The life and times of the Mountain Goat

New tree for Garden makeover.

gary.wilson68@virgin.net (Mountain Goat) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:01:00 +0000

The garden Maker-over has begun with the shed convertion and a new tree or two actually, we went to Majestic trees near the M1 J9, they sell mature trees, ranging from £200 - £20,000, and in varying sizes from 6 Metres to 20 Metres....

Its a lush place to go if you love trees and I love trees, of course what i hate about trees is there slow growth so we bought somthing already 5 years old, it was hard to choose in such a place as they all looked suitable, and when your out of your garden you forget the scale when somewhere else, some of the trees we liked would have drowned our little house.

The one we bought....happy daze...

we actually bought one that was £260 pounds look at picture below,it is a Indian Bean Tree with big leaves and sweet smelling flowers during summer, it has won awards etc but well have to wait a year or two for it to fully show its self, but to be fair others that had been trimmed and were older were costing over £1000 each...we grabbed at the chance and bought it, a short walk through the nursery later we came across the buyer and he was walking around checking prices...we spoke with him and he said that one had been missed out and would be re priced later, but if we wanted it today it would hold the price as shown he said it was there error and one which he regretted...he said we should take our chance and we did.

The shed has been converted too as in we are trying to make it a bit nicer by cladding it, making it all wooden looking instead of all asbestos looking...

Looks better than before

So weve been busy and of course it will continue through the winter, ya gotta have a project or two going right...

Tree Arrival...

It arrives on Thursday the 12.11.09...on that day i had a skip on the drive - what a pratt, only a mini skip but still what a pratt, the guy were just laughing at me, anyway the loory pulled up and the neighbours nets started to twitch, whats this hes having a bloody tree now eh...nosey sods. The side of the lorry was pulled back to reveal two very dead looking tress with no greenery at all on them, a sadness roled over me, when in the tree nursery they were full of life and leaves and now in the winter they looked well sad and dead to be fair, the driver noticed my expression and explained that the trees all look like this at this time of year (unless evergreen) and that Nov is the best time when the tree is dormant to place in a new home, he said within the year the difference will be very obvious, to add to the dead look the trees were strapped down and all the branches are group and tied down.

Anyway they had to move the Skip a bit and then put the tree on a roller trolley, which had go over Brian the neighbours drive, he was out making sure nothing was damaged ha ha lol...bless him., the tree was so heavy but only at the base, we rolled it into the garden and the guys plonked it in the hole....

.....now the hole, i dug it right in fact perfect, but then in my panic thinking it was to deep, i filled it in a bit - TOO MUCH - and now the tree is to high, shit shit!!!! now all the gardens levels have to work to the tree base height....

The guys from the company - Majestic Trees - were not even supposed to help me get in the hole the delivery price was for dropping at the side of the road so i was very lucky in deed.

So its in the hole and it looks a bit well crap really, youll see form the picture at the top that it will be all green etc..but for now it looks a bit as said crap.

Laterz.

New Zealand Trip...2009

gary.wilson68@virgin.net (Mountain Goat) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 01:38:00 +0000

During August of 2009 we ventured to NZ to holiday but also as a test bed to see if emigration was all it was cracked up to be, we had been considering emigrating for some time but were concerned about some key issues. One being Housing and the quality of and wages. The trip I am glad to say answered all needed questions and has given us so much to consider.

This is about NZ in realation to emigration not as a holiday, I mean just to list a few things we did whilst there -

Freefall Skydive over Mount Cook
Helicopter trip and landing on volcano
The Aybss, caverns waitamo
Canyon swing
Shotover Jet
wild camping
Full day kayacking in the Milford sound
Full day Glacier trip
Driving all over both islands
slept in a bomber
slept in train
private Horse riding session - waitamo (dont ask)....etc etc etc.

there was so muh done and so much missed as we had no time left...we need to go back and we will...but this review is in relation to the emigration possibilities not NZ as a tourist destination. So to start....

Landscape....

I will start with best bit regarding NZ, it is stunning as in the landscape, the reason why so many millions of people tour around the country is because it is breathtaking, you feel you want to stop the van at every turn for a picture and just when you get back in to the van a better view shows itself forcing on you another stop, this does get irritating but is testimount to the scenery and you just cant help yourself...It is as if a proffesional award winning landscape gardener has personaly created the country side. NZ by its nature is very hilly and a tourist map lies to you constantly with its straight roads...yeh whatever.....it is constantly undulating and so the roads are constantly winding through this hilly and mountainous country, the hills are mowed to perfection by the millions of sheep so it looks like the country side has had a hover mower over it, gorgeous, the trees and the variety is just delightful and leaves you stunned as you drive passed, Palms mixed with giant ferns mixed with british and american classics. We were there in the winter but the weather was stunning but what this meant was that the low sunlight casting shadows through the valleys and hills just makes your mouth water, the camera needed to give this place justification was not on my person, my point and shot did not stand a chance bless, but we tried ohh we tried we clicked and clicked...but what the camera saw and what the eye saw were so so so different...

Of course when you drive through the Islands you move through all its seasonal areas and micro climates these changing for you as you go, the types of trees and foliage change the hills change the mountains enter, its a constant feast of scenery it seems to never end, your eyes most of time dont seem wide enough as you struggle to get it all in one view neck stretching out of van windows becomes the norm. Its a rustic untamed country some ares have never been stood on by man, the bush at the side of road is thick, not like english forests, you would struggle to get more than 30 metres into it and you would get lost in a heartbeat and many people have.

The roads are empty most of the time although not completely vacant of vehicles, even in the winter there were people on the roads even on the wilds of the West Coast, but when you drive off the Highways and onto rural roads as we did (unsealed roads) you did feel rather alone for hours on end...

The beaches were golden and mostly empty, we strolled along so many alone and they were un-managed so full of drift wood, so lush.

The montainous areas are fascinating and so suddenly upon you, not as high as the Alps but stunning in the way they just raise up on you like a wall of rock and the fact that in the south Island you can get a peak of them as a constant backdrop is lush, we had a flyby of Mount Cook and on the way back they threw us out of the plane a free fall with a stunning view..

Money talk...

Average housing costs are about NZ$300,000 - $500,000 the exchange rate when we were there was 2.4, so if you have £100,000 youll get $240,000 in NZ, we dont have that money.

We earn as a houshold approximatly £55,000 a year gross here in UK, from what we saw in NZ and we asked alot of people as well as approaching the unemployment bureau and asking everyone we met what they earned including kids in petrol stations (minimum wage mostly $12.50 P/hour)we saw crap wages....really really poor and a high lack of non full time hours being offered, and more often than not very bad contracts being negotiated, our income converts to $124,000 per year gross but in NZ wed earn no more than $80,000 between us...a tough call to consider. We understand you cant compare like for like that but it helps. It seems unfair maybe to mention this but we found of all the Brits (and tourists) making money through buisness ideas that were all linked to getting money out of Brits like us either coming on holiday or throught the emigration process, this spells trouble to me as it means that most people cant earn a good wage working for NZ companies, for example we stayed in Hostal in the South Island where this British guy had basically given up his home and called it a hostal, he with his wife stayed at the back of the garden in a shed type out house, and they made there money from US tourists (non taxable as well)...as it was the winter there were workers staying in the hostal who were getting up at 5am to go and work in a fish factory!! earning shitte money, one irish guy said he could not earn enough to get out of the country, he couldnt wait to leave to tell everyone he could what a rip off NZ wages were.

