Friday, 31 August 2012

The beautiful British countryside -Scotland


On this occasion I saw more of the British scenery than normal as I caught the train from London to Stonehaven.  Thanks to my dad booking me a first class seat this was a very lovely journey with the 6hrs 45mins flying past as I watched the scenery as we sped up the east coast.
I spent a few days in Stonehaven with mum and dad before heading off for a camping trip with a group of friends at Loch Morlich near Aviemore.  There was a gaggle of us with 9 adults and 10 children.  Luckily the children know each other well and happily entertained themselves while we adults put up tents and generally set up camp.  The game of choice was worms which involved taking over a tent, each child in a sleeping bag crawling over each other – hours of fun!
They were wise to stay in a tent as we adults were being eaten alive by the infamous Scottish midge.  Midgies were everywhere in their trade mark swarms around your head.  Sitting down became impossible as it was a still night with no wind to blow them away.  The only solution we found was to walk circuits of the campsite on the path the kids raced around on their bikes in the day. The resolution for the next day was to buy midgie nets – and here are Susan and Ruth sporting theirs.

The weather was beautiful so we managed a walk around the Loch on Saturday and a swim in it on Sunday.  The others all had wet suits but I braved it in my swimming costume – always cold at first I soon warmed up and thoroughly enjoyed the bracing waters.  Here are some of the views from the weekend.







Sunday afternoon and time came to pack up the tent for the journey back to Elgin.  Susan, Kate, Hannah, Eve and I were in the car while Pat cycled back to Rothes – not sure how many miles that is but definitely more than I would have been willing to do.  He needs the practice though as on 31st August he is off on a charity cycle ride from Elgin to the Hebrides and back.  Check out this link to find out what he and his cycle club, the Moray Wheelers,  are up to for Cancer Research UK.
hebrideanchallenge.wordpress.com
Back in Elgin I was rewarded for my tent putting up and taking down skills with a much dreamed of white pudding supper! 



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