Let me introduce you

For a while now, I've been collecting tents.

We have Aedan's tent, a four man Gelert Eiger 4, Topsy, which would only house four very small men, because it's a tight squeeze for four children!


We have a four man Wynnster Falcon Deluxe Vis-a-Vis tent, Terry, for the children again, for last minute decision camping to use alongside Maisie.


We have The Palace, our family camping tent, a Gelert Alaska 8, which is a roomy, four bedroomed detached number with a lounge/kitchen/diner. Great for space, waterproof, but fun if the wind picks up!


At The Sands, Gairloch, one of our favourite sites.

Fully equiped to cope with (almost) all eventualities. Quite impressed with that, you can't see the vast amounts of alcohol used to numb the pain.

We also have Maisie, a cute two man number, a Coleman Adrenaline 2, and possibly my favourite tent. She's lovely. Watertight, well ventilated, roomy and you can't lose her.

At another site we've used a few times, Rothiemurchus, a fabulous shower block, but the ground is stoney and the midgies are murder! This was when we walked home from Glenmore, through the Ryvoan Pass, Nethybridge, Grantown on Spey and up the Dava Way to Forres. When this photograph was taken, I had a raging migraine. Shortly after, I was in my bag.

David at Grantown on Spey Caravan Park, beer in hand. Lovely site, fantastic shower block!

And here we have our newest member of the family, a Coleman Kraz 1, Bill. Bill has been specially acquired incase I have to attempt my first TGO Challenge solo.


It would certainly be a challenge in the event that David couldn't join me! I'm quite confident that I could plod my way across Scotland with my no doubt huge pack, my navigation might need a little work, but should be ok, but I suspect I will be a nervous wild-camper, because I'm a wuss.
And David would have to trust me with a gas stove and matches.


I've been very keen to give Bill a whirl, so I pitched him in the garden. David came home from work, adjusted him, then said I should 'strike camp' because it looked like rain... I waited for another convenient moment yesterday and pitched Bill in the garden, only to have a the six year old from next door bombard me with questions, ("What's that?", "What's it for?", "Who's going to sleep in it?", "Why?") so I scuttled inside and and waited for dusk. Bearing in mind it's Midsummers Night tonight.

I retired to the annex at about 10.30 pm when I was fairly sure noone would be watching (we are quite overlooked here, but they know I'm barking) and I read for a while. When I cuddled down in my cosy bag, I realised I was missing essential equipment. In my pack, I would have had spare clothes and a small cloth bag to stuff and make a second, small cushion for my knee. I wriggled for comfort and realised I was missing something else. A slope! Lumpy ground! I'm not used to the comforts of a manicured lawn. I wriggled some more. By now, I was too hot. There was fairground noise in the background from the Summer Ball, a flashing light which I couldn't at first locate.

I gave up.

I need to take Bill into the wilderness for some peace and quiet. I have a plan, but I'm going to have to be patient.