Sunday was a different format from Saturday, with a morning and afternoon activity that we were allowed to choose: canoeing, kayaking, road biking, mountain biking, orienteering, and going for a walk. For the morning I chose mountain biking, along with three other people.
None of us had ever done real mountain biking before; I had been on rough steep roads, but never trails. So we were given a crash course in the correct use of gears and breaks, correct stance, and a quick trial run on the grounds. We had a choice of going up and down a mountain, or along a series of trails that led to the castle and the town of Killin. We chose the latter, for reasons of both difficulty and getting to see the castle.
Quite fun, quite terrifying at times - free-wheeling down a steep, narrow, muddy path. on the way we passed a circle of standing stones - ancient Celtic religious sites.
These particular ones were unusual because they were in a complete double circle. Some of them were also covered in garnets.
Got back on the bikes and reached the castle. It was rather awesome.
They almost held Parliament here once. Edinburgh was too close to England, so they called it here, but it was so far away from everywhere that no one showed. I looked for swords. No dice.
Took a route though the town, Killin. It was nice, picturesque. Spent some time at the Falls of Dochart, in the centre of town. Arrived back at the lodge with plenty of time for a relaxing lunch.
We decided to kayak in the afternoon. Our legs had been vigorously exercised over the preceding days, but not our upper bodies, plus the people who had kayaked in the morning said it was wonderful.
We geared up in wetsuits and waterproofs, and entered the harbour. Spent about 20 minutes learning the ins and outs of kayak manoeuvring, and getting used to the crafts, then headed south. It was a huge struggle for me. it seemed like everyone else was gliding through the water with the greatest of ease; I couldn't keep my boat straight, each stroke hurt my muscles. My feet didn't exactly fit nicely inside the narrow kayak, especially in the huge old pair of shoes I was wearing. At one point I almost got a charlie-horse. Still though, saw some fantastic scenery, those few times with the clouds lifted a bit.
Back at the lodge, after returning all the equipment and resting my arms a bit, we had a tea.
Now at this point, I should explain how confusing the word "tea" is in Britain. It means dinner. If someone invites you for tea, or asks you to stay for tea, don't eat beforehand. But there is also the afternoon tea, which is what we in the States normally thing of: a snack with tea and cakes and jam, and maybe sandwiches. Which is the kind we had at Firbush.
It was delicious. Scones (rhymes with 'on'), coffee, tea, toast, jam, biscuits...I was right full after.
Then the mini drove us the hour to Stirling, where we Glaswegians (except Mike) just managed to catch a train about a minute before it left. Don't worry though, trains run often. He wouldn't have had to wait too long.
You can view the whole album here.
Beautiful! How old was the castle? Jameson, nice job with the photos. Glad you are trying new things.
ReplyDelete1629. Not that old. The mausoleum is 19th century, but in the same place as an earlier one.
ReplyDeletethe scone thing is funny. there was a girl on my trip who said "scon" and everyone made fun of her for it. guess she lived part of her life in London and had picked up some weird accents.
ReplyDelete