The Isle of Skye

Last Wednesday I set off for a 6-night adventure on the Isle of Skye with Steve & Rich. We flew from Heathrow into Inverness then picked up a hire car for the 2 & a half hour drive to the island, stopping at Loch Ness to say hi to 'Nessie' on the way...
The plan for the first day was a 'gentle stroll' to Loch Coir' a' Ghrunnda. Once we got there however, there was a Munro (Scottish hill over 3000ft) just there beckoning us up... Hence we knocked off Sgurr Dubh Mor & our nice easy 'introduction' to Skye turned into an 8-hour walking day! A photo op on the way to the summit...The view looking back down on Loch Coir' a' GhrunndaOur first Munro on Skye! Steve & I on the summit of Sgurr Dubh MorThere was no-one else around to take a summit shot of the 3 of us so we had a lot of fun playing around with the self-timers on our cameras...

The next day was also a big walking day. Our target was Sgurr nan Gillean which Trail magazine rates as one of the top 10 Munros to climb. It was a magic day out; a lovely scenic walk-in, bit of a slog up some scree slopes & over some boulder fields, then a grade-2 scramble to the top. Rich carried on & knocked another one off as well, while Steve & I went to the pub (where the path conveniently starts from) & got a few pints in while we waited for him. A hearty pub meal finished off one of my best days in the hills...Heading for the hills! This was about as scenic as a walk-in gets... Our peak is the one on the left.What a day! (for Scotland...) and what a magnificant mountain range!!!Stopping for a breather & taking in the view...Then onwards & upwards...

Munro number 2! The summit of Sgurr nan Gillean

The next day was a rest day, which was a good thing considering we didn't finish our nightly game of poker till after 2am! We had a nice sleep-in, a leisurely brunch, then caught the ferry over to the picturesque Loch Coruisk for a picnic complete with bottle of bubbly...

On the Sunday it was back to the hills. For the guys that was... I went half-way up with them to Loch Coire Lagan where I set up base with my ipod & puzzle book & chilled out for a few hours while the boys knocked off another 2 Munros, one of which was Sgurr Alasdair, the highest in the Cuillin range. These 2 hills involved a couple of pretty horrendous steep scree slopes to negotiate, which I decided my poor legs weren't quite up to... Looking down on Loch Coire Lagan, I'm down there somewhere lounging by the Loch's shore... A huge hunk of rock! You can see the way up via the scree slope on the far right. Somehow I didn't quite fancy it...

Steve coming down the second scree slope. You can just make him out as a speck in the middle of the photo. It was a heck of a lot faster coming down than it was to go up!

Our last day on the island we just chilled out & did the tourist thing a bit. We visited Portree which is the capital town, & suprisingly busy with loads of coach tours. The following day it was a drive back to Inverness & then a plane back home. In our absence England had developed a heatwave & it was 35 degrees or so on our return!

The last few days have been really chilled, I've spent most of the time lying in the garden reading a book & enjoying the sunshine! Pre-season training for rugby has started so that was hard work last night in the heat. I pick Will up from the airport on saturday, he is back from his 2-week trip to Canada & the Sates so I'm really looking forward to seeing him. Then on Wednesday I'm off on my 4-week trip to Slovenia/Croatia etc, but I'll write another post before then with my plans, once I actually finalise them in the next few days!

Holiday Time!

Gidday,

Well, once again it is my favourite time to be a teacher... I've got 9 weeks stretching in front of me which is a lovely feeling.

The last couple of weeks have just flown by, Wednesday before last we had our touch rugby final. We had comfortably won the semi-final 13-3, & managed to take out the final 5-1. Every Wednesday after our match we tend to have a few drinks to toast our victories (we finished the season undefeated!) but that Wednesday was rather a big one... We went back to Rich's place to celebrate & the last people left at 4am!!! Needless to say, there were a few rather tired members of staff at our 8:40am chapel the next morning... Below are a few pics from the night...



So, that's touch over for another season. Our team, the 'Tryhards' is made up entirely of staff from school who all live on site, so it makes the post-match functions rather easy to organise... I'll miss our Wednesday night sessions, but my liver will probably thank me for it...

This weekend just been I spent on Dartmoor. We left Saturday morning & returned Tuesday night. We took a group of just under 30 students who were doing their silver & gold assessment expeditions for their Duke of Edinburgh award. Because it was their assessment us staff didn't have a huge amount to do, just a bit of check-pointing during the day. It was bit of an end of an era in a way, because it was Rich's last trip as he & his family are returning to NZ in September, & it was also the last expedition for Anne & Robin who have run the D of E for the last however many years at Bearwood, but have finally decided to give it up. I've had some great trips away with those guys over the last 3 years. This was a nice way to go out... The first night we stayed at a youth hostel in Okehampton. We enjoyed a bottle of wine with dinner, then managed to knock back a bottle of pimms & half a bottle of single-malt scotch whiskey between the 4 of us! The next 2 nights we camped at Princetown. The kids were camping at various farms in the area, but the staff basically camped in a field right next to a pub! Yes, very convenient I know... Once we had been around the various campsites & checked that all the groups of kids had actually made it after their day of walking, we were free to enjoy the rest of the evening...

The best thing about this trip was that we returned Tuesday night, then Wednesday was the last day of school! The staff farewell for Rich was that night, Scottie, our head of department had put together a powerpoint presentation of photos from the last 3 years. Last night was a BBQ at Robin's place to thank all the people who have helped out with D of E over the last few years.

So far I have enjoyed my first 2 days of holiday. The nicest thing has been not having to get out of bed in the morning! Today I drove Will to Heathrow airport, he is away in the States & Canada for the next 2 weeks, he has conferences in Seattle & Vancouver. Saturday is a big leaving party at Rich's place, then on Wednesday I'm off to the Isle of Skye in Scotland for 6 nights with Rich & Steve. We've got a little 4-bed bunkhouse booked & are planning on spending most days walking. The Cuillin range is meant to be some of the best walking in the whole of the UK & the scenery is meant to be stunning. No doubt lots of pics will appear on this blog in due course...

Well, I'd better wrap this up here as it has turned into bit of an epic... More on my plans for the rest of the holiday later... I hope everyone is well wherever in the world you are, & please please PLEASE keep in touch, it is always lovely to hear from you, no matter how exciting (or not) you think your news is...