Big Fish, Little Fish, Cardboard Box.

A blog doesn't get updated for months and then two updates come along at once!

Last weekend Colin, Thomas, Hannah, and I went to Rock Ness in Dores about 5 miles outside Inverness and at the North tip of Loch Ness.  As I type this I think there is a good chance that I STILL have more alcohol in my blood stream than actual blood.  It was tremendous.  On Friday we drank cans of Tennents and Blackthorne cider until we couldn't see.  Then we went to watch this band that probably are more used to playing weddings play to a huge tent full of drunken revellers going mental.  They probably couldn't believe their luck.  The whole next day I had a headache surpassed only by Hannah's projectile vomiting.  (For the record I did consider that the gentlemanly thing to do would be not to mention Hannah's calls to Hugh on the porcelain phone in my blog, then I though, bugger it.) 

The weather in Saturday was the hottest it's been all year.  Unbelievable.  How sun burned were we!  The chaffing - oh God the chaffing!!!  On Saturday we saw The Wombats, The Cuban Brothers (AWESOME!!!), The Charlatans, and The Chemical Brothers.  I totally lost everyone during The Chemical Brothers but I made new friends somewhere in the crowd so it was fine in the end.  I remember cool lasers and robots.  I also remember paying £6.50 for cold noodles on the way home.  That was the low point of the weekend. That and losing my Scotland shades, and my rug (stolen), and Colin's £12 hat.  We told him it was cool so he bought it.  How we laughed!

Sunday everyone was a bit down on account of the copious amounts of cheap booze and the sun stroke.  Fair play though, we drank through it.  Well, Hannah and I did.  I would at this point like to show my appreciation for our two designated drivers Colin and Thomas.  Thank you Colin and Thomas.  Sunday was Rob Da Bank, and the Manic Street Preachers.  

A great weekend was had.  I hear on the grape vine that Thomas had to cut his socks off on Sunday night on account of the sun burn.  Poor Thomas!

Pictures are here.

An Island By Any Other Name Would Still Be As Boggy!

I've just come back from Eilean a' Cheo! That's what it's called now you know. Well, not really. The Highland council decided that Skye should in future be known by it's Gaelic name, "Eilean a' Cheo" (Misty Island), but fortunately it was put to a vote by the residents of Skye and it was
overwhelmingly rejected. Suggestions that this is because most people that live in Skye are originally from Middlesborough and can't pronounce the Gaelic alternative are probably not completely without foundation! Anyway, I would suggest that Eilean a' Bogs and Gallus Sheep is probably a more fitting moniker.

So Colin, Al, and I went back to whatever it's called and it was just as great as it always is.  We took a walk on the Saturday to see the Maidens of McLeod, enormous rock pillars sticking out of the water in an Old Man of Hoy type fashion.  Apparently the big one is the mother and the other two are daughters.  whatever - they were spectacular and the weather was fantastic.  We could have sat there all day taking it in but we had to head back before we got stranded in the dark.  It was about a 3 hour forced march on the way home and a forced march it was.  We stopped only to marvel at the natural arches in the cliff face.  Our instructions said that they were only visible from the top of a particular hill.  this was true but regrettably our instructions failed to mention WHICH HILL!!!!  It was third time lucky, it was tiring, and it was worth it.

On Sunday we took a short stroll to the coral beaches.  The pictures speak for themselves.  A beach like that on the mainland would be thick with people every weekend.  Thank God then that it's not.  It was beautiful.  All the pictures are here.