Grantown on Spey

With a three day weekend lined up Kim and I planned a weekend in the Highlands. Fortunately the snow stopped and the road was cleared so the trip was all go. We left around 4 pm and the trip took 2 and ¼ hours. We just made it up the snow covered drive to Justin’s house and after minor troubles with the front gate we had arrived. Justin’s place was a nice getaway pad. Two bedrooms, nice interior and great views over the snow capped highlands. Unpacked, put a pizza in the oven and made chocolate chip biscuits, then settled in and watched the opening game of the six nations Wales V England. Game was a bit boring with England prevailing.
Saturday the day was clear and the sunshine even had some warmth. We set-off on a walk through some Larch forest next to the swollen river Spey. It was very quiet, apart from the odd dog walker and a pair of circling screeching hawks. Somehow we went off track and ended up on the wrong side of the golf course. I blamed Kim for her shocking navigation skills! We nipped back in to the Metropolis that is Grantown and went for Lunch at a cafe. Then we did the obligatory walk up and down the main street, which took about 10 mins. We ducked into a couple of boutiquey shops as well. Took a slow drive out to Kims Grandparents place which is the setting for the infamous stone-wigg “fishing week”, taking place EVERY August. I got quite excited when I saw a white weasel carrying a black mouse in the grandparents front Garden. As is tradition we then walked up the hill behind the house. The heather was thick and quite marshy in parts and I had to Piggy Back Kim for some stretches. We made to the Rocky out-crop and took some good photo’s. Back at the car we carried on further up the road. We drove over a bridge and some locals even stopped as and asked us if we were lost! Back at Justin’s house we caught the exciting end of the Italy Ireland game where Italy snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. We then watched and excellent game of Rugby, France v Scotland. France were victors, but Scotland were definitely not disgraced. Chicken Korma for Dinner with Chocolate chippy biscuits for dessert. We then watched a good movie about writing and basketball with Sean Connery.
Sunday, we had a great sleep in. Then we both went for a run, although not together. Kim refused to run with me. I ran for an hour up the main road it was quite icy and snowy in parts. We cleaned up after Breakfast and decided to make a slow departure back to Dundee. We stopped in at the Craggowen Adventure centre to get info for our next trip to Grantown. We took the ‘B’ roads through to Aviemore stopping at Loch Morlich. Then we cruised on more ‘B’ roads passed Loch Inch stopping several times to take a few snapshots. It was at this point that I discovered the heat shield had come away from around my exhaust pipe. It was making a bit of a noise when we were driving, so I just turned the radio up a little louder. It was a tad after 2 pm and our stomachs were both rumbling. We tried to get food at a hotel in Newtonmore, but the Kitchen had closed. We were starting to get dizzy with hunger so we burst into a local book store come cafe. A sweet old lady ran it, and she served up food to keep our wolves at the door. We carried on along the A9 to Bruar. A bit of a tourist hotspot, but because it was off-season it wasn’t so bad. We enjoyed Aero Hot chocolates before walking up the valley and checking out the impressive Bruar falls. Kim slept as we made our way back to Dundee. The end of a relaxing weekend, great to get away and get some fresh highland air into the old lungs!

Chirstmas - New Year 2010-11 Switzerland

Day 1: UK --> Switz
With recent heavy snow in Scotland I was understandably nervous about making it over to Switzerland for Christmas with Mum and Dad. And even though the weather was clear I did have some flight dramas and spent a ‘fun filled’ eight hours at Edinburgh airport. The gist of it was we missed our slot into Geneva because our plane was late and had to re-fuel, then the plane crew ran out of workable hours, so we had to find another crew. We eventually took off around 16:00. It was snowing in Geneva/Lausanne when I arrived, but the plane landed ok. Mum and Dad were at the airport arrival gate, so It was nice to see them when I walked through. Drove back to Lausanne, and I got hit with a barrage of questions. A lot of them were about Kim! Sat down to a light meal and had an early night.
Day 2: Christmas day!
