Night paddling for beginners....

After all the preparations we finally set of on the Great Canoeing Adventure to Loch Loyne and the old Road to the Isles.

We started out in good style with a strong wind behind us which scooted us down to our destination,, a sunken bridge which had recently become exposed.

The loch, which was dammed in the late 1950's has had a dramatic fall in water levels over the last two years which has left the old road back on dry land. We set up our camp, had a a meal and settled in for a grand exploration of the area. Then the wind dropped and the midges came out.

I have never experienced anything like it. They were in our ears and eyes, in our food, in the tent. We had a cloud of the little biting bastards around our faces for hours on end. The Wonder Dog was driven to distraction, he was running round like a mad thing, trying to get into the tent, burying his head in the sand, hiding under the canoe.

So in the end we called it a day and headed back up the loch in the dark.

That in itself was an amazing experience.

So were were home at two in the morning to a cooling shower and a cosy bed - bring on the winter.