A crazy Canadian canoeing on the Caledonian Canal crying for cash to combat cancer
Here's a teaser pic for now, more below.
Before really getting into the canoeing, which was AWESOME, I'll give a quick recap of other events.
Scottish Supper
We had our Old Norse dinner in Crail, and I feel like I should call mythbusters because we had British food which was actually good! Myth busted.
For a first course we had herring on a hearty (and hard) cracker with some greens on the side. The main course was, better hang on to something here, haggis-stuffed chicken, wrapped in bacon, inside a pastry with an excellent mushroom gravy and mashed potatoes. Also a nice variety of vegetables. It was amazing! For dessert there was a date pudding with some sort of glaze on top. And though it was called a date 'pudding' it was more of a date pie crumble and the glaze tasted like icing. mmmmm!
Oh yeah, and there was wine for pre-dinner chatting, wine paired with the meal, and a port for dessert and post-dinner chatting.
School
School the following week wasn't too shabby neither. Just normal coursework and finished an essay on kobzari in Stalinist Soviet Ukraine which will be available for viewing soon. In the meantime, my last essay on Emperor Michael V of Byzantium has been posted here: http://standrewshistorysociety.co.uk/2015/03/son-of-a-caulker-man-on-the-short-and-unpopular-reign-of-michael-v-kalaphates/
Canoeing the Caledonian Canal!
I really can't express how amazing the canoe trip was. Three days of camping/canoeing on the Caledonian Canal will really make you feel like you're getting the full 'Scottish experience'. We ended up going a little under 100Km in 3 days (normally suggested as a 5-day trip). Four full lochs (and a teeny bit of the fifth) including all connecting canals, which meant portages, some of which were longer than others. One portage was almost a full Km, which isn't that much of a walk, unless you're laden with kit like some kind of two-legged beast of burden. In which case it's perfectly acceptable to sit down and have a snack at the end before heading back for a second load. On the second day, after our last portage, we had a bit of time, so we raided the local chippies and cafes for some coffee and fish and chips. On a related note, if you're pulling/pushing a canoe across a busy road with one hand while eating fish and chips with the other, you get some pretty interesting looks. Plastic forks just contribute to the carbon footprint, so it's environmentally responsible to eat with your hands.
On the first day I started canoeing with my classmate Sam, but we're both pretty strong canoers (canoeists?), so the coordinator tossed me in a different canoe. That way he and I were both steering for some less-experienced canoers. Seems like this was a smart move, because when briefly reunited later, we were so busy chatting and rowing that we accidentally ended up WAY ahead of the group, and nearly missed a team meeting.
I was a bit worried I'd be exhausted after paddling all day, but really once you get into that rhythm, you might as well be standing still for all the attention/energy it requires. The only thing that could potentially slow you down are callouses, but with simple rubber gloves, cutting out the finger tips so you don't get too hot, these too can be avoided.
Though I had plenty of layers and waterproof gear, fully prepared for rain and cold, we somehow had three warm and sunny days (aside from a few violent wind gusts the first day). This was probably the nicest weather I've seen since September!
The first two nights were pretty tame, just camping on the edge of a town or village pretty close to bathrooms, drinking water, etc. But on the last night we just paddled as far down Loch Ness as we could after lunch and pulled into a shore that looked suitable for landing, camping right there on the banks of Loch Ness. The next morning the water was glass, and there was an amazing mist that gave everything a bit of an ethereal quality. Also later that day, we canoed up to Urquhart Castle. We stormed the castle in a Loch-side invasion and enjoyed our lunches on the freshly-conquered grass. In true pirate fashion, we didn't even pay the entrance fee.
The Future
Tomorrow night is this semester's Cooler (big band) so I'm looking forward to jamming out for a few hours. This Sunday I'm hoping to go for a nice hike with some big band people at Mayar and Driesh, Glen Clova (click HERE for more info if interested). The weather for the walk is looking rainy but not too cold hopefully. And on Monday, sadly, we are back in classes. With two written assignments, a presentation, Latin, Old Norse final, and a longer article for the print journal all due in April, I think I'll be pretty busy in the coming weeks. I'll try to keep updating when I can though.
Here are some (a lot) more pictures, shamelessly stolen from my canoeing comrades and uploaded in a completely mixed-up order. (Sorry for the quality, no one was really willing to trust themselves with a nice camera on the water—including myself).
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| Storming the castle |
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| It's Nessie! |
PS if anyone else was curious, 'canoeist' is technically the correct form, but there is enough popular usage of 'canoer' to make it a matter of ongoing debate.
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