Bunchrew Seer

Back Home to Inverness - An Active Weekend

2012-02-06T17:32:00.002Z

Cycling beside Loch Ness

We all said our final farewells to Mum after the funeral and then traveled home.

Lizzie came with Jan and I while Kat flew up - to be joined by cousin Henry on Friday.

Lizzie headed straight off to collect her stuff while we had an outdoor weekend.

We cycled around Beauly Firth on Friday and then indulged in the tasters menu in The Clach on Friday. It was superb!

A local walk on Saturday.

Orienteering in Darnaway forest plus roast Lunch in Brodie on Sunday before packing our visitors back off home to London.

A day to myself on Monday. An excellent bike ride in South Loch Ness with pit stops in Foyers cafe and the Castle Tavern. Got home happily weary just as Lizzie returned from her long trip.

Back to work tomorrow :(

Super Strathspey

2012-01-15T19:01:00.001Z

A Crackberry addict at work - Nethybridge stroll

A sunny weekend. Started well with a fine Friday. Banjo practice then a lovely ride around the firth on the Pinarello with a haggis lunch in Beauly Corner Café. Watched the last of series 1 of the superb "Between the Lines".

Saturday: Off in the van to Strathspey for the weekend. First up a stroll in Rothiemurchus forest - lovely in the sun. Called at friends for a brew and then parked up at a great new spot high above the forest.

Sunday: Excellent stroll around Nethy Bridge and a brew with the Philpotts. Then home via The Clach - we didn't quite make our month on the wagon. Quite a good effort though :(

Nigg Peninsular

2012-01-08T16:01:00.001Z

Started the weekend well with a 40 mile ride to Steve and Anna's for lunch. Completed 7 days on the wagon, and strummed my first banjo tune (rather badly).

Nigg Hill. Overlooking Cromarty

Saturday. Fettled the van and set off to Nigg peninsula. A windswept. 9 mile walk around Nigg hill was a tad tiring. Great flying display by a peregrine falcon. Overnighted at a fine spot by Nigg beach.

iPad, wife, dog - bliss!

Sunday. Good turnout for a CTC ride from Fearn to Rockfield where we had excellent snacks provided by Steve and Denise Carrol.

CTC ride - Fearn to Rockfield

Festivities in the Deep South

2012-01-02T15:53:00.000Z

We're spending the Xmas break visiting friends and family. First stop is Perth to see Bernie and Maureen Brace. Overnighted at a quirky little CL in Almondbank. Dined in the excellent Glover Arms.

Fettled the van then on down to Moffat for a stroll on the Southern Uplands way.

Nanny Heath @ 89

The walk was excellent. Rewarded ourselves with some Lanark blue cheese and fine port. Overnighted at Annadale Water.

Xmas eve. Down to Lowther park for a fine walk. Then on to Todmorden. Excellent evening with SBJ and Ken. Overnighted on their drive.

Xmas day: Up and away first thing. Down to Knutsford for a stroll in Tatton Park. That was closed today so made do with a stroll in the old town. Then on to a nice country park near Holme Chapel.

An unusual spot for our Xmas dinner - M6 services. Very peaceful.

Boxing Day: to Northampton. Met up with daughter Lizzie - first time for a year. Lots to hear about her year in Australia. Then on to Syresham for a great evening with our friends Rodge and Charlotte Inwood.

Tuesday: Nice bike ride with Lizzie then took Mum home. We're staying with her for a few days.

Friday: to London by train for a lovely day out with Kat including brunch with Rick and terry Noutch

A quiet New year with Mum before returning to Inverness.

Returned to many mini toys - banjo tuner, iPad holder, Tom Wolfe books, and excellent DVDs from Love Film: The Deer Hunter and Between The Lines. Now to play!

Black Cocks are Back in Action - Gran Canaria

2011-12-11T15:11:00.001Z

Do we really have to pedal up that!

A boys' outing to Gran Canaria. Lew and I were joined by Oregonian pals Steve and Roger. Remarkably we all managed to get to the right place on the right day - a cheapo apartment in Masopalomas. A fine base for a week's sunny cycling. The other cyclists all looked worryingly thin and fit!
It had been tricky booking the trip with folk arriving from 3 directions. My shuttle booking from the airport went awry but the nice senora sorted it out. Phew!

Sunday: A short but steep ride up into the mountains. A rather surreal beer stop at a camel park and a splendid lunch stop in Fataga. Downhill and tail wind all the way back.

Monday: We rode up a quiet barranco (de Arquinegine) and then had a tough steep 3000' climb over the saddle. Got passed by many fitter cyclists. Then a swooping hairpin descent for lunch in Mogan. Back along the busy coastal road.

Tuesday: A hike around the dunes led to some moans and groans from the team due to blisters. A lazy day fixing bikes followed. Splendid grub prepared by Steve to end a lazy day.

Wednesday: Another tough climb. 930 metres up to San Bartoleme. Fine paella to reward our efforts.

Thursday: Only 680m today. More rocky scenery. Bit too barren here for my taste - but December sun and 75 degrees is nice.

Friday: An easy ride up the valley to La Filpina. Nice and hot at nearly 80F. Needs a lot of cold beer to keep the balance. Canarian stew for the boys today.

Saturday - a long trek home to cold Inverness. Another fine trip.

Sutherland Once More

2011-09-08T09:58:00.001Z

Not a great start to this blog week. Broke a big tooth which needed a hefty removal. Then a slip back to a melancholy phase. Drat!

Off in the van to perk up all round.

A promising sign of better times was 2 otters right below us in Golspie harbour - just 3 or 4 feet away. Then parked up at our absolute favorite spot beside Loch Fleet.

Friday: Two walks around Littlefleet and Golspie with big reading sessions in between. I completed Gerald Seymour's latest novel "Deniable Death". Quite good.

Saturday: Parked up in Brora harbour to find a pine martin right in front of us. Amazing that we've seen both otters and pine martins in the middle of towns this weekend.

Sunday: CTC ride up Strathbrora. Only 2 of us turned out. I took a short cut from Lairg so just 48 miles for me.

A Strange Mix, Lanark and Blair Atholl Horse Trials

2011-08-21T15:57:00.002Z

Down to Lanark on Thursday. Fine pint in the excellent "Horse and Jockey" then supper of chips and curry sauce from the chippy.

Friday: Nice half day teaching project management to rural development folk. Lovely projects: steam trains, plant nursery, footpaths, historic archives. Then drove up to Dunkeld to get ready for Jan's birthday bash tomorrow.

Saturday: To Blair Atholl castle for the International horse trials. Soft ground - needed a tow to get in. Good to see the XC riders. Too many folk about for me though.
Excellent bluegrass band "Hotseat" in Birnam for our evening entertainment. They're from Richmond, Virginia.

Katherine Hague - Jan got to babysit for her briefly

Sunday: A hill walk above Bruar was planned, but idleness got the better of us and we read before tootling slowly home for a belated birthday supper in The Clach

Lovely Loch Duntelchaig

2011-08-14T15:57:00.003Z

Nice day on Friday. A ride over the Aird on the Pinarello for lunch in Beauly, then a ride on the Brompton into town for a beer with friends - where we met 2 ex-AAC chopper pilots who'd just pedalled lejog. Supper in The Clach.
Finished the day watching wine geekery "Sideways" as recommended by Steve.

Saturday: Strolled with slightly fuzzy heads to recover the car. Then off in the van to South Loch Ness to check out the new trail of that name. Parked up for the night looking down Loch Duntelchaig. Fine supper from Mrs H.

Sunday: A stroll up Tom Bailgeann, cuppa in Brin nursery, then a nice pedal home on the Brompton through Essich. Sunshine, scenery and a tail wind. The ideal bike ride.

On The Oregon Trail - Second week

2011-07-31T00:24:00.002Z

Golden Eagle, Paisley

Monday: Drove through the high desert of Central Oregon across to Eastern Oregon. Looked at the huge gold dredger in Sumpner and at the excellent Oregon Trail centre outside Baker City.

Tuesday: Out on the road nice and early. Breakfast in back country Elgin. Slowest service in the US - and crap food too. Nice drive up the Wallowa river valley to Joseph. A twee, arty little town surrounded by high mountains and alpine meadows. Watched the wild horses being driven by the cowboys down Main Street. Then up the cable car onto Mount Howard. Wonderland of alpine flowers, chipmunks, gophers, and the quirky Clarke's Nut Cracker bird. Stunning.
Then to our superb B & B, a lovely old manor house in Joseph. Good choice! Dinner at the town brew pub.

The ZX barn

Wednesday: Mountain road drive out to dramatic Hell's Canyon Overlook - deepest canyon in the US. Then on to Burns. Long drive through a mix of high desert, mountains and ranch land.

Thursday: Up and out early to the excellent Malheur National Wildlife Reserve. Wall to wall birds. Very nice. Then a drive across the really empty high desert of the Northern basin. 119 miles of almost no sign of man - bends in the road were exciting! Impressed to see an old guy pedalling across - and hauling his camping kit.
Albert rim and lake very interesting - geology and birds (saw my first phalaropes). Lunch in a full on cowboy saloon - the Pioneer in Paisley.
Arrived safely at the ZX ranch - a million acres and 10,000 cattle! That's big.
Mark and Debby's ranchhouse is big - but we were invited to stay in the huge restored barn way up on the hillside - what a place! We had it all to ourselves.

Friday: Got up early to watch the sunrise behind the mountains. Then down to the ranchhouse for breakfast with our hosts before a day out on the range watching Mark's team do their working cowboy stuff - a tough way of life they're working hard to preserve.
Got some great pictures of a Golden Eagle sat on a pole digesting breakfast.
Lunch in the cowboys' cookhouse then Mark gave us a tour of part of his huge range. 10,000 bales of hay laid out on the marsh for winter feed. Big ranch!
Grand finale to the trip with a swim in the barn pool then a great BBQ with our friends and hosts - a tad too much Bourbon though methinks!

Buccaroe bronze, Joseph

Saturday: Up and away. Sad farewells to Steve and Sonya who've been great hosts and planners, then a long drive back to Portland. We've returned the car and arrived at the grand "Heathman Hotel" in Downtown Portland. Now for a riverside stroll (pausing at the Oregon Brewers' Festival!) before dinner in the swanky Heathman restaurant.

On The Oregon Trail (Revisited)

2011-07-26T05:10:00.001Z

I love Oregon - but it's a pain getting there. Two long flights but we're here now. Steve and Sonya met us at the airport and whisked us off to the McMenamin's historic hotel in Troutdale by the mighty Columbia River. A few fine pints of the hotel's own IPA and stout soon eased the travel weariness.

Soda Creek, Century Drive, Bend

Monday: Nice lazy start then into Downtown Portland. Bought a splendid new Panama hat and celebrated that with a visit to the magnificent "Lucky Lab" brew pub. Happy memories of my first ever Oregon trip in 2002.
Back to Steve and Sonya's place, our base for a few days. Pedalled out to the excellent new brewery pub a mere 6 miles from the ranch.

Tuesday: Fifty mile ride for the boys through the Willamette valley. Tough 7 mile climb up to Silver Falls park at the end. Chips and IPA to power us up the hill, cycling classic dish of chile dog in Silver town afterwards.

Wednesday: Nice 40 mile ride through the lanes in the morning. Met the girls for lunch. Forest trail stroll after lunch. Joined Steve's wine tasting group in the evening in Albany then a lovely supper at Karen and Bish's place.

Thursday: Off to the seaside in search of whales. Bump started the day with a belly busting all American breakfast in Tommy's, Corvallis.

Sonya, Sue, Jan and Martha - Redmond @ Sue's

Excellent 2 hour whale watching trip from Newport. Saw several grey whales within 100 yards. Then on to Yaquina Head nature reserve. Home to 60,000 common murree auks.

Friday: A brisk blast around Steve's favourite bike route to blow out those IPA cobwebs - then off to Portland to collect our hire car for next week's Eastern Oregon trip. No Mustang available but we have a neat little Mitsubishi Stryker Eclipse convertible.
Pedalled down to the Rogue brewpub before a fine tuna and oyster BBQ at Steve and Sonya's.

Saturday: Beautiful scorching hot day for our drive east over the stunning Cascades into Central Oregon. Met up with Bruce, Martha, Dave and Sue for a BBQ at Bruce's before a great Pink Martini open air concert in lovely Bend City on the Deschutes river.

Sunday: A great drive out with the Redmond gang around Century Drive around Mount Batchelor. Bags of wildlife at our picnic spot beside Crane Prairy lake. Bald Eagles, Ospreys, Dragonflies, water snakes (yughh!).
Top spot on the trip was Soda Creek beside Sparks Lake. Superb.
Dinner out in downtown Bend and a nightcap in Bend brewery.

Monday: A scenic drive with the roof down through Central and Eastern Oregon to Baker City. Great landscapes. Fine brew pub to finish the day.

Some pictures so far:

Hebridean Bike Adventure

2011-07-06T17:06:00.001Z

Left Bunchrew on Friday morning heading for Fort William. Nice weather to start. Just a smigeon of a headwind to elevens' in Foyers. Then up and over a 1200' climb to reach Fort Augustus for lunch beside the canal. That's half way. Along the canal tow path for a few miles, short bit of road, then undulating forest track beside Loch Lochy. Reached Fort William after 70 miles and 6:07 hours in the saddle. Pleasantly weary. Quick shower then fish and chips followed 2 nice pints - Suilven and Dark Isle.
A fine first day.

Saturday: Lovely bright day. Full fry up to power us on our way. Lovely loch side route. The newly built "Caledonian Way" Sustrans route is outstanding. Traffic free from Ballachulish.
Lunch in The Oyster Inn in Connell, then a look around Castle Dunstaffnage, then to Oban. Easier day today - 50 miles, 4 hours.
Quiet night by the quay.

Sunday: Hilly ride out over Atlantic Bridge to Seil Isle. Lunch at the Oyster brewery - very fine ale. Forty miles, 3.5 hrs.
Then onto the ferry to South Uist - with a bag of Tesco goodies for a nautical picnic.

Monday: Yippee - a tail wind! Cycled up the Uists in lovely weather. Lots of flowers and birds on the machair. Elevenses with SNH pal Gwen in the Uist office. Magnificent overnight halt at the splendid Langass Lodge. 47 miles.

Tuesday: Tail wind to Berneray ferry then across to Harris. Lunch in Tarbert then up and over the pass onto Lewis. A total of 73 miles and 6:15 in the saddle. Ready for some grub now!

