Day 11 - Return to France

After a bit of a debate as to which route to take we opted to skirt past Liecester then do M1 then across to Oxford and down via Newbury to pick up the M27 at Southampton. The plan was going well, we completely missed out the M25, which was shut on the eastern side following and accident.

We made it in good time, till we got to the A34 / M3 junction, which was at a standstill, so we had to cut across country down the A272

We had a competition between Sara (using a map) and her Dad (using GPS) to see who could get us to Fareham (Tescos) then the boat without going down any "dead end" roads. Needless to say it was an interesting challenge.

We got to boat on time, after the "wine fairy" had paid a visit to Vicky and Brendon's house, and we managed to board the boat fairly quickly.

Setting sail was unfortunately delayed by 45 mins due to incoming ferry traffic.

Then this with a Police escort.

Finally got going to be seen off by some of the locals.

Had a good run back to Crissé to arrive at 1.15 am on Friday morning to be greeted by a huge barn owl sitting on the fence just outside the house. We managed to roll up along side it in the car but didn't get a picture cos the camera was in the boot.

Our journey was finally over, 2611 kilometers, or 1632 miles in 11 days. We had seen just about every part of the UK, including the highest point. Physically and emotionally it was an epic voyage and we are really glad we did it.

Our next challenge will be Snowdon and then maybe Scafell, coming down in decending height order, but definitely not in 24 hours as they do in the 3 Peaks Challenge. Mind you just looking at Corsica which has a mountain at 2706 metres, puts the rest to shame, and it's less likely to be raining there. I think Everest would be a bit out of the question, at 8848 metres it's a bit out of our league.

All I can say is watch this space for Crafty and Confits next great adventure.........

Day 10 - Shopping in and around Nottingham

Breakfast was a pack of hot cross buns and coffee in the room as the Brewers Faire breakfasts were a rip off.



We picked up a couple of reprebates who were hitch hiking outside the hotel, then went shopping around Nottingham.





The town centre was horrible, unfortunately had to do McDonnalds so we could catch up on e-mails and check out a few things on the net. After that we went to a huge discount warehouse outlet next to Grantham then back to hotel for a familly meal with Sara's parents.

Day 9 - Leaving Scotland :-(

After another hearty breakfast we did a last stop off looking for presents for nieces and nephew, got some supplies from Asda for the journey then set off back to England, another 7 hour day behind the wheel was anticipated.


Weather was a bit damp and windy, but not too wet on the roads. We stopped at this viewpoint to see both sides of the border, but due to the mist all we got was this.








Just had to stop and visit this, very impressive when you get up close, you do not realise just how big it really is, (fnar fnar).










Finally got to our destination right next to the A1 at Grantham, only to find the car park was a building site. Hotel was ok but a bit too warm. The Brewers Faire restaurant next door was very handy after yet another long day.

Day 8 - Sunny Edinburgh

Finally it was nice to have a self service breakfast where you could choose what time you ate and how many slices of mushroom you put on your plate. The choice of fruit, cereals and cooked breakfast was very good, so we pigged out a bit to keep us going through the day.


View of the hotel below, not much to look at from the outside but very nice inside, and, as I said yesterday, for the first time ever FREE WIFI in every room. Then only bad point was the the crane in the background which was on a building site just outside the back of the hotel, right by our room. Any chance of a lie in was out of the question. Luckily we were on an earlyish start to explore Edinburgh.

There were some beautifull buildings in Edinburgh.

Came across this in the middle of one of the many clothes shops, must be something to do with the name!







Strangely enough he did not speak with an Australian accent.








The only bits of the castle we got to see as we thought 24 quid to have a look inside was a bit steep.


















Beautifull park alongside the river.

Final view of the Castle before jumping onto a bus and heading back to the hotel Spa for a well earned sports massage to sort out our aching muscles.

Day 7 - Off to Edinburgh

Woke up on Sunday morning... tried to get out of bed... ow... owww.... owwwwww!! Luckily we weren't on the first floor because I doubt I could have walked up and down stairs!! Had brekkie and packed up, off to Edinburgh for some r&r in a decent hotel with spa, pool, sauna, jacuzzi etc!!

Had a great drive down via Perth along some stunning roads, both of us had our knees down in the car!!

