I was awake early but didn't get up, just chilled thinking about stuff, waiting for people to get up. It wasn't long before Leo was awake.
I did more clearing up, put the pool pump on, sorted washing, did my blog and helped Ellis to cook his next meal for him and Rob. He's definitely improving 👍
The other two played computer games together, ate lunch in the garden, went in the pool and made dens. Rob watched the Grand Prix and did some work.
Where they to? - 2nd August Banff
For some time, I've had this habit of maintaining a mental hit list of people that I wouldn't be sad to see removed from the gene pool. Number one has always been, and probably always will be, pretentious radio presenters who have clearly got carried away with the sound of their own voices and the tripe that they spout to the point where they actually start to believe what they are saying. It's a toss-up between Jo 'name-dropping phony hippy' Whiley and Mark 'movies are a profound form of artistic expression that touch our inner-selves' Kermode for the top spot in that category. Number two is sanctimonious do-gooders. There is no contest for the leader in this category - Bono leaves the competition trailing in his wake. The reason I am telling you this is that there is a new entry at number three. Office arse-lickers, the ones who are all flim-flam and image and who have no substance, have been deposed, replaced by the people who tell you that walking up a hill is easier than walking down it. You know the ones, we've all met them. They want you to think they are a bit worldly, a bit experienced in the outdoors. The truth of the matter is that they know absolutely bugger all about walking up and down hills.
Today, after lunch, we had some time to kill so, as is conventional in those situations, we decided to walk up a mountain. Tunnel Mountain, so named because it was earmarked to have a tunnel cut through it which never got drilled, has a peak that is 5,545ft above sea-level. Fortunately, we weren't having lunch on the beach so don't go getting all impressed just yet. Banff town centre is 4,755ft above sea-level so that left us with an ascent of 790ft to overcome. It doesn't sound a lot but, to 2 people who have spent the vast majority of the last 7 years sitting at a desk, vegetating on the sofa or sleeping, it's a reasonable challenge. I am not exaggerating when I say that I was huffing and puffing before we actually reached the sign that signalled the beginning of the trail but, once we'd set ourselves the target, we were determined to achieve it. Mush, as is her way with physical challenges, was off like a rabbit, stopping only occasionally to wait for me to catch up. We made the mistake of forgetting to take water with us - Schoolboy error. We were parched for the duration of the hike. I considered turning back many times but something usually spurred me on. On one occasion, a couple in their mid-70s walked past us on their way down from the summit. On another, a girl with a build not dissimilar to Michelle McManus, of Pop Idol fame, passed us on her way down. It was like some divine force was throwing down the gauntlet to me every time I was about to turn back. We made it to the top in about an hour and 15 minutes and the GPS map below shows the route that we took.
The sense of achievement and the wonderful views made it worth the effort although my feet and Mush's groin, which she managed to strain on the leisurely walk back to the hostel, would beg to differ. Which leads me nicely onto the hostel. We needn't have worried about what was in store for us - the hostel has its pros and cons but, overall, it's a fairly decent place to stay. The cons are that the rooms are stiflingly hot with there being only 1 small window and 4 beds and that the hostel is a reasonable trek out of town giving the on-site café and bar a captive market to exploit. Consequently, the prices for food and drink are not what you would expect of a hostel, although, I did miss a trick when we had lunch here today. The menus state that if you present your Hostelling International membership card, you are entitled to a 5% discount. We made sure to do this and, as such, saved ourselves 5% of the total cost of the bill. As we left, Mush pointed out to me that if we'd asked for separate bills, I could have saved 5% off my bill and she could've saved 5% of her bill making a total saving of 10%. I've asked her to make sure she keeps her eyes peeled for other cunning money-saving plans as the year goes on. On the plus side, the hostel is kept clean, the beds are comfortable and we've met some interesting people we wouldn't otherwise have met had we stayed in a different style of accommodation.
We went for a few drinks in the hostel bar this evening. It's quite a nice bar, having free pool, darts and table-football, or foosball as they, like, whatever, call it over here. Some Canadian lads were playing pool when we arrived so we left them to it and had a game of darts. As per usual, I wasn't quite up to the standard of my namesake - Bobby George, and was duly trounced in both 501 and round-the-clock with Mush finishing while I was still stuck on 5. I think it must've been the altitude. The Canadian lads left and the young brother and sister of a family with whom we later became friendly were playing pool against one another. I ought to point out here that the brother, James, who I challenged to a game, is half my age. He took the break and no balls went down. I picked up the cue but it was in the back of my mind to go easy on him. I potted a few balls and realised that the table was opening up perfectly for me. Convinced I'd miss one soon anyway, I carried on trying to pot as many as I could. They continued to fall. I soon found myself faced with a black to win the game without young James even getting an attempt at a pot. A moral dilemma, I'm sure you'll agree. Did I do the honourable thing and sportingly miss it, thereby not shattering the young man's confidence and putting a glum note on his holiday? What do you think? When you are as rubbish at pool as I am, you take your chances when you get them. Besides, he later took a few frames off me and proved to be a pretty decent player so the guilt soon wore off anyway.
We are sharing our room with a fella from Vancouver Island called Chad and someone our age from North-East England called Richard. Both are decent room-mates, being considerate with the noise they make and respecting our space. Mush, you'll not be surprised to hear, immediately leapt on to the top bunk as soon as we got to the room which has the advantage of me being able to jab her in the ribs through the mattress above me when she begins to snore.
Tomorrow, we're thinking about climbing a mountain called Sulphur Mountain which is 3 times the height of the one we climbed today but I think that's probably being a little too ambitious for now and that we'll have to build our fitness up a bit more gradually rather than trying to become intrepid mountaineers overnight. Mush is disappointed to have not yet seen a moose so perhaps, rather than climb the mountain, we'll go on a wildlife hike and maybe see something a little more exotic than the only wild animals we've seen so far - some squirrels, butterflies, crows and a few magpies.
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I think I might need to keep myself a bit busier on Sunday afternoons. I always get a bit restless so decided to take myself out for a walk which always works wonders and I come home feeling much better. Walk Works Wonders, my new motto. 😊
When I got back today, Rob was helping Ellis with the next meal. I think he found it quite frustrating as Ellis does faff a lot but he's still learning and improving all the time, he even cleaned some dishes this time! Don't think they liked this meal as much as the others and the cheeseburgers seem to still be the favourite.
Don't have anything planned for tomorrow which is bugging me. The weather seems okay and I want to get the boys out. Maybe a bike ride. 🤔 I'll do the usual jog and workout routine followed by some chores and a shower. Lunch follows shortly after and then I think a bike ride. Sounds good.👍
Blog done, bed is calling me. x
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