A Scottish Jamboree

So, what I have been up to since I last posted?

Well, it is shaping up to be an awesome summer, and to top it all I have received a distinction for my Science course - I now have a certificate in Natural Science!

A couple of weekends ago we were up in Blair Atholl for the bi-annual Scout Jamboree.

Hundreds of Scouts from all over the world descend on Scotland for a fortnight to do usual scout stuff - bushcraft, hiking, climbing, fencing - you name it. But most importantly it seems to be about mixing with people all around the world and making new friends.

Great for any teenager to be a part of.

We went along for the open day. Lots of food stalls from all over the world, where you could stuff yourself for around £2 on chicken teriyaki, Dutch waffles, BBQ lamb, S'mores etc. etc.

In the afternoon we sat in the sunshine and enjoyed looking out over the site.

There are 6 sub camps where the Scots host the international patrols.


Then the evening is rounded off with a good old fashioned campfire and sing-song.
Here's the scouts with some torches of their own ready to light the fire.

Made me reminisce a lot about my guiding days, even if I was never part of anything as big as this. Nice to see Scouting on the increase again and hopefully it's events like this that draw the numbers in.

Geocaching: An addictive pursuit

One of my favourite hobbies of the past few years has been geocaching. It started with our move up to Scotland and has been brilliant in helping us get to know the place.

Basically it's a game played with a GPS where you get a list of hidden caches and their co-ordinates, then using your GPS you have to go and find them. The cache will be a box of some sort (from the size of a bolt head right up to a big Tupperware container). It will include a log book which you sign to say you've found it. Then you set off for the next one.

from smallest:

to largest:

So, why do I enjoy this seemingly mundane activity?

1) It gets you outdoors
I love being outside. It's like an addiction to me: I get withdrawal symptoms if I'm trapped indoors for long.
Geocaching gets you off your seat and out into the great wide world

2) It takes you to unexpected places.
Caches are placed by other people. They tend to place them in their favourite spots - which you would never find on your own: a secret meadow, a hidden cave. For us moving to a new area, it's a great way to get to know the area.

Here is a waterfall in a picturesque meadow behind an ordinary row of houses!

3) It tells you a story
Many caches give details of the local area. There are several cache trails in Edinburgh which give you as much detail as any paid for guided tour!

4) It's a puzzle
Some caches are not easy to find and have you digging around for some time. Others have clues to solve before you know where to look for them. Some you just don't know how to reach.

5) It's a team effort!
The more people you take with you, the more likely you are to find the caches you're looking for. Everyone can join in!

Just take one look on www.geocaching.com

There are thousands to find!

National Museum of Scotland

One of my aims in starting a blog was to include a few guides to places I love.

The first place to make it on here is the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. It's just great. I've raved before about the free entry policy to many of the UK's finest museums, and this one makes the list.

This humongous building is absolutely on a par with the finest London museums such as the V&A (although I still think the British Museum trumps them all).

I've now been in twice, and still feel I've barely scratched the surface. But I'll say it again - when these things are free then there is no limit to the number of visits you can make, even if you have 30 mins to spare. 

Firstly, it's beautifully placed in Edinburgh's Old town. This is the view looking out of the museum:

Secondly, on stepping into the museum, you walk into this fantastic atrium:

Very inspiring in itself.

There are many treasures (from the Lewis chessmen to Dolly the sheep, plus the ubiquitous Tyrannosaur), but the highlight is the guided tours.

In my opinion, it is these which put the NMS into the premier league. Three times a day, and again free.

My tour today was on Art and Architecture - something I know little about and when it comes to art something I don't even care much about. But the guides' enthusiasm rubs off on you.

Here's a few things I liked today:

We then ate at the Museum Brasserie - proper table service and pretty tasty too (I had fishcakes).

In short, a must if you visit Edinburgh, even if you only have time to stick your head around the door.

Breath of fresh Eire

Sometimes a jolt out of the blue can really change your perspectives on things. In in my case it happened to be a recent weekend.


One of my dearest friends ever, who lives on the other side of the world, was in Ireland. I had to go and see her. I hadn't seen her for 5 years. Thanks to Facebook we rarely even email.

Well, after 10 mins of surprise, not knowing quite where to begin, those 5 years melted away. It was the same as ever.

So, having not visited the Emerald Isle in a long time I was expecting to write a post talking about where we ate, what we saw, etc. etc., but you know what.........


...it didn't matter.

We pretty much talked for the whole 4 days. Ireland was a backdrop - and a pretty one at that - but we'd have been just as happy in a student flat for that time.

On returning home I feel refreshed, and my priorities have been reassessed. I've just got to remember them now! Because the material things don't matter. Its about looking after what you've already got. Something I tend to lose sight of.

Ok, I caved, here are a few pics of the weekend.

One of the amazing Irish stew I had which was served in a loaf of bread (there was mash too as if there weren't carbs enough in the picture!)

Also spent Sunday in the beautiful Wicklow mountains. This picture captures it.

Open University Science

It's about time I blogged about this, as for the last 9 months or so it has dominated my life.

I am currently studying at Open University. Just for fun.
I know, I'm crazy.

I'm willingly putting myself through coursework, deadlines, tests and so on, when I don't have to. I'm not planning a career change, I just got bored one day.

It was about 2-3 years ago. I was stuck in a dull job and desperately needed something to fill my days. OU filled that gap.

