Author Topic: Henry is off the lead!  (Read 8809 times)

Andre Jute

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Re: Henry is off the lead!
« Reply #15 on: April 04, 2023, 09:22:36 am »
You really have a knack with a camera, Ian. That moonlight photo needs only one thing to be absolutely perfect, and that's soundtrack of a single extended, falling note played on a saxophone.

That church, with enough history behind it to afford the cushions missing from the hard seats, tells you everything you want to know about Scottish Protestantism, a subtle social comment!

PS. When I lived in Melbourne, my builder's dog accompanied him everywhere. Travelling into the interior, I told people in the local bar of a small country town, to huge laughter, that I saw a lot of mekelpies. It turned out that I'd misunderstood my builder saying "Me Kelpie." Scottish relevance: A kelpie, or water kelpie (Scottish Gaelic: Each-Uisge), is a shape-shifting malevolent spirit living in lochs and rivers in Scottish folklore. It can be a beautiful woman or a horse capable of turning its hooves when it takes on human form. Whatever form it takes on, it is made of seaweed, so if you see one, don't panic, just say firmly, "From kelp you came, and to kelp you will return." If that doesn't work, save Henry first so you can outpace the spirit, and return in daylight for the rest of your gear. Don't eat any kelp though: it won't protect you, just make you unable to live with yourself in a small tent.

PH

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Re: Henry is off the lead!
« Reply #16 on: April 04, 2023, 10:19:04 am »
Enjoying your reports and photos Ian, I've done a fair bit of that route, though I haven't covered as much of it in one go as you're doing.  There's parts I'm hoping to return to some day, that's unusual for me, there's so much on my wish list I don't often consider repeats!  Did you spend a night on Iona? I was there in high season and it was busy during the day, maybe it's less so in March, thankfully the majority of the tourists left early evening, to return to their cars left on Mull, it completely transformed and we had the beaches to ourselves..


I'm wishing I hadn't made the "Bailed out" comment, it was intended as humour, playing on the idea that it implied failure and... Well they say if a joke needs explaining it wasn't funny to start with... sorry :-[

in4

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Re: Henry is off the lead!
« Reply #17 on: April 04, 2023, 12:09:42 pm »
Lovely photo from Iona. It’s a special place for many and for many reasons. Cape Reinga NZ is another of my thin veil places.
No apologies necessary. Comment as you wish. I’ve just remembered that brilliant bit of cricket humour from the late Brian Johnson and I think Jonathan Agnew. 😂

Mike Ayling

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Re: Henry is off the lead!
« Reply #18 on: April 04, 2023, 10:25:15 pm »
Definition of bail up bail up verb to call someone to halt, particularly when the intention is to rob. Usually used in reference to Australian bushrangers.

bail out

DEFINITION


        withdraw from an obligation or commitment:
        "she felt ready to bail out of the corporate rat race"


in4

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Re: Henry is off the lead!
« Reply #19 on: April 06, 2023, 10:51:45 pm »
After leaving my wild camp I cycled down the B8035 towards Salen. I wanted to avoid the hill back to Craignure that was great fun on the way down but a heartbreaker on the way up. The B road was a wonderful, scenic ride. It emerges in front of ‘The Coffee Pot’ Fabulous, cakes, pastries, coffee. All prepared and served by a lovely team. Coincidentally I met up again with another traveller, in a VW RV/Campervan. A lovely, lovely lady. As complete strangers we sure talked the hind leg of the proverbial donkey. It would be inappropriate to share much. Suffice to say that treasuring the time we have is a good thing to do.
Anyway, pulpit moment over I camped overnight in Tobermory and took the ferry to Kilchoan.
The ride up to Ardnamurchan Lighthouse was wind assisted. I took a detour on the return leg and went to Sanna beach, via a challenging footpath. Yuk!
The return to Kilchoan campsite was wind-hindered and hard, hard work. Henry knew I was channeling ‘angle grinder’ so behaved impeccably lol.

Danneaux

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Re: Henry is off the lead!
« Reply #20 on: April 07, 2023, 01:31:07 am »
Quote
...I met up again with another traveller, in a VW RV/Campervan. A lovely, lovely lady. As complete strangers we sure talked the hind leg of the proverbial donkey.
Such moments make for the memories of a lifetime and add so much to a tour; really glad you had this "moment", Ian.

All good wishes,

Dan.

PH

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Re: Henry is off the lead!
« Reply #21 on: April 07, 2023, 09:15:20 am »
More excellent stuff Ian, makes me eager to get back, though it's unlikely to be this year.
Was the road from Salen to Kilchoan challenging?  I've ridden it in the opposite direction, with a fantastic downhill on straight road where you can really let the bike go!  Gorgeous scenery, but I remember being grateful I didn't have to ride it in the opposite direction!
Is the last photo Sanna?  Looks magnificent.  It was in my plans after an E to W ending in Ardnamurchan, ran out of time, with ferries and trains booked, and settled for Portuairk, though that also involved some challenging footpath. 
Where next?  You're covering so much country, it's hard to envisage the plan, if there is one.