Even the owner told us of how when he arrived in NZ he to got a job and got screwed, he knew the law and had to take the company to court through a long winded process which tainted his rosy view of NZ, and now he makes cash in hand money (nontaxable) from US the rich Europeans and Brits... - he claims hed never go back to the UK, but I would hazard at a guess and say he couldnt afford it now, hes stuck, trapped in a highly taxed lowly populated badly paid country miles from anywhere, it makes you think eh.

Lifestyle basics...

But as everyone seemed to tell us its not about the money its the lifestyle, but if you cant afford to ski and surf and take long tramping holidays.....? is it so good? - but then its not about the poverty or the struggle neither is it, from all the success stories weve come across it seems that there are two camps - either people already have serious amounts of money in the bank before they go and set themselves up nicely on the exchange rate or people go before having set up in the UK, i.e they marry someone or go there when they are young with nothing and know no different building a life in NZ on its terms and accepting them, but if you have something to lose, is it worth it? in our opinion at present NO.

NZ is only a better life if you have money, i.e enough money to buy a house outright in NZ, due to the housing boom over the last few years alot of people in the UK have been able to do just that and if you can do it its worth it, as youll get alot more for your money in NZ. At present we cannot do that and we do not have the spare equity that would allow us to do it, we have some but not enough to buy outright and this means we would be burdening ourselves with debt (Mortgage) and in NZ we dont think this is a good move, the salaries are very questionable and in no way would we earn as we do here in the UK. To add to that the cost of living in relation to earnings is higher than in the uk, but of course it depends on where you live and how much you earn, but to use averages you would lose out.

The People

Nearly all people we met were very freindly, especially when your paying them for something, but if i am really honest, some of the politest people were the Briish that we met over there, the Kiwis can be a bit dry and blunt and abrubt in a way that can seem say unessary and cold, of course I understand it to be a different culture and thats all good but sometimes you felt like a walking wallet as the whole country is praying on your tourist dollars, sad to say but thats how it felt sometimes. The people are very hardy and are by there very nature harder working, they have to be and they have it seems to be more resourcful in regard to all aspects of there daily lives something we have kind of forgotten here in the consumer capital of the world...so i liked there authenicity and rawness. The Maori people we only ever saw when managing very dodgy roadworks, we never met any, but the ones we saw in poor areas just looked like very poor scum, chavs with shell suits adults looking the same, it simply didnt impress, in the poor areas in shops and stuff it was obvious that education was lacking throughout...the culture and history was interesting, and it was clear there was a divide between the Maoris and the whites.

We did meet some great people though and were treted very well in most situations.

Houses....(swanky sheds sorry)

Some of the houses are shitte in no uncertain terms, all the swanky places you see and visit are well out of most peoples price ranges, but down in the back roads of most towns you get to see the real NZ not shown in the brochures, down trodden and very very poor looking, some of the smaller towns reminded me of the inner states, middle america redneck country and did not impress in the slightest if honest, some of the areas outside of brochure country looked dead as, unless you wanted to work in a cheese factory or a dairy youd be unemployed, skint and bored. sorry but thats the truth.

We approached a new house bulider just up the hill from Lake Taupo, we went into the show house and he was happy to chat to us and explain how they build in NZ new and what the differences are, it was great as he had worked in Reading in the uk and was honest with us, he said compared to the UK the houses in NZ were way way behind (his words), he said improvments are being made but they are slow and expensive, we both agreed that it was the land that was of attraction to many who come over and that is nice, most houses in NZ are single story which at first is odd, but then when youve been in a few i became a fan of them and they are built like that due to the available land around them.

Some of the farmstays we stayed in had back boiler systems set up, and of course the wood burner in the main lounge, now dont get me wrong the heat off those babies is intense albiet hard to control the tempreture - we had this sytem in place in the 70's... mostly wood built homes as well. To be honest did we feel the cold?, mmm only in one or two places if honest so the houses are not that cold, we were never chilly in bed or anything so not a major concern. Most of the homes you will like if you visit are the swanky ones between $400,000 to 1 million dollars, all the others are questionable for sure.

If we had £100,000 equity in our home we would move there yes, but we dont...that for us is the bottom line and the one thing that forces us at present to stay put.

To summerise -

We would if we could afford it move to any of the tourist places, as they are stunning Queenstown, Wanaka, Arrowtown, Picton, Turuanga, Mount Manganui, Christchurch, plus many more then we would, but we cant so we wont be....

We had a great holiday and we wholeheartedly recommend anyone to visit we are even planning on returning over the next few years so please go and check it out its lush, but with the reccession and the limited equity in our home we will not be emigrating for the next few years, the situation may be very different then so well never say never but not at present, itsa shame but thats the reality, we felt that the lower population, one of the main attractions was also one of the main problems as well, sometimes in some places it seemed too quite, and with being so far from the culture and fascination of Europe it seems silly to leave our own country when we are doing very well here.

We think NZ has a long way to go and it needs at least another 10 million people to get its economy going, and another thing that puts us off is the cos of the emigration its all money money money, take take take and no give back...if they wanted skilled people so bad why the high costs involved...

And so thats that............

Just before I go though I will leave the address of the website thats helped us most along the way, its not a popular sight as it tells the truth something thats rare these days.

http://www.expatexposed.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=19

Pictures to follow...

Skoda Rally - Sherwood Pines....

gary.wilson68@virgin.net (Mountain Goat) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:34:00 +0000

The Skoda Rally - June 2009

I work near Sherwood Forest and found out about this weekend Rally from Matt at work, seemed a good idea at the time and so we headed out hoping to get close to the cars...

we were not dissapointed, we walked a part of the course along its edge, cars screaming past at minute intervals, we saw the action from different view points, straights, corners, and jumps...

there were some old cars, classics and up-to-date World class rally cars...

the starngest thing was that you could get within inches of the cars, there were no barriers at all and within the woods MTB'ers were still riding across the track sometimes without any what seemed self interest...

Health and safty was definatly lacking...

But that made it more exciting for us.

I tried so hard to get some good shots, but my little click and shoot wasnt really up to the challenege but i tried.....

Crib Goch....with the Terrified Other Half..heh heh

gary.wilson68@virgin.net (Mountain Goat) — Tue, 26 May 2009 16:04:00 +0000

The Victim

Well, It's bank Holiday isnt it, you gotta get out in the country on a BH Monday, so we decided, well I decided actually that we would do Snowdon via Crib Goch, something I had done 4 times previous in various conditions but wanted to test the other halfs nerves....silly really as the most testing place that Stephanie has walked before was Dovedale in Derbyshire, oh and a tad in Aviemore and Galway.

Holy F**K....no way...

Anyway if my memory would serve me right shed be fine on Crib Goch it was easy wasnt it!!...my memory did not serve me right, it was hell on legs, and half the time Stephanie struggled to stay on the two she owned to be honest, all the more entertaining for me though as she crawled along like a crab... the butress as you raise up was the first problem, she had already lost her nerve at this point and the ridge wasnt even in sight, the weather was stunning though and the only other main risk was sunburn at this stage, in the end we managed the butress and she crawled up to the top to then see the way forward across the ridge...

