LisaThePirate

8 months on, still going to the gym, still not dead.

04 May 2017

So in case you have missed everything else on this blog you won't know that last year, I accidentally became a person who goes to the gym. I didn't die, and you can read about it here.

So I figured I'd do a quick update on what happened next...

Well first lets say that I got some backlash from the most unlikely of places and people.

Post gym sessions/when I feel I can take over the world I occasionally tweet about it or even post a after workout selfie. I've had comments from 'Is this a joke?' to 'You shouldn't need to share your workouts' and my personal fave, 'you don't need to lose weight'!!

Cool thanks, I didn't actually mention my weight so its super nice for you to bring it up....??

I actually go to the gym to get stronger and generally feel better about myself. Lifting heavy weights make me feel powerful and confident. Soz if you don't like it, but if something is improving my mental health and increasing my confidence am I going to let your comments make me stop?

Feck no.

Did I stick to the gym?

Indeed I did, I still manage to go at least twice a week most of the time. Sometimes I go more often, and sometimes I only go once a week. It purely depends on how I'm feeling.

I do sometimes worry that I'm pushing myself too far and will die (still not happened yet). There are times where I really struggle afterwards, or can't do what I'd planned to do during my session.

Some days I go to the gym, hop on the bike or cross-trainer and I can go fast and far, other days I can't. Its hard not to get frustrated with myself on these days, because I know I can do it, but for whatever reason, body says no.

My biggest issue I'm having is with my legs. The arteries in my legs are, as my surgeon described 'scrappy', and sometimes my legs do this weird numb/cramp/jelly thing and I need to have a break from whatever it is I'm doing because I'm scared they will fall off. However my doctor says strong legs are the way forward in the long term so I guess I'll get back on the squats/lunges (which is a massive struggle because I have zero form and balance).

If you had told me a year ago that I would be lifting weights and using a cross-trainer regularly I would not have believed you, but now I can't imaging not doing it.

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That time I ran away to Scotland Part 3 - Skye, Highlands, Nessie and Ghosts

Adventure 20 April 2017

The final part of 'That time I ran away to Scotland' with exploration, leaving Skye looking for Nessie and searching for Ghosts in Edinburgh. Yet another picturefest. Check out part one for Edinburgh and two for the first part of the Highlands and Skye adventure.

After a wet day across Skye the weather began to clear up on our return to Portree and so our guide very kindly took a few of us to the other end of town and showed us a small hiking trail around the cliff, and so, probably a little too enthusiastically we headed off. Six wannabe explorers, making sure we all had water and food (and plasters and a few of our group were med students – talk about over prepared).

The Scorrybreac Circuit is about 2 miles long, within a mile away from the town. It has epic costal and countryside views and also has a pretty steep incline about two thirds of the way round.

{L-R; The Scorrybreac trail, Explorers exploring}

At the start of the walk your greeted with some stunning views of Portree Harbour and just a little way along there is a memorial/ view point with magnificent views across Loch Portree. The Memorial is to members of Clan Nicolson who helped buy the land. This area is considered to be the Clans homeland

{Top; Portree Harbour, below; Clan Nicolson memorial}

You can also see The Isle of Raasay, and Ben Tianavaig across the bay. Further along we met a man walking his dog, and quickly double checked we were going the right way (there is also a 6 mile route) and he confirmed yes, it wasn't too far, we just had to get up the hill and then begin to head back towards the start. The hill is not a hill, to me it is bloody cliff, and to those that know me, you know my leg does not like steep hills/cliffs (due to scar tissue/scrappy veins – find out more by checking out posts marked heart), so it took me a little while to get to the top, but I blummin well did it because I'm awesome, as are my legs and my heart. My fellow explorers were also awesome, happy to let me stop, offering to help with my bag and even offering to go back with me to avoid the climb (I couldn't have met such an awesome understanding explorer gang).

{Top - bottom; Panoramic from the memorial view point, Isle of Raasay, Ben Tianavaig and view across the bay}

So cliff tackled we headed back towards the start of our walk with views across the countryside, before finding ourselves back at the start and then heading back towards Portree.