No stockings this year :( I think I might be a bit old for those now. Talked to the family on phone / skype back in NZ and Aus. We normally go to church before we open presents but we didn't this year for some reason. I did quite well with presents this year... From Mum and Dad I got a Cashmere Green jersey / Snowboarding gloves / tripod for camera. Megan - A nice slim brown wallet and Gav - NZ T-shirt. In the afternoon we caught a bus up to the top of Lausanne and went for a walk through a park, we took photos and threw snowballs. Dad and I climbed an amazing 35 metre wooden tower (Sauvabelin) That was based on drawings by Leonardo da Vinci. We walked back down the hill through the main part of town, past the cathedral and home. I was confused by the signs on all the buses because they were all going to Joyeaux Noel! Then I realised, that that was Merry Chistmas in French. Late Christmas day I really started to feel crap "severe man flu", I lost my appetite (only had two mouthfuls of Mum's delightful Christmas dinner) and I went to bed at 19:30 with 5 layers on and I was shivering.
Day 3: Boxing day
Was still feeling hot and cold but we decided there was no point sitting around feeling sorry for myself, so we went for a drive to Gruyere. A place famous for its cheese! It was beautiful clear crisp day (-5°C) and we visited the quaint village and its castle. The place looked amazing with the large snowy peaks in the background.
Next we went to the Cailler chocolate factory, we sat down for 'the best!' hot chocolate I have ever tasted. Magnific! Then we took a walk through / guided tour of the history of Cailler chocolates. There was also a real production process of Cailler chocolates, which I found especially interesting. And at the end was the best part of tour, the taste testing of all the different types chocolate. One interesting fact I learnt about chocolate is that the taste is also influenced by the shape of the chocolate.
Day 4:
Slow start to the day... Had a big sleep in. Originally I was going to head up the mountains today, but decided it would be best if I had another day's recovery. From my severe man flu! ;-). We were going to drive to Geneva and have a look around but the day slipped away so we decided to have a quiet day, playing cards and just chilling out. We did manage to go for a stroll along the Lausanne lake foreshore. By this stage Dad was starting to get sick! Mum believed the best medicine for flu was extended ‘happy hour’ which usually entailed imbibing copious quantities of mulled wine and or Winter Pims. The alcohol went hand in hand with the flu tablets, which probably heightened the effect of the alcohol.
Day 5:
Mountains here we come, we left about 8 a.m. it was snowing again! We went via Annecy and Albertville. Then we started heading up and up and up the Valley to Val Thorens. The trip took around 3 and a bit hours and we arrived just before midday. Met up with my friend Jon, and after a coffee with Mum and Dad said goodbye. I hired a board and boots for 3 days. The guy I hired the gear off thought he was some kind of French comedian! For the first day I just got a half day ski pass for the Val Thorens area. The conditions were pretty poor, with low visibility. It was snowing off and on. Regardless I spent 3 hours on the runs and had a good time. Afterwards I met up with everyone. (Becks / Amy / Dave Sutton / Steve / Mel and co.) Mostly engineers! Such Fun! The chalet accommodated 12 people. It had a large living / dining area as well as 6 rooms plus bathrooms. There was also a swimming pool. I slept on a fold out double couch. For the package which included flights, transfers, accommodation, food and catering and ski passes. They paid 900 pounds for a week. So I rolled up and crashed on the couch for a couple days. I didn't want to out stay my welcome ;) We all played Balderdash on the first night, the game where you make up the definitions of the words, great fun!
Day 6:
It was a picture perfect day and I bought a ski pass for the wider '3 valleys'. Cost about 90 Euros for 2 days. We set out and I immediately lost everyone. It was quite hard, because there were skiers and boarders everywhere. I eventually managed to track them down with the aid of a map and cell phone. The chairlifts and Gondola's were amazing, it sure beats the crappy ones in Scotland. However it was very very busy and there were often queues for the lifts. I had a few near misses with other skiers :-o ! Had lunch up the top of one of the highest peaks, lasagne and a couple of drinks cost me 21 euros! The afternoon was brilliant, super runs and the crowds thinned out!
