To Hell and back

We decided to have a day out on the last day of the summer holidays. A trip to Troup Head to see the gannets (not that there were *that* many left), a barbecue on the beach and then a walk to Hell's Lum. We had first spotted Hell's Lum from the distance, when we visited Peace Camp. Today we decided to see if we could explore it.

Looking towards Pennan from the path to Fort Fiddes, and then looking across to Hell's Lum.

It was a steep scramble...

... but we managed it no problem.

Reaching the top here ...

... we could see a glimmer of light in the distance, and hear the sea.

The tunnel stretches right through the headland and is very impressive.

We scrambled our way back up, which wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. Seems rather ironic that, after all this scrambling up and down very steep slopes, I managed to badly sprain my ankle immediately on returning home - by running to get the washing in as it had started raining! So I haven't been out walking since, and going by the slow rate of progress with my ankle it'll be a good few weeks more before I'm walking anywhere much - let alone somewhere like Hell's Lum. 

Not really the best way to end the holidays - or to start a new job!

Canoe Slalom

Earlier this summer I went along to watch some of our club members competing in the canoe slalom competition at Seaton Park in Aberdeen. It looked good fun, maybe I'll even give it a go next year...

Determination...

 

This is the course that Tim Baillie started out on. He won a gold medal in this year's Olympics in the C2 class, along with his paddling partner Etienne Stott. Last term I was lucky enough to be able to arrange for Tim Baillie's parents to come along and talk to my class. (Thanks Chris & Ken, I really appreciate you giving up your precious time for us.)

We had a fantastic morning with them and the children gained a huge amount from it, as well as getting the chance to sit in slalom boats, try on a buoyancy aid and 'paddle' a chair with my paddle. We watched some exciting footage of Tim and Etienne racing and the children were really fired up about seeing them in the Olympics. I hope they all managed to see the historic moment when they won Britain's first ever canoe slalom Olympic gold medal!

And it all started here at Seaton Park, coached by Alan, who gives up lots of time to coach at our club too. I've learned a lot from him, and from other volunteer coaches and experienced paddlers like him. Thanks to you all!

A walk up Bennachie

I'm currently unable to do much (any!) walking due to a sprained ankle, so I'm taking the opportunity to think back to a few walks and days out over recent months.

A few months ago, just after I moved to Inverurie, I climbed Bennachie for the first time.

At first you're climbing through the forestry, which is lovely and is something I very much enjoyed after so many years in Orkney withough any forestry. The trees are a mixture of species which makes for lots of beautiful vistas everywhere you look.

As you get higher up, you reach the point where the view starts to open out.

Looking towards the top of the Mither Tap.

It looks very close from this point, but it's a steep path to follow...

The views are ever-changing...

As we got higher, the light changed...

 

... and the snow clouds started to appear around the side of the hill.

 

Before long, it was snowing!

Another ten minutes or so later, and we were back in the sunshine, albeit with a bitterly cold wind to accompany it.

 

There's the remains of a pictish fort surrounding the summit. The walls are just fantastic - and make a good place to shelter from the wind too!

 

We didn't stay on the top for long, as the wind was just too cold, just staying for long enough to enjoy the views.

As we descended we could see more snow showers passing by.

 

A great afternoon walk.

Peace, perfect peace

As the Olympic flame seemed to rather miss out the vast majority of the north and north east corners of Scotland (we must have been in the 5% of the population it didn't pass within 10 miles of - so I can only assume, given the number of people in this area, that it passed within 10 miles of everywhere else in the country...) it was surprising to find that we had a Cultural Olympiad event - Peace Camp. It was part of the London 2012 festival and was an art installation in coastal locations around the UK. There were 2 locations in Scotland - Valtos Beach in Lewis, and Fort Fiddes, Cullykhan Bay, between Pennan and Fraserburgh in Aberdeenshire.

We had no real idea what it was going to be like, but decided it sounded like it was defintely worth a look. The first night we had tickets for the event was cancelled - it was apparently because of high winds, but having been in the area (less than 2 miles away on both sides of the site) earlier that day and again early evening, I'm not sure why this was a problem. Apparently the tents all had to be taken down, but they were definitely still standing when we drove past at almost the exact time our tickets had been for! Anyway, we obtained more tickets for the next night, and headed off...

Views of the site from Pennan.

First close up view.

The views from the site itself were spectacular - from Hell's Lum along to Troup Head in one direction, and Pennan in the other.

The art installation itself was weirdly compelling - small rounded tents, lit internally, with a 'soundscape' being played on speakers inside the tents, so as you wandered round the site you could listen as well as look at the lighting and just enjoy the experience of being there. A gentle sunset added to our experience.

Afterwards we went down to Cullykhan Bay - the campers around their fire had a great view too.

A great evening.