Come on...'' I think I have wet myself...''

Its interesting because at this point I was put in a weird situation (as she refused to go on) because going back down may of been worse for her than going forward she didnt want to do it and I didnt know what to do, either way it was awkward and it was a lesson to me in other peoples ability in regard to your own.

In the end we met another couple in the same situation, one fine with it and the other bricking it...Steph and Moa (the brickers) stayed together and made it across the first part by which time some confidence and understanding had been gained about the routes technical elements.

In fact for a brief moment I even saw her smile as she moved forward, straight after she'd stuck her finger up at me of course. The drive home wasnt going to be too much fun I could see it now.

By the time wed got to the first summit, she was beaming I guess because there was no more ridges to scramble across and because she was alive and had done it. The final stroll up to Snowdon was all the more enjoyable (lunch at last) and the stroll down was a pleasure in itself.

She learned about assumed fear and its affects on your performance when in a sticky situation - I learned to respect other peoples ability on what for most is a technical peice of rock....

The drive home was fine and from the amount of texts and e mails shes been sending out she is so proud of her scramble, even so I think well stroll around the Peaks for this summer and break her in a tad gentler...

But then there is Sharp Edge to consider...heh heh

Enjoy the pictures...Ma..

Making Bread.....and stuff.

gary.wilson68@virgin.net (Mountain Goat) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 11:49:00 +0000

I feel so sad...or do I, I must be getting old and sad...

But recently as we have had a new kitchen we decided instead of using it for cheese on toast we'd actually learn something useful in it, over the last few weeks I am happy to (sad I know) say I have learnt how to make bread!!! Yes bread....

It happened because one day I went to the local ASDA to get some basics including bread and due to the traffic it actually took me 45 minutes to get home....I thought sod this I could of made my own bread in that time.

So when I got back me and Steph looked into a kids book (we are kids) to find out how to make a loaf, and my god its easy so so so easy (except for the dam kneeding)...since that day we have made about 9 loaves, learnt about the history of wheat and the methods used over the centuries, Im not going to give you a recipe but I will tell of a few mini secrets that helped us -

1) kneed for at least 10 minutes twice (wholemeal needs more) and then kneed a third time while you proof the shape, let it rise before you put in the oven...

2) Put the salt in the mixture last..

3) And let the water and yeast react alone before entering the rest of the ingredients...

4) Put the water in warm water alone first, or if mixed with the floor use warm water to mix with...

We have also been making soups and stews which are stunning as well as cakes....

God I feel so sad coming out with this crap, not to mention the fact that we are growing our own herbs (basil and Coriander) in the garden..as well...

But let me tell ya I have never tasted bread so good, even the fruit cakes are better than the shops...sod the shops for the 3o minutes of effort its well worth it.

This lasted about 20 minutes..with lashings of tea..

weve worked out that our loaves cost us £0.42p but we were buying loaves for £1.30..

And here is the last batch look at the size of that baby...lets eat !!!

cheers all....munch munch...

Connermarathon completed...Ireland 2009

gary.wilson68@virgin.net (Mountain Goat) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 21:40:00 +0000

Stunning running location without doubt....

Last week in the stunning location of Galway in Ireland we attempted to run the Connermarathon, the third marathon within 10 months for me but more importantly the very first for my girlfriend Stephanie, who would end up being the true star in the end...

We were based in leenane on the edge of Ireland's only Fjord, famous for clams and the harvesting of them, Leenane its self is tiny, having 3 pubs a shop and not much else to be fair... But surrounded by stunning mountains and fells reaching heights of up to 700m rising steeply up from the waters edge.

The weather was awesome not usual at this time of year or for this area so we were lucky, and it held through for the Marathon thankfully.

We drove the Marathon route as always and realised how long drawn out and hilly it was, as our training had been limited (as in close to none) I was concerned that Steph may not finish, I mean people in the know say that you should add 40min to your standard marathon time when running the hills of Connermarathon, I Could see why and we were a tad concerned. I worried that she may not be able to complete her dream..

Registration and chip pick up was in Galway, we headed off and got that sorted on the Saturday before and found out that we could met the buses at Cliften which also offered us free parking - sweet.

There we were as always, the first to arrive at the Cliften station hotel trying to find a public toilet. there was one, but it didn't matter how desperate you were, you wouldn't have wanted to do it in there...

The crowds slowly gathered and I could see the fear on Stephanie's face grow, or was she still desperate for the loo, not sure... even so she was getting nervous....its funny at moments like this when your there at the start of a big challenge and you realise how lazy you've been sat on your fat arse at home for the last 4 months not training when you should have been out there giving it some....but here and now that realisation for both of us was becoming very very apparent....everyone else looked so thin and fit, sounded ready and up for it, excited even, chatting about times and PB's whilst we were contemplating nothing but survival..... we had nothing but fear and concern blatantly confirmed by the look of dread on our faces why hadn't we trained properly... ha ha ha .....

We got on a bus where we met some great people, got off in the middle of nowhere, on a tiny road full of runners and sheep a couple of portaloos and a truck with our bags in, the road itself was struggling with the size of the buses it was single lane to be fair. The organisation at this point seemed all over the place...even so we got to see the leader of the Ultra Marathon come through, man he looked like a machine...making me feel more like a sloath...why didnt we train...

It became apparent that most of the high numbers of runners entering this years event were not marathon runners they were half marathon runners as there wasn't that many of us about 1400 I'd say at a guess. It was also at this point that I wondered where all my 70 Euros entry fee had gone, there was no start gate just an old van, and some bloke shouting down an old microphone, pretty crap really..I mean my mate could have done that for a tenner....in his old pimped ford escort van....!!

Anyway after freezing my arse off for 30 minutes we gathered to the front and started well wishers called on Stephanie and hoped she enjoyed her first and then preceded to vanish off at speed into the distance, and let me assure you that was some distance within minutes they were dots...the open valley allowing you to be constanly reminded of how far back you are and how far youve got to go as well as how few are behind you......heh heh...

The weather was good and the location was awesome, there were no crowds just sheep and other runners this turned out to be a very unique event for sure in the world of Marathon running purely by its awesome and isolated location, you event felt isolated especially when the runners thinned out a bit.

I was OK for the first 15 miles as we were running at Stephs pace (11 min mile) so a cruise for me but she looked sort of OK i guess, but the distance was now taking a hold.....

All pictures on here I took on route, I actually took food with me this time as well due the lack of corner shops and the isolation factor...Steph completed the Half Marathon distance in 2:15:40 so not bad at all, but then the second stage was the actual official Half route, and it was a killer the hills started straight away and there were 4 nasty hills on this second part which was too much at times for Steph, we stopped a fair few times to take on food etc...and the infamous 26.2 Miles was taking its toll, but would it get another victim.....?

I'm proud to say not, Stephanie just kept going showing such determination and human spirit, even though she was clearly in pain, I was stunned and at some points she was unable to run at all..but her dream since childhood of completing a Marathon and the 20 mile marker sign approaching helped here move through into the final stages, oh by the way if anyone wants there black cap back that we took off the fence about mile 17 we have it...we needed it as in parts the sun was high and hot and we ere exposed in the valley.

