Intrepid ladies!

Our ladies are staying with Jude and Dave at The Beeches in Newtonmore where they are being looked after far too well! They are making good use of Jude's talents with all the various therapies and treatments she offers as well as enjoying all her wonderful cooking. We had a great time with some of them today, with wild Rafted Canoeing on Loch Morlich this morning at which they were fantastic followed by fun on the Indoor Wall at Glenmore Lodge. Gill was bothered that she might not have strong enough hands but once she tried there was no stopping her. Stephanie is a natural and could not leave without doing an overhang which was climbed in fine style, Gill had to follow suit! Susie, Jo and Lil all had a climb and experienced the belaying but were already tired from the canoeing and resorted to encouraging banter. Chris decided to be chief photographer. We are already looking forward to seeing them again and have a plan!!

Creag Dubh

Today Ian had a group of guys for Archery which went well! I took a lovely group of ladies for a stroll up Creag Dubh. The weather was not particularly kind but we all had a good blast. We are seeing them tomorrow for some Rafted Canoeing and Indoor Climbing.

Duntelchaig

Today we had a great time at Duntelchaig with a Skills Force group, Weaselling, Abseiling and RockClimbing. They were a really fun bunch of young folk to be with, lots of cheek and boundary pushing but you could not help but like them all! Leaders included.

Escape from the weather!

Today we should have been at Duntelchaig with a Skills Force group but we decided to do some Indoor Climbing and Abseiling on the wall at Glenmore Lodge instead. We spent most of the day there and everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves! Tomorrow we go to Duntelchaig!

Birthday celebrations!

On Saturday, Diane was still celebrating her 50th, this time with a bit of Archery after a day on Ben Nevis Friday. In the afternoon, Diedre and friends went for a trip on the Spey from Boat of Garten to Nethybridge with Tracey to celebrate her 40th. Today, Ian took a family of 4 on the same trip to celebrate Georgia's 8th birthday. Windy but weather was kind for everyone!!

Canoeing

Today I went to Ben Nevis with 4 ladies to celebrate a 50th birthday. Fresh snow from the Red burn added to the challenge for them. Ian took a group of friends Indoor climbing and then Canoeing on the Spey. sounds like much fun was had!

Duntelchaig

We were at Duntelchaig on Tuesday and Wednesday with groups from on a Skills Force project. We did Weaselling, Abseiling and RockClimbing. It was very windy and quite cold but the rain kept off! A challenging time for most of them but they did their best and seemed to have a good time despite many calls of 'I canna!'

Milnes

Today Ian worked for Alltnacriche whilst I ran indoor climbing and abseiling for Milnes at Glenmore Lodge. Great youngsters as usual!

No Limits

On Thursday, we took John up Meall Chuaich where he wanted to practise more navigation techniques such as aspect of slope. Too much chat as usual!

Saturday was a rafted canoe day for the No Limits group for Ian whilst James and I did some Team Challenges and Orienteering with Inverness Cub Scouts. Sunday and more canoeing this time with some Active Kids. Cold and showery over the weekend but everyone had fun!

John paddling

Our friend John is up visiting and today got him on a nice paddle on the river, having never before been in a Canoe he took to it quite happily and asked lots of questions.

Park School

On Tuesday we had some Team Challenge with Park School, then today we were rafted canoeing and biking with them. Very enthusiastic about everything! On Wednesday we were indoor climbing all day with Burghead Primary and the weather was brilliant!

Craigellachie to Spey Bay

After finishing with Jade's family, we drove down to Craigellachie where we met up with Sylvia and Heather for a trip on the Spey on Monday. After shuttling we were able to set off at 8.20am. Quite low water since we were here in March so a bit slower too. Lots of fishermen about, most of whom were happy to just be in the sun! Other canoe groups on the water too and we seemed to keep leap-frogging each other. Down at Spey Bay before 2.00pm, sorted kit, waved Sylvia and Heather off then waited for the Addy group who had set off from Aberlour. Everyone we met had had a great time on the river, and again the weather was excellent!

Canoeing

On Saturday we hired out 2 canoes plus kit to Ben Addy, his 2 brothers Tom and Steven and dad John. They were off to the sea from Aviemore! We left them finalising the packing and collecting liquid supplies! On Sunday, we met Jade (one of our 'Active Kids'), her Westie Holly and Mum and Dad plus BT Al for a trip from Boat of Garten to Grantown on Spey. It was brilliant weather although the easterly wind meant they had to paddle quite hard but we all had a lovely day. Jade paddled with me a lot of the time, going back to Holly and Mum and Dad for a change!