Eddie’s Blog

On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week I undertook a 100km cycle trip around the Black Isle in Easter Ross with Kate. The route was mostly on quiet country roads, some of which formed part of NCN 1. We started at Inverness train station and our route on the first day took us over the Kessock Bridge, past the Tore roundabout and along the north part of the Black Isle through Culbokie (with great views of the Cromarty Firth and Ben Wyvis) to finish in Cromarty where we camped. On the second day our route took us back along the southern part of the Black Isle, past the high point of the Eathie Hill transmitter, through the Tore roundabout again and then back along the Beauly Firth coast, to return to Inverness via the Kessock Bridge again.

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At Losgaintir beach, Harris

Two weeks ago, Lesley and I went on a trip to the Western Isles, travelling the entire length of the Islands from north to south.

Highlights of the trip included the standing stones at Calanais on Lewis, eating at the Gallan Head restaurant (a converted building on an ex-RAF base), the mountains and beaches of Harris (Losgaintir beach looking like it should be in the Bahamas or the Caribbean, although definitely not as warm!), staying on the remote island of Baleshare off North Uist, the desolate panoramic view of Benbecula and South Uist from the radar station on the summit of Ruabhal (used for the nearby missile range), walking in the flat machair landscape of the west coast of South Uist, sampling the nightlife of Castlebay on Barra (curry and pubs full of drunk young people) & walking on Vatersay.

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Martin, Kate & I on the summit of Snowdon

Last week I travelled to Wales for a short hillwalking holiday in Snowdonia. On Friday I walked up Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales at a height of 1085m (and the highest mountain in the British Isles outside Scotland) with a couple of friends, Kate and Martin.

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At Siccar Point

On Sunday Lesley and I travelled to Siccar Point, on the coast to the east of Edinburgh, not far from the border with England in the Scottish Borders region.

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Camusdarach Beach, Morar

A couple of weekends ago Lesley and I travelled to Arisaig, on the west coast. On the way there we stopped at a couple of places associated with Bonnie Prince Charlie - Glenfinnan and the site on the Sound of Arisaig where he embarked from mainland Scotland after the battle of Culloden.

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On top of the Empire State Building

A week ago Lesley and I were in New York for a 6-day holiday. We did all the usual tourist things, like visiting the Empire State Building (sensational views from the observatory at the top on a perfectly clear early morning), and we did lots of other things like walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, visit Grand Central station, take a ferry past the Statue of Liberty to Staten Island, walk in Central Park, shop in Macy’s and Tiffany’s and have a wander around Times Square.

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Last week Lesley and I went on holiday to Andalucia in Spain. We rented attico rooms in a villa in the mountains north of Málaga, near Lake Viñuela. The location of the villa was fantastic, perched on a ridge with amazing views of the surrounding mountains (particularly 2066m La Maroma). We spent most of the time relaxing, swimming in the pool, sunbathing, and eating and drinking outside under the stars.

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Assynt

The weekend before last, Lesley and I travelled to the north-west of Scotland. We spent the first night in Plockton, and I had excellent langoustines and venison pie for dinner in the Plockton Inn. The next day we drove up to Assynt and went for short walks near Clachtoll and Achmelvich beach. The second night of the trip we stayed in Lochinver which is a working fishing village but is also a tourist destination set in the incredible scenery of Assynt - the domed peak of Suilven was visible from our B&B room window (as was the International Space Station later in the evening!). We had more great food for dinner in the Lochinver Larder (the pies are recommended by Michael Winner but that shouldn’t put anyone off).

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Last weekend Lesley and I went to Berlin for a short trip. Neither of us had been there before so it was a first for both of us. The weather was pretty bad, with lots of snow and later rain, so walking about the streets looking at the sights wasn’t as much fun as it could have been, but this was February.

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Last week I went to Morocco to spend 3 days in the Atlas Mountains, on a tour organised by Epic Morocco. My aim was to get to the 4167m summit of Jbel Toubkal, the highest peak in North Africa, which would have been the highest I’d ever been, but I didn’t make it.

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