End of the day we went for a quiet beer at this alpine pub, which played some good music. It was a weird concept getting there by snow board! That night we all went out for dinner at a French restaurant. We had Raclete and hot plate beef. Very French! We were so full of meat and cheese by the end of the night.
Home and bed, I was shattered after a big day.
Day 7:
Another great day weather wise. Last night I organised my bus down the mountain for 3 pm. So I got everyone cracking early and we went 3 valleys over to Corchevel. At midday I had to say goodbye to everyone and try and negotiate a route back to Val Thorens. I had quite a spectacular spill early on this day and I wacked my head (lucky I was wearing my helmet) But my confidence took a bit of a battering, and I boarded like a muppet for the rest of the day. Oh well. So I made it back by 2 pm. Changed. Ate. Dropped my hire gear off and headed to the bus station. The bus was 30 minutes late and I was afraid I wasn't going to make my connecting train at 16:42 at Moutier. I made my train with 4 minutes to spare, phew. The train which was actually a bus took me to Albertville where I met up with M+D and went the rest of the way home with them. Dad got confused with some of the french signs, but we made it home eventually. I then read all of Kim’s’ emails! Over about a gallon of tea!
Day 8: New Years Eve
Now Mum was sick! So we were all coughing and spluttering. Apparently flu season is in full swing in the UK. Maybe I had Swine flu?! New Years Eve was very low key. More Quiddler a bit of travel planning and some movies leading up to the ‘big’ count down. The highlight of the day was definitely the Haggis which Mum and Dad experienced for the first time at dinner. It went down well!
We tried to see the fireworks from the deck but couldn’t spot any. So we had made it to 2011
Day 9: New Years Day!
An early start considering it was about 1 a.m. I went to bed. After a minor mishap of almost forgetting my phone I made it to the train and to the airport on time.

Overall it was a great trip albiet slightly tainted by ‘the sickness’. I got in some good boarding time and it was great catching up with the parentals and seeing a little bit of Switzerland!

Benidorm Medio Maraton

I desperately wanted to get a half marathon in before the end of the year because I knew I was faster than my PB of 1:18. I lined up a potential weekend and looked at options in the UK and abroad. The UK options whilst feasible were still a bit of trek (midlands) and probably not the most exciting options. I needed more of an adventure... And I certainly ended up with one!
I signed up for the Benidom Half Marathon in Spain. Whilst it involved a bit of travel it was definitely do-able. And I love the Spanish language and culture. So here is what happened...
Thursday it started snowing in Dundee and little did I know it wouldn’t stop until I tried to get back home! So Thursday night I drove to the Ferry Toll Park and Ride at Queensferry and from there caught a couple of Buses to Glasgow airport. Because I had an early flight I opted to stay overnight in the Normandy (a hotel close to the airport). Our easy jet flight landed at Alicante. From there I caught a bus to Benidorm. There were other runners on the Bus all heading to Benidorm. It was a big weekend in the Spanish town as the full marathon was also on the Sunday. Benidorm according to some of the operators at work was the ‘Blackpool’ of Spain. And there was certainly some truth in that, with British pubs on every corner, high rise apartment buildings and adult amusement stores. It was obviously a slow part of the year but you could tell in the summer it would be jam packed with Poms. When I arrived I bought cheese, Chorizo and bread and sat on the main beach and made sandwiches. It was only 13 or so degrees. But certainly still warmer than the UK. I checked into the hotel Iris. Asad and his sister were very welcoming, they had just arrived back from the UK. I had a kip in the hotel room then went up to the race registration and picked up my chip and number. I found out the race was scheduled for 18:00 on Saturday night, this is very late for a race! After I had my gear I walked up to the Mercado and picked up food for the race (bars, banana’s, water etc) Then I dropped everything back at the hotel and went in search of an Italian restaurant, so I could get some pre-race carbs down me. After that I went for my pre-race Icecream and wandered along the water front and up to the look-out which offered views over the two main beaches in Benidorm. Back at the hotel I checked emails and FB Kim. Hit the hay by midnight.
