Fietsspel

Check fietspel op de Fietsplannen blog over het fietspel (a la Holland Sport) tijdens de J-Spring Java conferentie gisteren.

Fietsen in de Belgische Kempen

Een kort verhaaltje over een fietstochtje in de Belgische Kempen afgelopen zaterdag op de Fietplannen blog: Belgische Kempen.

Hiking in Scotland

Me, Ray Nay, Elvis, and The Dude enjoyed a little week in bonnie old Scotland.

Ray Nay drove up to Edinburgh airport to pick the three of us up after which we merrily made our way north towards Aviemore. Having set up our tents we walked into town to join the Scottish boys who were celebrating Jim's stagger. The wooden shoes and matching Bavaria leeuwenhose for Jim to wear were much appreciated.

On Sunday Keith joined the four of us and we drove as far as the road would take us towards Glen Affric, west of Loch Ness, stopping at the Urquhart castle on the way over (no rainbow this time). After packing up we walked a couple of miles to our first camping spot near the glen. A campfire was lit, dinner was cooked (using my Promixus fuel burner), whisky was drunk and marshmallows were burned.

The next day we hiked around Glen Affric and made a little detour to the remote Glen Affric Hostel were we had a nice cuppa (thank you warden) and some food. The night we camped on the other side of the glen. Waking up in the rain the next day we walked back to our cars which we had parked at the gatekeepers lodge.



Keith then headed back home and Team Oranj decided to head up west to the Isle of Skye. We booked ourselves in a local hotel (with 'lively' bar) in the town of Portree. The next day it was still raining (quite a voluminous drizzle in fact) so we did a little tour around the island and stopped by at the Talisker distillery for a guided tour and a wee dram. We also bought Rene an 18-year old. Whisky. We drove up to Elgol ('Smeagol') but since it was raining badly (the local cafe owner did not think it too bad: "You can still see the shoreline.") we drove back and booked into a B&B in Broadford. Luckily enough there was another traditional old Scottish pub across the road and tonight was pub-quiz night. Team "The Wookies (from The Netherlands)" alas did not perform too well but made a lasting impression anyway.



The next day the weather had cleared up and we drove back to Smeagol where we took a boat trip towars Loch Coruisk, "possibly the most beautiful place in the United Kingdom" or something according to the Lonley Planet. It was very beautiful indeed but due to the speed of Ray Nay's Hanwags we had little time to enjoy the scenery. After some skirmish on Stepping Stones, an adventure on the Bad Step and a knee-deep river crossing we made it back to Smeagol, some slightly more exhausted than others.



After this hiking adventure we drove back to the mainland and made camp at Loch Garry. Here the midges did come out to play but when we woke up they had already packed their bags so it wasn't too bad. We then made our way back to Edinburgh where Ray Nay left us on Saturday morning to drive back down to his wife and kids in England. The three of us enjoyed a full weekend in this nice city with a lot of walking, a couple of pints, a jazz and a rock music bar, a nice B&B lady who drove us around, a game of Frank's Zoo and a very nice local pub with funny old blokes and Scooby Doo on a binge.

I have uploaded my photos to Flickr and have now also placed them on the map:


Also check out The Dudes photos of this enjoyable trip.

At the end of the day the lesson we learned most during this trip is the following:

The Wookie, The Wookie, The Wookie is a Gimp.