Andre Jute

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Re: Henry is off the lead!
« Reply #22 on: April 07, 2023, 11:29:18 am »
As the best meals are the ones someone else cooks, so the best photograph is the one at the end of Ian's "challenging footpath". That's a rough landscape!

And that symbolic anchor across the water from a typical North European small town is stunningly apt, just what is missing from most photographs of North European towns over water, a reminder of where the wealth for those impressive houses came from.

Thank you so much for sharing, Ian. "Pulpit moment"!

Moronic

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Re: Henry is off the lead!
« Reply #23 on: April 07, 2023, 01:46:54 pm »
Love the penultimate shot, with the tent in it. Leaves me very keen to get back out there.

What tent is that, btw? Looks a bit like a Hilleberg Nallo. Certainly seems to pitch nicely.

I've always thought that the expression bale out came from WW2 airmen's term for abandoing the plane and trusting to a parachute. Hence to bale out is to abandon something.
Bongs For Steve: a lyrical novel about smoking and friendship. https://www.amazon.com.au/Bongs-Steve-I-J-Baker-ebook/dp/B0B2BRTKM2

in4

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Re: Henry is off the lead!
« Reply #24 on: April 08, 2023, 09:17:46 am »
Thanks for all the comments everyone.
Yes, Sanna beach. I wanted to wild camp there but it’s a Crofting place so it was back to Kilchoan for the night.

The tent is a ME Dragonfly 2xt. It’s quite old now and around 2.5kg. It’s got a very useful extension for putting my panniers in. It’s not the quickest to put up, is a bit awkward to enter and exit and can collect water where the two long poles cross each other. All that said, it is very robust and has stood up well to some quite high winds in both Eire and UK.
A replacement is under consideration but there’s a lot of choice out there atm.

in4

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Re: Henry is off the lead!
« Reply #25 on: April 11, 2023, 08:02:00 pm »
So, for brevity’s sake:
Kilchoan to Mallaig. Mostly wet
Mallaig Ferry to Armadale, Isle of Skye.
Rode up east coast of Skye, bit meh tbh.
Crossed the bridge to Kyle of Lochalsh. Wonderful and sunny.
Caught train from Kyle - Dingwall- Thurso. Brilliant scenery and a rest for my pins.
Thurso/Scrabster Ferry to Stromness/Orkney.
Clockwise ride around mainland. Wind not playing mcball!
Visited Scara Brae ancient settlement site. Fantastic.
Took Ferry to Rousey for a quick loop. Fail!
Wind was dreadful. Had to walk. Missed the last ferry. Overnighted in the Heritage centre (mcbrilliant)
07.45 Ferry to Tingwall then Kirkwall for a major breakfast.
Scrabster Ferry to Thurso and I’m now in Betty Hill. Heading  west along part of the so called NC500.

Photos: Old Man of Hoy, Scara Brae, St Magnus, Kirkwall, Betty Hill beach.

PH

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Re: Henry is off the lead!
« Reply #26 on: April 11, 2023, 09:18:43 pm »
Wow, you really are on a Scottish Grand Tour.  I think you've pretty much covered all the areas I've toured in Scotland, and a few I haven't, but I've done it over a twenty year period and eight tours!
I don't think I've met anyone who's been to Orkney when it wasn't windy, though I'm told it happens occasionally. Just as well there's plenty to see and do, we spent ten days, poor weather meant some of the planned islands were unreachable, we didn't ride anymore than we had too and still enjoyed it.

Andre Jute

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Re: Henry is off the lead!
« Reply #27 on: April 11, 2023, 10:33:09 pm »
Wow, you really are on a Scottish Grand Tour.

+1

John Saxby

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Re: Henry is off the lead!
« Reply #28 on: April 11, 2023, 10:57:47 pm »
And another +1 👍

On Orkney weather:  Many of the factors of the Hudson's Bay Company were Orkney Islanders.  Not sure the weather was much better, but they made huge contributions to Canadian history. John Rae was probably the most famous, but he was not alone.

Farley Mowat wrote an intriguing book, The Far-farers, an examination of unresolved questions from his research for Westviking. If you're taken by the Orkneys, you might enjoy the book: it was triggered when Mowat looked at an up-ended boat on an Orkney beach. The pointed oval matched the outline of a low stone wall he'd seen on the coast of Labrador, and which he'd been unable to explain. The Orkney boat, he reckoned, was the roof of a winter shelter. (!!) (Maybe if you were used to Orkney weather, it would've seemed a reasonable thing to do.) The Far-farers is a mix of speculation (conveniently italicised in the text) and evidence of early Northern-European settlement in northeastern Canada.

(No bikes in it, mind -- and even nowadays, getting to the coast of Labrador by bike is an arduous business, I'm told.)

Matt2matt2002

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Re: Henry is off the lead!
« Reply #29 on: April 11, 2023, 11:37:35 pm »
Great pictures of Orkney.
I was there X2 last year .

Are you planning on passing through Aberdeen?

Best  Matt
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