And to think we even asked an Ambulance man whether he had 1)suntan lotion or 2)Vaseline...the answer was no??? once again in the run i wondered where my 70 Euros had actually gone...what incompetence...

The right turn at mile 22, was the finishing straight if you like, what we did not need at this stage was exactly what we got given a mighty hill ... oh bless the look on Stephs face, brought a tear and smirk to me eye....she was paying now, running no faster than I'd walk in bits...I was a bit worried at this point but I knew and she knew that somehow it was in the bag!!! To be fair this belief she had was all she had to crawl home with...

The hill was completed and the final flat straight to the finish line beckoned, it was even downhill at the start but by this stage that meant nothing to Stephanie the pain she was in hurt whether you were running up down or flat...it made no difference now...

We crossed the line together I held her hand as we approached the line, cameras clicking, nice comments about us from the man on the speaker system and then over the line she had done it....!!!!

Stephanie Jukes - First Marathon in 05:15:30....

Well done Steph, there was a tear, a Medal, a photo, the pasta, the bus then car and lastly hostel....where we sat in silence, licking out wounds...trying to figure why we had attempted one of the hardest Marathons in the Marathon Calender with no training...!!!!!

Oh and I have just realised where our 70 Euros money went, .... on all the organisers swanky Apple Macs at the registration Bloody B**tards....

This Marathon is stunning, but the organisation is rubbish and it is extremely over priced as is the whole of Ireland and Galway (Pint of Guinness 3.90 Euros (£3.54)

Enough Said....

Real snow like the 70's in 2009 - Lush !!

gary.wilson68@virgin.net (Mountain Goat) — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 21:01:00 +0000

The snow of 2009 loved it, I travel to work in Mansfeild and because of the shift work I do and the shifts i was on during the worst periods, my drive to work turned from 40 minutes, to two and half hours...with traffic crawling at 10mph speeds, in my opinion people were over compensating for the weather and driving so much slower than really needed, but that is another subject. here are some pics of Derby where i live and the area on the drive to work.

Nice - I'm sure others had it alot worse though.

First ever car crash !!!!

gary.wilson68@virgin.net (Mountain Goat) — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 23:04:00 +0000

Yep im forty and i have never had a car crash nop well not until today and to be fair i didnt hit anyone someone slammed into me....but and I stuggle to say this it may have been slightly my fault but of course I will do my utmost to deny it..when the insurance companies get involved...

For the record it was at the A5111 and A6 Junction as you leave Alvaston, I was inthe furthest left lane of 3 intending to take the 2nd exit off, but some one flew onto the roundabout on my outside in the middle available lane and as i went straight on they turned left, slamming into me and forcing me to take the left turn and knocking out my R/Lamp set, well the glass anyway, its still all works etc but has no glass.

I was the one in the middle.....

Even so worth mentioning as I have never had one before. I blame her of course and she will blame me....i may lose but i will fight as she was doing well over the speed limit for a junction of that kind and she made no, ill say it again no attempt to stop, its as if she didnt even see me...no screeching brakes no skiiding no horn nothing ....just SLAM!!!!....

Oblivious to other roads users, also she is the 2nd driver so wont be fully insured, her husband is the fully insured driver he was not in the car...

No-one was hurt, funny thing though is that I work for a contractor that manages the road i crashed on so they would have designed the junction and built it, i will when next in work establish if the lane i was in was only for left turners if so I may concede and accept that i was wrong even so....a major pain in the butt for me at the moment.

Ho hum.

laterz.

Gloss Black kitchen completed...love it...

gary.wilson68@virgin.net (Mountain Goat) — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 22:57:00 +0000

Here it is at last.....

Yes the kitchen has finally been finished, stuck up the last of the shelves tonight and the fitter left this afternoon, so we opened the champagne and had a sip after all the hard work, tears frustration and worry, its a big deal i mean weve been without water for alot of it and going up and down the stairs to get water from the bathroom loses its appeal real quick let me tell ya.

It is lush compared to what we had before it is stunning, we were lucky today someone came around who was interested in the old cooker we were selling and they took all 3 items for £150 notes....none of it had been cleaned or anything...amazing...but i guess it saved em a penny or two.

Anyway our fitter was Chris Pether and his son, they have done a fantastic job and we will use there services again if we get the chance thats for sure, the kitchen was from magnet and it has to be said they were fanatstic right from the atart although to be fair we got a £12,000 kitchen for £6000 as we were able to use someones trade account......

We have been very lucky throughout the kitchen fiasco as we nearly went with and paid MFI, just before they went bust there kitchen was going to be £7500, we even got our deposit back from them £1,500 after waiting a month....

All in all, we are over the moon....im starving lets eat!!!!!

I promise no more pictures ever....bored now...

Tickets to New Zealand. AArrgggghhh!!!!

gary.wilson68@virgin.net (Mountain Goat) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 17:22:00 +0000

Well, there we were just sitting there chatting about our dreams of moving to NZ (which I have another blog for) and then as if by majic we had just splashed out and spent -

£2223.20 on two return tickets to Auckland from London via Hong kong with Air new Zealand...Jesus christ dont ya just love life...when you act in the moment....

More detail is on my NZ Blog, but it was done because we need to see the place first, it is expensive but our justification comes in the form of lines like -

''well it will be our only holiday of the year'' or
''well well save up before we go so it will be paid for before we leave'' and
'' well eat sandwiches at work and saved like bitches....'' which is all bollocks really...

The reality is we panicked and clicked the mouse button (looked silently at each other for about 3 seconds.... ooops...oh dear...er no refunds oh...ha ha yehhaa..yes lets do it...wahhhooo....

life just lovin at mo..

Laterz..

The Kitchen completion thunders forward....

gary.wilson68@virgin.net (Mountain Goat) — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 15:15:00 +0000

And to think its my design too, if ever I fancied myself as a house makeover artists then I reckon I've got talent in that area....here are a few pics from day 3....of the fitters being here.

its even better than I imagined but also slightly different than had imagined as well, things don't fir as you expected them to and more often than not you find that you have over compensated for sizes so when its up it seems more roomy than you expected. anyway anyway...

Oh just for the record, this is a Magnet kitchen designed by me, it was bought on trade account from another company called Pegasus they did our boiler, the discount we got being a trade customer was on average %66 across the board on all items required even the appliances...the kitchen would have cost at retail prices £12,500 but we got it for £6000 excluding fitting.

I cannot recommend Magnet enough they were by far the best company we approached even in the early days of kitchen dreaming...there service has been exceptional and we do recommend them...although they are more expensive...in this case you get what you pay for....

Magnet have been superb.

Pics.

Oak Tops of course...

Cant wait for the end of the week...

In for the long run.....(relationship)

gary.wilson68@virgin.net (Mountain Goat) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 08:32:00 +0000

No not running, women.....

I have moved in with one, something I have been terrified of doing for years if im honest, I have met Stephanie Jukes in December 2007...I have been dating her since then but we have lived seperatly I was living in Radcliffe Nottingham and she in Alvaston Derby.

We have had a great year and as 2008 came to a close we started dreaming of emigrating to NZ this application (as we are not married) means we have to live together and have proof of doing so for at least a year.

The emigration asperations were not the reason it was also the cost of driving back and forth to Derby constantly costing me in me old car about an extra £150 a month...