After stopping for a wee dram of whisky, grabbing some food and generally having a bit of a re-group we headed over to The Portree Hotel pub (with pretty much everyone else in the hostel) for some drinks and live music. The perfect way to end our last day on Skye.

{Top to bottom; Views from the climb, countryside at the top of the hill, Recovery Whisky and pub times}

Up early, it was wonderful, if not bittersweet to see the sun shining over Skye, so I headed out for a walk before having breakfast and then having to say goodbye to my hostel friends and Portree.

Today's trip back towards Edinburgh began at 9am with the promise of lots of stops to make up for what we had missed out on seeing on route up to Skye.

{Early morning in Portree}

Our final stop on Skye was at Sligachan Bridge, situated near the Cuillins mountain range. As always on this tour our guide was eager to tell us the stories of the places we were visiting, and here at Sligachan not only can you gain eternal beauty by placing your face in the water (spoiler alert – I did not feel that comfortable with lying down and putting my face in a fast flowing river - so your stuck with ugly me) but also you can take part in the Glamaig Hill Race.

The Glamaig Hill race is an annual event where athletes race from the hotel bar up to the top of the hill and back. This event commemorates Harkabir Thapa, who in 1899 ran this course in 75 minutes with bare feet.

{Top - bottom; Sligachan Bridge, Glamaig Hill, Rainbow}

Weirdly, none of us thought this was something we wanted to try ourselves so we bid farewell to Skye and began our journey back to Edinburgh.

Our first stop on our Highlands tour was Eilean Donan Castle, one of Scotland's most iconic castles. Unfortunately we didn't have time to go into the castle but just from where we were it looked stunning, so obviously I'll be making sure I visit it properly soon.

{Eilean Donan Castle}

Highland quick stop number two was a view point along the loch overlooking The Five Sisters mountain range.

{The 5 Sisters}

Next we had lunch with Nessie! Stopping at Fort Augustus for an hour and a half for lunch meant that we had a chance to cruise on Loch Ness (whoop whoop – monster hunting!). So we had a quick look around we boarded our Cruise Loch Ness boat for a scenic, hour long trip out into the black waters (£14.50 per adult).

While aboard the focus wasn't all on the monster but on the nature that surrounds you on the loch, both up on the hills and underneath the boat. We saw wild goats, and learnt about the history, and mysteries of the Loch and got to see some pretty cool sonar equipment.

{Top two; Out on Loch Ness, above; Wild Goats}

I will 100% be taking another tour with these guys on my return and I saw Nessie, sort of.

Swapping our boat for our coach we headed back off towards Ben Nevis and Glen Coe.

For incredible views of The Nevis mountain range we stopped at the Commando Memorial at Spean Bridge The memorial commemorates the British Commandos from WWII and nearby The Area of Remembrance commemorates lives lost in more recent conflicts. It is the perfect place to stop and reflect.

{Top - Bottom; Panoramic, Commando Memorial, Nevis Mountain range}

Now I didn't start my day thinking I'd be walking in a 420 Million year old Supervolcano, but that is where I ended up. We stopped at Glen Coe and all our driver left us to take a short walk up to the next car park. We walked down to the main path and along for about 30 minutes before climbing up to the minibus. It was pretty freaking incredible, I mean who wouldn't be happy walking though here!

{Views from walking in Glen Coe}

So once we climbed out of the Glen we just had one more pit stop at The Green Welly for a quick cup of tea and peruse of the gift shops before making our last approach to Edinburgh.

{Left; The very real petrol station. Right; The Green Welly at The Green Welly}

Along the way we had more stories of Scotland and Scottish music playlist to accompany us.

Now I haven't put in hardly any of the facts of stories we heard along the way, not because I don't care or remember but because a) There are so many cool things I learnt that it would turn a 3 post trip into a 30 post trip and B) I don't think me writing them could do them justice and you would be much better off heading out on a trip and hearing them direct from a guide. Steve was a great guide, with incredible knowledge and passion for what he does. We love Steve!

