Muckle Flugga

I've just been catching up on Alastair Humphreys' blog and see he cycled the length of Shetland recently and finished up by camping at Hermaness on the north coast of Unst. Unst is the most northerly island in Britain (not counting 2 lumps of rock, one of which is Muckle Flugga). 

I found myself there last summer - I actually should have been in Iran, but that's a whole other story - and fulfilled (kind of) an ambition by seeing Muckle Flugga. I've always been fascinated with it ever since I first heard the name on the shipping forecast. It's basically a rock with a now un-manned lighthouse on it. But it's a far away rock with a funny sounding name and those are two things that always appeal to me. I liked it so much when I finally saw it that I ended up seeing it three times. 

The first was when I walked along the Hermaness cliffs which are fascinating enough in themselves because of their huge gannet colony and puffins. Then I went on a boat trip around Muckle Flugga and got a close up view of it. On my last day in Unst I climbed up Saxa Vord which has a military radar station sat on its top. 

I felt very intrepid as I ignored signs warning me of snow and ice. I felt very adventurous as I next ignored signs warning me that I would be arrested under the official secrets act if I went any further. I felt very heroic as I ignored signs at the top that warned me I would be irradiated if I got any closer. (I'd actually been told by locals that it was fine to ignore the signs and everyone does). I'd gone up partly because I wanted to have the experience of ignoring all those signs and partly because it has great views of Muckle Flugga. At the top I ran into the guard who goes up once a day to check on the place. He didn't arrest me, just told me where to go to get the best views and advised me not to get too close to the radar bits that really do have radiation in them. 

So I've seen plenty of Muckle Flugga and that should have been that ambition fulfilled. But at the hostel I met a few kayakers, two of whom had actually paddled out to the rock, landed and climbed up to the lighthouse. This is not allowed but, as I found with Saxa Vord, no-one seems to bother with things like 'not being allowed' in Unst. I was jealous and so decided that I have to learn to kayak so I can also land on Muckle Flugga. The sea is pretty rough so it's not just a case of learning the basics and going for it - I also have to get good at it. But this is why I have learning to canoe/kayak on my list of things to do.  

I'm going to go back to Shetland this summer after I have walked the Great Glen Way. I'll go back to Unst and gaze at Muckle Flugga from afar again. As I've done nothing about learning to kayak this year that will be the most I can do. But one year I will definitely paddle to it, climb the steps and touch those lighthouse walls.  

Getting Things Done

I've just finished reading a book called 'Getting Things Done' by David Allen. The book is of the self-help genre and is aimed at helping busy managers and executives get their lives in order so they can achieve more and achieve more easily. The way of doing this is to have lists for everything and to break your 'things to do' down into the simplest of tasks so you always have a 'next action' on the go and feel as though you really are getting things done. For example, a task I needed to complete recently was to get a gas engineer out to do the annual gas check on the house I rent out. But I couldn't do this until I'd made the appointment with the engineer and liaised with my tenant to make sure it was convenient. I couldn't make the appointment until I'd rang him. I couldn't ring him until I had a phone number. So my 'next action' started off as 'get the engineer's number' and I achieved the task in stages rather than having it as one unticked item on my list until the whole task was finished. It makes sense to me and although I know I won't follow all of his ideas I do like the basic idea of it. I like lists and I like to feel as though I'm ticking things off even if it is only bit by bit. Since I've been writing this blog I'm already feeling more positive and in control of the things I want to do because I'm noticing little things that are actually relevant to my list, but which would have passed me by before and I wouldn't have felt like I was on the way to achieving anything at all. So, in a way, I'm already practising the 'next action' technique of organising and achieving and I like it. 

Waxed!

Last night was my waxing appointment at the local college salon. I was called upstairs to the huge treatment room straight away and directed to a bed with a curtain round it. The whole place seemed quite manic with people dashing about everywhere. My therapist/waxist/student asked me some questions about such things as if I'm a diabetic or have a pacemaker. Then I had to remove my trousers and get on the bed with a towel stretched across my upper legs. I was ready to be waxed.


First, my legs were wiped down with a cool antiseptic liquid. Then talcum powder was rubbed over them. After that it was time for the wax. Evil smelling, pink goo was smeared over my legs and then ripped off with a piece of thin fabric. It hurt, but not nearly as much as I expected it to. Once the fronts were done I had to turn over so the backs could be done. This was a bit more painful, but still completely bearable. At this point the tutor had come in and joined in as she thought it was taking too long. She was a lot quicker than the student and so maybe this was why it hurt a bit more. My student waxer was really gentle. But soon it was over and I was slathered with an after-wax liquid and advised not to shower, swim or use body lotions for 48 hours.