So I have moved in with her December 2008..and as said not something I accepted easily being so dammed independant.

As it has turned out im loving it, and for the record living with someone else is so much cheaper as well, again not the reason...for the record I am so much happier settling in with someone and not fighting out there alone....

So weve been together for a year or so now and it feels like it could be for a while....

Its just not as bad as expected.

Kitchen gets an oven...no more fast food....!!

gary.wilson68@virgin.net (Mountain Goat) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 14:50:00 +0000

On with the house makeover, which to be fair is getting a tad boring and ardous..but atleast the kitchen has a new cooker and it even came with a new cook as well, so no more microwave meals for me or take aways the cook will sort it...heh heh..

The Cook...

The removed doorway and colur scheme...

The cook.....looks shifty...

The lights? why this sort, Stephanie is in to theatre and they were going cheap...

Loving this glow from the back wall in the evenings...the £6000 kitchen due on the 10th of Jan, completed hopefully by the end of next week....hope it all goes to plan...

Laterz.

Connemarathon March 2009

gary.wilson68@virgin.net (Mountain Goat) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 03:24:00 +0000

This will be my third and absolutely I promise final marathon, why my last? Well their to long .... 26.2 miles is simply to long really ha ha...

I prefer the Half Marathon distance if honest, and the last year could be classed as my Marathon period of running done only to see if I could really achieve it within only two years of starting running... and I can I've done it twice in fact .. and one more to add to that...legendary really...

Also I want to start a new sport of Long Distance Road Cycling, similar in my view but you get to sit down for a bit...seems a better deal in my view with my older (post 40) age coming along swiftly ha ha... but I will keep me running going on the side lines...

The best way to learn about the Connermarathon is to look at the web page -

http://www.connemarathon.com/

The Marathon for 2009 is full and you can only run at the time of writing, for a charity, the location is stunning in the challenging mountain wilderness of Galway in the west of Ireland. The course meanders past bogs, hills, lakes, and the Twelve Pin mountains rising up over the great expanse of Killary Lough, through the quiet village of Leenane, around the Maam Turk Mountains and all the way back up to Maam Cross.

Its a stunning location and as we did with the Loch Ness Marathon weekend, we (me and Stephanie) will be making a mini holiday out of it but as money is being saved for other more exciting things were only going over for the long weekend, we as usual have done it on the cheap, were booked into a cheap hostel and we have got cheap flights from EMA (East Mid Airport) to Knock. When were there we will get a small rental car and have a blast rallying through the lanes of Ireland as we did in Loch Ness...which was a blast...

Anyway I hope as its my last Marathon to get my best time my previous best time is
03:50:11 secs...and this is the target. I hope to get -

Sub - 3:40:00 (8:30 mile pace)....

The race is on the 22ND of March and my training has been limited so far but as the new year comes along so does the new training regime which will assist in losing all of those Xmas calories...today I have weighed myself and I am the heaviest I have been for 2 years...15.1 stone...when I ran 3:50 I was 14.2 stone...so I am looking forward to losing weight as well...

I have to mention that Stephanie my OH is also going and the event is even bigger for her as it is her very first Marathon which will be a tremendous and possibly tearful experience for her as she crosses the line...I wish her all the best...

Its an awesome area of Ireland here's some pics..

Looks like an awesome run....they actually ban ipods at this event...I reckon that's a good policy...

I am looking forward to the weekend for more than just the race as it's our first visit to Ireland. Hopefully at some point well make it to the bars of Galway to get involved with a sing along somewhere.....where's me dam guitar...

There are some that regard this event as over priced, it was £50 to enter this event and I do feel that's a little steep but I will hold back until after the event and then comment on the wether it was good value or not, but on side note I do think that private companies are cashing in by over pricing entrance fee's in a essentially free and basic sport of late, under the illusion of high organisational costs and charitable schemes, but are always unwilling to show where the money has gone....I have started to get more interested in Fell running for this reason alone its back to basics again as it should be...and cheaper with just as much fun if not more..

So training starts for real in the new year...sod it ill start tomorrow, yep that's it, those scales have frightened the hell out of me.... over 15 stone are you sure!!!

Let the training begin...

When I was 14.1 stone (May 2008) not 15.1....!!!! shocking really...fat sod..

Stephanies House Makeover.....cont...

gary.wilson68@virgin.net (Mountain Goat) — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 13:51:00 +0000

My oh my, doing an old house up is tough eh, after all the shows you watch on TV don't believe for one second its a breeze its not.

Anyway we have done the lounge and we have created an office as seen in a previous post now the kitchen and hall way, for the record the best way to show this is to do before and after pics so here does, oh its not finished yet by any means but this will be a good record for us to remember the pain by....

Boiler before (now Combi in bedroom) £2400 full cost.

before -

After -

Essentially we have had to strip back the whole kitchen, strip off the tiles and remove the dark blue wall paper, re locate the boiler in the upstairs bedroom (changed to a combi), stud wall the piped areas, remove the mains around the corner of the wall and re move the water meter outside the property, all at cost, but these changes were required to bring the house up to standard as she would have never been able to sell or rent the property as it was. There has been an injection of cash from family for her otherwise she would have not afforded some of the finer details and she would have had to fully finance the kitchen £7000 has been lent to assist.

In a sense it is the first ever house make over me and Stephanie have ever done and as the completion of the hall and kitchen approaches (20th Jan 2009) we are delighted with the results, and it has been a stress full experience but we have learned so much along the way.

Here is the colour of th wall paper and the wall that we removed, before ...

And now after we have plastered and removed the wall and the tiles...that made me sick.

The sink unit area, that was put when the house was built!!! has been removed and the mains have been placed on the back wall to accomidate the new sink location...what a mess.

And now after -

So the kitchens been plastered with 12mm boards to cover the damaged walls and skimmed cost £600 for cash, the plasterer also did some other areas around the stairs and two seperate walls.

The walls and roof have been painted and now for the floor tiles which are grey slate, which again we ahve never done in our lives but were going to give it a bash as well its cheaper. The kicthen is due to arrive on the 10th of January and be fitted week comencingthe 12th of Jan, so we need to have the complete floor ready by then...fo a novice no easy task.

Kitchen plastered and painted - Some pics......

Choosing the backwall colours? tough one....she picked it is she sure?!!!

And now the tiling has started, we have no experience of this so er here goes....the slate is going down..

So tired and I have only done the first third of the area needed to be covered. anyway looks good for my first attempt.

carrying on tomorrow....we need a kitchen so badley now doing plates and stuff in the bathroom sink loses its appeal after a while.

Laterz.

Dreams of Emigration to NZ. (Part1)

gary.wilson68@virgin.net (Mountain Goat) — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 21:58:00 +0000

I'll have to guess at the date but lets say sometime in September 2008 me and Stephanie some how considered emigrating, why were not really sure to be honest, the bottom line could simply be the adventure of it all and nothing more.

In reality there are hundreds of reasons for trying to get over to NZ, some of which are political others more social and some just based on the sprirt of adventure and trying something new without the risk of having to learn a new language well, in order to get similer jobs to the ones we currently have in the UK.