Wednesday: Very early start for the 06:00 ferry to Ullapool then a 56 mile ride back to Inverness.
Really tough ride out of Ullapool. Vicious headwind followed by heavy rain. Pain eased by bacon butties in Aultguish, grand lunch in Contin, sticky bun in Beauly.

A splendid adventure.

Down Dava Way

2011-06-26T16:00:00.004Z

A second weekend on the trot in Nairnshire - must be the beer festival drawing 
me back.

Tootled around on Friday, walked to collect the car whichwe'd left at 
"The Clach" after a night out there.  Then a book club session to discuss "Winter's Bone".

Packed the van after all that and parked up at lovely Lochindorb for the

night.

Saturday:  To Dunphain "Breathing Space" for a great walk along the Dava Way.  Stuffed full of wildlife: hare by the van, roe deer on the track, loads of

oystercatchers bizarrely perching on the viaduct.

Topped up with provisions in Forres and parked up for thenight. Fine BBQ washed down with - well lots actually!

Sunday:  Over to Brodie castle car park for brekkers. It's just across the road from The Old Mill where we'll start and finish today's bike ride - before falling upon the beer festival!

Only four folk for the bike ride - but we had a lovely ride - and an equally good beer festival session afterwards.

Nice Times in Nairnshire

2011-06-19T16:22:00.002Z

Two excellent days on a natural heritage awareness course completed my working 
week. Really interesting and lots of wildlife.  Trips to see how our work 
relates to dolphins, red kites, salmon and much more.



Then off in the van for a blend of hill walking, watching horse trials, and 
cycling.

Friday:  Parked up in the Findhorn valley above Drynachan for a riverside stroll 
and picnic.  Then along to a lovely riverside spot for our overnight parking. 
Wild Violets and Sandpipers right beside us.



Saturday:  A sunny start with breakfast beside the Findhorn. 
Then to Burgie for a fine day watching the international horse trials. Not too 
many folk about so most enjoyable walking around the cross country course. 
Called in at The Old Mill in Brodie by way of of a recce for next week's CTC 
ride/real ale festival. 
Overnighted at a walled garden CL in Geddes.

Sunday:  Met CTC pals at Cawdor for a ride through the lanes to Lochindorb. Very 
nice. Good training for my upcoming Hebrides ride with Lew.

Sunshine on Shetland

2011-06-08T17:12:00.003Z

Puffins at Herma Ness

Off in the van for 6 day trip in the van to Shetland.
A very nice crossing from Aberdeen to Lerwick. Jan overslept our dinner reservation so I fined her a bottle of malt - this ensured a pleasant evening.

Friday: Off to Sumburgh Head for breakfast with the sea birds.
Excellent walk around the head. Feast of seabirds and flowers. Highlights were puffins, skuas, fulmars, spring squills.

Excellent evening at Diane Taylor's where we we're joined by wild gals Anne and Fiona of SNH bunkhouse trips fame.

Saturday: Parked up for the day at Bigton where's there's to be yoal racing this afternoon. Spent the morning strolling around beautiful St Ninian's Isle. Marmite, mayo, coriander toasties for a splendid picnic. In the afternoon we watched the yoal racing at a teeny regatta at Bigton. Fun.
Then drove way out on West Mainland to a remote spot recommended by a colleague - Dale of Walls. Fabulous seascape out to Foula. Time for a beer!

Sunday: Woke to a third sunny day. What luck. Breakfast in the sun in this remote bay with sky full of terns and fulmars.

Very scenic drive to Blaewick on North Mainland. Excellent campsite with great views. Quick roast lunch then a superb clifftop walk at dramatic Esha Ness. Back to the van for a wash and brush up as Shetland ageing ATO John Taylor is popping over this evening.

Blaewick

A fine evening with John and Helen. Many tall tales told but my beer stocks sadly depleted..

Monday: Early start to get the ferry to Yell and then another to Unst.

Sensory overload today. Rare flowers on Keen of Hamar NNR including Edmondson's Chickweed and Heath Spotted Orchid. Then bird paradise on Herma Ness NNR. Great Skuas just feet away. Puffins equally close. Gannets and many more. A magnificent place to visit. Also fitted in a quick pop into Valhalla Brewery for some fine Shetland ale.

Parked up for the night on Yell with stunning sea views to accompany my ale.

Heath Spotted Orchid

Tuesday: A wet and cloudy morning. Scooted back to Lerwick and spent our last day looking around the harbour. Made very welcome by SNH colleague Denise in our area office on the harbour. Then finally back onto the ferry.

A really excellent trip. We'll be back!

Lovely Littleferry

2011-05-29T11:55:00.000Z

Littleferry

Back to Loch Fleet. This time to a new spot on the south side of Littleferry. Nice grassy flat area overlooking the exit of river into sea. Paused en route for a brew at Newton Point. A fine spot looking across the Kyle of Sutherland to Struy Hill.

Glorious walk along the dunes to Embo then back along a disused railway. Wildlife paradise. Highlights were common terns, plovers, and a terrific close sighting of a female hen harrier. Now to bbq some stuffed mushrooms. Lots of ale, merlot and malt to accompany it too.

Saturday: Nice idle start then a good long walk around Skelbo estate - pausing for a fine pub lunch in the Trentham Arms. Tradewinds and chicken curry. Mmmmhh.

Pedalled into Dornoch on a replenishment mission. Had to put the Pinarello on automatic.

Oystercatchers

Sunday: Found an oystercatcher nest (can you it a nest?) on the pebbles besides the loch. Beautiful. Weather is poor so scurried home rather than cycling. Weather might improve later. So it's Sunday Times and Monaco GP on the box for now.

A fine Highland weekend.

Nanny Heath returns to Inverness

2011-05-20T16:25:00.002Z

Mum flew up for a week of looking after her little lad. It was her 89th birthday on Thursday. We had a splendid birthday lunch in a favorite of hers - the Loch Ness Country House Hotel.

Later that day George Thompson, an old friend from Darwen Dashers, rolled up on his bike - he's doing LEJOG+ We fed and watered him ready for the next day's ride to Helmsdale.

On Friday I rode off with George. A nice 45 mile pedal before lunch - thanks to a very helpful tail wind. The black pudding tea cake at Evanton probably helped too! I left George to continue on near Hill of Fearn where I RV'd with Jan and Mum for a lift back home. Tonight we'll replace those lost calories with dinner in "The Clach".
Easy day with Mum on Saturday. Some, shopping, garden centre, Brodie castle then back home.

The house martins have returned to our eaves after missing us for 2 years. Had a go at getting some pictures with the G2 zoom. Not great results. Need to use a tripod and wait for better light.

Sunday: I cycled to Nairn to meet Mum and Jan before going to the airport. A mad car driver overtook a caravan on a bend in Culloden and came straight at me. Up the curb for me! Many expletives issued. Calmed by watching roe deer graze below Nairn viaduct. Then another shock. Pedaling at speed past the field archery centre - ear splitting bang and a puncture. Thought they'd shot me. It was just my 110psi tyre splitting asunder. Jury rigged a repair and limped along to be rescued by Jan.

This evening we'll round off the weekend to visit Arthur and Rose Burns who are on Dingwall camp site. They are army folk from way, way back. Be nice to exchange tales. Good old Facebook linked us up after a 30 year gap. Isn't technology great!

North Sutherland - Bikes and Boots

2011-05-15T19:10:00.006Z

Lazy day of admin on Friday plus a pedal into town for a pint.

Packed the van ready to head off after Jan's evening at a hospice fund raiser. Picked her up and drove up to Strathrory.

Saturday: Up to Lairg to meet CTC pals for a ride to Tongue. Great route but a stiff headwind made it hard work. Finished with a tailwind which was great. 39 mph - wheeeeeeee!

Lovely overnight spot, Tongue

Met up with Jan who'd found an excellent overnight spot beside the Kyle overlooking Ben Loyal and Ben More.

Sunday: A nice stroll around Talmine then set off back south. Called in at Eden Court to see "The Way" (nothing special), then a final pitstop in The Clach to seal a fine weekend.

Carousing and Cameras

2011-05-08T15:37:00.006Z

Cawdor Woods

A blend of fun this weekend. Started it in style with a visit to Inverness' only tapas bar to hear our friends' band "Highland Hotclub". Fine music, ale, wine, tapas, conversation - and fuzzy heads.

So a slow start to a weekend away in the van in Nairnside. Easy stroll and a bbq.

On Saturday I joined friends from work for a photography fieldwork session in lovely Cawdor woods. My efforts below. Such a nice place that Jan and I returned there in the afternoon for a sunlit stroll (Oh, and for a nice IPA in the splendid Cawdor tavern).

Nairnshire lanes

Sunday: Too idle to go orienteering. We went for a stroll instead and finished it off with fish and chips in Nairn.

An Active May Day Weekend

2011-04-30T16:27:00.002Z

Nice hill walk up Ben Macdui on Friday with David Warren. Starting from the ski car park makes it a LOT easier! Still a tough one though.

A much gentler one with Jan on Saturday - the "pap" above Dingwall. Nice stroll but I'd expected a better view from the top. The ford that Jan took was a better option than the stepping stones I fell off!

Finally got up Beinn nan Sparra, an obscure little hill above Glen Affric which, according to a 19th century painter, one of the 3 finest views in Europe. It was a 10 mile bike and hike. Well worth the effort.

Glen Affric from Beinn nan Sparra - magic!

Monday - last day of play for a while. A very pleasant slow ride exploring some back lanes and trails on the Black Isle.

Popmobile Mk1

Rounded the weekend off with taking Poppy to the pub in her Popmobile.

Elevenses in Mount Eagle forest

Bring on the next hols!

Easter

2011-04-25T19:05:00.002Z

Orrin dam

Just one day back at work then off for Easter.

Excellent bike ride up to Orrin dam on Friday with Kirsten and David. Pit stops before and after in Beauly Corner Cafe, and a splendid extra one at Eleanor's in Marybank.

Lazy Saturday morning then a short walk near Jason's croft when Jan arose after her night shift.

Super solo bike ride on Sunday over Straths Nairn and Dearn. Quick snifter in Castle Tavern to finish the day.

Another idle morning on Monday while Jan snoozed after another night shift. Nice walk around Black Rock Gorge in the afternoon.

Black Rock Gorge

Deep South Spring Tour - Phase 2 - Contact!

2011-04-14T10:17:00.007Z

Louise the quirky boat guide

Wednesday: Nice stroll with Lew and Ce on the Cotswold Way in the morning. Then into Bristol on the bus to meet up with old friends Dave and Mary Young. Lots of chewing the cud and telling of tall tales on our Bristol tour - made all the more fun thanks to our quirky boat guide Louise. Enjoying seeing SS Great Britain. I'm a long time fan of Brunel.

Ageing ATOs playing out

Splendid dinner in Dave's son in law's gastro pub to end the day. It's the Victoria Park in Bristol - recommended.

Lew was the boy soldier L/Cpl looking after Dave on his arrival at Chepstow in 1963, and the Cpl looking after me in 1964. And now he's a sea shanty rock star - legend!

Thursday: On to Shrivenham for lunch with Sue Bizley - Jan's old flatmate and chief hostess from her air hostess days in the '70s.

Then on to a quiet CL site near Stow on the Wold. Looks fine on Google Maps- dog friendly country inn across the fields.

But then - walked to the posh pub. It was closed for refurbishment. Drat. Fortunately we had plenty of strategic reserves back at the van.

Friday: Lovely Cotswold stroll around Chastleton - where we honeymooned in 1970. Fine lunch of Hooky, Pinot Grigio, banger butties and chips.

On to great friends Roger and Charlotte for a fine evening of wining, dining and talking. Their recent trip to Porto produced some superb port which went down very well.

Saturday: Into Northampton to meet up with Mum, Pete and Rose. Then on the train to London with them all for a family and friends gathering in Highgate. Here's hoping Poppy keeps her legs crossed on the train!

Our family thrash in Highgate was excellent. Great to see my mum enjoying the presence of her family. Then on to Rick and Terry Noutch's for a fine evening.

Sunday: Whizzed across London in Rick's very cool Audi A5 convertible for a Thames side stroll followed by late breakfast in intriguing Putney church - site of the 1647 Putney debate about freedom.

Lunch of pork pie and real ale with Kat and Martin then a walk back to Euston for the Northampton train. Stroll and supper with Pete and Rose, overnighting in their palatial west wing.

Monday: Nice walk with Pete and Rose around the source of the river Nene then drove north to Hurst Green in the Ribble Valley in readiness for Tuesday's meeting with friends from Darwen Dashers.

Tuesday: Excellent ride with head Dashette Sue Taylor on the feisty hills of Ribble Valley. Birdy Brow is still blo**y hard work. An evening of Beer 'n Bikes to end a fine trip. Home tomorrow.

Some pix:

Deep South Spring Tour - Phase 1 - Advance to Contact

2011-04-12T18:07:00.001Z

We're off! A ten day tour down south. First pit stop Rumbling Bridge, Dunkeld for walk and bacon butties. Fine start. Nice stroll along the river to Hermitage.

On further south. Stretched our legs in Dunblane then parked up for the night in a forest opening outside Moffat. Lovely sunny evening.

Steady drive south on Sunday. Arrived at the Long Mynd in glorious sunshine. Looking forward to a couple of days here - a favourite spot since we spent my NI R & R here in '74. Splendid late afternoon stroll to the brilliant "Bottle & Glass". A truly great village pub. And a downhill walk back to the van.

Monday: Into Church Stretton for provisions then up onto the hilltop for breakfast with a view. Then an excellent hill walk revisiting our '74 trip. Not so nimble up Ashes Hollow this time. A further 5 mile walk to the pub and back for dinner. Fine day.

Tuesday: Fine sunny early start - on South. Met up with Lew and Ce in Bath. Lew and I pedalled off for a nice, hilly afternoon ride.

Saddlebags, Songs and Suilven

2011-04-03T18:03:00.002Z

Suilven

The Beans are in town!

Lew and Ce flew in for a long weekend of fun. Lew and I warmed up on Thursday and checked the bikes out - with a circuit of Beauly Firth that included a pit stop in Beauly Corner Cafe. Then an evening of ageing ATO tall stories when Steve and Anna Harmon joined us for dinner.

Friday: Lew and I cycled across to Inchnadamph for the start of the SNH bunkhouse weekend. A fine ride.

Saturday: Very tough walk and climb to conquer mighty Suilven.
Excellent singalong in the hostel after dinner. Lew played a blinder!

