I had been cycling on Barra earlier, arriving back on Eriskay, at about 16:30. The weather remained fine, and the wind/tides were about right so a linear paddle in the packraft was the plan. I locked the bike up at the Calmac pier on Eriskay complete with panniers and cycling kit and set off around the coast to Orasaigh in the van. This took eons as I ended up following an extra slow Dutch van whose driver did not appear Read More
Due to a cheaper ferry crossing, I opted to get the boat from Mallaig to Lochboisdale on South Uist rather than from Oban to Castlebay on Barra. I still wanted a tour of Barra however, and the isle is compact enough to allow for a decent day tour by bike. I got the early ferry from Eriskay on South Uist to Barra, heading clockwise around the island. This was not my first visit, having previously toured the Outer Hebrides by Read More
I had many must-do’s while I was on Jura, and since the Paps of Jura were still shrouded in cloud, today I decided on the Corryvrecken. Â The Gulf of Corryvrecken to give it its full name is a 1KM wide expanse of water sat between the north end of Jura and the uninhabited island of Scarba. It sports a tidal flow that can reach 16KPH, one of the highest tidal flows on the planet, as the sea is forced through Read More
I have recently purchased an MRS Alligator 2S Pro Packraft from the packrafting store in Germany. I’ve always wanted a boat, but given that most of my travels are by motorhome, and I neither want to tow anything or heave the booody thing up onto the roof, the boat had to be an inflatable. My original thought was a traditional inflatable kayak such as those sold by Advanced Elements. The setup time would be longer, it would be more troublesome Read More
If this is useful, why not buy me a coffee?! Early models of Dometic’s 9-series fridges (Pic above) feature the ‘Click-Lock’ system where you push the door in a little to lock it for travel. Unfortunately, once locked, these fridges are very difficult to open – requiring an unnervingly sharp tug. The constant force eventually causes the door hinges to work loose and cracking of the plastic on the catch. In my case, no amount of fettling with the catch Read More
Hired a guide as a part of a group, and headed over to La Grave from Les Deux Alpes. La Grave is an off-piste haven with no marked pistes below the initial glacier runs. Given the lack of recent snowfall, the area was hard-packed with moguls rather than powder, but still great fun. We did the main 2 itineraries (crossing over part way down the second), down to P1 as not enough snow to ski to La Grave village. Never Read More
Skiing down the Vallee Blanche, Chamonix, France 19/02/13. A 2800M drop over 17KM from the Aiguille du Midi to Chamonix town. We hired a guide, Stuart Macdonald of http://www.avalancheacademy.com/ (recommended!)