I myself could not go to NZ I do not have enough points and my age of 40 would work against me, but Stephanie being 37 and an expereinced head of Secondry Drama Education would be able to apply under the skilled migrant catergory and I would be able to apply as her De facto partner requiring only that we both prove that we have been living together for more than a year with alot of evidence to show for it.

We have over the last few weeks have been scowering the internet for information and have just got back from an Imigration Expo in Leeds at the infamous Elland Road ground. The Expo itself was ok and only cost us a tenner, but most of what we saw we already knew, but not all, and the few sticking points we were concerned about were erradicated very quickly, it was now just a case of supporting Stephanie through the application process leaving no stone unturned.

One of the most useful things we have done is looked on peoples blogs who have already made the transition as these people have kept a warts an all record of the move and talk about the issues they came across as they happened, these people will also asnswer your questions and not charge you for doing so and we have even made freinds with them before we arrive if we arrive?....these sites and the information on them is more useful than any imigartion services company can offer these companies must hate the internet now as all there tricks have been revealed...to be fair though moving over there will cost us about £7000 in total.

We need to be sure its what we want........

Essentially we have not even sent off our EOI (Expression of interest) form yet as she is a teacher and she needs all of her qaulifications verified before she can complete the online form and that is where we are at now.

This blog will provide me with a log as the tough process takes its toll on us, weve heard it can be expensive and draining.....

we intend to have the form filled in and sent off by the end of the year and we realistically expect an invitation to apply to come back within 3 months, then the real work will start.

In the mean time we will be taking as many pictures of each other in interesting locations and getting references to confirm we have been together for the duration that we claim and that we live together...

Thats all for now. Wannaka here we come.

Although to be fair we have at present although this could change have our hearts set on Dunedin..in the south 4 hours from Wannaka...

Halloween....love it..

gary.wilson68@virgin.net (Mountain Goat) — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 23:00:00 +0000

Halloween

...I just love it if only for the fact that i can go cut a spooky face out of a Pumpkin.

Short blog I know but love me Pumkin now sitting outside me house.

Happy Halloween...

Named - Flap and chiller... whooaaaa hhaaaoao

Sherwood Pines (Duathlon, my first)

gary.wilson68@virgin.net (Mountain Goat) — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 14:32:00 +0000

I entered my first Duathlon today it was called the 'Evil sheriff of Nottingham Duathlon' and was at Sherwood Pines Forest, it started near to the 'Go Ape' if you know where that is and was run by Pacesetter Events.

I entered at a cost of £25 as road running was getting a tad boring and I'd had me bike fixed of late.

I was up at the crack of dawn and off the Sherwood in the dark, we arrived in good time and registered, let it be done i had done no training for this event since my last poor marathon in Loch Ness less than two weeks previous....it could get messy er and it did.

It was a 6K run followed by triple the same distance (x3 laps of running route) on bike and then a short 4K run to finish, I was of the assumption that it would not be too hilly, and I was of the asumption that I was a good biker and would catch people on the biking sections.

The reality was that I pegged it at the start in the top 30 runners, but this soon faded as my lack of training kicked in, i really must stop trying to blag these events expecting a good time or position when I have not trained at all....I will learn.

The running section was longer than expected and alot hillier and this was to be ridden 3 times and that meant taking on 3 uphill sections which was so hard...

the transition was fun, you had to run the bike through and run the bike out, I undid my helmet strap and got warned to put it on, f**king H&S.... I could see from the Bikes left that I wasnt doing to well really but then what did expect, i hit the track and took about 6 people but then hit the hill, which in no uncerain terms killed me, i soon realised that any post Winterberg training was not going to save me as the run ahd nailed me, this was a slog and that was all I had to do, some of the biking was excellent through trees and crossing in between over a few jumps and had some fast downhills but also painfull up hills as well.

Stephanie was helping direct riders on the course and so saw me suffer 3 times...i must have looked a state ha ha.

The last part was a small run, but when you get off your bike, i found i could hardly run at all, and of course I was spent, i struggled but pulled away from my competitors near me on the hills.

I finished in 109 place (43rd of my age group 35-45)

To be honest its a bad result for me and its all due to being lazy and not geting the training in, but it was great fun and id definatly do another one....

I then went back to the car and in my tired state locked me keys in the boot...thats another story.

Cheers.

Shakespeare Exposure - 'Love's labours Lost'

gary.wilson68@virgin.net (Mountain Goat) — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 19:44:00 +0000

Last night I have been so lucky to be introduced to the RSC company and got to see the Shakespear comedy above, in Stratford upon Avon.

Now im not a Shakespear fan at all, in fact I have never seen any of his stuff live, and have never really given theatre in general much thought at all, but my OH is really into it and so I gave it ago, I didnt really know what to expect, I was asked by my OH what I expected - I thought about it and I expected to be bored, and didnt think it would be funny, I thought it would be dull and long winded.

I arrived at the temp stage of the Courtyard in Stratford, it was a thrust stage as the audience are close and surround all 3 sides of the stage, and were viewing from high into the roof sitting steep. we were in good seats in the stalls.

The stage had a tree on it with leaves as glistening pieces og glass, the stage was designed in such a way that all the stars would have to pass close by the audience to get onto and leave the stage, this meant that we got to see them at close hand, in fact these stars of stage were just behind the back seats behind a wall getting ready for the next scene which I found brilliant.

The Royal Shakespear Company

The show started in a relaxed and informal way with the stars already lounging about on the stage as if waiting for us to settle, no big announcements or anything.

The show lasted 3 hours approx, and was fantastic, I would recomend you try it its not as expected at all, and I look forward to the next chance I may get. The show had David Pennant (Dr Who) who was brilliant.

In fact I now want to hit the stage.... I could do that..couldnt I?

Fare thee well my fellow players.......

Vertigo with Ian Parnell (Everest Mountaineer)

gary.wilson68@virgin.net (Mountain Goat) — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 19:23:00 +0000

Months ago Stephanie had seen this presentation from the 6 times Everest Mountaineer, the night was brilliant and in simple terms was about climbing the great mountain as well as others, it was at the Derby assembly rooms and it was packed, it was to be fair also to promote the services of the Guides under their company name...

Dream Guides

Have a look, the galleries are exceptional, the views and exposure they suffered at times were ridiculous we were lucky being on the front row as we god to see all the clips at close range. I got to see what the views were like from the summit of not only Everest but also the Matterhorn which I really want to summit before i get to old...

just look at her...wouldn't you just love to be on the top of that...ha ha

I spoke with Ian at the bar briefly at the interval, he said that the Matterhorn was OK you just needed to be fit enough and regarded it as a Grade 2 Scramble, he admited that locally a guide would cost about £500, be he and his colleagues charge £1500 for the weeks experience based out of Chamonix. Pricey but for that moment of glory it may be worth it....

Yes I'm thinking about it....

It reminded me of when I read Mountaineering books like 'Into thin air' by John Kraukuar and reminded me agin of the beauty of it all....mmmm, getting wander lust again NZ may help big hills there eh.

loved it though and was inspired and educated, off to save for the Matterhorn....

Scotland - Aviemore trip..

gary.wilson68@virgin.net (Mountain Goat) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 21:58:00 +0000

I have just returned from a holiday in Scotland, we were there me and Steph to run at the Baxters Festival of running, but that aside that we got to see some awesome sights on our trip there in between all the marathon and 10K running.....

