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