Day 3 - Ancrum to Morebattle

Day 3 was a further step up in length to 11 miles. There was a tough section in the middle of the walk as we struggled uphill at Coldhough Bank.

Day 2 - St Boswells to Ancrum

The second day was 8 miles in length and was generally pleasant low lying walks along the Tweed and then through Maxton on towards the Harestanes Centre. Completed the walk fairly quickly and met Hannah and Cherry at a nice garden centre and coffee shop.

St Cuthberts Way - Day 1

Max and Colin set out on the 100 km St Cuthberts Walk on Saturday morning in central Melrose. Hannah and Cherry walked the first day as well but did their own thing on the other days - meeting up some evenings and for 2 nights going down to Keilder Water.

The first days walk was relatively short - 6 miles - although involved a climb up to the col between the two largest Eildon Hills peaks. A lovely walk along the river tweed took us through to St Boswells. Total of 5 1/2 hours to make the trip.

New Lanark

On Wednesday we were at New Lanark. In the more we walked up the Falls of Clyde to see the Cora Linn waterfall and the Peregrine Falcon hide. We then did the tour of the mill before heading home.

Shambellie

On Tuesday we headed off the costume museum at Shambellie. From there we headed on to Dumfries and a visit to the Robert Burns Centre and then his house.

Rockcliffe

Went for a nice walk along the coast from the B&B at Rockcliffe to Kippford. Absolutely stunning weather and great views and sights. Enjoyed a coffee and ice cream at Kippford and good views from the Motte of Mark. The children enjoyed place on the rocks and later a short stop on the beach at Sandyhills. Went to dinner in the evening at the Anchor Inn in Kippford and almost had dinner out in the open air !

Drumlanrig Castle

Headed off on Sunday to Drumlanrig Castle and woods for the last SOSOL of the season. Hannah made a comeback and did very well coming 4th on the white course. Max did well on the orange coming 4th. Colin was on poor form after the exertions of the previous night and came in near last place on the brown.

The final league table in now out and Max has WON the Orange Course. Colin came 7th on the Brown.

Click here for League Table

The children enjoyed the adventure playground and the bird hide later in the afternoon.

Arrived at the Millbrae House B&B later in the day and enjoyed a nice tea at the Clonyard House Hotel.

The Mighty Deerstalker Adventure Run

Started off the easter holidays with a trip to Traquair House for the Mighty Deerstalker. Enjoyed some fine weather and visited the maze and did the trail. Max and Hannah also had a bash at the trick mountain biking. Hannah had a ride in a jeep type thing and Max had a bash at laser clay pigeon shooting.

Later in the evening Colin went out for a run in the hills through ponds, obstacle courses, along a river and through tunnels. The race started in the evening light and finished well after dark.

Gullane

Headed out to Gullane on Sunday to help out at SOL2. Max, Hannah and Cherry walked along the beach and in the dunes. Hannah was mistaken for a BOY at lunchtime !

Scottish Sprint Championships

Max and Colin went to the ground of Heriot Watt University to run in the Scottish Sprint Championships. Max did very well making it round two adult championship courses. Colin again succeeded in not coming last !

East Lomond Hill

Max and Colin headed up to Pitmedden Forest near Perth for the 8th event on the South of Scotland Orienteering League. The event was also used for a couple of other competitions at the same time. Max did very well coming 6th of 15 in tougher than usual competition. Colin was 28th on the Brown course.

Later in the afternoon we took a short walk to the summit of East Lomond Hill in very cold and windy weather.

Le Grand Cirque

Enjoyed some more corporate hospitality this saturday - this time with Ernst & Young and a family trip to the theatre to see Le Grand Cirque. A good show - although felt like I'd seen it before.

Frank & Meenu

Got married today at Bangor Abbey, followed by a reception at the Culloden Hotel.

Mortonhall Walk

All the family went for a stroll round Fairmilehead and Mortonhall. Damp and a bit cold.

Scotland 18 Ireland 19

Enjoyed the hospitality of PwC at the six nations rugby. Nice meal and a good win for Ireland. Also won the sweepstake on the score and won a signed rugby ball !

Lisbon Stagger

The Big 40 Strikes Again with Frank planning to tie the knot with Meenu next Monday. To celebrate the boys headed off to Lisbon for the weekend.







On Friday we toured the Castle and Cathedral in the centre of Lisbon before an evening at a Fado restaurant with traditional Portugese music being played.










On Saturday we headed off to nearby Sintra which presented some excellent walking to hilltop fantasy palace and Moorish Castle. Nice evening meal in a traditional restaurant before returning to the late night delights of central Lisbon.

Lothian Edge

A busy weekend with Hannah at football on Saturday morning and then the kids, Alexander and Cherry went swimming. Colin ran in a 5 mile race from the Kings Buildings getting round in 36 minutes 35 sec and coming 144th of 218 runners.

On Sunday Colin and Max went to Lothian Edge for the SOSOL. The weather and visibility was very poor so Colin shadowed Max around what proved to be a very difficult Orange course. Max came third of six and should now move to first position in the league with 2 events remaining. Hannah and Cherry went ice-skating at Murrayfield.

Carnethy 5

Colin ran in his third Carnethy 5 hill race in the company of 2 world skyrunning champions. Got round the course in just under 76 minutes which was a 4 minute improvement on last year and around 15 minutes better than the first attempt. 287 th place in the 500 runner field.

On Sunday we had a gentle stroll to Blackford hill and a run through the gorse bushes.

SOSOL 6

Max did very well at SOSOL 6 in Falkirk coming second on the Orange course. He is now second in the league. Colin came 17th on the Brown and is 8th in the league.

Weekend Orienteering

Colin went to the Sprint Orienteering at Dalmeny Estate on Saturday while the we went swimming with a friend.

On Sunday we went orienteering at Arthur's Seat. I came third on the orange course and Dad came eighteenth on the brown course which is mega-difficult and he therefore did really well even though it sounds sort of not so good.

By Max

Max Wins the Wattie Cup !

Max won the Wattie Cup for the top performance in the Scots Language and Culture. He learnt and recited a Scots poem, understood the Scots language and wrote a poem.

Sosol4 & Ice Skating

Colin went off to West Calder for the first SOSOL event of the new year. After quite a long break from orienteering it was amazing how bad you could get. Got very lost and ran about 1 km down the wrong river !

Cherry, Max and Hannah went to Murrayfield to ice skate.