Cuckoo, Rock climbing and a night at the bothy.

I didn't sleep very well, no surprise really as I never seem to manage to get to sleep very well in a strange bed.

I thought I'd perk up a bit if I went for a walk before breakfast. The weather was sunny and it looked like it would get warmer as the day progressed.

I thought that I would see more wildlife at Ardgour than I normal do at home so I set off to see what I could find.
I could hear I cuckoo calling as I left the lodge, it sounded like it was really close by. I looked and looked but couldn't sight it anywhere. I gave up and went back for breakfast.

After breakfast, my group and I went with Instructor Ali for some rock climbing on Ben Nevis. We took the minibus and travelled to the ferry crossing. Unfortunately, one of the kids was car sick and hadn't taken any meds for travelling. Not a good a start, but she perked up when we reached our climbing stop.

Those climbing harnesses are pretty tight and uncomfortable, but necessarily so, Ali explained. We lugged our stuff up the rock path to the rock face we were going to climb.
I was really pleased that all the kids had a go, even the ones that really didn't think they could do it. One or two were naturals and were quick to scamper up and abseil down the rock face.

I had a go at it too. I think I need more practice at it, and it shows that I'm a lot less agile that the kids!

After our dinner, we all set off on a hill walk to a remote bothy to camp out overnight.
The ground was unbelievably boggy and as we were advised to wear wellies, we were slipping and sliding all over the place. But ultimately I was The Queen of slip and slide.

I don't know how I actually managed to get there. We had to walk along cliff edges just as it had turned dark and for a while I thought this was going to be my last day on the planet.

I was the coo's tail to get to the bothy with lots of help from Mr B. I don't know if he managed to keep a straight face as I consistently managed to fall on my bum nearly the whole way around the cliff.

I'm not a natural camper by any means, and this was like my nightmare list of things I hate about camping.

After the campfire was lit and we had cups of hot chocolate and biscuits, the kids were settled down for the night in the bothy. They were like sardines as 26 kids shared three, what could only be described as 'shelves' to sleep on.

The adults were sleeping in tents outside the bothy and it was laugh or cry as I realised that all my camping nightmares were about to come true.

Having to sleep fully clothed, actually having to add layers of clothing to keep warm, no sink to clean my teeth, outside the back of the bothy sat the portable loo, in the open!!

I could only but laugh at myself as I realised I was living my worst scenario about camping.

I was hoping for a photo of the cuckoo for today's blip, however, it seems elusive. So I've got a shot of Loch Linnhe that I took before breakfast this morning instead.