Jen Turns 30

Well, it finally happened.  Jen turned 30 years old last week. We had a great combination of friends, family and travel to celebrate the main event.  Jen and I took the car and ferry over to Islay on thursday, where we met her parents at the airport.  Jen's childhood friend Ellen lives on the island, where she teaches French and Spanish at the local high school.  So we spent four days there visiting Ellen and her island.

We took this cake to the island, made by Joyce, a receptionist at Jen's work. The girls at the office obviously know her well!

Friday night was spent at the pub, of course! We had a nice meal at The Islay Hotel in Port Ellen, followed by music provided by Ellen's band. They regularly play traditional music here and in Port Charlotte.

Probably not what she was expecting, but the first thing we did on her birthday (Saturday) was take a tour of the Bowmore Distillery.  Here is Jen with a genuine piece of Islay peat.  Don't worry, it's not what you thought it was at first glance.  The tour was really good, especially seeing the malting barns, which only a few distilleries still have.

On Sunday the clouds blew away and we explored some other parts of the island.  Here we are with Jen's parents at Finlaggan.  This is the old seat of the Lord of the Isles.  It was a small fort located on an island in Loch Finlaggan.  So it is an island in a loch on an island. There used to be a stone causeway but now Historic Scotland has built a wooden walkway.  You can just make out the Paps of Jura in the background on the left.  These are the largest hills on the neighbouring island of Jura.

One of the last places we went to was Portnahaven at the far west point of the island.  Sometimes you can see Ireland from here.  It was really wind-swept but we were rewarded for our perserverance by the presence of at least a dozen seals in the harbour area.
So those are most of the highlights. Hope you enjoyed the pictures.  It was a good trip and Islay is a place we'd happily return to.  It's a bit of a journey but that is part of what makes it special.  That and the fact that Jen turned 30 there.  Poor Jen.

-david
 

Canada 2011...

A wee link to a sort video of paddling antics on the Ottawa and St Lawrence rivers, Ontario and Quebec, Canada.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77xuo1a_HII&feature=channel_video_title

Lairig Ghru

My mum has been super keen to walk the Lairig Ghru for some time now. She's an enthusiastic hill walker with the stamina of a 20 year old. The route is from Rothiemurchus (near Aviemore), through a remote mountain pass guarded by Munros on either side, to Linn of Dee. All in it's about 22 miles on sheep type track with 3 miles of boulder field at it's crux. So, last weekend I found myself, map and compass in hand, clambering through the hills with my mum. We were both fine from a fitness point of view, but boy did I have some large trophy blisters by the end : )

ubaye race course

Short video of paddling the Ubaye race course in the French Alps. Nothing too hard but fast, steep, shallow and continuous.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdRHwm0zSlc&feature=mh_lolz&list=HL1310666898

The next project...

The mission: build a camper van out of a 6 year old ex-commercial panel van... surely it cant be that hard?? First line with insulation before running electric cables and ply lining. Drill holes in floor for plumbing and gas drop out. Carpet line walls. Wire in leisure battery and cut hole in back door for extra window. Lay flooring with help of brother-in-law (thanks Owen!). Install gas cooker, sink, cupboards and seat that folds into bed. Install lighting and dehumidifier. Make cushions for seat/bed and curtains. Black out windows. Buy bargain roofrack and ladder from Ebay. Then drive 3000 miles for a week of awesome paddling in the Southern French Alps to test it all out : )

 The "marshmallow" phase.... insulating and ply lining.

Cutting the hole for the extra rear window.

 More ply lining.

 After lining the ply with carpet it was time to install the seating/bed. Winston was keen to help with this phase. He likes sleeping and was happy to oblige as official bed tester.

All the units painted and installed... time for a good old cup of tea!

Best go on a 3000 mile trip to test our new vessel out... first stop Dover...

Followed by the Southern French Alps...

and a spot of kayaking action in the sun...

 We didn't have room for a shower in the van... time to drop in to a hole for a good wash : )

What we've been up to...

The last few weeks have been busy for both of us with work and trying to work on our van conversion project. Dave has found time to play with his band however, and the have a new song called The Witching Hour - here's a link to a video of a live performance at their last gig -

http://www.vanishingpeople.co.uk/

I've had a great couple of weekends kayaking of late. Here's a link to a wee movie I made from footage I recorded on the Etive on Saturday from my Gopro headcam. There was only 3 of us on the river, but we had an awesome day : )

http://www.youtube.com/user/jehartnett#p/u/27/Em8lvWpwxNY

We'll try to get some pics of the campervan conversion process up soon.