Sunday: Tough but scenic bike ride through mountains and dramatic seascapes to round off a splendid bunkhouse weekend.

Some pix:

Wind Farms and Wind Bags

2011-03-28T05:56:00.000Z

A Rickshaw Ramblers walk with army pals on Thursday - from Glenmore to Pete's new place in Tulloch. Very pleasant. Then a lovely suprise in the evening when sports friends from work treated me to a Blazing Fiddles gig and some Rohan vouchers - as a thank you for me organising so many events. Lovely folk!

Saturday a group of us ran or cyled a 9 mile hill race up to Fairburn windfarm - as a farewell race for Catriona Hendrie who's off travelling.
Farewell dinner for Catriona in the Castle Tavern to complete a nice day. Then off to Edinburgh for me and Jan, pausing in the van to overnight near Perth.

Sunday: Paused for brunch and stroll at lovely Stanley Mill beside the river Tay. Then on down to the caravan site beside the firth in Edinburgh. Strolled along the shore for a pint of real ale in Cramond. Fine pub. Not dog friendly sadly. Good job it was warm and sunny.
Excellent walk around Cramond - what an interesting old place.

Monday: A meeting with fellow PPM geeks at Scottish Executive, Victoria Quay. Nice pedal there on the Brompton to add to the day. Home via Ballanluig greasy spoon.

Bikes and Birds in and around Bunchrew

2011-03-18T11:50:00.008Z

Shelduck

Pleasant start to the weekend - a stroll along the firth with Poppy. Got a couple of decent (IMHO) pictures of black tailed godwits and shelducks in flight. The burst gizmo on my camera is excellent for this.

Saturday: Fifty mile ride with CTC and SNH friends. Along the quiet lanes of south Loch Ness. Home in time to see England thrashed at rugby. Then off in the van to the Black Isle.

Sunday: Woke to a bright clear day. Our parking spot looks out onto Udale bay. So newspapers and tea looking out for waders. Then a stroll up South Sutor above Cromarty.

Home via Sunday lunch in The Clach - excellent!

Some pictures from Saturday's ride below.

Black tailed godwits

Sunshine and Snow

2011-03-13T12:31:00.003Z

Strange mixed weather.

A productive Friday morning planning a summer holiday in Oregon and an Autumn one cyling in Lazio. Then fettled the van ready to head for the hills when Jan finishes her shift at the hospice. Stocks of Shiraz and Glenlivet carefully packed.

Nairnside lanes

Saturday: To Golspie. Caught up with the papers then strolled along the beach. Fish and chip lunch in Golspie's superb chippy.

Sunday: Woke to even drearier weather. Cut our losses and scurried home after sizzling some bacon butties at Tain beach. Eden Court cinema seems a better option for today. Oh, then there's the England v Scotland rugby to watch. Quite a good day after all.

Barney's Choice at Eden Court was a fine film. Dinner at Mustard Seed wasn't a great meal. Indifferent service spoilt it.

A Weekend in London

2011-03-06T16:48:00.000Z

Boris bikes - great fun

Off to the big city to see Kat and Rick & Terry Noutch. Early walk along the firth with Poppy before departure was nice: red squirrel, woodpecker, mixture of waders.

Easyjet to Luton, train to Rick's - once we'd mastered the challenging ticket machine.

Excellent evening with Rick and Terry involving Fuller's Pride and Terry's great food.

Saturday: Left the ladies to their devices and tubed into Waterloo. Hired the excellent Boris bikes for a ride around Southark and the City. Had a look at some exciting building developments including the Shard tower.

Old and new

Then DLR out to the London Olympics site. Amazing complex. Another bike hire for a very enjoyable tootle around the area with guide Tom (who knew almost nothing).

Across to Archway in the evening to meet up with Jan and Kat for dinner. A fine day.

Sunday: Lazy start with a breakfast in a swish French cafe for urban hipsters in Balham, and then slowly wound our way back home.

Wobbly bridge

Good weekend.

Athletic stadium

It's Spring in Inverness!

2011-02-27T14:16:00.004Z

Finished the working week with a warm and sunny run in our office hilltop handicap fell race. A satisfactory result compatible with age, weight and drinking habits. Out to dinner with friends in the evening. The River House. Really nice.

I love my Pinarello!

Friday: Swapped the MX5 for the Fiesta. So quiet, smooth and easy to get in to! Poppy likes the back seat. Then a nice bike ride around the firth on the Pinarello. Pesky headwind but nice and sunny. First bare leg ride of 2011.
Frugal lunch in Beauly cafe as I forgot my wallet.
Went to see the excellent "True Grit" at Eden Court in the evening.

Saturday: Walked Poppy along the firth then another sunny bike ride to Beauly. Dinner at Zizzi's - one of Catriona's many farewell do's.

Sunday: Lazy day. Short walk with a friend of a friend who's passing through. Then off to Glasgow on the train to get ready for a workshop I'm running tomorrow.

A fine evening in Glasgow involving old pubs and Indian grub.

Monday: Lovely cold sunny morning. Just the job for a Brompton bimble along the Clyde bike path to our Clydebank office. PPM session all day then train back home to finish the malt with Mrs H.

Back out in the van - Bonar Bridge and Strathrory

2011-02-20T16:52:00.000Z

First van trip since Jan's painful fall at New Year. Parked on Mount Eagle Thursday night in the hope of seeing the Northern lights. No luck though. We'll try again Friday.

Friday: Back into town for a physio appointment for Jan. Then popped into the garage and arranged to trade Jan's old MX5 in for a Fiesta. Should be somewhat easier to get in and out of! End of a motoring era.

Then across Struie hill. Sizzled some bacon barms before an afternoon stroll along Strathrory.
Nice place. Took some close ups of lichen for photography homework.
Over to a nice CL high above Bonar Bridge for the night - we need to plug in as our leisure battery is flat. No luck with northern lights again - too cloudy.

Saturday: Excellent sunny stroll in the woods above Carbisdale castle. And a bonus in that the path intersected the route of the Snowman car rally. Happy memories of long past days as a rally navigator in the '70s.

Apres walk lunch in the Bridge hotel in Bonar Bridge. Excellent fayre from the new landlord.
Parked up for the night on the Struie road.

Sunday: Woke to a beautiful clear frosty morning. Down to Invergordon for breakfast beside Cromarty Firth.
Pedalled to Evanton to meet the CTC folk for a club ride.
An excellent ride through quiet lane to Tain for lunch. Good turnout of 13 plus 2 Meekelings in a trailer.

A good weekend. Few more pictures below:

Another Mixed Bag

2011-02-13T18:52:00.000Z

Finished my working week with taking pictures at our feisty "Ring of Fire" hill sprints relay. Part 1 of homework for the digital photography course at work.

Friday: Jan and I walked into town over the hill behind us then along the river and canal to "The Clach" for a super lunch. Lazy afternoon followed. Part 2 of my homework was an aperture control shot of the ale badges in The Clach -- a fine topic!

Saturday: Down to Glasgow on the train where I represented the Highlands at a CTC meeting (oh the power!). Quick stride across to Kelvingrove before the meeting. Saw Macintosh furniture for the first time. Had hoped to see Salvador Dali's "Christ of Saint John of the Cross". Drat. No luck. It's on loan to Oz.

Sunday: Another attempted return to glory at orienteering - and another abject failure. I took 73 minutes for a tricky 4.6k green course in complex Darnaway forest. A youf took 46! Navigation was OK, legs were not. Drowned my sorrows in the excellent Old Mill in Brodie. Splendid roast beef lunch there too.

Back Home

2011-02-06T09:34:00.001Z

Back to reality after the La Gomera trip.

Pedalled in to work in a rail laden headwind. A catchup with mail then a wet and windy mudfit session in the forest at lunchtime.

Down to Perth for a 2 day training course. Great bunch of students from our finest nature reserves. So passionate about their reserves that we were hearing songs and poems about them in the bar.

Home on the train and Kat had arrived from London. Excellent night at Eden Court where Emily Smith was singing beautifuly.

Saturday: Nice stroll up the hill and along the firth. Maggie's ceilidh for SNH's sporty folk at night. Another fine thrash with great folk.

Maggie's Ceildh 2011

La Gomera

2011-01-27T17:13:00.005Z

Time for our injection of winter sun.
We're working our way around the Canary Isles. This time its La Gomera. A green mountainous little place. Very peaceful.
We're with great friends Lew and Celia Bean. They have access to the swish HPB complex here so we're reaping the benefits of that.
Lovely apartment with great ocean views. A lengthy journey and it was niice to get here and enjoy a cold beer.

Wednesday: Started the active week with a slow jog down to buy the fresh bread for breakfast in the sun.

Slow stroll down the hill to the village for a nice seafood lunch on the beach. Paused for a pleasant coffee, cognac, churro on the way back. Nice.

Quick swim to freshen up then a stroll along the coast path. Got caught in a couple of heavy but warm showers. Time for a beer.

Thursday: A 3000 ft climb for Lew and I. The ladies that lunch got the guagua up and met us at Alajero. Excellent walk. Great views. Lots of birds. Raptors and little brown 'uns.

Runners up in the quiz despite all the wine we drank.

Friday: Bright blue sky. Lew and I are off for a MTB ride on the high plateau. Ce is doing a volcano walk. Jan will take it easy to help her back recover.

Excellent ride. We got taxied up to almost 4000 ft then twiddled across the plateau to a fine lunch spot. Then a swooshing descent down the dramatic Valle Gran Rey to get the ferry back.

Saturday: Poor weather today. Ran along the coast path with Lew and then a lazy relaxing day involving beer, snooker and computers.

Sunday: A wet and windy start. Got the little bus up to Las Toscas at 2400 ft and strolled back down the road, pausing for a fine pint of Dorada en-route.

La Gomera

Lovely London Trip, Good to be Home

2011-01-22T14:03:00.033Z

Down on the sleeper to arrive at Euston ready for a sunny stroll to Smithfield market. An excellent meeting with other PPM geeks then to the Savoy hotel to check out their 2 cocktail bars. Very nice. Met daughter Kat and great friends Rick and Terry Noutch.

Overnighted with Rick and then strolled to MOD HQ where I'd arranged to collect my MID citation from my 1974 tour in Belfast. Interesting reading after 36 years.

Then on to Kings Cross for the 8 hour train journey. Etoys all the way. Great fun!

Great to be home again. Peaceful!

Bike ride around the firth on Friday.

Nice stroll above Dingwall on Saturday.

Bike ride with the CTC on Sunday. 37 miles along the lanes of Nairnshire. Very nice.

Bits and Bobs in 2011

2011-01-15T09:53:00.026Z

Old codgers and ale

Started our van trips in 2011 with a painful bang. We'd gone to Dornoch for a quiet weekend after all the festivities. But Jan had a very painful fall in the van. Back to Raigmore for a checkup (nothing broken thank heavens). Lots of pain for the old gal since then. A blend of painkillers, malt, acupuncture, osteopathy are slowly improving the situation.

I had a nice work trip down to Lanark this week. Stayed in the historic New Lanark Mill. Pleasant train rides there and back. Next week a lovely night train trip to London. Its for a PPM meeting but I'll fit in some time with Kat and friends, including checking out the refurbished Savoy hotel cocktails. After that we're off to La Gomera for a dose of welcome winter sun.

At the foot of every rainbow .....

Nice ride with CTC, SNH, PfA friends in the wind and rain around South Loch Ness on Saturday.

Jan's back is slowly on the mend so we had a short stroll around intriguing Kilvaroch castle on Sunday. Followed by a splendid barbecued bacon buttie beside the river Nairn.

Xmas in Bunchrew - Many Ms Heaths

2010-12-26T12:49:00.006Z

Colourful Kat arrives

Lovely to have both girls home for Xmas. Lizzie was already in residence and in countdown mode for her travels. Kat arrived on Xmas eve.

I achieved a first by not having a single grumpy moment on Christmas day! Undoubtedly helped by a nice 4 mile run with Lizzie at Chanonry Point. No dolphins about. Just a solitary seal.

Magnificent dinner from Mrs H senior who promptly departed for a night shift in the hospice.

Boxing day: A good long walk from home for me and the girls - with some last minute map reading tuition for Lizzie (who is a tad spatially challenged!)

Monday: A really outstanding walk with Kat. The Knockfarrel circuit from Dingwall. So much to see all the way round. Great views and superb winter sunlight. Some pix on the slide-show below.
Kat's fella Martin arrived at tea time.

Tuesday: We'd planned a long walk into Inverness followed by a relax in the gym where we all have a bargain short membership. The sheets of black ice made the walk impossible so it's been a lazy day of shopping, reading and a relaxing swim.

Christmas dinner

Wednesday: Out to Poppy's favourite beach at Nairn for a nice stroll and picnic in the van. The winter sunlight on the sand and sea was beautiful. I got some nice snaps. We all went to the gym later afternoon, followed by dinner at The Clach.

Thursday: Attempted the walk up to Fairburn wind farm with Martin and Kat but it was too icy. Retreated via brunch in Beauly.

Friday: A very pleasant New Year's Eve. Dropped Kat and Martin at the station then went for a sunlit stroll on the hill behind us. Lazy lunch then pedalled over to the sports centre for swim and steam. Missed RV'ing with Jan so pedalled home again, topping up lost fluids in The Castle. Home for daiquiri and dinner where we reflected on another fine year in the Highlands.

On patrol

Good Riddance to Early Snow

2010-12-12T17:21:00.002Z

A rapid thaw saw the snow and ice disappear and allowed playing out again.

Superbly sited wind farm

Thursday evening we joined friends for food and great music in Hootenany's

A nice lazy day of personal admin. on Friday ended with lunch in The Castle. Then to Eden Court cinema with Jan to see "Miral". Very interesting film about Palestine from a different perspective.

Saturday the girls shopped while I joined CTC pals for a Black Isle ride and Xmas lunch. Very pleasant.

Huge crowd of swans and geese, Beauly

Today we've been on a long awaited walk up to the high Fairburn wind farm. Dramatic 360 degree mountain view. No wind though!
Called in at Anna and Steve Harmon's on the way home for magnificent lemon drizzle cake in Steve's awesome home-made winter garden house.

Fantastic field full of geese and swans on the way to the walk.

How far to lunch?

A pleasant weekend indeed.

In Search of Sea Eagles

2010-11-27T19:09:00.002Z

Out west for a (not so) long weekend in the van. Hoping to avoid the snow as well as see some sea eagles. To Ullapool after work.

