Sintra - Portugal

Probably my last European weekend break, Sintra was a good place to spend it but highlighted the problem with weekend breakaways - travel time. We used almost every type of public transport getting there and away which was a bit frustrating.

Sintra is about an hour by train from Lisbon and the Old Town is a World Heritage site. The main tourist sights included a few palaces. a Moorish castle ruin on the top of the hill and was clouded in mist when we visited, a monastery and just the general serenity. We spent Saturday visiting some of these places, doing the tourist thing, and by the end of the day our feet were almost worn out.

Moorish Castle ruins, in fog for precisely the length of time we were there



Palace, also on top of the hill overlooking the Old Town



Looking up from down a well



Sunday was much more relaxing, we went to the beach and then I got very red soaking up the rays at the hotel pool but at least we got some sunshine.

Stage 1 2007

It was my second last weekend in London and my last opportunity to attempt the 180km stage to Canterbury that was stage 1 of the 2007 Tour de France. Hamish was persuaded to come along and we were fortunate to have perfect weather for out attempt. Our directions were not so perfect but we managed to flounder our way to the half way mark at Royal Tonbridge Wells in time for some well earned lunch.



I set off on my own after lunch feeling good and making good progress but both changed - firstly the good progress as I could find no road signs that matched my instructions and the the feeling good as I hadn't eaten since lunch time. Finally I crawled into Canterbury about 8 hours after starting and after a real struggle for the last hour. A high dose of chocolate and chocolate related products soon fixed me up and I took the train back to London feeling very satisfied.

Twenty/20 in Hove

Our trip to see some Twenty/20 cricket in Hove (near Brighton) on a Friday night after work proved to be more difficult than we imagined. Here is a list of things that didn't go to plan:
- delayed train from Victoria
- train was absolutely packed so we had to stand
- we had to sprint to catch the connecting train through crowded platforms
- arrived at the cricket just as they were putting the 'Sold out' signs up
- having to fork out stack loads of £'s to get a seat
- train breakdown on the way back
- further significant train delays
- losing a tennis ball onto the tracks

At least the cricket was good and it was a nice night. Hampshire claimed the win off the last ball thanks to some poor fielding and shocking keeping all night by Matt Prior.

Lake Geneva and the Alps

Our trip to Geneva was rather unplanned, just show up, pick up a car and drive around, stopping and camping where we liked. We stayed the first two nights in Lausanne and went for a good walk in the hills on Friday. It was a great day and perfect for a deviation from the marked track and conquering a mountain.

Josh, Kelley and Helen on the grassy base, just before the steep stuff.



A bit of scrambling was called for at times.



Breaking the psychological barrier - hitting the snow



View from the top, towards Lake Geneva



More from the top.



It was nice to be out and about in the countryside which was very peaceful apart from the constant clanging of animal bells.



We were kind of lucky and kind of unlucky with the weather, all days bar the last were quite nice but all nights bar the first it rained. It was a bit frustrating constantly having wet tents in the morning.

After a wander through Gruyere, we took to the hills again, this time the cheat's way in a high gondola.



View from the walk back down, thanks to Josh for the intruding snowball.



We were a bit sore after a couple of days of hill walking but we managed a long walk on our final afternoon through some vineyards.



It rained again on our final night and was still raining in the morning which was frustrating but it had been a relaxing and interesting trip away so none of us were too upset.

(NZ vs England) vs the weather

It was a disappointing outing to Lords for the third day of the test as we only got to see 8 overs of play. We made the move early when the rain started to the peace and quiet of St John's Wood churchyard for our own game of umbrella wine cork cricket, it was much more enjoyable than watching the rain fall.



The tube ride home was also a good place for a bit more umbrella / cork action, we got a carriage to ourselves and made the most of it.



To top it off, it was essential to go one stop with no limbs touching the ground...

First victory since 1991....

So it may not have been the London Marathon, but a win's a win and a convincing one at that, in the Peckham Rye 10k. It's been a long time since I've won a race so I figure I've earned a bit of a gloat. It was a good race for Woody too meaning NZ was well represented on the leaderboard.

MEN:

1. Fraser Wilson 34.33
2. David Johnson 38.47
3. Ros Mcleod 39.34
4. Jon Hopkins 40.52
5. Marshall Griffin 41.16
6. Hamish Wood 41.27

And talk about recognition - trophy, medal, t-shirt and photo in the cheesy twice weekly tabloid The South London Press (that's me bottom left, in the blue)

Scottish Highlands

For the first May Bank holiday weekend Kelley, Bevan and I flew to Inverness and hired a car for a cruise around the Highlands. We waited in line for ages at the car rental office and fortunately they felt so bad about it that we got upgraded to what was almost a van, which was a bit excessive for us but we did enjoy the extra pep and the extra space.

It was a nice evening (and a good half hour longer than in London) as we cruised down the side of Loch Ness to find our first night's accomodation, some dinner (haggis and chips from the local chippie), Nessie, and an after hours visit to Urquhart castle which avoided the queues, crowds and paying.



Bevan and Kelley on the pink shores of Loch Ness



Urquhart castle and Loch Ness in the late evening



We continued down the Loch, following the Caledonian canal all the way to Fort William. On the way we made a stop at the Ben Nevis range and took a gondala up to the ski area for a walk around. It was rather windy up the hill but good to get up close to Ben Nevis, even though we couldn't workout which peak it was amoungst the cloud and mist.



Looking towards Ben Nevis, its up there somewhere, or it could be the next ridge over!





Bevan deep in thought.....



From Fort William we drove up through some classic highland country, hilly, barren and lochs in every valley. Very very different to southern England. We were also lucky enough to stumble on a hard out game of Shinty which was amazing to watch and prompted the question 'are there any rules' which was laughed at by the Scottish lady beside us 'oich aye, o'course 'ere's rules' but we could figure any out. Maybe its illegal to intentionally wrap your stick around someone's head but I reckon you'd probably get off with a warning.

Shinty 'line out'



Eilean Donen castle



We were fortunate to snap up some of the last beds at the backpackers on the Isle of Skye but once we were moved in we took off for a late evening walk up to the Old Man of Storr. Kelley set a cracking pace up the hill and we had plenty of time for a good look around up there.

Now there's an Old Man who doesn't need viagra





It rained on Sunday which was disappointing so we drove round the Isle of Skye and then finished up back in Inverness for the night, which was also slightly disappointing but the rain cleared and it was a nice evening.

Skye residents





River Ness with Inverness castle in the background



Monday morning was a great day and it was a shame to have to leave. To fill in some time before our flight we went out to Fort George, and what holiday would be complete without some frisbee.



Bevan at full stretch