We based ourselves at the Aviemore Bunkhouse by the River Spey. It was a good central location to explore the Cairngorm Mountain range and skiing resort.

Would we recomend the bunk house? if honest no, why well it was freezing and there was no lounge to socialise in, it had a kitchen (small) and was probably the worst hostel ever stayed in.

They were freindly and very helpful but it was not the best place to stay for 6 days, that being said the pub next door was awesome and the Caledonian Ale was exceptional.... Hic....

We ventured up to the ski station and hiked up the Cairngorm above the top ski station, normally this would be a standard jaunt but the weather was with us as in sun and against us as in a snow storm, which gave us a true Scottish experience, and some nice photos.

We also got to sit and chill at Loch Morlich which has in essence a beach where you can sit and admire your days sunset, and the mountains you have just descended as the backdrop. It was also out of season and so we were alone on the mountain and alone on the beach which always adds to natures theatre show.

The pictures say it all so enjoy, as a ski station it is limited and on our day looked like a closed russian ski resort of sorts, it doesnt have the Va Va Voom of Europe or Tignes in the Alps but it does have its own natural rustic charm. We enjoyed it and even got to see some reindeer in their natural environment.

It was also nice to see it with snow and the contrast with the lower greener slopes was a sight to enjoy, until the oncoming snow storm arrived and slammed us in the face with winds that had travelled all the way form Alaska. ha ha ... it got nasty and we got off the hill ASAP.

We also travelled the full length of Loch Ness stopping at the Urquart castle the weather was not good but this just added to the mystery of the Loch and the surrounding areas, we drove through the towns of Fort Augustus and Inverlochy and Invergarry, some of the areas were stunning.

We made our way to Fort William where if we had got up slightly earlier than midday we may have attempted Ben Nevis - but to be fair we were still aching from the marathon and the weather was exceptionally shitte....good quality scottish drizzle.

So we ended that day with a classic munch at the (to me) infamous Ben Nevis Inn at the foot of the Ben....including hefty sweet in the form of Sticky toffe pudding.

We also found an awesome rally track in the woods, shown here I will be doing a small video of the trip which will include the rallying route, we were given the racey Fiat 500 1.4i as our hire car....and this little car is awesome in this terrain and I spanked it big style around this single lane woodland track that we had checked out earlier in the day, in the high season im sure there would have been lots of cars coming through but not for us, I nailed it and nearly lost a few times. the other arf - just screamed as they all do. women !!....

We had a great trip and saw the rustic side of Scotland without the heavy tourist numbers ruining the day and the views, id recommend to go at this time of year to anyone.....

Scotland the brave....!!!

Loch Ness Marathon Completed.

gary.wilson68@virgin.net (Mountain Goat) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 19:32:00 +0000

Sunday 05/10/08

I made it just, I had not trained for this one and knew I would suffer big style..

I collected my race number on the Saturday which meant I got to see the finishing line in the stadium, it reminded me of my school running days when I was er fitter... The set up was good and the organisation seemed well up to par...

I met Karen an friend from the runners world forum and we arranged to meet at the mini Expo to run with a 10 min mile group (finishing in 4:20), to be fair this is a slow pace for me but due to the lack of training I was concerned that when I got to about 18 miles the lack of training would cause me real issues if I went out with at my normal pace, the plan was set.

We were based in Aviemore and so on the way home from Inverness we went on a mini adventure heading towards Fort Augustus and we accidentally came across the start line in the middle of no where on some small country lane, a couple of portaloos and the start sign. We then followed the route to the end back to near Inverness so I knew what was coming it was stunning and a bloody long way if I'm honest....I was nervous and wasn't convinced that id make it through the full distance.

We were up at 5am as we were based in Aviemore and the drive was about 50 minutes to Inverness stadium, we arrived and we were all put on a bus which would take us to the start which id seen last night about an hour away.

The atmosphere was good on the bus and I felt good, I felt for the first time in weeks that I could do this if I went slow, I was going to take my camera on route to take some pictures as when I did my first one in Edinburgh it all seemed a bit time based and I nearly forgot to enjoy the day and the event for what it was...this time I would stop and take a few pics and record the event. So I would remember it for the stunning and picturess event it is supposed to be and was not let down.

I finished the race in a respectable 4:17:07 secs. this is a good time for someone who had only trained up to 8 miles and had not committed in anyway to the training.

A Video of the race....good if you want an insite and plan to run it one year..

During the race I suffered severe cramps after 18 miles, it felt as though I had no cartilage at all, but some how I struggled home with the base fitness I had from earlier in the year, I do not recommend blagging a marathon ever !!! it hurt real bad near the end.

Even so I had a sprint finish in which I over took 3 people, ohh how the youthful competitive spirit seems to still remain even though I am now 40 years old....yes -

I AM NOW A VET RUNNER AT 40....

The goodybag was awesome full of, well Baxters stuff really, and the medal was cool.

So my second Marathon has been completed in Loch Ness. I have already booked a third in Connemara in Ireland near Galway, but that's in 6 months time, plenty of time to train..

......... 4:17:07 at Loch Ness.

Cheers all........

Winterberg .... August 2008 (Mal's 30th)

gary.wilson68@virgin.net (Mountain Goat) — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 18:04:00 +0000

I was invited to Mals 30th B'day bash in Amsterdam and during the weekend we went off to Winterberg in Germany to the epic Bike Park they have there.

This weekend was part of a road trip for me also seeing some friends from the GR20 on-route, but I have poasted about that seperatly.

I took the S Reg Brava, risky shes an old girl, but as it turns out she was legendry and even took on the might of Mals beast cometh the race day...in total running smooth for 1200 miles this tour...

There have been some awesome things happening to me this year but this trip has to be one of the highlights and I am going to struggle to find the words to authenticate the trip but for me it was mind blowing.

Whilst in Dam we also did the flow boarding at the 'Dutch Water Dreams' centre, what a name...one marketing slip and it would have been Dutch wet dreams ha ha ha..

This was awesome albeit hard, when you bailed you bailed hard well did anyway, whiplash comes as standard and I had the whiplash standard for sure, you need to practice this at least 3 or 4 times, but what a laugh its so wobbly, the smallest error is exagerated fully....but what a trip...we were in a small group of goofy people so we got more runs...a choice day, the we relaxed in the sun at the beach bar with real sand, but we knew the whiplash would revisite us in the morning and it did. Just in time for Winterberg NICE....!!!

Anyway as always the best way to show these things is through picture and video and there is all of that below.

But the thing id like to remember about the Bike trip to Winterberg is the sheer balls I had over the weekend in fact the balls we all had on the day, we basically arrived after a late night out on the beers and whiplah from hell from flow boarding an early start and a 300 mile drive (race), we then had to get the bikes sorted, I had an awesome downhill machine when we were ready we hit the practice jumps which to be fair were to me huge enough on there own.

After a wobbly start Mal then just took us off to the downhill berm run, you cant see anything from the top you have no idea whats coming if you did you just wouldnt bother!!!! but fuck me by the time you hit the bottom and youve emptied your pants out I was awake alright let me tell ya.......the fucking smile on my face was hurting it was that big....and my heart was in my arse....lost and confused but happy to be alive and still beating....