Saturday, race day! I had a good sleep in then explored some of the shops in Benidorm. I bought Kim some earrings then just bummed around the rest of the day. The only really useful thing I did was buy my bus tickets to Valencia. As the afternoon wore on the weather deteriorated and by 5pm it was bucketing down. Got into my race kit and had a quick photo before heading to the start line to warm up. I was very early, and even had time to nip back to the hotel to change watches because my race watch and run out of batteries! Started near the front of a tightly packed group, as usual everyone had a lot of nervous energy and this built up as we neared the starting gun. Bang! We were off! The crowd cheered and there were fireworks, but I was head down and gone, skipping my way across the puddles. I kept to my usual race strategy and started off slower and so I could pick people off during the run. The course was a double loop along the Benidorm foreshore, and we finished near the start. I ran hard and the last km and a bit I had the stitch but I pushed through as hard as I could. I told myself I would be pleased if I beat my PB but ecstatic if I went under 1:15. So I finished the race very wet, with a killer stitch but absolutely ecstatic because my time was 1:14:40. 20th overall and 14th in my age group. Over the finish line we received a blanket, coffee cup, sweets and an offer of a leg massage, which I could not turn down. More fireworks and I wish there was someone I could share my race experience with but never mind. I trudged back to the hotel and got changed, Asad was there waiting to give me a high five!
It was still bucketing down so I used the heat blanket to keep the rain off. I swung past the finish line again and found my placing before heading to the bus stop. I talked to Kim and Mum and Dad on the way. I picked up some food at the bus stop supermarket, I had difficulty explaining to the supermarket staff in Spanish that I wanted to buy 1 plastic spoon to eat my yoghurt. I ended up buying a pack of 50. I couldn’t sleep on the bus trip to Valencia. I arrived near midnight and caught a taxi to the hostel, because it was still raining. I had a four bed dorm to myself in the hostel, so that was brilliant.
The next day I had an early start because I had a 06:30 bus to Madrid. The weather was clear but cold. Good bus trip. We stopped once for breakfast. We dropped into the ‘crater’ of Madrid. A big city but I didn’t get a chance to explore it because I wanted to make sure I had enough time to get to the airport. From the airport I caught two tubes to the airport. No problems. And I was there with oodles of time to spare. So I sat outside in the sun and read. My flight was scheduled for 16:30 but this got delayed and then cancelled because the plan never arrived. Edinburgh airport was closed due to the snow storms which were covering Scotland. So we queued at the Easyjet service desk for at least an hour and half to find another way back to the UK. Other people were booking flights in the queue, but i didn’t have access to internet so I had to wait, consequently I missed out on any flights into the UK that night. So I organised I flight to Liverpool for the following day at 17:30, thinking at the time that it was my best option... I was tired... So easyjet put the stranded travellers up in the auditorium airport hotel overnight, which was brilliant. A massive hotel, and we got dinner and lunch as well. I chatted with other stranded travellers and we formed a bit of a bond, forged from our situation. Kim was brilliant, throughout the ordeal, she looked at alternative ways to get back to the UK and helped me out a lot. So my flight to Liverpool even though it was delayed went ahead. So at least I was in the right country now! Next step was an overnight bus from Liverpool to Edinburgh. We transferred in Manchester where I met a Kiwi guy who was trying to get into the French legion. We chatted and it helped pass the time until my bus left at 01:30. The bus ride as you expect wasn’t super comfortable and I slept in spurts. We transferred in Glasgow and I arrived in Edinburgh about 08:30. Then I was on another bus to the Ferrytoll park and ride where my car was, during this time my boss rung me and asked me where I was! I explained I was on my way! So I made it to my car, now I had the slow drive to Dundee on roads which were very snow and ice covered. Along the route there were jack-knifed lorries and abandoned cars, but I made it ok. I arrived at about 11 a.m. and went straight to work! The end of a long weekend! What a mission!