I'm the sort of person interested in everything - so to date I have studied:

Archaeology
Psychology
History of Mathematics
Evolution

and finally: Science.

This year I embarked on S104: Exploring Science.

[Btw Open University students seem obsessed to name everything by the course code - as if everyone else knows/cares what you're on about. I avoid reducing my academic advancement to this. Rant over.]

A good course as it covers all the basics: Biology, Geology, Chemistry and Physics.

The first excitement comes when your textbooks arrive, as they are colourful and shiny.

It is nice to lay them out and look at them in a pretty way, as this distracts you from the scale of the challenge ahead.

I'm not going to go into loads of detail here. An excellent post can be found at:
http://girlinclouds.wordpress.com/2011/08/24/exploring-science/

The highlights for me:

1) Hating each book whilst reading it, loving it about 2 weeks later.

2) The joy at getting your assignments back and realising you're on the right track

3) Going to the tutorials put on as part of the course - doing silly experiments.

4) Meeting other students at the tutorials - some have become friends even after the course has finished.

5) Doing maths again (I like maths!)

6) Feeling dead knowledgeable about the world in general. I've learnt so much!

The only lowlight was the unrelenting pace and trying to keep up. Each book gives about a chapter of GCSE and then goes straight up to Year 1 degree at alarming speed.


So, it is now over and I just have a couple of months to wait for my result.

My books are safely stowed away on my shelf, a sign of my achievement.

Couldn't resist another picture!

Fife Coastal Path Day 4

The final day of the walk dawned. I eagerly unzipped the tent to see the weather, and was confronted with thick sea fog. The views of last night were completely obscured and grass, tent and so on were soaked.

There were some cool spiders webs though.

There was little to hang around for. Even our little camp stove was running low on gas, so no morning coffee. We feasted on bananas, ham and croissants before packing up and setting on our way. It was ridiculously early, but nothing to hang around for.


There are few photos from the first part of the day, as it was so foggy. We walked past golf courses and Kingsbarns beach, which is meant to be very nice.

By about 9 o'clock the weather was beginning to clear - it didn't take long. Suddenly the sun was beating down again and it was getting pretty hot.

The route then turned inland along a pretty river.

The path crossed over this bridge and headed back towards the coast again, via some farmland.

Then on for the final stretch of the walk. Aches and pains were in full force, but St Andrews was not far away now, so we pushed on.

The final stretch is a great walk, but tiring as it goes up and down a lot.

And then alongside some interesting rock formations. This one I call 'The Elephant'.

 This one looks like a big club and shield.

St Andrews - our final goal! We were feeling a bit desperate for the finish line now, and at 11am the sun was seriously hot!

We stumbled in, utterly exhausted, and flopped out in the shade by the beach, next to the first kiosk we found. Cold drinks never tasted so good!

It was only lunchtime, so the rest of the day was spent staggering to a few last bars/pubs. St Andrews is a wonderful place to visit, but our energy had been spent.

Having said that, we were pleased with ourselves. We had completed our second long distance footpath, and this time carrying all our kit too. 

I insisted on one last photo next to the Old golf course.  We then headed for the bus station and home.

So, where are we going to walk next? Watch this space.

Fife Coastal Path Day 3

Day 3. Few more creaking limbs today, but still walking, still able to hoist rucksack onto back, albeit with a groan.

Today was the chilled day - the fewest miles to cover, the best of the towns. Yet another perfect morning. The aches could be ignored.

We left St Monan's passing by the windmill. It wasn't even 8am! The next coastal village is Pittenweem, so we thought we'd get a proper breakfast there once the cafes were open.

We sat and waited by the old Pittenweem swimming pool.

It was only being used by dogs that morning.

The view was very clearly and we could see Berwick Law clearly across the Forth


Pittenweem is still a working fishing village.

We found a nice place for food called The Cocoa Tree, which had a lovely courtyard outside.

I had a pancake and a scone for brekkie. Mr G had a ciabatta and a scone (love the appetite walking gives you!)

Leaving Pittenweem we passed St Fillian's cave - named after some early Christian hermit. You can go in if you ask for the key from The Cocoa Tree.

We headed onto Anstruther.

Anstruther is the biggest village of all. It is very famous for its fish & chips, which have won many awards. There is debate which is the best.

This one: Anstruther Fish Bar

Or this one: The Wee Chippy

Alas, it was too soon after breakfast for us, so we plumped for these instead.

Humongous ice-cream!

In the next part of the walk we encountered many animals, grazing right up to the shore.

They didn't seem to mind the walkers coming by.

We rested at an area called The Coves, known for its weird rocks.

It was blissful to fall asleep in the sun. In those temperatures it was more comfortable to walk in the evening.

After an hour or two's R&R we reluctantly stumbled into Crail.

My personal favourite based on sheer prettiness.



We stopped for provisions, including a jumbo prawn feast at The Golf Hotel.

This was technically our stopping point for the night, but it was only 5pm and we had a long walk the following day, so we decided to push on.

The lack of photos in this section shows my weariness beginning to kick in, but it was a fine walk around the tip of Fife. We turned from the Firth of Forth and around towards the Firth of Tay.

 This was our most easterly point of the walk.

We had always intended to have one night 'wild' camping, so after staggering past a few miles of golf courses (guessing they wouldn't want us camping on the fair way), we found a suitable spot by a field of cows.

It was more comfortable than we thought possible.