We sadly disembarked at Edinburgh and slowly said our goodbyes before heading our own ways.

I headed up to the bus station and eventually found it (there were works going on that me, my map, google and a person in the street couldn't work out how to get around), loaded my case into a locker and rushed back up over North Bridge to spend my final hours in Edinburgh chasing ghosts. Obviously.

I had picked out a couple of Ghost tours to have a look at, but due to messing around with the bus station I missed two of them so ended up on the Doomed, Dead and Buried tour, run my Mercat Tours (£16per adult). This was possibly a little bit more family friendly then I would have liked but none the less it was really interesting, and we went into the underground vaults at Blair Street (yay ghosts).

We started be going around some of the streets off The Royal Mile before ending up in The Blair Street Vaults, which were amazing and horrific both at once. Leaving the depths of the underground we finished our tour in Cannongate Kirkyard where we heard legends of cannibals and body-snatchers.

{Top - Bottom; Inside the vaults, Cannongate Kirkyard, Cannongate Kirk, Edinburgh at night}

The guides were great, and really engaging as well as making sure no one was lost in the dark! However having been on a similar tour with Mercat Tours before I had heard most of the stories from the vaults before, and I had heard one of the stories from Cannongate earlier on in my trip on The Darkside tour (and in fact it was pretty much told word for word). So next time I'll probably use a different ghost tour, just because I'd like to see something different, but I would totally recommend Mercat tours for your ghostly needs.

And then that was that. The End of my Scottish adventure. I headed back to the bus station and got the overnight coach back down south. Sad to be leaving but happy in my soul.

My last minute Scottish adventure was probably the best idea I've had.

*For more information on hikes walks in The Highlands and beyond check out www.walkhighlands.co.uk

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That time I ran away to Scotland part 2 - From Edinburgh to Skye

Adventure 18 April 2017

Part two of my Scottish adventure. If you missed part one check it here.

This part is a bit more of a picturefest, as we did a lot of stopping off across the Highlands, and I've got so many random facts written down they would make this post six times longer then it should be and I've already had to split it into two parts.

So after a evening of walking and whisky it was up early to say goodbye to Edinburgh and hello to the Highlands.

I booked a 3 day tour with Rabbies Tours to Skye, and met my tour driver/guide Steve, and the rest of our group at Rabbies cafe, where we all bundled on to our mini bus and waved goodbye to Edinburgh.

Within probably about 30 minutes or so I knew I'd made another great choice in my Scottish adventure as I'd already heard the Proclaimers on the coach playlist and been told a story about Margaret Tudor (who I'd recently read about and was an proper bad ass lady).

The first stop on our trip was at the original Winterfell!!!!!!!

Yes! Kind of. We stopped at Doune Castle, which was used for filming in Monty Python, Outlander and the pilot of Game of Thrones, however another location was chosen for the actual Winterfell in the series and as of yet the pilot hasn't been broadcast, but technically we went to Winterfell.

{Doune Castle}

We got our photos (we couldn't go into the castle as it wasn't open) and jumped back on our bus to our next stop, the little town of Callander, where I found true happiness, A Christmas shop with a dog in it!! Christmas shops seem to be a thing in little Highland towns. I wish I'd known before so I could have budgeted a little extra for Christmas decorations.

We had half hour to explore before heading off to our next location Loch Lubnaig.

{From Top; Christmas dog, Loch Lubnaig}

While on our coach we did a lot of learning. Our guide was full of knowledge about pretty much everything Scottish, from local legends to the history of bagpipes and kilts.
We had a lunch break at Killin, which as well as a lovely cafe/pub with a proper fire to warm us up (yea its chilly in the Highlands) also has some pretty waterfalls.

{Killin Waterfall and village}

This Is where things went a little wrong. As in the road our driver had planned on taking was closed, and therefore we had to do a little detour which added a heck of a lot of time to our journey, because there is no such thing as a little detour where there are only two main roads.