Struth the best safty measure they have there is by default the chair lift to get you back up as that gives you the break you need...seriously after the first run I was on the chairlift thinking what the fuck have I just done, coupled with the fact that when your a group of male buddies your all competing and looking to impress...its a mind blower let me tell ya. Just dont forget lots of spare pairs of pants, and that you have a brake....I was getting air before id even seen the fucking jumps....not good but woooooohhooooooo....awesome..

If that wasnt enough and Mal wanting us not to miss a trick, he sent us all down the bloody race track a at full pelt, what you forget though is that this is winterberg and whilst your trying your hardest to stay ahead of your buddies over the whoops you forget that they stick motherfucking massive table top or 4 in your way immediatly after the berms with no time to react, but you soon wake up mid flight normally way to late IMHO....using the brakes middair doesnt work??? !!!....but my word after a few runs your in the ZONE...and my riding days from back in the day came in to play...time to get serious, then he takes us to the park as if I hadnt had enough...my poor heart was thumping...drops? me, eh what...your having a laugh..your not, your serious....oh ok then....ride ride wobble....fall off drop land...scream!!! - Im 40 surely this will end in tears.....

Thats basically how it worked. by now id got to grips with it and that was only after 3 runs, then to make sure we'd not miss anything he took us down the World Class Black downhill run me what...im old..!!! I dont really remember much about this route except...that once your in your in for good come what may...and the drops and the slamming your wrists get as you drop thud thud thud down drop after drop again again and again...I mean you have a brake so you could use them, but I tried that and I didnt stop at all well not enough anyway...i was just whispering fuck fuck fuck...im gonna die fuck fuck....really im dead...and then you make it and flow out of the end off a little jump and after you check all your limbs work you sail to the back of the lift line, to lick your wounds and to empty and change your underpants for the 3rd time that day (and its not even 2pm yet)...phew...see its hard to put into words...but this is how I remember it.

we carried on untill the last run I even then got a cheeky last run on the practice jumps as they were calling for our bikes back....just couldnt let go could I, Nope guess not...

We all went out for a meal at the local hotel and we were alone, we ate well and drank well, too much for me I think. It was really nice to see James as well...

We camped on site and I slept under me Tarp by me car, I actually got a good nights sleep even though me inflatable mat went flat on me, and the french man had issues... but all good.

The next day we rose early (due to french man again)and knew a more mature approach was needed as injuries my be coming to hunt someone down, well that what I was thinking anyway, we headed off and did some nice Northshore stuff on wooden bars and see-saws, loved this stuff but some of it was high and tricky, but it was all a bit slower, we did do all the same stuff again and I went off many more drops on routes and went faster on things my speed on the berm runs was matching Mals which was a bum twitcher for an old boy for sure but I was there on his arse, next time Mal..next time..

Theres not really more to say except that its something that must be done again and again and again...as Mal siad he was amazed but so happy that we had all -

'STEPPED UP TO THE MARK' on the day.

But then so did he as he went off the highest drop, I guess giving himself a Private Birthday present...awesome Mal.

lastly Thanks for inviting me.....what a memory. TC...

I think I need a Labotomy after that....

Video to come....TC style.

Trans Peak challenge...(Completed)

gary.wilson68@virgin.net (Mountain Goat) — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 14:57:00 +0000

On Sunday the 21st of September 2008 I was amoungst a team of 6 athletes from Amscott hoping to complete and even compete for the first 3 places in the Trans Peak Challenge. This event was for the British Heart Foundation who work in the office below us. The event covered no less than 30 miles approximatly and 8 miles of that would on bike on tarmac roads (albeit very hilly) and ending with steeplchase of sorts at the finish at Chatsworth House.

Am I awake....not sure, but somethings glowing..!!!

We (I) awoke at 3am, to get ready and pick up Liza at 4:50am...simply wrong..just too early..we drove to meet the rest of the team at heath and headed off to the start location. it was still dark at this point but we would get to see the sunrise as we ran on the first stage, an awesome sight and experience. it was all very exciting I thought and couldnt wait to get going...we were Team 8 out of 13 and started each stage in that position 8th...

The team getting ready at the start....

Off we went and within 2 miles were huffing and puffing as expected on these hills well I was anyway.....we then went the wrong way, but not as bad as team (1) as they were never seen again ha ha...we readjusted and did a very respectful first stage all ran well and we cruised passed one team...the veiws and the exposure added to the experience but as always only the pictures will show it as it was. I landed in some deep bog at times and the going underfoot was the main challenge.

On our way Stage (1)

The funniest things was the team back at the office hoped theyd do this section in 45 minutes...oh how I laughed at that ha ha ...we did it in 1:30 min...not the same on that terrain.

We finished the stage to mini applause and then in the truck sort the bikes out we were off. for stage two....this was the operation stage after stage, i did all stages except the ride through Ladybower which was stunning this time in the morning with the steam rising off the waters as it was...really stunning.

The Machinery.....

Belted around this corner and just like the shot...

Suffice to say the best way to see this challenge is through the lens and the video and so you should take a look below at the pics and the video. The challenge was tough and although I escaped having to run at full pelt as the girls were slower and only the slowest persons time counted it was still tough....the most enjoyable thing for me was the veiws which were stunning with that hot sun on our backs all day and the water run at the very end of the steeplechase...loved that.

The competition, it was close...he looks a bit serious though eh..

Liza catching him up...

If im honest it was a team event, a style of event I was not used to and I had to control or real in my competitive spirit for the good of the team, I tried to help and give tit bits of advice and felt that i did my bit....but at times I felt like whizzing off...thats me though...

As challenges go this was a good one, in the end we finished 5th, in a time of 2:54:00 if we had had a stronger bike section we would have competed for the 2nd or 3rd place, as it was it was a team event and thus making it all about the slowest person in the team not the fastest, the winning team were all men....probably with small penises as they seemed to be the type that needed to win, every team should have to enter a girl at every stage to make it slightly fairer.

Navigation needed near the end....

I didnt use the camera on the bike sections which was a real shame as the veiws were exceptional but you cant win em all, also at the end but i am sure i will post them if I can get hold of them.

A great day out though and one of which I am duly proud of. There will some aches and pains...and we were gifted by an exceptinaly rare blistering sunny day....a day I will remember.

Well done Team Athletico Amscott. !!!!

Video of the day...

Loch Ness Marathon

gary.wilson68@virgin.net (Mountain Goat) — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 12:50:00 +0000

Why oh why am i doing this?????

I enetered this whilst doing the training for the Edinburugh Marathon which i completed in May of this year it has its own blog, but i was told that after a marathon you need a new challenge and the best way was to book another one....so i did.

I am regretting this now, as i have done little or no trainingat all, i am knackered when i get to about 8 or 9 miles and struggle to do a half marathon.... this is going to be murder and even if i finish it i will be in alot of pain....why do it?

A good Q - my only answer is i have paid and the entry fee is non refundable or exchangable and i want the medal ive heard its very nice....not really the best reasons to put yourself through such a trauma but even so flights and accomidation is booked so im going now.

I ran Edinburugh in 3:50....respectable first attempt, this one could be alot slower possible an hour slower coming in with the old ladies in about 4:50....3 min a mile slower....mmm

i'll post on completion its in 4 weeks and i havent ran for about 3.....what have i done.

laterz.