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Our new adventure!

And so our new adventure is almost here... cycling from Aberdeen to Musselburgh! The adventure starts on Saturday morning covering about 30 miles per day finishing on Wednesday in Muss! 

Hoping the ankle holds out...ibuprofen milkshakes coming up!!

Will keep you posted as to our progress!

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The next adventure begins!

Ok, so I have the bug! Now that the aches and pains are gone, I am itching to get going on the walking trail!

With the upcoming summer holidays I need to get out and about on the walking trail. This time though its for fun- not charity! I'm doing the Cateran Trail; Blair, bridge of cally, kirkMichael, glenshee, glenisla, Alyth, Blair! 5 day walk! Got the tent, rucksack and am all set!!

Woop woop! Here I go again!!

WHW accommodation highs and lows

For those who are about to embark on the way using budget accommodation we've decided to give you our favourites- Lesley first- from best to worst. In all honesty, none of the were horrendous, every night we were dry and mostly warm. Let's be even more honest- we were so exhausted every night that I think we could have slept anywhere!!

Lesley's favourites
1. Rowardenan youth hostel: stunning building, beautiful location, comfortable beds, evening meal and Fab breakfast available.
2. Tyndrum By The Way camping cabin: exceptionally clean, very friendly and welcoming owners, proper beds, peaceful and quiet.
3. Hobbits at Blackwater hostel: brand new, equipped with tv, fridge, microwave in each hobbit. A bit too small.
4. Bank street lodge Fort William: warm welcome and end of walk both exhausted!
5. Bridge of Orchy Hotel Bunkhouse: clean and fresh, beds a bit narrow.
6. Easter Drumquhassie farm wigwam, Drymen: smelly, cold, unfriendly welcome inadequate cooking/kitchen facilities.
7. Bein Glas wigwams, Inverarnan: mattress on floor, inadequate heater. On the plus side great showers, Fab pub and food on site.

Fiona's favourites
1. Hobbit at Blackwater hostel: brand new, very well equipped, cosy, Callum was extremely welcoming, lovely toilets and showers.
2. Bank Street Lodge Fort William: great welcome, fantastic shower, very well equipped kitchen, Italian restaurant below!
3. Bridge of Orchy hotel Bunkhouse: clean, comfortable beds, lovely kitchen/common room area albeit a bit small.
4. Tyndrum By The Way: proper beds, lovely helpful owners, right on the way, excellent drying room!
5. Rowardenan youth hostel: this Would have been number 1 for all the reasons Lesley said, however a good night sleep is essential- doors banging till 11.30 then again at 6am is not conducive to a good night! Ear plugs Would have made it perfect.
6. Bein Glas farm wigwams: dry, clean, not smelly! Great food!
7. Easter Drumquhassie wigwams: SMELLY!

Hope this helps with your planning!!

The days after the week that was! Some advice for your WHW adventure

And so we are back in Musselburgh and have spent most of the day relaxing in the sun- We clearly haven't had enough fresh air this week!! Our relaxation did however have a couple of interruptions to the hospital at Haddington to get Lesley's feet seen to! We were quite concerned as her left foot is all puffed up and sore and we were fearful of stress fractures; fear not all is well! She and the nurse swapped WHW war wound stories!

So now that is all ok we thought we'd share some simple advice for those of you hoping to undertake the WHW.
1. Wear well broken in walking BOOTS (trail shoes will see you landing up at casualty!!)
2. If you feel your boots rubbing, put zinc oxide tape (see point 3) on the parts before a blister begins.
3. Get at least one roll of zinc oxide tape; we got ours on ebay for £1.50 ish or talk nicely to a doctor friend for some! Seriously, I put it on any parts which felt a bit nippy (including thumbs - walking pole blisters!!) and had no blisters at all.
4. Two walking poles; these saved us as you can really dig in with them on the up hills and save your legs a bit.
5. Make sure you leave Milngavie with enough money to do you till you get to Kinlochleven. There are cash machines in Tyndrum but they charge for using them.
6. Prepare for all weather types en route!
7. Take PLENTY of painkillers
8. If you want a phone signal get a Vodafone sim as it seems to be the only network which works!
9. Forget taking a book or travel scrabble; by the time you have food, a couple of pints and read the guide book (believe it when it says challenging!!) for the next day you will just want to sleep!
10. Don't forget to look up at the view as you walk and above all enjoy the experience - it really is marvellous!!

Day seven: Kinlochleven to Fort William the final hurdle

We did it!! We did it! WE DID IT!!! :-D

The day didn't perhaps begin as well as could have been hoped... A disturbed night is not conducive to chirpiness in the morning!

I set to making our gourmet breakfast of noodles, coffee and cereal bars!

After the obligatory visit to the co-op for supplies for the day we set off. The initial part of the walk climbed steeply out of Kinlochleven through the woods. To be honest, although not sure if it was us this morning or not, but tis climb was much more taxing than the devil's staircase yesterday!

Upon reaching the top we continued along the contour lines of the land along military paths. We continued along here for easily 5 hours passing some interesting ruins along the way, barking back to a day when a living was made through crofting pre the clearances. The second set of ruins at Lairigmor proved to be a suitable spot for lunch- after which the military road continued!

When we got to Lundvarna the way was closed off due to The work of the forestry commission, however, according to Jane and Steve (a couple we met who were walking from john o'groats to lands end) informed us that they had taken the normal way through Nevis glen and there was no problem. However we decided to take the diversion down a tarred road to Fort William- 4.5 miles- brilliant! Least we thought so! It has to be the longest 4.5 miles EVER! Lesley's feet completely packed in and we had to swap boots!

Eventually we reached the finish point amid much emotion and had our photos taken etc! We were completely overcome that we did it- so much so we had to have a pint!

Although we've had high points and low points we are overwhelmed that we jave done it and that we have seen so many stunning sights along the way.

So what to do now I wonder? Think I'll leave Ben Nevis for another day!

Day six: Kingshouse to Kinlochleven

No rain today!! Such a novelty! Ok, a few drizzle spells but that is nothing compared to yesterday!
We were met at Kingshouse by a few known faces who were so pleased to see us as Keith and Mark had been worried about us as they hadn't seen us in the rain yesterday! They had seemingly been asking the folks in the pub last night if they had seen us- bless! Again the camaraderie is brilliant! We did also see a herd of deer who had come down from the hills to munch on campers scraps!
The scenery up Glencoe really is stunning! The path follows the line os the A82 and is dominated by the omnipresent Buchaille Etive Mor- the colours of it changed continuously as the weather frequently changed.
After what seemed like hardly any time we began our ascent of the Devil's Staircase- with some trepidation I hasten to add! However it was nowhere near as bad as I anticipated! In fact we both agreed that climbing Ben Lomond was more taxing! The views as we rose were truly breathtaking!! The summit called for the obligatory photos beside the cairn (photos to be added when I get home!!).
And so began our descent along the at times very uneven military path. After an hour or so we saw Kinlochleven nestling in the valley far below where we stood- almost like a village in the alps and the snow dotted peaks were resplendent in the sun. Yet another false sense or security- we spent the next two hours descending into the village without apparently getting any closer! Not to mention the fact the the downhill was killing my knees and almost finished off Lesley's feet completely!
We arrived at our destination in good time and checked into our micro lodge- kettle, microwave, fridge, tv and beds in it!! Such luxury!
We are now tucked up in bed having been to The Tailrace pub for drinks and dinner. Tonight we shared a table with Bruce and Claire from Aberdeen who upon hearing we were doing the walk for charity gave us a donation! Bless them!
Thanks guys, we really appreciate it!