Loch Lomond

The highlight of last weekend was a trip to the gorgeous Loch Lomond.

Here's the castle where we stayed - it's now the Loch Lomond Youth Hostel. Apparently the grounds used to be the site of a hunting lodge of Robert the Bruce.

On a clear day, you can see the snow-capped peak of Ben Lomond from the grounds of the castle. After the hike up Ben Nevis, I was rather less keen on doing it this time. It's only 974m after all...

Rather, it was time to do something that I'd never considered doing, but which rapidly became something I chose to do - willingly - and I wasn't under the influence of alcohol at all. Let's start from the beginning.

It was a gorgeous day along the castle grounds

The evening started with us chilling in the lounge room of the castle.

Left-Right: Kelley, me, Kevin (of Clan McBeth), Melanie, Katrina

We then had a ceilidh, which was run by these guys:

I think some students didn't really get into the whole ceilidth thing. I walked out of the hall for a breather to find:

It was that kind of party

Anyways, hot and sweaty after the ceilidh, I walked out of the hall again, to hear some guy decide aloud that it would be a good idea to take a dip in the waters of Loch Lomond. It was approaching midnight.

Another random pic.

Being completely sober (i'd swear this on a stack of bibles), and still within the warmth of the castle, I said the fateful words:

"why not, I'm in"

I was instantly committed. Let's just say it was a very long 5 minute walk in the cold from the castle to the Loch. I had time to think about what I'd just committed myself into as I dodged puddles along a wet path in the rain.

Yay! I'm going to freeze alive!

Mind you, we did warm up beforehand:

There was nothing to it but to take the plunge. I'd note here that Loch Lomond looked much more inviting during the day.

Let's just say it wasn't very warm after midnight.

I had to do a wee bit of cropping for this pic...

Along the way to the lake, I came to the realisation that Kevin and I were the only 2 non-intoxicated people taking the plunge. Kev didn't even plan to swim... he was just there to egg me on (what friends are for). I mentioned this aloud, to hear the reply from an intoxicated Scotsman:

"It's more manly if you do it sober"

To which I'd reply:

"It's more idiotic if you choose to do it sober"

The only 2 sober guys

In any case, now I can cross off one more thing off my list of things to do in Scotland (though it wasn't on the original list, it deserves to be there for sheer audacity/idiocy):

• Take a midnight swim in Loch Lomond - Done
  

Edinburgh

It's been a mad week. I had to hand in an essay and do an oral presentation on Wednesday, and spent last night cramming for an exam today. Thank God it's all over. The exam was interesting, giving us a choice of 2 questions from 4. It wasn't pretty. Basically, I looked at the first 2 questions and realised something: regardless of whatever the last 2 questions were, I'd have to do them...

I went to Edinburgh on the weekend. Managed to tour the castle and the Scottish Parliament. I'd highly recommend the castle - the views are spectacular on a clear day (admittedly those aren't so common here)

The Castle

Looking down the Royal Mile

The view from the battlements - The Firth of Forth

Some of my classmates

The chapel in the Castle grounds

The most handsome man alive poses with Arthur's Seat in the background =P



The Scottish Parliament

Anyways, that's it for now =)

Of driving

Having been in Glasgow for 2 months, one thing I do miss a lot is driving.

I find the act in itself quite therapeutic, and that's even before I get passengers on board. There's something about having 5 lives on your fingertips (before you even include pedestrians and other drivers) that just makes me want to put the pedal on the metal, and fly...

[looks back on what he's written]

I'll stop now before:

• my parents take away the car
  
• the govt takes away my licence
• you all think I'm some kind of psycho... MUAHAHAHAHA!

Admittedly I miss my regular passengers - some who get in out of choice, and the vast majority out of necessity -

• Brian, Ashley, cousins - they're family - if I don't drive them, they don't get anywhere =p
  
• Keith and Natania - regular passengers - often participate in whatever crazy thing I decide to do in the car (eg start a water-fight with the Tangs' car whilst driving on Mts Bay Road)
  
• Russell - can sleep in my car. Witness of the infamous indecisive skid at the Ranford Rd/Bannister Rd traffic lights...
  
• Kristine - complains about my driving and yet keeps getting into the car - I think you're a daredevil in disguise =)
  
• Amanda - who'll only get into my car when she's dead tired or has no car - "Nic... there are some ... unappealing aspects about your driving"
  
• The OD girls - basically I end up hearing high-pitched girly conversations from UWA to Broadway.
  
• The Tangs - I'll quote Michelle on this: "I can sleep when Nic's driving... because I drive like this too"

Oh wait... I just realised that all my passengers get in my car out of necessity

Circa 2006 - Brian praying furiously as I raced from Banjup to Nedlands in 15 mins, including a petrol stop.