Struck lucky in the pub we went to for supper. A brilliant trio of very talented musicians; an excellent foul mouthed drunken Paddy; roaring coal fire; Deuchars IPA. Result!

Friday: Woke to rather more snow than we wanted. Lazy morning then a stroll in the snow from Ullapool. Weather not looking good so we drove gingerly home back to Bunchrew. Quite a lot warmer than the van!

Saturday: A lazy start and then an excellent walk up and over the hill for an outstanding lunch at "The Clach". What a great place this is now.

Sunday: More flippin snow! Hunkered down in the warm hoping it'll go away soon. The dog walking stroll in the morning was nice. Loads of birds on the firth. Kicked myself for not taking the posh camera. There were some great shots of siskins and goldfinches catching the morning sun on frosty seed heads. Beautiful but missed!

Monday: Our new St Andrews bank holiday. One of those random really splendid days. Lazy morning then pedalled in to town and dropped my bike in for some fettling. Had a splendid long lunch in The Kitchen while I waited. Then still had time for a quick trip The Castle where they had a splendidly named new ale - "Sublime Stout". It lived up to its name and I had an equally sublime pedal home in a mini-blizzard afterwards.

The Noutches visit Inverness

2010-11-21T21:00:00.000Z

Lovely to have great friends Rick and Terry Noutch up for a long weekend.

An early evening riverside stroll in town, snifter in McNab's then a splendid dinner by Mrs. H

Saturday: Shopping for the ladies, a splendid CTC bike ride in Strathglass for me and Rick. Venison casserole to complete a fine day.

Sunday: Our classic Sunday for visitors. Walk over the hill to Loch Ness Country House Hotel for a bumper lunch. Taxi home and relax.

Our Ruby Wedding Thrash

2010-11-14T10:15:00.001Z

Down to Edinburgh on Friday morning on the Highland Chieftain. Dropped the bags off at the sumptuous Sheraton then had a truly splendid lunch in Vincafe.
Relaxed in the very excellent One Spa throughout the afternoon.
Supper in Nanini's where Kat and Lizzie had arranged champagne.

Saturday: An early start. Whopping breakfast then out to Blackford hill for a lovely walk to the Royal Observatory. Strolled back through charming suburbs where all the posh jocks must live.
Quirky coffee shop for tens's then on to the National museum to see the lighthouses exhibition. Nice lunch in posh "The Dome" in George St.
Back to the Sheraton for our megabucks massages. I'm feeling thoroughly pounded. She found more knots than I thought possible.
To Enron the musical in the evening. Didn't like it at all and left halfway through.

Sunday: Suitably pampered and stuffed we pack and head for home. A really nice weekend. Just ten years to go to the next big thrash.

Film Festival, Eagles, and other fun

2010-11-06T15:40:00.030Z

Started my trio of festival films with Mike Leigh's "Another Year". Grimly excellent.

A niced mixed bag on Friday of: bike refurbishment, lunch in "The Kitchen", firework display, and "The Debt". Great performance by Helen Mirren.

Led astray by Mrs H and the Spanish brandy later that night.

Pinarello with one fat biker - Reelig Glen

Flushed out the cobwebs with a ride on the trusty Pinarello through Autumn leaved lanes around Beauly. Lunch in the ever excellent Corner Cafe. Tonight we'll meet some SNH friends for supper before watching George Clooney in "The American".

Well the film was a tad disappointing. Too much mystery, not enough action. Too clever for us.

Eagle eyed Jan eyes eagles!

Sunday: Out in the morning sunshine for a stroll in Strathconon. Took Ash's tip for a side glen to see Golden Eagles. Great sighting of a pair quartering the mountainside. Magic!

There's one!

Quite a mixed bag

2010-10-31T17:08:00.001Z

A very interesting and enjoyable Friday to start the weekend. Pedalled up to the office to hear a fascinating talk about Scotland's seals, then wandered along to the nearby duckpond with the office biodiversity group to see the rare and exotic pipe club fungus. Then down into town for a browse in the outdoor shops followed by late lunch in "The Castle". Heard and spotted waxwings in the trees outside Eden Court
Went out with Lizzie in the evening to see very odd film "Certified Copy". Too clever for me.

Saturday: To the Old Mill in Brodie for dinner with old friends Jean and Alan Ramsey. They and a bunch of mates have hired lovely Burgie House for the weekend. Quite a place. A real McCoy quirky posh jock owner. He's definitely NOT a fan of SNH! Great place for a group to hire for a weekend or week.

Sunday: Nice walk with Jean and Alan in Culbin Forest. Farewell to them and on to Nairn for lunch on the beach.

Lovely Loch Fleet (once more)

2010-10-24T18:41:00.001Z

Headed north in the van on Friday evening. Better weather in that direction. Picked up fish and chips and a 15 year old Glenfiddich in Golspie then parked up in our absolutely favourite spot beside Loch Fleet.

Loch Fleet meets Moray Firth

Saturday: Woke to a splendid moonset and sunrise and a panorama of mountains, forest and geese. Fabulous! Spent the morning enjoying the sights and sounds of this top nature reserve.
Eventually got off our bots and had a good stroll around the reserve: links; dunes; forest; loch. A rich feast of birds and funghi. This really is a flagship reserve. The new hide across the bay has been brilliantly sited. I can see thousands of geese, divers, waders and ducks right in front of it.

Into Golspie for a wine and Guardian replenishment. Then up Strath Carnaig to park beside Loch Buidhe for the night. The sun is setting. I have the Guardian in one hand, a gin and tonic in the other, map and binos on my lap. Cheers!

Sunday: A cold bright start high up in this quiet glen. Odd how few birds there are up here.

Down to the southern edge of Loch Fleet for more birding and strolling. A cold wind countered by Jan's finest bacon butty.

Jan chucked me out at Evanton to pedal home. Nice ride in the cold autumn sunlight. Paused in Beauly for a cuppa in the tired old Lovat Arms. It was rubbish. How do you mess up scone and coffee? They did though.

A fine Highland weekend. Some pix:

And a pretty rubbish beginner's video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBiYAJt347o

A Bank Holiday at Home

2010-10-16T13:36:00.009Z

A long weekend for SNH - something historic to do with kids picking the tattie harvest.

Rain on Friday so we abandoned the planned hill walk and mooched around town: stroll, swim, Rocpool lunch, cinema to see the excellent "The Social Network" - really enjoyed it. Now whilst one doesn't really wish to be a cinema snob, that Vue is so NOT Eden Court my dears! Don't those folk read the healthy eating warnings!

Far, far too much Glenlivet in the evening with naughty Mrs H!

Saturday: Slow, somewhat fuzzy start. Then a nice tandem ride with Lizzie into Beauly for lunch. Twiddly route past castles in stunning autumn sunlight. Looking forward to the CTC ride tomorrow and another ride on Monday when

Catriona Hendrie will complete her 5 day run along the 77 mile Great Glen Way. Tough lady!

Sunday: A 60 mile ride with CTC friends over some tough hills and into a cold headwind. Must be good for me (I hope). A tired little fella afterwards.

Monday: Joined my colleague Catriona for the final leg of her 77 mile run along the Great Glen Way. Some pix below ......

Bikes, Beer and Birds in Mallorca

2010-10-08T08:49:00.006Z

A very early start. Lizzie drove me down to Edinburgh for an 06:30 flight to Palma. My bags are bulging with toys: cameras, binos, scope, netbook, Blackberry. Shocking really. I'm looking forward to a full week of biking and bird watching with Lew.

Thursday: A very long but enjoyable day. Met Lew at Palma airport. Then a nice setting up day of bike shops, shopping, catching up etc. Apartment is excellent.

Friday: Early morning run. Breakfast on the balcony. Then a tough ride out to the lighthouse on Cape Formentor. Big hills! Could have done with lower gears. Saw some nice falcons. Pretty sure they were Eleanoras. Went to a beerhouse that professed to have free wifi. Turns out it wasn't working - and we paid £8 for a pint. Shocking!

A fine night in our hotel later. Lovely young folk enacting "Mama Mia".

Saturday: Painful jog due to tendonitis. Pass the ibuprofen! Bike ride out through Albufera nature reserve. Lew's bike exploded and needed recovering so I had to ride back alone - pausing for sardines and chips at pit stop 1 ; coffee, ice cream and cognac at 2.

Dinner in a very british chippy. Then sol y sombre night caps. We have the taste for them again!

Sunday: Up and out early for a walk up the Buquer valley - a top birding area. Our patience was rewarded with a brilliant siting of a booted eagle. It put on a superb display for us.

Classic English roast for lunch. Awash with ageing ex-pats. Good grub though. Then a really nice late afternoon ride out to Cala Sant Vicent. Picture card bay.And finally exotic salad dinner prepared by moi!

Monday: A good full day out on the bikes. Circular route up and over the Sierra de Tramuntana. Great pass climb at Coll de sa Batalla (584m). Lunch at Lluc then a great descent through dramatic limestone landscape.

Superb coffee and snifter stop at a posh fonda at Llenaire. Had to remove our bikes from the very elegant terrace. The ladies would approve of this one. Osprey spotted while we were there.
Back to the hotel pool to relax.

Tuesday: A longer ride today. Across the farmland of the interior. A really good ride. Lew was so happy. We found the cheapo buffet restuarant he'd been pining for all week.

Wednesday: An easy day and short ride to Alcudia and a second trip to Albufera nature reserve. Great sighting of a marsh harrier quartering the reeds.

Good laugh at night at a rather useless Elvis impersonator.

A long day of reading and travel on Thursday to end an excellent week.

Back out West

2010-09-27T11:45:00.004Z

The midges have gone. Time to get back to the lovely west coast.

Started a long weekend with a walk with army mate Bernie Brace and his lady wife Maureen.

We met at Creag Meagaidh NNR where we were royally entertained to tea and bickies by Rory Richardson. He's the reserve manager but also ex Scots Guards and he was an ATO escort in Belfast in 1976.

We had a nice walk up the hill trail to the lochan for lunch. Then Bernie and I clambered up the steep 1000' climb to "The Window". Hard work but worth it for the tremendous views.

Fish supper in Fort William and now we're parked for the night beside Loch Eilt in Moidart.

Saturday: A short stroll around pretty Arisaig then to a beautiful camp site on the sands at Back of Keppoch. Extra bonus of a scruffy terrier next door who's playing with Poppy.

Sunday: A stunningly bright clear day. Dolphins and divers seen from the camp site. We grilled some fish for brekkers and felt as though we we were in the tropics. That sun is HOT!

Easy day today. Beach stroll, into Mallaig to look for harbour seals - none about. Read the papers (and ate much chocolate) in the sunshine beside Loch Eil. Short stroll up to Glenfinnan viaduct. Now we're parked up for the night in a quiet little Forestry Commission car park below Loch Arkaig (10m N of Fort William).

Ended a very nice day sipping Shiraz, listening to Tim McGraw, supping Jan's sublime pasta.

Monday: Out of water and in need of a good wash, we're off home after breakfast. A great sunny Highland weekend.

A Mixed But Active Bag

2010-09-19T16:38:00.003Z

Worked on a Friday for a change - to attend a PPM geeks workshop in Edinburgh. Excellent trip down on the train. Good meeting. Then a lightning raid on the Rohan shop, a pint of Deuchars in Cafe Royal's oyster bar, and train ride home. Jan met me off the train and we had a fine night out in the Turkish restaurant and Hootenany's. Good day.

Saturday: Early rise as a truck load of Lizzie's mad friends arrived from Blackburn for a weekend of Highland fun. They started as they meant to continue with Buckfast, a cocktail of vodka and melted jelly babies. Need I continue.... I escaped them to join CTC pals for a ride around Dornoch Firth and the Kyles of Sutherland.

Sunday: The revellers returned rather worn from a very long night out in Inverness. I headed off to Revach near Grantown for my first orienteering event for many months. A reasonable outing on the green course. Navigated OK but struggled to cross the rough ground with any pace. Jan is working until late but then we're heading off in the van for a couple of nights on the Black Isle. Hoping for decent weather for a walk and a tandem ride.

Nanny Heath returns to Inverness

2010-09-11T17:20:00.005Z

We brought Mum back up with us after our trip to Northampton. Always nice to have her with us.

Today (Friday) Mum and I have been picnicking at Newall Point on the Black Isle. It's a glorious spot for chilling out and watching the world drift peacefully by. Jan's at home kipping between night shifts in the hospice.

The 3rd Ms Heath of the household, Lizzie, is

buzzing as she now has her plane ticket to Australia. She departs in mid January.

Saturday: A "greening" show in Culbokie, then lunch in Fortose with the ladies. Burned off the calories with a nice pedal back along the spine of the Black Isle. Pit stop for coffee and cake in Beauly.

Sunday: Foraging in the morning - chantarelles and blackberries. Then Jan, Poppy and I walked over the hill to Loch Ness Country House Hotel where we joined Mum and Lizzie for a lovely Sunday lunch.

Lunch @ Loch Ness Country House

A Weekend with Friends and Family

2010-09-06T15:49:00.004Z

We flew down to Northampton for a long weekend. Popped in to see Mum then had a fine evening swinging the lamp with great friends Rodge and Charlotte.

Shook the cobwebs out on Saturday morning, had a brief pause in beautiful Stowe school grounds, then on for a cuppa and another memory lane session with Jean Ramsey, our friend and neighbour from Hethe.

Back to Northampton to stay with brother and sister in law Rose and Pete.

Pete went off golfing early Sunday morning so Jan, Rose and I had a nice outdoor swim at Rose's posh sports center, followed by a bacon butty and stroll in Salcey Forest.

Picked up Mum after dinner ready for a very early start on Monday.

Back in the peace and quiet of the Highlands midday Monday. Relaxed with a blast out to Beauly on the Airnimal.

Back to normal.

An Active Few Days

2010-08-29T07:07:00.010Z

Mudfit outdoor circuit training on Wednesday, our office hill race on Thursday - almost a personal worst time :(

It's that belly I'm afraid!

Hill walk up Ben Vrackie with army mates on Friday.

A 105 km Audax bike ride on Saturday.

Bit tired after that lot.

Finished Saturday with a great concert by Phil Cunningham and Ali Bane in Eden Court.

Ready for a lazy Sunday now.

Lazy indeed. Feet up until teatime then pedalled slowly in to town for a relaxing pint in The Castle. Continued the new camera trials with a picture of our superb landlady Veronica and a splendid array of ale taps.

