more kiwis!

Mark & Sylvia moved into the flat a couple of weeks ago - met them in NZ but haven't seen them since I left the South Island, around Christmas 2004. On Saturday night we went to Jo & Steve's for a meal which was really nice...I felt a bit outnumbered but at least we had haggis :)

Last weekend we tried a local orienteering event, something I've always wanted to get a bit better at but haven't really found the time to get into. I really enjoyed it and felt like I was getting the hang of it after over-running the first 4 checkpoints (not used to such a small-scale detailed map!). Must have been getting over-confident towards the end though, and tried to take a steep short-cut - which got me stuck in bramble bushes, nettles and a pile of other things that tried to rip my legs to shreds.

Actually I had an accident-filled week last week, getting run over by a parked car (can't really explain that one)... and stabbing myself halfway through my forearm with something like a screwdriver while restringing tennis rackets. I was very lucky with that one (must have just missed piercing everything important!) Oh well, that's all 3 things over if you count the orienteering so I should be okay this week :)

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wan more wan dae!

I did the Wan Dae Adventure Race in Drumlanrig on Saturday, and just like last year (see here) it was another Total Strangers team that turned out to do pretty well! I met Davie on Saturday morning at Glasgow Queen Street, a challenge in itself (more details below) - the race organiser had put us in touch because we were both looking for someone to race with.

It was a brilliant day with great weather and super trails - 8 hours of biking, running, kayaking & a couple of random activities. We crossed the finish line with 1 min to spare having got every checkpoint except one - which put us in 2nd place, behind a semi-professional team called Open Adventure, who run their own events in England. I was really chuffed! Felt great all day - the addiction to spin classes must have it's advantages :)

Planning to get the 5:59am fast train from Haymarket to Glasgow Queen Street, I biked with all my gear and got there in plenty of time. Too much time... I somehow managed to get on the 5:56am train (from the same platform) going to Glasgow Central ... as soon as it left a huge list of station stops was read out - oh no. I ran and asked the ticket lady what I could do, it went something like this:
This is a really slow train. You'd be best getting off at the next station, going back to Haymarket and getting the 6:15am to Glasgow QS. How fast can you get there?
Was the adventure race already starting?!
6:02am - Train arrives at Slateford (just past my flat)
Jump off train, run over bridge with bike & 2 rucksacks, PEG it back to Haymarket ignoring all traffic lights
6:12am - Arrival at Haymarket.
Sweating, puffing, dragging bike down stairs to the platform.
6:14am - realise that there's no train until 6:34am on a Saturday! aaaaaaaaaah!
Phoned Davie to explain my stupidity, and to assure him he could do all the navigating during the race!

We ended up being fine for time as the roads were really quiet, but it was a fairly manic start to the morning. Davie was seriously good at navigating which makes a huge difference in these races, which is probably why we did so well. I can do all the events, I just need someone to tell me where to go! Looking forward to the next one already, with whoever needs a teammate!

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Mr. & Mrs. Smith

Kirsty (really good friend from high school) and Richard got married on Saturday. The wedding was at Barony Castle, just outside Peebles - beautiful weather, lovely setting, a fantastic day! Our group of friends from school were all there, Gemma was a bridesmaid along with Laura & Clare (Kirsty & Richard's sisters). She's now become Kirsty Smith as opposed to Kirsty Brown, but she'll always be "Broon" to us...


The Kirkcaldy Girls; Wedding Party; L Mcv, Diane, Nicola

After the meal we had a ceilidh, which as usual, was brilliant! Gets everyone up dancing - young & old, Scottish & English (& any other nationalities), good & bad dancers! The Orcadian Strip the Willow was probably the highlight - by the time we'd spun all the way down the line for the 3rd time, we were really dizzy & shattered! (I'm sure the amount of alcohol consumed had nothing to do with it...)


Gems & I; Kirsty & Gems; Kirsty & Richard Smith

I managed to get a lift to Newcastle on Sunday, and surprised the rest of my family by turning up at Gran's for an Easter lunch. I was supposed to be away on a tennis trip so nobody thought I'd be able to make it, but the trip was cancelled last week so I kept it quiet and surprised everyone!

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KDY night out, and Gav's new place

Kirsty's getting married on Saturday...so we had a girls night out in Kirkcaldy on Thursday to 'pre-celebrate' :) I met Gemma for a drink first, then headed to Nicola's - it was so nice to see everyone again and catch up. We headed to Smithy's after - everybody looked under 15, nothing's really changed!


On Friday dad took Auntie Katie & I through to Gav's new house for an Easter lunch. Mum got the train up from Newcastle (visiting Gran who's just out of hospital). In the last couple of years, Gav's turned into a bit of a chef... it was a great lunch, and the new house is really cool too :)

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