After checking out this morning I walked down to the Loch side and shot this using the panorama function on the Apple camera app.
I headed off after this to drive from Kenmore to Aviemore – the road conditions were interesting, there was a car that skidded off into a ditch, and it snowed hard, until I was almost at the A9 where things became a lot easier.
Loch Tay and Kenmore Read More »
Following a phone call from the site warden at Dingwall Campsite we were up early at Aviemore, cleaned and packed up and got to Dingwall Campsite before 10am. It is 11.30am, sunny, and the tent is up and sorted out.
I have got the Crusader Stove on to make tea, updating the blog and listening to the noise from the football stadium!
The reason for getting here early and the noise is that Ross County Football Club is now in the Scottish Premier League and is playing Celtic at home today – this means road closures around the stadium which shares the road with the campsite. We were early but I was still challenged by two stewards (nicely) before I got to the site. With the Celtic fans arriving early the road is now closed. Hence the phone call from the warden to advise us to get here early or later.
As you can see from the Memory Map screen shot it is close – the marker is very accurate for where I am sitting writing this.
We walked into Aviemore to get some presents and walked out along the steam railway to look at the trains.
The rain and clouds make for some good views across to the mountains.
With today being the last day of the Olympics Jeremy and I want to watch some of the last events on the BBC – including Mountain Biking in Essex! The event is being held near Canvey Island, a place not know for high ground – however the Olympic organisers have built a spectacular course with rock imported from Derbyshire. (I know South Essex very well as I come from there.)
(The race has just finished and it was really exciting.)
So today, having watched the fencing in the Women’s Modern Pentathlon we went for a walk through the woods that surround Aviemore.
click on the above image for a larger version
Lunch
We found some suitable rocks to sit on for lunch.
Jeremy had packed a new solid fuel stove, his Mother had bought for him – when I was at school I had a similar army surplus stove. We set the stove up on a board, to protect the grass and to give it a stable base. The pot stands were locked at an angle because we were going to use a Crusader mug on it.
Lunch was instant chicken noodles and it took two fuel tablets to boil the 600ml of water. I had a hot drink so that was another tablet. Some care has to be taken when lighting the tablets as you have to hold the gas lighter on them for several seconds and the angle of the lighter has to be just so or you can burn your fingers – I did!
The burning tablets give off some fumes (which Jeremy did not expect that) but they are OK to use in the open air. They also soot up the bottom of the pot – so some care has to be taken when the pot is put down – rubbing the pot bottom on the grass can clean most of this off.
Jeremy is very pleased with this stove – he still has a sealed pack of twelve fuel tablets as he used some of mine – and he is packing this as a lunch/second stove for when he is walking.
Early morning tea sitting on the patio.
Scandinavian Village, Aviemore Read More »
With the weather being so good we stopped off at Ruthven Barracks on the way to Aviemore. There was a major restoration project going on at the site – so I could not get a good photo of the whole.building so I concentrated on details.
The barracks were built on a prominent, natural hillock – so there are great views.
click on the above image for a larger version