Jan's Birthday Bash

2010-08-21T11:50:00.006Z

Off in the van to Rosemarkie after work on Thursday. We've booked into the firth side caravan site for a change as we're here for some serious dolphin watching.
Finished the day with some fine fish and chips to accompany the wine.

Friday: Lazy morning reading then a stroll along the lovely beach. Quick decko at the Pictish museum then a swift pint of Tradewinds. Reading the papers now while we wait for low tide at the point. An hour after low tide is optimum dolphin watching opportunity.

Little sods didn't turn up. We waited for an hour but no luck. Lovely time in the sun and wind though. We'll be back early tomorrow morning. Now back to the van for a veggie bbq feast!

Saturday: A wildlife rich dawn walk this morning. Terrific dolphin display at Chanonry. And a very inquisitive seal too. Terns overhead and a big, tame flock of sparrows. Good start to the day. Just a shame about the fuzzy head :(

Got dropped off in town after collecting my super new framed print of "Why War" by Charles Spencelayh. Was hooked by marketing blurb once again and treated myself to a super duper compact DSLR - a Panasonic G2 with telephoto lens. Celebrated with bruschetta and latte in the sun outside McNabs. That's me set up as the wedding photographer for Kat and Martin!

Sunday: Excellent 52 mile ride on the Black Isle with CTC pals while Jan slept post -night shift and gardened, then we went to see a great band at Eden Court - Pokey Lafarge and The South City Three. Blues, ragtime & country. Unusual. Check them out

Glen Cannich by Bike

2010-08-14T16:36:00.005Z

Left to my own devices by the ladies today so I decided to ride up Glen Cannich. Haven't been up there on a bike before. I was joined by CTC pal Steve Carroll.

We left the car at Inchmore, Strathfarrar and rode up Strathglass for elevenses in the Cotton Grass cafe in Cannich.

Surreal meeting of several random cyclists who happened to be in there - all bar one had moved up from Lancashire for the good (outdoor) life. What odds of that!

Several potential new CTC members there.

Lovely ride up to the huge dam and then a swoop back down for a nice lunch in the Knoc hotel.

Highland cycling at its best.

Weekend at home

2010-08-08T03:46:00.003Z

Friday: A dabble at digiscoping on the firth. Very limited success via some obliging oystercatchers. Getting the hang of it though.

Then a nice pedal around the firth with lunch in Beauly cafe where I met a very nice lady cyclist who I hope will join our CTC branch.

Saturday: Think I've found our local osprey's nest. Literally only 300m from the house. Not quite certain yet.

A trip out to Moy game fair for Jan and I while Lizzie tried out kayaking at Loch Achilty. Moy is a great traditional show awash with county set, gamekeepers, dogs ....

Sunday: I've arranged a bike ride over the Aird for a motley crew of SNH and CTC folk. Off to join them shortly. Post ride analysis planned for the Castle Tavern!

A Little Trip to Glen Feshie

2010-08-01T10:46:00.005Z

Saturday: Loaded the van up with all the favorite toys and drove up the road to one of our best wild spots in Glen Feshie. Just waiting for the rain to stop then we'll ride the tandem further up the glen.

Lizzie is looking after Poppy so we have a hair free experience for a change. Looking forward to a bbq tonight as we have some lovely scallops and prawns to sizzle.

P. S. Tandem ride was excellent. Bbq was pleasant but unexceptional. Back to tasty veggie fayre methinks.

Sunday: A wet day beckons. Just had a quick stroll around the intriguing Frank Bruce sculpture trail in Feshie Bridge than headed home.

Short but very nice trip out.

Lizzie Comes Home

2010-07-31T05:09:00.002Z

Great to have daughter Lizzie home after 6 years away. She left at 17 and has returned as a lovely young lady. She'll be in Inverness until she's saved enough to go off travelling, starting in Australia.

On Friday we had a lazy admin day around town. In the evening Lizzie and I rode the tandem in to The Clach for a pint or two with my work colleagues. A somewhat wayward trip home though! We managed to cook a nice steak on the BBQ without causing too much damage.

The Yanks are here!

2010-07-18T05:47:00.011Z

Steve and Sonya Sundseth flew into Inverness yesterday for phase 3 of their summer holidays.

The festivities commenced with pink martinis by mouth and ear, a fine dinner, and watching "Les Miserables".

Lots more fun to follow next week.

Sunday: Strolled over the hill for a splendid lunch at Loch Ness Country House Hotel. Then along the canal to the Clach for a couple. Finished with watching TDF and Dirty Dancing. Good day!

Monday: Got dropped off at Logie Steading and pedalled back via Ardclach bell tower, Dulcie bridge, Cawdor tavern, Culloden battlefield. We had the bonus of Nobby pedalling with us too. Late pit stop in the Castle tavern before rejoining the girls for supper in the garden.

A fine finale to the day - we took a rucksack of wine and glasses down to the firth shore for a lovely late sunset. Great idea Sonya.

Tuesday: Out to Golspie for stroll around Big Burn and Dunrobin. Fish and chips on the beach. Then a ride from Alness to home (via The Clach). Wilders concert at Eden Court to finish off.

Wednesday: Easy peasy admin day. Lightweight shopping interspersed with real ale pub crawl. Christened our new BBQ.

Thursday: What a great bike ride. Out to Strathnairn, over the Garbole road, great lunch at Daviot, pit stops at the Castle and the Clach. Amazing experience at the latter when Albert Roux rolled up to say Hi to the Clach's chef.

Friday: Bird watching at Udale bay, walk around Rosehaugh estate, then pedalled back from Rosemarkie. Pit stop at the Castle for Steve to say farewell to landlord George (and have a pint!).

Then we dressed up for our posh meal out - the 6 course taster menu at The Clach. Awesome! Perhaps the finest restuarant meal I've ever had.

Saturday: Down to Edinburgh to drop off our Yanks. Quick city ramble then a shopping splurge in the Rohan shop. Lunch in Cafe Royal oyster bar. Dropped S and S and parked up in Lomond Hills for the night.

Sunday: Nice walk on East Lomond hill and through Falkland. Then home for a rest and detox. Phew!!

Bikes 'n Beer in Bruges Trip

2010-07-11T07:07:00.008Z

Train down to Edinburgh. Geeking all the way with netbook and Blackberry. Sad really! Lunch in a charming oyster bar. Deuchars IPA and chili muscles. Sublime.

Met up with our mates in Amsterdam. Long day.

Up and out in Amsterdam. Three boys hired bikes and covered about 40 miles. Met the girls for a terrific meal by the canal. Finished a good day with excellent band in an Irish pub.

Friday: Train ride to Bruges, pausing for brunch in Antwerp. Took over our flat in Bruges and hired bikes for our week here.

Saturday: Excellent 40 mile bike ride on the Flanders wetlands route. Old villages and great pubs. Lunch in Sluis. Steve cooked us a 6 kg. mountain of mussels for dinner. Superb.

Sunday: Off to Bruxelles to watch Le Tour. Bit of an anticlimax really.

Monday: Rode from Bruges to Ghent and back. Met the girls for a superb lunch. Great ride.

Tuesday: What a brilliant day. Tricky train journey to Aalst then rode 30 miles to intersect the TDF route where they rode on pave. The atmosphere was electric. The whole village was partying. Then a flat out ride into a headwind to just catch the train back to Bruges. Finished the day sipping more excellent Belgian beer and watching Evita.

Wednesday: An easy day after yesterday's efforts. Tootled through the lanes to the coast and enjoyed some mussels and frites. Checked out the 400 beer varieties pub and sampled several while watching the TDF. Oh joy! Pub crawl with the ladies to complete the day.

Thursday: On the train to Rouselare then a ride around the Ypres WW1 battlefields. Sombre stuff at the many memorials.

Friday: Back to UK on the Eurostar. Met up with Rick and Terry Noutch at the long champagne bar in St Pancras then had a quick look at the map exhibition in the British Library. BBQ with R and T in the evening.

Saturday: Swam in Tooting Bec lido; joined by Kat and Martin; walked through shady parks to Alaxandra Palace; wined and dined in Islington.

Sunday: Leisurely train ride all the way home to Inverness.

Great trip. Ready for a rest now!

A Visit

2010-06-27T08:02:00.003Z

Eldest daughter Kat up for a week.

Lots of catching up and back to vegan fayre.
Lovely sea shore stroll to Kilmuir for a picnic.
Back via the hill fort on Ord Hill for a good length walk. Rewarded this witha fine pint of Timothy Taylor in the Clach.

Saturday: A tandem ride with Kat to meet up with Jan and Martin. Then a boat trip for some dolphin watching. Excellent display off Fort George. Our skipper let Kat drive the boat.

Sunday: Long walk to my favorite trig point "Place of the Flagstones"

Kilmuir

What - No Van!

2010-06-20T15:50:00.001Z

The van is poorly (clutch making nasty noises) so we're confined to barracks for a short while. Lots of little walks, bike rides, wining and dining. Pictures here from a stroll in South Loch Ness and a CTC bike ride to Dulsie Bridge. Hopefully the van will be back next week.

Nairnshire Challenge (again)

2010-05-31T11:07:00.006Z

It's the Nairnshire Challenge this weekend (13 miles run/walk, 18 miles ride). I've funked the training so I'm somewhat apprehensive this year.

We set off in the van on Thursday evening to make a long weekend of it. Parked up in a lovely spot beside the river Findhorn and enjoyed some fine food and wine (too much of the latter actually).

On Friday we cleared the cobwebs with a stroll to the old bell tower at Ardclach. Then across Dava Moor to Carrbridge for a shop replen. Currently parked beside Lochindorb where we'll overnight tonight. Lots of twitchers at the far end of the loch. Dunno what they've spotted. Jan is poaching some of Jason's splendid eggs for our lunch.

Saturday: A stroll part way around the loch to start the day then another walk at Logie Steading. Dropped the bike off at the duathlon transition point in the afternoon then to another new overnight spot besides one of General Wade's bridges over the Findhorn. Carbo loading scheduled for tonight!

Sunday: Oh no, tummy bug. Bodes ill for the race today. Heavy rain overnight has resulted in a change from a 13 mile mountain trail run to a 9 mile road run (hurrah!). Walked and trotted that to the transition point then a reasonably brisk 18 mile ride into Nairn. Very tired but quite pleased with my (slow) time. With the 4 mile reduction I actually achieved a PB! (well sort of). Apres race event in the Castle Tavern.

A Mixed Bag

2010-05-23T08:52:00.005Z

A good start to a very mixed week with a stroll in Rothiemurchus with army mates Rickshaw Ramblers.

Then a visit from my brother and sister in law, Pete and Rose, on their highland tour.

Next up was a visit from Jan's nursing mates from the previous hospice, Carol and Caroline. Lots more cocktails and chatter.

Then off in the van for a couple of days before Jan starts a 5 shift session. We went to Aberfeldy forest and walked through to Ryvoan bothy. Very nice.

Parked up above Grantown and then had a nice Speyside walk from Grantown. No sign of any capercaillies but a great sighting of a tern fishing.

Back home to get ready for the CTC bike ride tomorrow.

Saturday: Nine of us out for a very pleasant ride in South Loch Ness. Great weather and a cool pint of Tradewinds to finish it off.
Ceilidh in the evening for a full day. Ready for a very lazy Sunday.

SNH Saddlebags & Songs Expedition

2010-05-09T17:54:00.012Z

A bunkhouse weekend for 20 SNH sporty folk.

Friday: Three of us had a great day pedalling our mountain bikes through the empty northern glens from Ardgay to the bunkhouse at Aultguish. A great day. Enjoyed some refreshing real ale on arrival. The workers arrived a bit later. Ashamed to report I had a significant navigational challenge! Up the wrong glen for 4 miles before noticing. Tut tut!

Saturday: About 18 strong now, we set off in different Munro bagging groups. We all had big, long days. My gang went up Sgurr Mor (1110m) and had a good long day on the Fannichs, finishing at 19:00. The other groups got back soon after that. All very happy with their Munro bagging on a clear day. After dinner we had a great Johnny Cash singalong. Great day! Table dancing by our Shetland ladies an added bonus (thank you Ann!)

Sunday: Many fuzzy heads in evidence! Another sunny day for a walk to a nearby Corbett - Beinn a Chasteile.

Good outdoor weekend with nice folk. Can't beat it. Next stop Skye.

More pix below:

West Coast Revisited - Mellon Udrigle

2010-05-03T16:50:00.007Z

A lazy Friday then off in the van. Parked up for the night beside Loch Glascarnoch.

Saturday: On to a new bit of the coast for us. A lovely tiny campsite at quaintly named Mellon Udrigle. Parked with a great sea view then off for a stroll around the headland. Great sea and mountain views plus plenty of birds about.

Sunday: Bright sunshine for a good walk across to lovely Slaggan bay and back. The only other person we met in this remote spot was a colleague from SNH. Drove to Gairloch for food at the Old Inn then parked up beside Loch Maree for the night. Right opposite mighty Slioch.

Monday: Gentle stroll on the new paths around Beinn Eighe visitor centre then home for gardening therapy for Jan.

Plymouth Ho! Despite the ash

2010-04-24T18:13:00.006Z

Our flight down to Bristol was cancelled so we had a very long drive down to Ce and Lew's.

Arrived at midnight to be greeted with warm smiles and a very large Spanish brandy.

Saturday: Lovely walk around Exe estuary and Topsham. Plenty of ducks and waders about. Good pub lunch with fine ale.

Sunday: Drove down into Cornwall and rode the bikes along the Mineral Trail for a pub lunch in Portreath. The ladies took in the NT gardens in Trelissic. More real ale at the end of the ride in Trevoran - must be a good route!

Monday: The ladies went shopping and gardening leaving Lew and I to play out. We had an excellent bike ride on Dartmoor. All the better for a great pub lunch in the Royal Oak, Meavy. Great pint of Tribute to wash down the baguette.

Tuesday: Another sunny day. Great walk on Dartmoor. Singalong in a Plymouth pub later with Lew singing solo.

Wednesday: Our last bike ride. Undulating route out to Totnes. Met the girls for lunch at a nice winery.

Thursday - Saturday: Start of a 3 day trip home. Met up with Kat and Mum in Northampton, and called in to see Pete and Rose too. Then on to Preston for a great night out with Lizzie. Then home on Saturday.

Good trip.

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Glen Affric (with a toothache)

2010-04-11T18:37:00.004Z

Scurried off in the van to Glen Affric after work on Thursday. Parked up at the dam just above Dog Falls.