But alas our driver took us as quickly a possible on the road to Skye, and the views were pretty awesome, there was hardly any phone signal and he had created an awesome playlist of Scottish music for the journey which he played in between fun facts and stories, so it was a pretty good, slightly extended road trip.

{Coach window views}

After a few more hours on the road and a couple of pit stops we finally made our way over Skye Bridge on the The Misty Isle of Skye. Not before our driver had asked Fergus, King of the Faeries to let us on and allow us to have a good time, (something that all visitors to Skye should or you will receive bad luck).

Our final stop was the lovely town of Portree, Skye's capital where we would all be staying in our various accommodations.

I chose to stay in Portree Youth Hostel, run by the SYHA Hostelling Scotland.

After the joy that was C0de in Edinburgh, I was a little apprehensive about staying here as I'd enjoyed my little bit of privacy that C0de gave me but once I got to my room, I was super happy. I was in a 4 bed room (2 bunk-beds) which had its own spacious bathroom, a few chairs and little table. Plenty of room for all of us and each bunk had its own light/shelf and sockets. So once I'd made up my bed, I went out to have a little explore of Portree before heading back to for a shower, food and an early night.

{Portee Harbour in the evening}

The next morning it was up and out (after breakfast which was provided by the hostel for an extra £4.95per night) to go exploring.

Now the problem with Skye is that the weather is unpredictable and sometimes it rains, a lot. Today was one of those days, but being the fearless explorers we are, we got in out minibus and our driver took us out to see some of the natural beauty that Skye has to offer.

First stop on our way was to An Cailc, to see a natural double waterfall and what is left of an old dynamite factory below the cliff, which you can walk down to, but we all agreed 'not in this weather'.

An Cailc - Dynamite factory - Isle of Skye

{From Top; An Cailc dynamite factory, waterfalls}

Next we headed a bit further along the coast to Kilt Rock Where along with stunning views and waterfall there are also casts of Dinosaur prints that have been found in the area. This over excited us, because basically we all thought for a moment we might be in Jurassic Park.

{From Top:Kilt Rock, View from Kilt Rock

Dinosaur prints, Skye Dinosaurs}

Fortunately there were only casts of prints and no actual dinosaurs so we headed down along the road for a quick stop for a cuppa to warm up. and then we were off up into the clouds towards the Quiraing the highest mountain on Skye. Seeing a break in the clouds our driver hurried us onto the bus hoping that we would get to the top just in time to see and inversion but maybe alas we missed it, but still, being on top of a mountain on the clouds was pretty awesome.

{Top of the Quiraing / Up in the clouds}

Our next and final stop for the morning was the Faerie Glen. A cute little area where everything is naturally miniature.

{Faerie Glen Views}

Now we were advised to not climb up to the top of the Faerie castle, as it was too wet and muddy and we would slip. So as advised I didn't, and considering the amount of people that ignored this advice and came back covered in mud I'm glad I only went up one of the smaller hill on the opposite side of the glen. There is a lesson there – Guide knows best!

So we then headed back to Portree for lunch/clean up/warmth. I went a walk around the town, stopped in a few gift shops before settling down in The Caledonian café for a little while. Soon we were all bundled back on the bus and headed East to the Neist Point. Despite the forecasts saying it was supposed to be the area with the best weather, King Fergus had other ideas for us and when we arrived it was so misty that we could not see a meter in front of us, so for safety reasons (the big cliffs,) we had to head back to Portree.

Coming back from seeing nothing to a little town that I had already explored was a bit of a downer, and some of group also felt the same way. Luckily for us the weather over Portree was getting better and our guide suggested a 3k walk around the other side of the harbour. He very kindly dropped the six of us off and pointed us in the right direction and told us how to make out way back to town. And so Six went exploring!!

coming up in part 3 for hiking, Nessie and Ghosts.

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8 months on, still going to the gym, still not dead.

That time I ran away to Scotland Part 3 - Skye, Highlands, Nessie and Ghosts

That time I ran away to Scotland part 2 - From Edinburgh to Skye

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