SLUGGAN IT OUT

Despite walking already in April we decided to have another walk on the normal date and this time we went to Sluggan Bridge from the Slochd. A few of us has done this walk before, but it was well worth doing again and in the sunshine as you can see from this photo of us getting ready to go.

And here we are on the way. No comments , please on what Neil is doing with his hand!

We were soon rewarded with some fine views over the moor to the Cairngorms.

We soon got to the bridge itself - which is pretty spectacular as you can see.

I think it sets off my very white knees magnificently.

Once again, Dave was good to us and let us have our lunch before the allotted time of one o'clock.

Soon the more pioneering of us were washing our cups out in the river - just like the old west.

It was a bit dangerous doing things like this when you are not a cowboy.

You are all hoping for a big splash in the next photo - but unfortunately Hugh regained his balance and nobody was soaked!

The obligatory group photo - notice all the shorts and shades.

And if there is a bridge you can be sure we need a photo of everyone on the parapet. I did try and get them to all move forward a bit, but nobody took me on.

And just to show how hump-backed the bridge is and how blue the sky was I took this shot. I also thought Hugh was looking a bit louche after his backwoodsman efforts in the river.

And so back we went until we got the nice views again.

Nice view - shame about the legs!

A couple of wrinkled old trunks................and Ann and Sandra.

On the way back we passed an old turkey.

Ooooops sorry wrong photo - she is going to kill me for that one.

And finally we ended up at the pub - the Tomatin Inn to be precise. The end of a very good day - thanks to Dave and Sandra for organising the walk.

THE APRIL GETAWAY

As is now traditional, the dinosaurs went away for a weekend in April - this time to Inchmarlo. Most of us went through on the Friday with some people playing golf. Sharon and Bob had a much grander evening, having dinner with the Lord Lieutenant and her deputies at Foulis Castle. They arrived at Inchmarlo at 2am on Saturday when everyone had gone to bed!

And just to prove that they were there and not just chickening out of the golf, here are a couple of photos.

Unfortunately I have no pictures of the golf, but apparently a great time was had by all.

I would like to say that this next photo is of Robin waiting anxiously for Bob and Sharon to arrive, but it isn't.

Instead he seems to be watching a male model showing off the latest in designer casual wear.

And here they all are getting ready to go out and enjoy themselves without Bob and Sharon.

This stroll to the pub seems to have been the only walking they did on the Friday.


Soon they were all sitting down to dinner where it was obvious that Dave was the only one looking after his magnificent physique, leaving his chips at the side of the plate - either that or he was saving them for one o'clock the following day.

After dinner it was time for prizegiving. This year Neil was the winner and here he is getting his prize from last year's champion, Janet.

He so enjoyed the experience that he decided that a dance was necessary.

This seems to have aroused a bit of passion in Mac who looks as if he is about to give more than a polite clap to the ladies' champion, Sandra.

Of course, it wouldn't be an away break without the non-walking member of the Dinosaurs, David, who was a little bemused by it all.

After the prizes were handed out, it was back to one of the chalets for more fun and drink without Bob and Sharon, who didn't seem to be missed at all!

DAY 2

Day 2 and we were all up with the lark - even Bob and Sharon who had very little sleep due to the lateness of their arrival which went completely unnoticed by all the people sharing the chalet. Then we were off for a pleasant walk through the forest and down by the river. Here we all are just before we set off.

Down by the river was very pleasant although it did seem a bit like the film Deliverance with little fishing cabins dotted about the place. We even came across a couple of guys chopping wood with a sharp looking axe, so we passed them by pretty quickly.

We did pass what looked like a bus shelter. It took us half an hour to persuade Mac that no matter how long he waited he would not be able to use his bus pass to get out of the walk.

Whilst it is difficult for you to see that the bird sitting in this tree was a wood-pecker, it was even more difficult for Sharon. She swore it was a Mistle Thrush and argued for some time with Neil about the fact. It was only when she looked at the right tree did she find that it was indeed a wood-pecker!

Soon it was time for lunch and we all pretended to be gnomes sitting on stumps of wood in the forest - a couple of walkers did pass us and ask if we were Goblins, but we said we were just eating our sandwiches.

After lunch we had time for an atmospheric photo taken by Charlie - Dave thought it a little too arty farty to take it through the grass and was hanging his head in despair when the photo was taken.

No sooner were we on our way after lunch when the wind got up and started to blow the giants of the forest over - luckily Dave was nimble enough to avoid this one!

So many trees were blown over that the path became very difficult to negotiate as Pam found to her embarrassment - either that or she wasn't drinking sparkling water for lunch, but Gin and Tonic.

On we went along the forest path until we reached a point where Ann decided to show us the trick of the magic disappearing bottle. However, it didn't work very well and people got fed up watching.

Just after this we split up and some of us took the path, whilst the others went through the woods. Those on the path were first back to the cars - which, given that we didn't have keys, was a bit of a problem. Here are the tree group practising their Flannigan and Allen harmonies.

But, finally they made it through the trees to the car park and the end of another good walk.

After a long walk there is nothing like a good stiff drink - and here is Ann showing how it is done.

After that things seemed to get out of hand and a lot of drink was consumed. As you might expect that just loosened everyone's inhibitions and the evening turned into one of these parties, that I have only dreamt, sorry read - no heard about. Here are the photos to prove it - not many of these twosomes are married to each other!

Either Robin has the most boring chat up lines in the world or he has whispered something to Sandra that has transported her to another place. Or she might just have had one glass of wine too many.

However, it wasn't just me who hadn't done this sort of thing before or else these couples picked the wrong car keys up off the table!

After things settled down a little bit we managed to get away from the bar and up to one of the chalets where things seemed to get even more out of hand. So bad was it that the innocents among us were clearly scandalised.

It does make you wonder what they were looking at - does it not?

And here are the happy couple sharing a tender moment afterwards.

On that note, I think it is time for bed.

DAY 3

Day three found us off to walk around Loch Kinord.

As you can see we did have to wrap up warm at the start. It was a bit cold and here is a blue tit.


Indeed, Charlie took a lot of photos of birds on this walk, including this Osprey.

Hilda Ogden would have been proud even though one duck was missing.

Sue and Sharon decided it was time to go back to their childhood!

Meanwhile Ann and Neil were getting ready for their dotage.

Once we had gone around the Loch we took a short detour to the Burn o' Vat an interesting bit of geology that involved a bit of a squeeze to get to - but we did all manage.

As you can see!

We were not actually looking at the geology, but instead were trying to understand why this tourist had taken fright when we arrived and tried to escape the hard way.

Meanwhile Jim had turned into David Attenborough.

Finally we all went for lunch at what must be the strangest cafe we have ever visited. The food can only be described as rustic, whilst the lack of basics such as salt, pepper and spoons did suggest that the hospitality evening class hadn't been as good as it should have been.

All in all an excellent time was had by everyone and we are all looking forward to the next walk.

However there was a bit of a weird postscript to this walk. After we all left, Mac and Janet went to their second home and what did they find in the garden - a dinosaur!