Walked on the forest trails around the falls on Friday. Not much fun with toothache - don't think I was great company. Poppy did manage to cross a bridge on foot though.

Headed home on Saturday. The tooth recovered so we had a splendid hill walk into town and rewarded our efforts with supper in the Castle.

Sunday: More lovely sunshine. Pedalled a hilly route to Beauly to get the papers while Jan hit the garden. Roof down on the MX5 in the afternoon and a stroll in Strathconon - followed by a surreal high tea experience in the Lovat Arms in Beauly.

A mixed bag of a weekend.

Easter on Orkney

2010-04-04T16:34:00.006Z

Off to Orkney for a long weekend. Drove up to John O'Groats after work on Thursday. Parked up for the night overlooking the islands. Hope the wind drops for the ferry tomorrow morning.

Good Friday: A slightly lumpy ferry crossing to South Ronaldsay then a drive across the Churchill causeways to mainland Orkney. Peeked into the Italian chapel.

Excellent cliff top walk at Mull Head, Deerness.

Lots of seabirds and waders about. Parked up at Point of Ayre for the night.

Saturday: Dreary, wet, windy weather. Had a look around Stromness. What a lot of history there.

Then up to Marwick Head for our overnight spot. Nice walk up to the cliff tops at the head. Amazing sight and sound of tens of thousands of guillemots packed shoulder to shoulders on the narrow cliff edges.

Sunday: Breakfast at Brough of Birsay. Beautiful seascapes. Then the tourist bit. Visited Skara Brae neolithic village and rings of brodgar stone circle. Drove down to Huxa on south Ronaldsay. Splendid seafood lunch from Mrs H. Rounded the day off with a super little walk around Hoxa Head.
Loads of WW2 ruins and superb sea views across Scapa Flow. Time for a refreshing beer now.

A few more pix in the album here:

Orkney

Rickshaw Ramblers and a Flying Visit from Nanny Heath

2010-03-22T19:59:00.002Z

My Mum has been up for a long weekend. Coming up for 88 and still going strong. Mainly local trips plus a run out to Baxters soup place at Fochabers.

First gathering of army mates Rickshaw Ramblers for ages. A new area for us just North of Grantown. My navigation skills were a tad rusty leading to some abuse! A good day out nevertheless.

Two 6 miles runs in a week - preparing for the Nairnshire Challenge in May. Huff puff! Gets harder every year. Really must shift that surplus 2 stone!

Strathconon

2010-03-16T17:53:00.004Z

Up to the far western end of Strathconon for the first time in ages.

There's a car park at the end of the public road that's a great overnight spot.

Lots of ice on the loch still but some nice warm sun for our stroll.

Poppy failed a bridge crossing test yet again.

We found evidence of the poor winter for red deer with a couple of carcases. Lots of healthy ones on the hill though.

A dreary wet day on Saturday. We wandered home and watched the rugby.

Sunday we watched the F1 grand prix and then set off for a decent walk. Up and over the hill beside us, then along the canal. Got to the Clach in time for a splendid roast late lunch. Magnificent pink beef! Somewhat full, we took the lazy option of a taxi home.

Lochgilphead - In search of beavers!

2010-03-02T20:14:00.009Z

Another new area for a van trip as I had arranged to run a workshop in SNH's Lochgilphead office.

A long slow drive down to Knapdale (where the beavers have been released). Some very hairy moments trying to turn this larger van in a dead end by the Crinan canal. After a frustrating time looking for an overnight spot we found a nice forest car park. A very cold frosty night!

Monday: glorious cold, sunny morning. A first walk along the loch where the beavers live (too late to see them though). Then another pretty stroll to Otter's Ferry, Port Ann. Beautiful!

Tuesday: Some work. A project management workshop for SNH colleagues. They brought great projects to work on: Monitoring Black Throated Divers; Reviewing Impact of Policies on Marsh Fritilaries; Sustrans Bike Paths; Shark Tagging (honest!). Then a a long, slow drive home in the sunshine - great loch scapes. A reward for my driving of supper in the Clach - posh (organic!) bangers and mash.

East Lothian and The Borders

2010-02-26T18:52:00.007Z

A new area for us to explore. I had to make 2 trips to Edinburgh just a week apart, so we decided to make a holiday of it and explore the castles and beaches of East Lothian. Not too many wild parking spots down this way so the first 2 nights are on a farm near North Berwick. We've topped up stocks of gin and malt and settled down for the night.

Friday: A tootle around North Berwick including a visit to the Seabird Centre (great webcams!) and a pub lunch (dreary). Then another walk around East Clinton (more dreary).

Saturday: To Dunbar. Sunny clifftop walk to John Muir country park and a look around that great man's birthplace in the town - interesting stuff.
Not inspired by East Lothian we've headed SW into the borders and are now parked up in a club site right in the middle of Melrose.

Sunday: A good long walk up, over, and around the Eildon hills above Melrose.

Monday: To Kelso for a stroll. Nice place. Excellent venison and boar pie for dinner from a superb Melrose butcher.

Tuesday: Venison black pudding to start the day. Then a fine walk on the Southern Uplands Way just across the Tweed from Melrose. Poppy disgraced her breed once again by demanding to be carried across the chain bridge!

Wednesday: To Edinburgh where I went to a workshop for Project Scotland mentors. Very useful and met some very nice folk.

Thursday: Tried to go home but got blocked at Blair Atholl as the snow gates are shut for the night. Seems the Highlands are pretty well cut off by road, rail and sea. A good time to be in a motor caravan. The Atholl Arms hotel in Blair Atholl was a truly interesting dining experience!

Friday: Finally escaped back home when the snow gates re-opened. Got back ready for a good wash to find the central heating boiler had given up the ghost. Drat!

Ben Bhraggie - "Bagged"

2010-02-15T17:53:00.004Z

Lazy day Friday while Jan worked, then off to Loch Fleet. Glorious starlit night beside Balblair Bay.

Late start Saturday for a steep climb up Ben Bhraggie high above Golspie. Terrific views but bl*y cold up there! Our descent brought us out right by the Ben Bhraggie pub - seemed rude to pass by. A pleasant snack there made us relax our dieting vigilance, and we lapsed further by picking up a bottle of "The Macallan" and Lindt chocolate eggs as we strolled back to the van. Must try harder! Back to Balblair Bay for a dram in the sunset.

Sunday: Dropped off North of Invergordon for ride home. Need to get some training in. Very bike unfit at the moment. It all got better when I reached "The Castle"! Lashings of real ale and a venison steak soon sorted me out. Then home to watch the start of series 5 of "The Wire" while Jan worked.

That's what I call a Sunday.

Maggie's Ceilidh Weekend & Back to the Van!

2010-02-08T18:02:00.006Z

A big weekend for all. We had a houseful of friends and relatives who'd travelled from London and Plymouth just for the ceilidh: my cousin Ian Chown and Helen; good friends Lew and Ce.

Lots of local walks, real ale, pink gins, and music from Pink Martini. Splendid walk in to Dunain Park hotel on Saturday to warm up for the ceilidh. Another brilliant Maggie's ceilidh. What a winning model.

Easy day on Sunday. Bird watching at Udale Bay - awesome flying display by dunlins (or maybe knots?) the highlight. A walk around the old buildings of Cromarty, Fortrose abbey and then an excellent pint in the Anderson. Fine farewell dinner for friends in the evening.

Monday and Tuesday Lew and I played out. Ten mile walk to favourite trig point "Place of the Flagstones", and a sunny bike ride around Beauly Firth.

Wednesday I headed South on the train to teach our young managers project management. Got 8 out of 12 out for a run in the evening. A new record!

Friday we set off in the van for the first time for ages. Parked up beside the beach at Burghead. Lots of waders about including a huge flock of knot and a load of bar tailed godwits. Lunch in an excellent pub after a nice beach and forest walk.

Sunday: Yet another orienteering comeback! A decent run on the green course in complex Darnaway forest. Pleased with 12/40. Fine roast beef lunch to celebrate. Home for a wash and brush up then to Eden Court to see "Invictus" Quite good I thought.

Winter Sun in Tenerife

2010-01-23T09:07:00.008Z

A cautious start to the trip given the weather. Took an extra day's hols and tootled slowly down to Glasgow (after pausing to put Poppy in jail). A stroll around the fascinating West End and dinner in that trusty favourite Indian tapas place "Mother India's".

Good plan to overnight in a hotel right at the airport. Removed all the hassle. We left the car with them and just strolled into the terminal building in the morning.

Friday: Straightforward journey. Very pleased with our hotel (initially anyway). Huge room, quiet, lovely gardens. Strolled into the old town for a nice cold beer. Ready for dinner now.

Saturday: Walked downtown, bought our butties for lunch, got the little bus that whisked us way up the steep hillside above the town and into the National Park. We'd gone for a walk described as "classic" but actually found much of it a bit bland. Ad libbed a bit at the end to get more open views of mountain and sea. Resulted in a painfully steep climb back up to the bus stop. Rewarded that with a cold beer. Bus back to the hotel for happy hour beside the pool in the sunset.

Sunday: A nice lazy day. Short run around the park to clear the cobwebs then a stroll through town gardens to the superb lido. Idled away some hours sunning and reading.

Monday: Bus out West to old port of Garachico. Excellent monument to a wine growers' mutiny against an English monopoly. Some fine tapas and wine taken.

Tuesday: Complex bus trip out to the dramatic landscape of the Anaga national park. Rumblings from the crew about the steepness of the paths and the excessive shade from the natural laurel forest. Back to Puerto's old square to relax with some nice tinto. All now forgiven.

Wednesday: Dumped the guide books and planned my own route. Incredibly steep hill roads high above Puerto. Relaxed after a tough day at the lido.

Thursday: Long walk criss crossing Puerto. Brilliant sea food lunch by the Botanic Gardens.

Friday: Back home to the cold! Wouldn't go back to Tenerife - too many folk! Few more pix below.

Started to think about next year's winter sun trip!

Tenerife

Xmas in Bunchrew

2009-12-31T22:35:00.009Z

A tale of 2 halves. A visit from Lizzie from my birthday until Boxing Day, then Kat and Martin from the 27th until New Year's Eve.

Lots of snow for Lizzie's visit. Local walks with great winter views. She set off on the 26th fully

laden with presents, back to party world in Preston.

Nice to be able to help some passing

French motorcaravan folk on Boxing Day.

Quiet day on Sunday between visits. I scurried out of the way of housecleaning Jan with a sunny stroll beside the canal.

Mon-Thu: Lovely to have Kat and Martin up here. Somewhat too much snow for travelling too far afield so plenty of walking, talking, wining and dining. Cleared out the cocktail cabinet before seeing them off today.

Jan was called in to the hospice on New Year's Eve so I had a pleasant quiet night with 4 episodes of "The Wire" (which I'm utterly hooked on)

Fri: Jan called in again. More "The Wire" for me tonight!!

Some more Xmas pix on Picasa below:

Xmas 2009

High on Skye!

2009-12-15T19:47:00.005Z

CTC Xmas Lunch Ride & Super Skye

Had to work on Friday (shock) so no playing out until Saturday.

Saturday: CTC Xmas lunch ride. A cold ride through a mix of freezing fog and frosty sunshine.

Splendid lunch with the lovely CTC folk. Back to finish packing the van then off West.

Parked up high above Kyle of Lochalsh.

Sunday: Very cold start but frozen

bits slowly defrosted to get the van back in full working order. Then a nice day on the Trotternish peninsular, North Skye.

The Quirang rocks, where we had a short walk, are quite extrordianary. Then on to lovely Kilt Rock viewpoint to park up the night. An early tot of The Macallan warmed us up nicely.

Monday: A morning teaching project management to partners in Portree then off to Uig for a night on a campsite. Quick pint in the rather tired Uig hotel.

Tuesday: Nice stroll out to the Northern most tip of Skye - Rubha Hunish. Peregrine falcon overhead as we sipped our hot Vimto. Great views out to the Outer Hebrides but no whales about today.

Off home for a rest.

Fine trip! A few more pix on the web album

Rickshaw Ramblers and the NEW VAN!

2009-12-06T15:39:00.006Z

Friday: Fine day in Glen Tilt with the old gits. Then met Jan to collect our super new van. Its great!

Saturday: Packed the van with toys and goodies (Brompton loves his heated garage) and headed down to Glen Feshie.

Lovely walk beside the

tumbling river.

Sunday: INVOC club champs. I had a very generous handicap after rubbish results last year. Had a reasonable run and finished 5th.

A Visit to the South

2009-12-06T15:38:00.003Z

Excellent full week visiting family and friends in London and Nothampton.

Friday: Flew down to Luton then a hire care up to my Mum's. Lizzie drove down to meet us there. Carried out QA on Mum's Spanish brandy - A1!

Saturday: Took Mum to London where we met up with Kat and Martin. Cousin Ian & Helen Chown joined us for a splendid lazy lunch in Kat's trendy Islington gastro pub. Back to Northampton with Kat and Martin in tow. Left them all at Mum's while Jan and I went across to my brother's for a couple of days.

Sunday: Big family lunch at Pete's golf club then a lazy evening catching up with Pete and Rose.

Monday: Some retail therapy for Jan while I played an urban hipster with my netbook in Starbucks. Then over to great mates Roger and Charlotte for a decadent evening. Somehow committed myself to cycling around Waterloo next September (Roger is a Napoleonic war geek).

Tuesday: Dropped the car back then train to London. Found Kat's great urban chic bike shop - Bobbin Bikes - lovely! Wined and dined at Kat's then tube across to lovely friends Rick and Terry - our base for 2 nights.

Wednesday: A day of PPM geekery for me while Jan visited museums. Splendid dinner out with Rick and Terry in Balham.

Thursday: Very early start and back home. Picked Poppy up from jail en route.

Phew. A rest beckons.

Bikes, Boots & Cladonia (again!)

2009-11-21T15:20:00.006Z

An active weekend while Jan beavered away at the hospice.

Fund raising quiz night on Friday with colleagues - the activity was pedalling there and

back.

Saturday: Hill walk with Poppy while Jan slept. New route up lovely Gleann Goibhre. Poppy found a fresh(ish) deer's leg, I found more Cladonia - sad but true I can spot them easily now! Excellent lunch in Beauly corner cafe afterwards.

The bikes bit comes tomorrow.

Sunday: Excellent CTC ride led by yours truly. A hilly 30 miles around Beauly. Superb lunch at crofter Jason's place.

