Danwood Quiz Eight

Friday night was Danwood Quiz Eight at the Royal Naval Club in Lincoln.  Keren wasn't very well so I was ably assisted by M&C who did a great job of marking and keeping everyone in line.

As with the previous quizzes, it was a bit of a mixture, some easy rounds, some hard but I think the balance was about right.  We had around 20 teams of four and the winners were from our MPS section.

Unfortunately, there were some people who were using their phones to browse the web - and they weren't very discreet about it which wound up some of the other competitors.  I'm almost resigned to this form of cheating now as I don't think there's much I can do about it.  However, I've emailed everyone that played and told them that if it happens at the next quiz it will be the last.  I don't care about the cheating but I'm not prepared to deal with the complaints!

Weekend with the Houghton/Blackburns

Having a very enjoyable weekend with Jo, Tony & Ivy.  Came down after work on Friday, traffic was easy and we got here in about 2 and a half hours.  Ivy was already in bed, J & T had a pizza ready for us and we watched a bit of telly and had a couple of bevvies before bed.

On Saturday, Tony and I played golf at his local course, Haste Hill.  I played OK, better than usual but Tony's a bit too good for me and he beat me by one hole.  I needed a five on the last for a 99, which would have been only my third score under 100.  Was on the green in three but then three-putted for a six and a nice round ton.  On Saturday night, we watched Strictly, had a takeaway curry and played Balderdash.  We know how to live!

Today we're all off to a pub in Sarratt for lunch with Emma, Tariq and Leila.

1,017 miles later, we're home

The journey from Tobermory to Moffat was very easy.  We arrived at Craignure just as a ferry was loading, it was two hours earlier than the one that we'd booked but we had a word and it didn't matter so we hopped on.  We were sad to be saying goodbye to Mull but our holiday wasn't yet over as we had one more night to go on the way home.  Apart from some roadworks around Glasgow, there were no hold-ups and we arrived in Moffat (Dumfriesshire) at about 3:30pm.  The hotel was getting on a bit but it was OK and the town looked quite nice.

After checking in we went for a walk around town to check out where we could eat dinner.  We had a couple of pints and a game of cards in the Buccleuch Arms and then decided that the best option would be to eat back at the Balmoral then have an early night - which is what we did.  Unfortunately, the rest of Moffat was up for a party and, our room being at the front, we were privy to their music, singing, and shouting.  Thank the Lord for ear plugs - they saved the day (or night).

It's Rememberance Sunday today and there was a commemorative ceremony outside Moffat Town Hall, complete with pipers.  As the Town Hall was dead opposite our hotel we had a good view of the preparations but we left before the ceremonies started.  The drive back to Lincoln was long but there were no traffic problems and we arrived home again at about 3:30pm.

Thank you Scotland for a great holiday.  Looking forward to work tomorrow.

Tobermory

Spent Thursday afternoon, pootling around Tobermory looking in all the shops (there aren't many).  At around four thirty, we hiked up to the Western Isles Hotel (in the picture, it's the large grey building on the hill) for a coffee in their conservatory overlooking the harbour.  There was a wedding party on so we found ourselves surrounded by men in kilts and a bird in a big white dress.

After a chippy tea featuring local cod, we played backgammon and dominoes in our kitchen/diner.  We really know how to live it up when we're on holiday!

Tobermory Golf Club

Wow!  What a course.  It's certainly got the best views of anywhere I've ever played before and I would say it's also the hardest.  There are no bunkers, no water and very few trees - the difficulty comes from the massive changes in elevation.  Most of the fairways were almost terraced in appearance, on almost every shot you were hitting blind over a hill, or off a 'cliff' edge into a valley or over the top of a canyon.  I got more exercise in nine holes round here than I've ever had in 18 anywhere else.  Despite the terrain and my borrowed set of antique clubs, I shot 50 and was pretty pleased to do so.  If you like golf, and if you're ever in Tobermory, you must play this course!

Iona

We drove from Tobermory to Fionnphort, to catch a ferry to Iona.  A 10 minute sailing brings you to a very different landscape, much flatter and with the whitest beaches I've ever seen.  Iona is the place where St Columba established the first Christian settlement in Britain.  We looked around the Abbey and in the museum of stone crosses, some of which were from the 8th century.

K and I walked to a beach at the northern end of the island where we had a picnic atop a rock looking out to sea.  It was a really beautiful place and was helped by the fantastic weather.

On the way back to Tobermory we stopped to take lots of photos of the mountains in the southern half of Mull.  The browns, greens and reds at this time of year are really stunning, I don't believe our photos will do them justice so you'll have to take our word for it.

On our way to Iona

It's sunny!

Monday and Tuesday - Mulling it over in the rain

Yesterday the weather was wet, dry, wet, dry, wet, dry… in 5 minute intervals… all day. We didn't come to Mull in November expecting dry weather and we're determined not to let the rain slow us down so we donned our waterproof troosers and set off for Loch a’ Ghleannain (don’t ask me how to pronounce this, I have no idea). We got drenched, properly… imagine the wettest you’ve ever been, like in the bath, then double it and add some mud. With the car's heaters on full blast, we dried off enough to venture out again and had a wander around Torosay Castle gardens then through the forest to Craignure for a restorative pint. Last night we ate at MacGochan’s, scampi and chips twice and a game of pool.

Today the rain was on/off again but when it was on it wasn’t on as hard or as long as yesterday so we only needed five layers instead of twelve. We went on a boat trip into the Sound of Mull (this is a body of water, not a prog rock band). It was choppy at times but the two crew were very well informed and, as there were only six passengers, we were able to ask lots of questions. We saw grey seals, common seals, herons, shags (stop sniggering at the back) and, best of all, three harbour porpoises which came to within about 10 metres of the back of the boat. Wag, the first mate, said it was very unusual to see them so close as they are normally quite shy. Right we’re off out for a curry now, see you again soon.

Tobermory - we've arrived!

Yesterday we arrived in Mull and had a walk around the harbour.  We had a pint and then went to Cafe Fish for dinner.  Guess what?  We had fish!  K had smoked salmon followed by scallops and I had onion soup followed by seafood stroganoff.  We both agreed it was one of the best meals we'd had for ages (apologies to any of our friends who have been kind enough to invite us round for dinner, your meals were nice too).

Today it was raining so we had a late fry-up, watched the GP and then went for a wet walk around the town.  We finished off with dinner at the Mishnish Hotel.  Really indifferent service in what is supposed to be Tobermory's most famous establishment.  However the food was OK and it was quiz night!  We came joint last.  Must do more revision next time.  Met a father and son from Essex who were touring the Highlands and islands taking nature photographs.