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A walking tour of the sites of the old curling ponds of southern Edinburgh. Only one had any proper visible physical evidence of its existence.
Or "Boots, Boobs and Brose" as Kim wanted to call it. I had the two eastern-most Mamores, Sgurr Eilde Mor and Binnein Beag, still to bag in order to complete this set, so we decided to try an evening walk in and high camp, setting up the hillwalk for the following morning. It was all a bit of an experiment in carrying heavy packs as we'd never wild camped before - always camping fairly close to the car or the microlight in the past which of course isn't really wild camping at all. Anyway, we had chilly air and a stiff wind on top but offset by great under foot conditions and visibility, giving us a super outing in the hills. The photos are all just mobile snaps because I'd decided to save weight by not taking a proper camera. That was a mistake, in hindsight. A wee, experimental video of the trip: youtu.be/Ba4HrQjf66g
Ironically, as we're in the middle of the architectural project of our lives, we toured with bases at Fort William and Aviemore. Both have so much in common - horrible architecture, big mountains, skiing, mountain biking, rail network connection and even a steam train each, and yet Aviemore just works and is a cool place to be, but Fort William is still so grim. Anyway, they set us up well for more tandeming and Munro bagging as we chased the weather, with reasonable success, once again. Three tandem rides, two camps, two swims, three Munro ticks, one actual tick, one wasp sting and a million midge bites - all the ingredients of another fine Scottish holiday.
Back on Mull again for the first time in three years for a superb bar meal at Glenforsa as usual. Home the next day via Bute for a wander and lunch.
Final, unbagged Munro in the Glenshee area. That's that section complete now, 30-odd years on.
Yet another lockdown week, but a more interesting one thanks to a decent dump snow lasting six days and stretching right down to the sea.
A sunny Autumn jolly to a very warm welcome at the Troutbeck strip near Blencathra in the Lake District for lunch.
A fine island wander, conveniently starting and ending at Bute airstrip and then a fun flight home round by Loch Lomond and down the middle of the Forth from Stirling to the bridges.
What a night on the beach. Got in and stayed in!! Bottle of unexpected fizz (thanks Martin). Mega-healthy BBQ. Then lying in the swimming gear in the sun until 9pm. Who needs Spain!!? @ Longniddry
One and only one photo of (or from) the gardens of St Germains House, taken each day of Coronavirus lockdown. This is simply to give me a wee project to think about - the personal challenge being to select only one on the good days and try to find something worthwhile on the dull days. Starting, March 28th, 2020.
Not quite our usual full-on sunshine skiing but we made the best of it, skiing Saint Gervais, Les Houches and Les Contamines. We were at least rewarded with one awesome sunshine day at Les Contamines. Finally, we witnessed the polishing of Saint Gervais town and the invasion of an army of machine-gun toting Gendarmes for the imminent arrival of President Macron to the town.
A colourful experience in Argentina we will never forget. Scooted around Buenos Aires either side of a fly-drive tour of the far north-west, exploring the Andes and the deserts from a base at Salta where we 'enjoyed' some crazy roads, beautiful scenery and stomach-churning food poisoning.
Exploring more nice places on the tandem from a base in Beaune in Burgundy with warm-down blasts in the catherdral town of Laon then from Brugge through Belgium and The Netherlands.
A morning round of Helvellyn on route to the sail maker in Rochdale.
EOSM club flyout to Troutbeck in the Lake District, blessed by beautiful smooth flying conditions, continuous sunshine and occasional tailwinds. Why can't they all be like that?
Amazing holiday to the western USA showing Kim and James around all my favourite American destinations.
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