Good picture of the evergreen Nobby below

To London - where the streets are paved with gold!

2009-11-20T08:17:00.008Z

Off to London for a combined work and fun trip. Got the overnight sleeper train down. My first time ever on this. It was excellent. Did get a telling off for taking my own wine into the lounge though.

Monday: Exciting ride on the Brompton from Euston to Victoria in rush hour. Arrived unscathed for my P3O course (portfolios, programmes, projects). Excellent bunch of like minded anoraks and top mekon P3O tutor.

On to my pleasant little hotel in Belgravia then on the tube for the main event - the Pink Martini concert. What can I say? Awesome, brilliant, perfect ...... China Forbes sang all my favorites and the band were tremendous. Fantastic!

Tuesday: Good day at school. Now I'm enjoying a nice pint of London Pride en route to the Marmite shop. Yippee for Marmite.

Well the Marmite folks were great. Provided free tea and Marmite on toast and sold some smart Marmite stuff. Look out for me in my new Marmite cycling top!

Then on to a very swish Lebanese restaurant in Piccadilly with Kat and Martin. Had a superb real pink martini (Angelica's delight) and great meal.

For football fans William Galas (Arsenal?) was there with a string of fillies. The restaurant was next door to the Fox Club - home to Orator Fox whose great quote I thought I loved - but having Googled it I see it was actually by equally top bloke John Wilkes. Here it is anyway:

""Egad sir, I do not know whether you will die on the gallows or of the pox."

"That will depend, my Lord, on whether I embrace your principles or your mistress."

(John Wilkes to the Earl of Sandwich
Wednesday: Finished the really excellent P3O course and got a train to Glasgow where I have a meeting tomorrow. Dull, late, hot train. All toys deployed to keep up morale!

Thursday: Short Brompton ride to an interesting seminar on benefits management. Then home on the train. An excellent week of work and play.

Pitlochry - A new camper van awaits!

2009-11-14T16:28:00.005Z

Thursday: Off in the van at tea time after a splendid week at work project managing everyone to death across Scotland. Parked at Killiecrankie for the night - to the discomfort of the couple in the steamed up car. Sorry folks!

Friday: Dropped the van in for surgery and went for a very nice walk on the Braes of Carse near Dundee. Fascinating Fingask castle en route. Top marks to the Threipval family who lost and regained it 3 times. Interesting medieval St Peter's Well.

Got back to the workshop to find the motorhome of our dreams. We've made an offer and have our fingers crossed!

Back to Killiecrankie to overnight.
Saturday: Parked up at the festival theatre in Pitlochry and went for a pleasant, soggy stroll to Black Spout waterfall. Impressively in spate.

Lunch at the splendidly tired Atholl Palace hotel. Then home. Have to ready for my trip to London on Sunday. My first ever go on the overnight sleeper train - excited!

Agreed a deal on the replacement camper - an Autotrail Apache 670G for the anoraks - a posh garage for the bikes!

Orkney, Struy, and (almost) an great orienteering comeback!

2009-11-07T15:54:00.004Z

Tuesday: Nice work trip to Orkney. Project management workshop for the lovely folk improving Scapa Flow landscapes. Sampled Orkney ale, malt and black pudding before flying home. All were excellent!

Friday: Waited for Jan to wake after her night shift, then we set off for a new hill walk above Loch Ness. Late start, no recce, poor assessment of duration led to a scary torchless final hour coming off the hill. Jan NOT pleased! Must polish my Naismith tables!

Saturday: Glorious sunny day. Out on the hills above Strathfarrar to show Jan the lead mine. Late lunch of fish chowder in

the always excellent Beauly Corner Cafe. Flicks at Eden Court planned for tonight. Then tomorrow, undaunted by last year's catastrophe, I'm relaunching my orienteering career at Roseisle. Wish me luck!

Sunday: (Almost) The great orienteering comeback. First event for a year - after the debacle at the British Champs last year.

It was going so well - until I thought it was going well. Then I relaxed and lost

concentration.

Ah well, next time. Lovely sunlit forest at Roseisle.

Commiserated with steak and a pint afterwards.

Around Bunchrew

2009-11-01T08:00:00.004Z

Friday: Poppy duty for me while Jan slept after a night shift. Went exploring an interesting looking track on the hillside above Strathfarrar. It was as good as it looked on the map. Intriguing ruins of what's apparently an old lead mine was the site for an excellent elevens's for Poppy and me. Turned back at NH 357377.

Met some friends from work for a pint (or 2!) At tea time. Very pleasant.

Saturday: Ouch!! I'm out of practise at drinking too much beer. A CTC bike ride today. Felt awful all the way round. "Serves you right" did I hear?

Sunday: Poured down all day. We went to the super Dunain Park hotel for a rather grand, leisurely lunch and finished the day off beaming at Ray Mear's new program on Beeb 2.

Off to Orkney on Monday with work.

Back on the road again. Battleby, Clydebank and Killiecrankie

2009-10-25T16:22:00.002Z

Wednesday: Off to Dunkeld after work to park up at old favorite The Hermitage. Strict wine rations of just 1 bottle after last night' excesses.

Thursday: Nice bike ride into our Battleby office. Arrived just right to have a cuppa with cycling colleagues. Met up with Jan after work and had an awful, convoluted journey to a camp site beside Loch Lomond. Needed an urgent injection of a large G & T to relax on arrival.

Friday: Another good SNH day. Pedalled in to Clydebank office. Scared the ladies by pulling the emergency cord in the shower. Good project management workshop. Then off to play. Parked up in a lovely remote spot beside Loch Voil. Some very nice wine to accompany Mrs H's splendid fish cakes.

Saturday: A very wet but, nevertheless, pleasant walk in the glen. Then drove through some great Trossachs scenery. Included the single track climb over Ben Lawers NNR into beautiful Glen Lyon. Pathetic face off over who should reverse to a passing place was cringeful. Must do better! Parked up for the night beside the river Tummel with a restocked drinks cabinet.

Sunday: Very pleasant stroll around Killiecrankie. Don't think I've been to Soldier's Leap since scout camp in 1960!

Got home to find the latest Pink Martini CD had arrived. Another masterpiece by our favourite band.

But shock horror! I'm switching broadband supplier and the old connection has stopped before the new one has started. Thank heavens for Blackberry and mobile broadband toys. Phew!

What a week! More Great Scottish Glens

2009-10-18T07:33:00.004Z

Thursday: A flexi day. Out with Rickshaw Ramblers for a fine walk on the Glenlivet estate. Nice little summit of Cairn Muldonich provided great views. Shame about my (rare!) navigation error that missed the battlefield.

Friday: Glorious sunny day. Started well with hundreds of over wintering geese giving us a flypast. Then a sunlit drive up beautiful Glen Affric for a walk and picnic. The glen earned its reputation as Scotland's finest glen today.

Saturday: Brilliant! Invited to join Ken Naismith (of those tables) and his mates for Ken's final Graham. Superb day climbing Pap of Glencoe. A VERY steep little monkey! Great dinner afterwards to celebrate the event.

Sunday: Relaxed those tired legs with a CTC bike ride out to Cawdor. A lovely day out with nice folk.

An excellent week.

Round Trip - Preston via Lowther Hills, Caerlaverock & Glen Tilt

2009-10-12T18:09:00.004Z

Saturday: Pedalled in to the gym. Didn't do much as my back was aching. No swimming as there was a gala on. Some excellent ale in the Castle. Ferocious headwind on the way home. Huff puff!

Sunday: Out on the bike to cheer on friends running in the Loch Ness marathon and 10K. Wish I could still run comfortably (sigh). Tonight we're goping to Eden Court. Dinner there first, then the new bomb disposal film "Hurt Locker". Loved it! Loads of memories!

Wednesday: Drove down to Edinburgh last night. Overnighted in the excellent CC site beside the Firth. Pedalled the trusty Brompton to the office this fine sunny morning and ran a most enjoyable project management workshop. Pedalled back to Jan then drove down to Giggleswick, N Yorks for tonight's camp site. Positioned ready for a splurge in the Rohan shop in the morning!

Thursday: A satisfying time in the Rohan shop followed by a tad more for Jan in Boundary. Then lunch and graduation pix with Lizzie. More retail therapy for the ladies while Poppy and I strolled in Blackburn park.

Excellent end to the day. Dinner in the Hare and Hounds, Abbey village. Superb Moorhouse's Pride of Pendle to wash down good food in a very dog friendly pub. Heaven!

Friday: Nice walk with Lizzie around Hoghton Tower, then a quick cuppa (and lovely cake) with Jan's nurse mate Caroline.

Drove up to Dumfrieshire and parked up for the night beside Caerlaverock NNR. Hoping to see lots of geese in the morning.

Saturday: Woke to a misty, sunny dawn across the merse. Strolled out with a cuppa to listen to the thousands of barnacle geese cackling away. Brilliant. Jan's finest scrambled eggs set us up for the day. Then a stroll around the reserve and the unusual castle.

Short drive through Dumfries to the other side of the Nith, then a good long walk from New Abbey. Now off for a well deserved pint and bite.

Well Scottish pubs did it again. Minimalist catering hours resulted a bag of nuts to accompany a fine pint of Ruddles.

On up to the Southern Uplands. Currently parked up for the night in the empty Mennock pass in the Lowther Hills.

Sunday: Breakfast in the old lead mining village of Wanlockhead (highest village in Scotland) to prepare us for a trek up Lowther Hill itself. Memories of my first Karrimor mountain marathon about 25 years ago (sigh). A really nice walk up the maintenancce road - easy going. Great views. Loads of mammal traps out. Presumably for mink. Must check.
Then drove up to Dunkeld. Nice riverside stroll in the evening sun before parking up for the night.

Monday: Last day of play. A 10 mile walk up beautiful Glen Tilt, Blair Atholl. Terrific Autumn colours.

Finished the day with supper in the Clach. Time for a shower now I think.

A Six Day Stretch

2009-10-03T10:51:00.002Z

Jan just can't say "No" when the hospice ask her to do a shift. So Poppy and I are home alone for 6 days.

Friday: Lazy start, a nice dog walk/bird watch across the road beside the firth then I rode right around the firth (an easy, flat 25 miles) , pausing for the excellent fish chowder in Beauly Corner Cafe.

Saturday: Another lazy start, dog walk - saw a load of barnacle geese - according to last night's Autumn Watch, they may be amongst those just down from Svalbaard?. Just having a brew s I type this then I'm off to the sports centre for a gym/swim session - perhaps followed by a pint in the Castle! See you later.

Back to The West Coast - Midges Have Gone!

2009-09-28T16:19:00.003Z

Well the midge season seems to be over and most holiday makers have gone home, so time to head back to the beautiful West Coast.

Friday: Out to the remote Scoraig peninsular first of all where we had a nice walk above Little Loch Broom.

Then back to the Dundonnell river to a great overnight spot beside a waterfall beneath An Teallach.

Saturday: Lazy start with breakfast looking down Loch Broom then an afternoon walk to Dun Canna below Ben Mor Coigach. Lousy path didn't suit Jan so I was in trouble for picking it.

Parked up at Knochan Crag for the night.

Sunday: Woke to rain, wind and low cloud so scuttled Eastward to Dornoch to find brighter weather and have a walk on the dunes and beach.

Brilliant flying/fishing display by about 100 gannets.

Parked up for the night at old favorite Loch Fleet. Loads of birds as ever.

Monday: Home via strolls at Tain beach (birds) and Chanonry Point (no dolphins).

Went to see "The Soloist" in Eden Court - quite good. Then a truly ghastly Indian meal to finish the day. Yugghh!

A Visit From The Beans

2009-09-06T19:00:00.005Z

Lew and Ce are up for a week. Lots of playing out, wining and dining ahead of us.

Friday: The long walk from home, over the hill and through town beside the river.

Pit stops at the Castle and the Clach. Yorkshire pud, haggis and chips a real treat.

Saturday: Out on the bikes for the boys, gardening for gals. 50 miles up Strathglass.
Bacon butties in Cannich, coffee and cake in Beauly, and a Deuchars IPA in Inchmore to finish.

Sunday: Nice long walk above Avoch and through Rosehaugh estate. A couple of excellent IPAs in the Anderson - with surreal company of our 50's music fan builder! Then Lew and I pedalled home pausing only briefly at the Clach.

Monday: Lew and I hopped and skipped up Ben Wyvis. Windy and cold but great views. Dinner out at Pizza Express and a pint and a tune in Hootenany to finish the day.

Tuesday: A rickshaw Ramblers outing. Nice stroll along the Moray Coast trail from Houseman to Lossiemouth. Seals and seabirds abound.

Mum arrived safely for her week with us. So a house party for 7 tonight so that Mum can catch up with old friends from her travels out to our various postings abroad.

A Mixed Bag

2009-08-31T17:12:00.002Z

A rare chance to meet up with great mates Rick and Terry Noutch. They were staying on their prosperous relative's superb Cambusmore estate beside Loch Fleet.

Lots of walking, bird watching, wining and dining. Home via Fortrose but no dolphins about.

Saturday: met up with Fee and Catriona from work. Catriona is training for her first marathon. Fee and I rode alongside on her 26 mile route in Strathfarrar. Driving rain and strong winds added a little something!

Out to the Castle with Jan afterwards to recover.

Sunday: Finished reading the excellent Junior Officers Reading Club and went to see Broken Embraces at Eden Court - quite good.

Caithness - Castles and Geos

2009-08-18T17:51:00.001Z

A 5 day van trip to Caithness, the NE corner of the Highlands.

Set off after work on Thursday. Parked up at Loch Fleet for the night.

Friday: A grey day with lots of rain. Tootled up to Helmsdale. Fish and chips on the harbourside after a stroll. Then on to an overnight spot beside Old Wick Castle. Scary looking "geo" right next to us.

Saturday: Drove through Wick and out to Noss Head. Interesting stroll around Sinclair castle and the lighthouse.
Lots of birds: kittiwakes, fulmars, guillemots. And a couple of seals.

On to Duncansby Head for another cliff top stroll. Lots of folk about. No wonder, its a great spot. Loads more fulmars.

Parked in a great spot on Dunnet Head. Some very interesting WW2 radar station ruins above us.

Sunday: Pleasant stroll above Castletown and the use of a proper camp site for a change - to service the van.

Monday: Back home via the interesting cairns at Camster and a lovely walk above Helmsdale.

Tuesday: Long walk from home. Spotted deer on the drove road, dolphins right up in the harbour, goosander in town , and an osprey above the pub - not bad for a town walk from home.