As I've now been waxed I could tick this one off my list. But I think I'll keep it in the 'in progress' category until I've been brave enough to have full leg, bikini line and underarm waxing done. As the college closes for the summer next week, it won't be until at least September before I can do this.

Morecambe Sands Walk

Walking across the sands of Morecambe Bay is something I've had in mind for years. The sands shift with the tides and become lethal, sucking unwary walkers down to their deaths. The most well known case of course being the Chinese cockle pickers a few years ago. Because of the nature of the sands no-one should attempt the walk without a guide. Luckily, such a guide exists. Cedric Robinson is the official 'Queen's Guide' and has held the role for over 40 years. He usually only leads walks at the weekend now and only over the summer season. All the walks are also charity walks so it's not possible to just turn up and join one. 

I decided I really wanted to do this walk last year as I'd found out it was probably going to be Cedric's last year in the job. Although no doubt there will be a new guide to follow him when he does finally retire, it won't be quite the same. As luck would have it my local hospice (Willow Wood) was organising a charity walk of the sands for the first time. So I signed up and was all set to go. The weekend of the walk, it rained. It rained a lot. It was still raining a lot when I turned up for the coach on Sunday morning. The organisers did a last check with Cedric before we set off and he said he'd have to cancel the walk. Because of the huge amount of rain, the river we would have to wade across was dangerously high and fast flowing and unpassable. As this was one of the last walks of the season it wasn't possible to re-arrange another for that year. But we were promised that we would be able to reschedule for this year and Cedric would still lead the walk. 

Well, my new sponsorship form has arrived and the walk is set for mid September. Surely it can't be cancelled a second time? It's got to happen this time.

Waxing appointment made

My web design course isn't running next Tuesday so I thought this could be a good time to have my first waxing experience. As the college salon, staffed by trainee beauty therapists, only has appointments at certain times it hasn't been convenient until now.


I popped in on my way to class this evening to make an appointment. Whilst I was there I also got a patch test done as I'm thinking of also getting my eyebrows and eyelashes tinted. For insurance purposes they have to do the patch test first to make sure you don't have any weird reactions. The receptionist mixed a few chemicals and then painted a purple blob on my arm. As it is meant to be a dye that lasts for a while and doesn't wash off I'm expecting questions from curious students the next few times I have short sleeves.


Leg waxing, eyelash tinting, whatever next? I'm finally turning into a girly girl. I don't think I'm quite ready to trade my walking boots in for a pair of stilettos just yet, but watch this space ...

To bivvy or not

I'm thinking about bivvies. I'd love to try sleeping in one, but as I don't know anyone with one that I can borrow, I'll have to buy my own before I can try it. I briefly toyed with the idea of getting one to sleep in for when I walk the Great Glen Way as it would be a lot smaller and lighter to carry than my tent. But as it'll probably rain and could well be cold and there's sure to be zillions of midges at some point (it is Scotland after all) I think a week in one might be too much. No matter how much I resent carrying my tent during the day, I'll be really glad of it at night. I'll have room to spread out and cook and sit up and read and feel protected from the weather and the midges. I've used it in really strong Icelandic and Shetland storms and it's had no trouble surviving and I've always been warm and snug inside no matter what the weather's doing outside. So the tent it is. 

I'd still like to get a bivvy though. A year or so ago, I read Ronald Turnbull's The Book of the Bivvy and found it an informative and interesting read. More recently Alastair Humphreys has had a bit of debate on his website about which are the best bivvies to get. 


Once I get one, then I'll have to think about where to take it to get the full bivvying overnight experience. 

Other blogs and websites

There are a few websites and blogs that I monitor frequently. One is Alastair Humphreys' website. He pushes the whole motivation thing a bit heavily at times, but he is quite inspirational and I've picked up a few ideas from him. When I checked out his site today he had a link to a website belonging to a Swiss couple who spent eight years cycling round the world, more than a year of which was in Japan. This section of their website seemed quite interesting as cycling in Japan is an idea that's starting to ferment at the back of my mind. Unfortunately there wasn't a lot of detail, but they do have some amazing photos. 


Another website I check regularly is that of the Walking Englishman. He really inspires me to create my own website though I know I'll never be in his league. At the moment he's a few weeks in to an 80 day, 1000 mile walk through Scotland and England. Most days he's updating a blog about it. The update I read today was about the small part of the Great Glen Way he's walking, including Neptune's Steps and the route into Fort William. If I walk the GGW in the summer I'll be doing it the other way round to this, but it's still more information for me that will help me to prepare. 


I do like it when the blogs and websites I look at link in to what I'm doing at the moment. 


http://www.alastairhumphreys.com/
http://veraluc.com/velo_le_voyage.php?lang=eng
http://www.walkingenglishman.com/
http://www.1000milewalk.co.uk/2011/06/09/accomplishment/