Right, somehow I missed this up.

I could swear I wrote these diary entries, but instead I've found that I don't have it anywhere. I have just uploaded the photos and they're in reverse order, and I can't be bothered to change it.

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Day 6

These photos were from the last day. My back was finally feeling a bit better and it was the last day, so there was no point not going out. I went for a lovely run.

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27th Sept

We went out again in the morning for another swim.

Then me and Kathryn went to Bath Lochans which is a lovely part of the old forest. We had little breakfast snacks and coffee and enjoyed the view. We stopped by Loch Insh on the way back.

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26th September

We got up early again and went out for a swim. This time we went to a little carpark which avoided the beach. This meant I didn't get sand everywhere and Kathryn could watch me whilst sitting in the car.

We went into Aviemore to try a new cafe. Sadly, it wasn't all that good and we just had a piece of cake.

In the afternoon, we waited until the rain had eased and then walked down to a pub by the river. Eddie came with us. We sat outside by ourselves and had a couple of drinks. it turned into a really nice evening.

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Monday 25th Sept

I was really keen to go open water swimming as in Scotland you can swim in the lochs without any bother (in England you are usually running the risk of trespasssing!)

Sadly, in the space of a week the water temperature had dropped considerably, but I was still eager to try it.

We went in by the cafe on Loch Morlich. The beach was so sandy, but I managed to get in ok and Kathryn stayed on the beach to watch me. It was so windy, the water was much darker than I was used to. I managed to paddle up and down a bit but the water was pretty cold. I only last about 10 minutes I think.

In the afternoon we drove a short distance to Loch Eileen and went for a walk around the loch. It was nice and sunny, but there was also a very short heavy shower and we sheltered under our small umbrella.

 

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Sunday 24th Sept

Packing the car was not too stressful. We managed to get away by just after 8am. The drive to Carlisle was fine and we didn't get stuck behind anything.

Once reaching the motorway, the driver was pretty straightforward. We talked, listen to podcasts, and music.

We stopped at Torbay Services and Izzy had a quick break by a dock pond. We got sandwiches for later. Traffic was a bit busier by Glasgow.

We swapped at Perthshire visitor centre, and rather annoyingly I hurt my back. Kathryn kindly drove the rest of the way.

We got a drink whilst we waited for 4pm to check in at the lodge. Eddie kindly bought us a drink at the ban.

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Friday 23rd September

Due to starting my PhD fellowship, I had a week's annual leave remaining, and so I finished work on the Friday. This looks like I've cleared my locker out, and I also must have gone for drinks afterwork, which coincides with the new foundation pharmacists starting.