Lightnin Willie, Moy Games, and Midges galore

2009-08-11T18:44:00.003Z

Lots of grim news about wet summer to be heard. Not in Inverness! Lovely evening and we strolled across to Bunchrew House hotel for a nice cold pint (Fosters sadly) looking out at herons enjoying their supper.

Fascinating bit of local history when I got home. A neighbour showed us a scrapbook about the food store that was on the site where our house now is. A bunch of WW2 army officers set up a facility where you rent a locker in the store and have your produce rapidly frozen. Later they sold a drink called Atholl Brose. All very interesting anyway.

Thursday: Went to see Lightnin Willie at Eden Court. Didn't really suit us but you don't know if you don't try.

Friday: Jan worked a shift at the hospice while I had a very idle day. Sole physical activity was a walk along the firth edge. Felt guilty for alarming a big group of waders in a remote inlet. Mustn't tell Simon! Set off in the van as soon as Jan got home. Filled up with Leffe, Pims, Fabulso and raspberries (for the Pims). Parked up high on the Garbole road on the Monalaidths for the night. A solid wall of midges welcomed us. Eughh!

Saturday: Went to Moy Games. A magnificent people watching opportunity. Wall to wall highland country folk of all classes. Great for Poppy too. E njoyed superb Arbroath smokey and venison steak.

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Active at Home - Walks, Bikes and Lizards!

2009-08-01T17:40:00.005Z

A weekend at home for a change.

An active day Friday. Started well with freshly picked fruit in the sun in the garden. Walked Poppy up the hill behind the house. Then circled the firth on the tandem.
Splendid lunch at Beauly Corner Cafe en route. Though my stoker seemed to be impacted by the wine! Pedalled past 2 ospreys on the way home.

Brief pause for breath then a stroll into the Clach to meet friends for a payday pint.

Saturday: Leisurely start then a good long 5 hour walk from home. Lunch break at the lovely "Place of the Flagstones" trig point pictured above.

Last but not least, a couple of pictures from Jan's garden - one starring her new friend the common lizard!

Cullen and Speyside

2009-07-26T15:17:00.004Z

A late start to the weekend trip. Someone? had left the van lights on and drained the battery. The RAC and a new battery later we got away on Friday.

East to Cullen initially. Blustery, wet walk with fish and chips and ice cream. Struggled to find a wild parking spot but got one eventually.

Planned to walk up Beinn Rhinnes Saturday but there was a fell race on and the little car park was full. Had a lovely stroll in the Spey valley instead.

Poppy was pathetic! Demanded to be carried across 3 wobbly bridges - where's that Jack Russell spirit? Some more pix of this below:

Saw a redshank. I think that's the first one I've seen up here in 3 years. Nice pint of ale in the Mash Tun, Aberlour as a reward for a long walk.

Then on to park up for the night beside lovely Lochindorb.

Woke to heavy rain. But on the bright side, there was a black throated diver cruising serenely across the loch. About to pack away the scope when an osprey turned up and gave us a flying and fishing display right outside the van.

Back home to read the papers and watch Le Tour.

And last weekend - yet more sports events organised by colleagues. Tonight we had a lovely walk high up on Criagellachie NNR, Aviemore. Twelve folk out, ably organised by Andy Dorin. And it got better - excellent choice of real ale in the Bridge Inn afterwards. Jan and I said our farewells after that and parked up in Glenfeshie for the night.

Friday: lazy start then a pleasant walk around Kingussie. Enjoying a nice afternoon tea opposite Ruthven barracks as I type this section.

High up the Findhorn valley for our Friday night halt. Dreary weather but a lovely valley. Over a hundred red deer on the hill side.

Saturday: A short walk up onto the hillside. Lots of wildlife. Loads of deer, a few feral goats and a mountain hare. Long list of flowers. Then on to Loch Duntelchaig for night 3. More rain but SO relaxing.

Loch Fleet (again!) and Brora

2009-07-12T18:47:00.007Z

Up to Loch Fleet after work on Friday. Shock, horror! Another van had nicked our usual spot beside the bay. Found another nice spot around the corner and spent a pleasant time peering down the scope at loads of curlews.

Saturday: Renewed the hunt for the elusive twin flower. Pretty sure I found the spot but flowers weren't actually out. Need to check the leaf shape. Did find another Olaf's candle though. Oh, spotted a beautiful moth/butterfly thingy too.

Parked up at lovely Brora harbour and walked along the beach and through the lanes. Fantastic aerial display of many arctic terns above their colony there. Wandered past Jan's very favorite Highland garden.

Parked up for the night high up at the top of Dunrobin Glen looking out across Loch Falkary.

Sunday: Rain for a change. Lazy morning reading then a wet but lovely walk around Dunrobin castle. What style it has!

"That" Garden Party and Beyond

2009-07-07T19:54:00.004Z

Down to Edinburgh very late on Sunday after a splendid evening at Eden Court watching the amazing NDT2 modern dancers. Seemed that half of SNH were there.

Monday: Picked Kat up from the airport and met Lizzie who'd driven up. Poppy and I chilled out in Holyrood park while the ladies bought yet more hats for the big garden party tomorrow. Interesting South Indian restaurant for dinner.

Tuesday: Our "regal" day at Holyrood palace. British pageantry at its best. Amazing how we all behave at these do's. Dinner at the Hilton before Kat flew out. Ouch! cries the bank account.

Wednesday: Down to Darwen. Brilliant night out with the Dashers. Classic pub crawl of Tockholes..Thursday and Friday: Jan was out walking with her hospice mates for 2 days. Lizzie looked after me very nicely with bike rides, lunch, and cinema. Scurried back to Inverness that night as we've visitors flying in.

Rodger and Charlotte flew up for the weekend. Lots of excellent reminiscing of years gone by - with ale, food and wine to keep us going. Lots of birds spotted and rare flowers too: one-flowered wintergreen and creeping ladies' tresses.

A Tale of Two Peninsulars - Black Isle and Nigg

2009-06-20T17:56:00.004Z

Off to the Black Isle after work. Quick bit of dolphin spotting at Chanonry Point followed by a nice pint in the Anderson. Then took some Fortrose fish and chips across to Udale Bay where we accompanied them with a nice Chardonnay.

Friday: An unusual sight in Cromarty Firth. 50 young goosanders floating closely together. What's that all about?

Next a stroll around Ord Hill followed by a late lunch beside Beauly Firth. Then for the evening's entertainment. A quick drink with birthday girl Jeanette, then right out to Portmahomack on the Nigg peninsular where we met up with CTC friends Steve and Denise for an unusual gig. The band was "Venue de la Nuit". An intriguing mixture of flamenco jazz and Celtic. 5 brilliant musicians and Nualla Kennedy's great voice. Very, very good.

Parked up beside the sea at Steve's at Rockfield.

Saturday: An excellent morning ride with Steve up onto Nigg hill for great views then back to meet up with Jan at the beach. Back home to Bunchrew where we enjoyed a cool Pimm's with some chopped plums.

Sunday: My turn to lead the CTC ride. An excellent route (if I say so myself) out to Whitebridge in lovely, empty, South Loch Ness. Returned via the dreaded Inverfarigaig "corkscrew" road. Finished up with a pint in the Castle. A fine day. Whitebridge and CTC stalwart Nobby pictured below.

Back out West - Redpoint, Glen Coulin, Torridon

2009-06-14T18:37:00.003Z

A late getaway as Jan worked a late shift at the hospice on Thursday. Paused at Tesco, Dingwall at 23;00 to top up supplies - shock horror. They don't sell booze after 22:00! And we were so looking forward to a nice malt after a week on the wagon. Drove out to a lovely overnight spot beside beautiful Loch Maree. Right opposite towering Slioch.

Friday: Eek. Too many midges! Nice view but bugs galore so scurried off further West. Picked up the papers (oh, and the Glenfiddich!) then parked up at a lovely spot at Redpoint. It's a dead end South of Gairloch with great views across the Minch to Raasay and Skye.

Lazy morning relaxing and reading then a seaside and beach stroll. Back to the van for a well deserved large malt to celebrate a successful week on the wagon. (Well it makes sense to us).

Saturday: Our usual lazy start. Papers and croissants this time. Eventually got moving and had a lovely walk in Glen Coulin where we spotted a new (to us) white butterfly orchid .
Then on to Torridon. Nice pint of Deuchars IPA in the somewhat famous Torridon Inn then parked for the night in a great spot overlooking Loch Torridon. Amazing dinner of garlic, chile prawns from superchef Jan.

Sunday: Midges ensured an early start. Jan dropped me off at Achnasheen. I pedalled home while she whizzed back to weed the garden. Another fine weekend. Aren't vans great!

Redpoint

Home Alone - But Jam Butties in Strathfarrar

2009-06-07T16:08:00.004Z

Jan went down to see Lizzie for the weekend. Lizzie's ex-partner Paul is very ill. I was left to indulge in a nice lazy weekend.

Friday was spectacularly idle - didn't even leave the house. Did read some interesting stuff though - including Polly Townbee on inequality and Arne Naess on Ecology of Wisdom.

Saturday I eventually got away from the books and had a pleasant ride around Beauly Firth. Pausing at favorite pit stops Corner Cafe and Castle Tavern.

Sunday I finally got round to riding the full length of glorious Glen Strathfarrar. It's a wildlife paradise. Highlights spotted included 2 eagles and my first chickweed wintergeen of the year. Lots more besides. Typing this note from exquisite picnic spot (that's the jam butty bit) at the far end above Loch Monar. Starting to rain now so I'm off.

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Wheels around Europe - The Dordogne: via Amsterdam and Paris

2009-06-01T10:40:00.008Z

A two week trip with cycling friends. Took the van down to Edinburgh then flew to Amsterdam to meet Oregonian friends Steve & Sonya. Two excellent days of walking and cycling the canals, dining in splendor, and loads of fine ales and wines.

Thursday: an early start to get the Thalys high speed train to Paris. Indescribably awful bike ride! Despite the brilliant velo libre facilities, Steve and I had a poor ride. Far too many folk about, the bike paths were so so, and we ended up in the scary areas beyond the perephique.
However, we found a brilliant bar later. For some obscure reason the owner gave us 3 vodka chasers to trial. A fine end to a great evening!

Friday: A much nicer day. Boat ride along the Seine then a long stroll back through parks. Got some better bikes and had a superb bike pub crawl around many more tourist hot spots before rejoining the girls for dinner. Good to visit "Point Zero" where every route is measured from.

That's Paris done. Next stop the Dordogne.

Saturday: Nice easy day. Breakfast in Paris then a comfortable fast train to Bordeaux followed by an uncomfortably hot regional train to Bergerac where we were picked up by Lew and taken to the villa we have for a week. Great to meet up with the rest of the gang. Splendid dinner on the patio.

Sunday: A warm up ride of 55 miles in the lanes. Our first wine consumed by 10;45. Great lunch in lovely Eymet. Hot and humid. Recovered in the pool back at the villa.

Monday: 65 mile ride NE of Bergerac. Fine lunch in Tremolat.

Tuesday: Easy day as rain was forecast. Tootled into Bergerac and met the girls for lunch. Checked out the bike shops and sauntered back to the villa.

The rest of the week: loads of great rides in the Dordogne hills - interspersed with much beer, wine and great food. Writing this note from the beautiful old square of Eymet over lunch which followed some very pleasant winery visits.

Saturday: Nice slow train journey to London with a pause for lunch in Paris. Met daughter Kat and (for the first time) her partner Martin in the posh champagne bar in St Pancras station.

Sunday: As usual on our London trips, we followed one of the walks from Andrew Duncan's great book. This time it took us through posh, trendy Islington. Fine breakfast in fashonistas' Breakfast Club.

Relaxing final train ride back to Edinburgh on Monday where we retrived the van and headed home for a rest. Holidays are so tiring! Some more pix below:

Glen Loth & the Flow Country - Golden Plovers, Heath Milkwort and much more

2009-05-17T07:22:00.003Z

A glorious sunny day when I finished work on Thursday so we headed off North in the van. Parked up on a high col in remote Glen Loth, a lovely place recommended by Iain MacDonald. Terrific 360 degree views across Caithness and Sutherland mountains.

Friday: A very, very lazy start to the day. Eventually got around to 2 splendid walks around Forsinard Reserve in the strangely beautiful Flow Country. Saw lots of Golden Plover. On the flower side - a new one for us - Bog Bean. Lots of family favorite Heath Milkwort too.

Then into Helmsdale where we failed to get past the highly recommended chippy.

Finally, on to favorite overnight spot at Balblair Bay, Loch Fleet NNR. Cake, coffee and Jura malt completed the day.

Saturday: A truly gloriously lazy day in the van. Partly on Golspie seafront, then at Chanonry Point for Jan's dolphin hunting. I mooched between reading, facebooking, peering through the binos, and drinking tea. Highly recommended on occasions. Now to get ready for Ro Scott's ceilidh tonight.

Paused en-route to the ceilidh at lovely Udale Bay nature reserve on the Black Isle. Loads of birds about and I had a good peer down the telescope until Jan complained it was too cold withe window open. Yes I know I could have gone outside thank you.

Back to Udale Bay on Sunday morning. Two ospreys kindly ate their breakfast on poles right in front of us. We're getting a bit osprey blase after 3 successive weekends of good sightings.

Around Inverness

2009-05-10T14:29:00.004Z

A nice visit from Sarah BJ and Ken.

Plenty of wining and dining, trips out to restaurants, and an excellent grand finale at the opera.

Lazy day on Friday while Jan rested after a night shift at the hospice. Included a lunchtime talk by the oddly titled vice-county recorder of Westnessshire who records plant sitings. Good to see that one of my favorite flowers: Grass of Parnassus; is rated by him too.

Off in the van to nearby Loch Duntilchaig for Friday evening. Magnificent crab dish by Mrs H to accompany a nice Rioja.

Saturday: a windswept ride with CTC mates across South Loch Ness and the Findhorn valley. Met up with Jan at Grantown while the others pedalled on back to Inverness. Parked up for the night beside lovely Lochindorb. It's a tough life.

Amazing Osprey sighting at the loch. Four ospreys in the sky together! Now that is unusual. Lots of little Common Sandpipers about too.

Sunday: Nice little orienteering event near Cawdor. Only did the light green course but enjoyed that. Then scampered back home so that the head gardener could get maximum time in the sun doing gardening. Note our different gardening roles indicated in the pix.