I have a few things to say in my defence:

• I haven't actually got into a prang yet (though not for want of trying). I'd attribute that to reflexes.
  
• I'm quite safety-oriented - I always insist that all my passengers wear seatbelts, and always have an eye on the rear mirror (for cops)
  
• I would never do anything I wouldn't do if I were driving alone.
  
• Majority of passengers surveyed said my driving was a "[....] experience" - fill in the blanks yourself...
  
• I'm actually really qualified to drive. Over-qualified in fact. I'd tell you why, but I'm keeping it for future sermon material
• Finally, I also park really well =)
  
  Circa 2008 - http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3999078&op=4&o=global&view=global&subj=563231373&id=795785111

The good news is that I'll be back in January =)

Comments?

Dinner

What's better than rendang?
Home made rendang =)

Ben Nevis - Part 2

I left whoever reads this blog (basically those ppl after my guitars) with the impression that I nearly died climbing up Ben Nevis. Well to be honest, it wasn't nearly that dramatic. Admittedly, it was the most physically gruelling thing I've ever done in my life.

On a random note: the first song playing on the radio as we woke that morning was the Beatles' 'Live and let die' =)

Here's a map of our route.
Don't worry - we used a real map on the day=P

Anyways, lets get on with the story... at the Lochan (the Red Burn), I decided to put an extra layer on (which entailed removing a few layers). At the very moment when I'd partially undressed, the skies opened up, and I've never seen hands go cold so fast...It was quite embarrassing as it got so cold in the space of 30 secs that my numb fingers couldn't handle the buttons on my raincoat, meaning I had to get Steven's help - male bonding time inspired by a moment of sheer serendipity.

The Lochan from about 100m above:

There's so many lakes (lochs) in Scotland... lets just say they don't have a water problem =)

The clouds and snow kicked in once we hit 800-900m, meaning the temperature, and visibility dropped. Steven and Maude were 15m away when I took this picture.

But there was one perk. I saw snow for the first time in my life, and remembered the old adage about yellow snow. Fortunately I wasn't that thirsty. And no. It wasn't me.

Hakim, Patrick and I:

We were greeted with a procession of people retreating from the summit. One told us the summit was an hour away. This wouldn't have been so bad, except that 40 mins later, another person told us it was another hour away. This happened a few times. It's a bit dispiriting. On the other hand, on our descent, it was pretty fun playing the same mental games with people on the way up =P

The last part of the climb was probably the hardest. Freezing hands, tired legs.and bad visibility. The path was pretty brutal on the feet, and the snow had a treadmill effect.

The novelty of snow rapidly wore off after my right quads cramped up... (I can almost hear my UWA football kaki telling me to eat more salt). Ever tried walking uphill without your right leg?

Here's a summary of my thoughts at that point

1. I've used up most of my energy already - God I'm less fit than I thought I was
   
2. Have I got enough in the tank to reach the summit?Have I got enough to get down? On the other hand, if I die here, I won't have to lead cell group in Perth. Or deal with the joys of 5th year Law.
   
3. How much longer is it anyways? The guy we met 60 mins ago said it was 40 mins more...
4. Bloody (&^l my leg hurts! I look like a fool crab-walking up this mountain.
   
5. I'm hungry (typical male)
6. I can't believe Evan put me up to this...
   

You can almost hear the desperation in my voice as I helped promote 2009's J-Life Camp - ONE!

At certain points along 5-Finger Gully, the path seemed endless, and uphill. Sometimes you just have to grit your teeth and plant one foot in front of the other.
However, after 4 hours, we got to the top of the UK!

It was bloody cold (-10C i think), but on the other hand there was an observatory meaning we could get out of the wind, and grab some packed lunch. Couldn't really order a pizza.


The descent was way easier... Anytime one felt tired, one could simply look up at the mountain top... and thank God that we were heading DOWN. Plus, as mentioned earlier there was the entertainment value of telling people on the way up that the summit was 2 hours away =P


Steven and I all smiles. He was absolutely flabbergasted upon realising:

1. I'd never seen snow in my life,
   
2. I'd never climbed a mountain in my life, and
   
3. I'd decided to knock both these things of my "things to do before I die" list. Simultaneously. On the highest mountain in the UK...
   

The best part about the descent were the views, especially when combined with that satisfactory feeling you get after you've climbed that high. I'll end off with some hard-earned pics (some are from Steve's camera):

Aside from a great sense of achievement, I also got a souvenir from Ben Nevis.

Let's just say I felt every single rock on the path through my boots...