Having paused finally to grab breath I realised that my last post was titled Winter Solstice and the Summer Solstice is fast approaching. I had been tweeting daily but never really consolidated it into a blog for those non-twits. It has been a fun packed year so far including
Lighting up Hadrian’s Wall with our team leader being the Top Gear Health and Safety man, with two Dutch folk dressed as Romans kidnapped by the BBC leaving us with a gas canister and two flares to light two sections of the wall – the gas canister stays burning for an hour and was set off at 1830 on the dot with adoring housewives in a circle around us, whilst we ran up and down when the helicopter approaches lighting the 5 minute burning flares.
Paddling my kayak out in a moderate sea out of Eyemouth beach to near Burnmouth and returning surfing into the harbour, surfing the waves with sea kayaks at Coldingham Bay capsizing in salty surf after a failing bongo slide, down the Tweed from West Ord to the lifeboat station after sunset taking tea at the castle near the Berwick railway bridge, and doing the Glasgow city centre to Falkirk wheel kayak marathon with a bust rudder and attacked by a swan twice (hit with its wing on the back of the head).
Paddled around the islands on Loch Lomond wild camping on Inchcailloch and given a steak sandwich from some camping Glaswegians, paddled over to wave at the local kayak club and headed onto the island of Inchconnachan where 50 wallabies are bouncing through the undergrowth (I saw one) and they are under threat from being culled by Luss Estates as they are competing with the rare capercaillie. A jet skier speeding down the Loch was arrested by a ranger rib with police on it leaving the jet skier with a fine and an inability to restart his machine – he drifted back to the shallows and dragged the machine ashore. The sound of wild weegies partying kept me awake most of the night. Breakfast was shared with 2 ducks and 12 ducklings who managed to peck my kayak as well. I paddled back to Balmaha the next day to be embraced by two Taiwanese women seeing someone who enjoys life in a kayak.
Walking was upped as we are scheduled to do the St Cuthberts Way – so it started out with baby steps with walks to the monument near Kirknewton, over to Kirk Yetholm to the Border pub, around Hethpool, up the Hen Hole to Auchope Cairns and then an unexpected solo 18 mile trail up Windy Gyle to Cheviot summit and back dropping down into the valley and spending hours after sunset jumping over a meandering and ever widening stream in the dark until reaching a farmhouse and road and hence my parked car. A coastal walk from south of Craster to Seahouses was a delight and was really a pub crawl with the Jolly Fisherman at Craster, Ship Inn at Low Newton By Sea and Olde Ship Hotel at Seahouses. I climbed up Conic Hill near Balmaha joining the thronging line of West Highland way walkers avoiding the midgie in May, went on to climb up the Pap of Glencoe having to abandon the final scramble due to failing light and returned with a climber and exhausted climber on a 12 hour traverse of Glencoe. Ali joined me for the Devil’s Staircase to Kinlochleven part of the West Highland Way watching the mountain bikers speed down the long descent. Hill walking also includes Castle Crag and Haystacks in the Lake District – my new Salomon boots making a big difference.
A cycle from Lempitlaw to Berwick along the cycle route was fun and I did cycle down the west bank of Ullswater and paddled back up the lake and up a river to my parked car. Ali and I are planning to do the Newcastle to Berwick 100 mile cycle over two days B&B’ing in Alnmouth.
Flying took the brunt of being busy but I managed to get my 3 landings and an overhead join in on a calm day doing 4 landings (one beng a double bounce) – our Orkney trip was cancelled with weather – weather has been a bit of a grouding force for me this year.
