Freshwater Bay Take II

To pass the time one evening (7-Jun-07 to be exact), Cheryl and myself went to Freshwater Bay from the Blackhead Road. It's only about 3 - 4 km round trip so it was a nice evening stroll. Anyway, I won't go into too much detail in this one as I've already described Freshwater Bay. However, this time there was an iceberg visible. This shot is looking North (or in that general direction) up the coast.

Roaring Cove 8-Apr-07

Right, back to the scenery shots and some level of sense.

In April, I bought a new sleeping bag and decided it had to be tested out (MEC Hybrid -20C). So, since the weather was past the worst of the Baltic temperatures but with some snow still remaining on the ground, I decided to go on an overnight trip.

Roaring Cove is a campsite on the East Coast Trail only about 4 - 5 km north of Brigus South so it was perfect to test out some cold weather camping stuff withouth walking too far into the wilderness.

Anyway, I left Brigus South in fairly windy and chilly conditions until I got onto the ECT. While the trail was not totally snow covered, there were many areas of deep snow to get over and I didn't bother taking my snow shoes. Therefore, there were a few sudden plunges into the snow up to my knees at some points. One was particularly sore actually. In addition, I was noticing a lot of moose shite on the trail and didn't fancy my chances having to outrun one of the beasts in these conditions. Luckily, the shite was all I saw as far as moose goes.

So, I finally reached my destination and took a bit of time trying to get the best tent site. They have wooden platforms at these sites to prevent too much damage to the ground but a lot of the sites were frozen in. Luckily, I took my wee shovel and cleared one off enough to get the tent on it. Once that was done, I went on the hunt for firewood because there was no way I wasn't having a fire. Not only does it give heat, it provided the much needed moral support and mental stimulation to get me through until bed time. What else was I going to do while I had some beer?

Here's a shot of the site with my one man tent (Mountain Hardware PCT1) and the new sleeping bag therein, ready to be tested. Thankfully, there wasn't a drop of precipitation so I could sit outside. I appear to have taken a lot of crap with me but rest assured that I had it all packed nicely in my new rucksack (Arcteryx Bora 65), which is the black thing leaning on my tent.

Anyway, while well aware of the temperature-reducing effects of alcohol (I didn't care), I finished off some beer and went to bed. I have to say that the sleeping bag performed well although I used my lighter weight Thermorest which was a mistake as I felt the cold from the frozen wood beneath the tent. I should have used Cheryl's uber-massive Thermorest that she insisted on buying. Despite being double the size of mine, it probably would have been worth carrying it for some extra warmth.

After a somewhat restless night (but with some sleep), I got up the next morning and tried to have a cup of tea but again, I overestimated my summer camping gear and took the MSR Pocket Rocket instead of my multi fuel stove. Therefore, with the gas being so cold and quarter full, it didn't produce much heat and I couldn't get water boiled for tea. I used what I had, which resulted in a crappy cup of tea, and packed up to return to the car.

On the way back, the weather was much nicer than the previous day and this can be seen by this shot.

I got back to the car in decent time and headed back to St John's. It wasn't until I was parked in my driveway and unloaded the car that I realised that I'd left my hiking poles in the car park in Brigus South (a 45 min drive). Bollocks! Oh well, they were cheap. Another (half) success.

Broke Ma Wrist Playing Fitba

Shortly after returning from Scotland - this happened. Metal min!

New Year 2006 -07 - Scotland

This doesn't really fall into the Newfoundland category but it's worth a mention and a few photos. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I went home for Christmas 2006 and the subsequent New Year so here are a few photos of the event.

First of all, I went for an "auld mannie" style walk with my Dad one crisp clear morning through the Crooked Woods and much to my dismay, it has been half chopped down. The following photo overlooks the Rattray's (if they still own it) farm and beyond to Urquhart. If I took this photo when I was wee, I'd still be in the trees. Boo!!

On one of my other family outings, I went to Lossiemouth, where my sister now lives. Again, I was surprised by the half decent weather although it was a tad chilly. Anyway, here's Lossie beach - a place I frequented as a youngster to jump off the dunes and spent a good few seconds in the water before getting back out again.

Despite neither my Dad or me being golfers, we decided to go golfing at the Rothes golf course in freezing conditions. We were both shite and the greens were like concrete so even the rare good shots to the greens bounced off another 100 yards. Anyway, here's me in a Speyside tourism shot.

And finally, it wouldn't be a New Year in Scotland without getting blootered so right enough, I managed to do this with a raging cold at Adam's party. Thankfully, numerous cans of "cooking lager" (Tennants) and whisky temporarily cured the cold/sinus infection. However, it did not cure my foolishness as I was caught trying out Adam's helmet with a stupid looking smirk on my face. I enjoyed the party but couldn't talk the next day as my cold was actually worse than the hangover - not sure which is worse to be honest. Dearie me!