. After that went on the two lochs walk and enjoyed the magnificent pine forest.

In the afternoon we were joined by Hannah for a short but expensive 10 minute go kart session. Cherry will never go karting again, I was starting to feel and bit queasy and Hannah enjoyed it.

In the evening we went for dinner at the Scottish Steakhouse, part of the Dalfaber resort. The steaks were OK and the fish pie was pretty poor. 

Highland Wildlife Park

Colin, Cherry and Hannah went for the day at the RZSS Highland Wildlife Park. Very enjoyable. Most of the animals seemed to be out and visible today. Saw the baby polar bear playing in the pond, the baby snow leopards and parents and many others.

Rainy Aviemore

Third day in Aviemore was a bit damp. We headed into town for a wander and coffee at Costa. Collected Cherry at the station in the early evening. Went into town for dinner but everywhere was fully booked so we ended up having fish and chips.

Aviemore

A wee bike around Aviemore with Hannah getting the feel of the place. Run along the River Spey in the evening.

Aviemore

Colin and Hannah drove through to Aviemore after lunch and spent the afternoon settling into the house and doing some shopping. Cherry needs to stay behind and look after Les on Sunday but will join us on Monday. 

Another Van Trip (Oxford)

Colin set off on Monday afternoon with a snuffly nose that turned out to be CoVid. An Extra Large Van from Arnold Clark was a bit of an ugly monster of a truck without any AirCon.

Stopped overnight at Norton Cane days in for a very hot and sticky evening at the Days Inn.

Finished the drive on Tuesday morning and met up with Hannah around mid-day for several hours of removals from top from flat to van. Hot work.

Colin slept overnight at the Cotswold Lodge. No luck with the room this time which was up in the rafters and exceptionally hot.

On Wednesday Colin did a long Zoom meeting at Hannah's flat and then we finished the packing in time for a professional cleaner to give the flat a good doing over. We spent the afternoon in the Up in Arms and headed off in the van around 6 pm in the evening with an overnight journey stop at Norton Canes.

We got home on Thursday around 2 pm - unpacked - and returned the van to Arnold Clark the next morning.

Cycle with Ian

Final day of Ian's short visit and we lent him a bike and we went for an easy paced cycle loop along Water of Leith and Union Canal with a stop for a very nice second breakfast at the Rose Garden Cafe.

The Bridges

Took the train with Ian to North Queensferry for a look at the Bridges from both sides and a walk across the old road bridge.

Light lunch at Oroco Pier and a pint at Hawes Inn. 

In the evening Cherry joined us for dinner at Los Argentinos where the steaks were pretty good.

Ian (and Frank) in Edinburgh

Ian arrived in Edinburgh a bit late off the Easyjet flight from Stansted. We headed out to Dunbar for a nice walk on a windy afternoon around John Muir Country Park.

In the evening we met up with Frank for a few drinks at the Pear Tree and then a good curry at Solti on Drummond Street. Nice to see Frank again after a very long gap.

Munro Trip and Van Try Out

Colin booked a van for a long weekend trip to the mountains to test out the potential use of a converted van for mountain trips away. 

The van was a Toyota Proace. Small wheel base and low roof so not that much bigger than a large car and less than 2 m in height so should be able to get under most car park barriers. Moved in Hannah's mattress and other essentials into the van and headed off on Thursday to Glen Etive.

The Glen was pretty quiet compared to my last visit in August 2021. The car park at the foot of the munros was empty so I had an idyllic location all to myself that night.

The evening passed fairly pleasantly watching movies in the van cabin before heading to bed around 10 pm. Took a couple of hours to drop off but the mattress and temperature were fine and it was a reasonable sleep.

The next morning the overnight rain had stopped and I awoke to get coffee and breakfast but was accosted by a swarm of mini midgies. Horrible things. Got severely bitten around one ankle. Didn't hang about for coffee and headed away from the spot as quickly as possible towards the munro.

It was a fairly pleasant ascent up to Ben Starav. As always was a bit further than expected. At the summit the clouds had descended and there was no visibility at all.

Headed onwards toward the second summit but with tremendous bad timing the rain started and visibility reduced and I became disorientated and unsure of the direction to the next summit. Survival instinct set in and rather than attempt summit two I focussed on the safe route off the mountain which would involve headed to summit 3. This went well and before long the clouds lifted a little. Somewhat downhearted I slogged on my second summit of the day which also offered zero visibility.

It was a long hard slog on the way down over round wet ground. Pretty unpleasant.

On arrival back at the van I booked into the Ballachullish Hotel for the next two nights having decided I'd had enough of the discomfort of the van life. A useful trip in getting the interest in van life out of the system. Definitely not for me.

The next day the weather wasn't good with low cloud and hidden peaks. It was expected to clear a little later in the day so I delayed the start til after lunch but it still wasn't great. I opted for a low level circular walk near the target munros but had no desire to make an attempt on the summits.

The hotel was good and had a couple of reasonable good meals at Fish! - the cooking wasn't quite top notch but rather better than soup in a van.

Up until this trip I had intellectually acknowledged that I wasn't going to complete the munros. I think this trip which had a target of 5 summits but on which I only completed 2 led to the emotional acceptance that I won't and don't desire to complete all the munros. A munro bag trip is much less enjoyable that a hill race, orienteering event or MTB-O event. 

Bangor Visit with Max

Drove across to Bangor via the ferry on Thursday 23 June after picking Max up in Glasgow. A pretty smooth journey. Maxwell was out for a golf club dinner on the first evening and also for lunch on Friday as it was Captain's day weekend.

Max and Colin headed out for a longish run along the shore getting close to Helen's Bay. Slow but tiring enough in the warm weather. Lunch afterwards at the Red Berry on the seafront.

In the evening we joined Maxwell and Liz for a concert in aid of Ukraine. It wasn't something we were expecting to enjoy with a choir, singing priest and an opera singer but it was a nice mix of well known songs from many different genres and all pretty good.

On Saturday we took Max to the Ulster Folk Museum. We were somewhat surprised by the crowds that had turned up. It was a special Ferguson Tractor day that had brought the tractor fans out in droves. We walked around the town area and had lunch in the cafe after quite a long queue. Nothing too strenuous for Maxwell but a pleasant visit.

In the evening we went to Bull & Claw with Maxwell and Liz. Colin tried crab claws for the first time - pretty good and the prawns were excellent.

On Sunday we journeyed home by road and ferry.

Saughton Rose Garden Run

A nice training run punctuated with a stop to look around the Rose Garden at Saughton. It is looking very well.

 

Thames Walk Oxford to Abingdon

We spend Tuesday doing a riverside walk along the Thames. Met Hannah at Folly Bridge for coffee and then headed off getting as far as the Kings Arms for lunchtime. Hannah was suffering from hay fever and given a pass to head home early which was a good call given the fields and grasses in the second half of the walk. 

 We had dinner at the Gardeners Arms and said our goodbyes to Hannah. We headed home on the long drive the next morning.

Oxford / Blenheim Palace

We drove on the next morning to meet Hannah at here Edgeway Road flat and then spent the afternoon at Blenheim Palace. Enjoyed the walled garden and the butterflies and a walk through Woodstock.

In the evening we went for dinner at the Ivy and Hannah took us for an illicit tour of the gardens at Corpus Christi college.