Had to stop and take a picture of these falls, everywhere you looked there was just stunning scenery like this!

Stopped for lunch in a village called Creiff, near Perth, where a dutch biker came in. He was asking the waitress for advice on the menu and asked what haggis was!!! He was told it was a scottish delicacy. He obviously approved as he wolfed it down when it arrived!

We headed on to Edinburgh crossing the fourth bridge

We arrived weary at the hotel and I could have cried with joy when we saw the room! It was beautiful, clean, spacious enormous bed, flat screen tv, FREE Wifi in every room and a Sony playstation as well, etc etc! The only downside was that the room was on the first floor.... Noooooooo.... stairs!!!

Chilled out in the jacuzzi and had a little swim in the pool followed by the steam room and sauna!! Well, you have to get your moneys worth!! Ended up in the bistro with a tuna niscoise salad and glass of Pinot Grigio!! Nice relaxing end to the day!

Day 6 - The big day!!

Well, no time for more training, its D day!! Rather apprehensive after a good brekkie we arrived at the Ben Nevis inn for registration. Filled in all our forms etc etc, had the safety drill and checked all our kit was ok and off we went!


The first part wasn't too bad, the path was quite pebbley but walkable. The further up we went the rockier it got. The only way I can describe the up bit was like being chained to a stepper for 5 hours!! After the half way mark it just seemed never ending, every time you turned a corner thinking we must be nearly there... you weren't! towards the end I was walking for about 1 minute and resting 1 minute! It was relentlessly uphill!


When we finally made it the cloud had closed in and
it was bitterly cold at the summit. We checked in with the Marie Curie guides and sat down to have some food. After about 5 mins I started shivering really badly and was quite foggy headed. I realised I was so exhausted and suddenly got so cold I was in danger of hypothermia! We got going quickly so that we didn't get any colder.





The walk down was bliss!! Yes it was rocky and you had to be careful about slipping but we knew we'd achieved our goal and every step took us closer to the end!! I ended up on my backside just once, better than the guide who came down with us who nearly took me out!!!


It took us 8 hours in total, 5 hours up and 3 down.


When we got back to the b&b we had a half bottle of champagne to celebrate and rested our weary bones before heading to the Brewers fayre for dinner.

Day 5 - Midges in Fort William

Well we arrived last night after 8 hours of travelling to find out our “luxury apartment” was nothing more than a converted garage, with another room for guests over the top of it. You guessed it, our room is behind the up and over door on the left.






The inside was well decorated and the bathroom was very clean with a nice big shower cubical. In typical Scottish spirit there were gentle reminders next to every light and electrical appliance switch telling you to turn them off, so we didn’t whenever possible.

We were asked what time we wanted breakfast to be promptly told it had to be 8:45 cos everyone ate around a communal table so they had to stagger the arrivals. At 8:42 precisely we had a knock on the door to remind us we were in danger of being late for our slot at the table.

Today we decided to go for a little walk as last minute training and went to see some waterfalls that were close by. Also we had to cross very dodgy rope bridge to carry on with the footpath the other side, only to find it was a quagmire and we had to turn back.




The worst thing about the bridge was that the further across you got the further apart the two wires at the top became!! For someone like Crafty with a short bingo wing span this became rather a problem and she ended up clinging on by fingernails!!







The only way across the river was shoes and socks off and wade up to our knees in freezing cold water over large excruciatingly hard rocks / pebbles.



The worst part of the whole day were the midges that were everywhere, we were just being eaten alive as we walked. We knew about the scottish midges reputation but really weren't prepared for the reality! Got out of the car without even considering anti mossie spray, as soon as we stopped walking we were surrounded by swarms of them! Sara is covered all over her face in her ears, arms etc etc!






Video Link

Have a look at this video clip (file link below) of a stonking bit of road between Glen Nevis (where did our little walk today, and Fort William where the B & B was). It was really twisty with very sharp hill crests that would have you airborn and sideways on a bike, even in a car we were able to use all the road to it's full advantage. Put your speakers on and listen to Sara desperately trying not to be thrown about whilst holding the camera with both hands on the dashboard.

You can make it full screen by clicking the little black triangle at the top right of the picture, Enjoy!!!!!!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8149202596604456864&hl=en