Glencoe Independent Hostel

Holidays in the sun

2011-11-12T02:43:00.000-08:00

One of the good things about being self employed, in theory at least, is that you can choose when to take time off. With up to 70 guests on site at any time, phones ringing, things needing maintained, laundry and cleaning needing done and emails flying around it doesn't always work quite like that though.

Davina's cousins family

Having said that we've been away a few times recently - our first family camping trip to Perth, an annual trip to visit Davina's family in Orkney and some precious sunshine in Nerja on the Costa del Sol.

Orkney is spectacular with wide open skies, wind, wildlife all around and a beautiful soft landscape. We had a great time walking the dogs, catching up and exploring around Lyness on Hoy.

Seal and pup on Orkney

The Alhambra, Granada

Samuel enjoying the wat

Nerja was different altogether, our first family holiday abroad, and we enjoyed the sun and visiting the Alhambra at Granada. The food was fantastic and Samuel coped well with everything.

We've enjoyed our travels but one thing that we realised more than ever is just how special Glencoe is, and how lucky we are to live here. Sometimes it's really good to be home.

Fancy getting out on the water?

2011-07-22T06:29:00.000-07:00

We're lucky to live in such a scenic area with so much to do, and we decided to get out on the water for a change. It was odd getting wet without blaming the rain for a change!

Davina had a mornings kayaking with Paddle Lochaber based in Ballachulish. She's done a fair bit of kayaking before but hadn't been out for a while so decided on an introductory paddle. At £35 for 3 hours including all of the kit hire and the guide she thought it was great value. The weather wasn't fantastic but the views were - the Pap of Glencoe is such an iconic mountain and is a fabulous backdrop.

I went out canyoning with Vertical Descents earlier this week and had a blast slipping, sliding and jumping down the Inchree Falls. The water was cold despite it being a warm day but the 8mm neoprene wetsuit took the edge off it :) There were 2 highlights for me - the zip wire slide and the 40 foot jump at the end. I bottled the jump twice before ignoring the drop and roaring waterfall and getting on with it. I enjoyed it so much I'll be siging up for a longer trip asap. Thanks to Dietmar Flick at Bioprotected for letting me use his pics. If you've got any photos of great days out in the area, or any questions on activities, feel free to post them on our Facebook page.

Lismore Day Out

2011-07-22T06:02:00.000-07:00

We had a great day out on the island of Lismore a few weeks back. It's only half an hours drive from here down to Port Appin where you can take the hourly ferry across for the huge sum of £1.50pp (babies, bikes and bike trailers free). You can hire bikes from Crankitupgear in Glencoe Village if you can transport them yourself, or closer to the ferry at Port Appin itself.

It's a beautiful island (the names comes from the Gaelic for "big garden" which sums it up), and the views back up the loch towards Glencoe and down towards Oban are fantastic.

You wouldn't think you were only half an hour from home and with the virtually traffic free road it's great for exploring on the bikes. We took a few detours out to some hidden lochs and small hamlets, ending up at the heritage centre and cafe.

We're finding some great family things to do in the area and it helps when the weather is good.

Mountain Bike World Cup - Nevis Range

2011-07-21T12:13:00.000-07:00

We had a great time at the mountain biking world cup at Nevis Range a few months back. The organisation was great as usual, parking at Lochaber High School at the 'far' side of Fort William and taking the shuttle bus meant we could relax straight away.

We bought gondola tickets and took Samuel on his first trip up a mountain and he certainly seemed to enjoy it.

The gondola runs all summer and makes a great family trip, with fantastic views all the way and a cafe at the top. The weather was especially good that weekend, ironic as another top event at Glencoe Mountain the weekend before was blown, hail stoned and rained off.

The Nevis Range action was great, with a few new jumps to terrify the competitors and thrill the spectators :)

Having the wee guy around is a bit of a change and we definitely need to plan a bit further ahead and carry more!

This is the reason I haven't blogged for a while!

2011-07-21T10:47:00.000-07:00

There can't be many excuses for not updating the blog for so long, but this is mine:

Samuel was born on the 21st of December last year amidst some of the worst weather for years. At one point we were snowed into the site and would have had to use mountain rescue to get us out to the main road, and life hasn't got much less exciting since! Suffice to say it's been a whirlwind of steep learning curves, sleepless nights, tears and lots of laughter.

Things have settled down a lot recently so we have been getting out and about quite a bit, more to follow on the next blogs but in the meantime why not follow us on Facebook for news and special offers?

Orkney Trip

2010-10-25T11:28:00.000-07:00

One of the great things about being self employed is that when things go a little quiet you can take off and we recently managed to squeeze in a trip to Davina's cousins in Orkney. A quick 4 hours from Glencoe and we were at Gills Bay ferry terminal, and an extremely windy hour after that we were there.

Did I mention the wind

We love Orkney - the green fields and massive skies make a difference from the steep sided (albeit beautiful) valley here. Davina's cousins work and run a small holding - a great environment for the kids to grow up.

We did lots of walking, some shopping in Kirkwall, sightseeing at the Tomb of the Eagles, and some catching up with family over a few drams. Good times.

Tour de Ben Nevis and the Ciaran Path

2010-10-25T10:56:00.000-07:00

I've been out on the bike a lot recently and it's suddenly hit home that this has got be one of the best areas for riding there is. There's Laggan Wolftrax and Nevis Range within striking distance plus the fantastic trails up at Glencoe Mountain Resort. Add in the Devils Staircase, Rannoch Moor, the wee loop round Duror and some cheekly local trails, plus the fantastic riding in the Mamores and around Kinlochleven and it's a terrific destination.

On a previous blog I mentioned I had entered the Tour de Ben Nevis, and what a great event it was. 74km's round the Ben taking in sections of the West Highland Way and Leanachan Forest and a massive hike a bike half way round. Add in a few river crossings, magnifiicent middle of nowhere views and scary descents and, all being well, I'll be back next year.

I didn't take any pics on the way round due to the weather but here's me enjoying a celebratory burger 10 seconds after finishing:

We have a great bike club in the area - the West Highland Wheelers and the last trip was round the Ciaran Path which has been voted the UKs top natural trail by MBR magazine. I wouldn't say it's my top, but it's up there. In turns steep, rocky and very technical before mellowing into glorious singletrack through the birch woods. The ride up past Mamore Lodge and out across the pipeline to Blackwater Reservoir is well worth it in it's own right.

Looking to Loch Leven from the pipeline

Top of the Ciaran Path

I was glad of our onsite bikewash and drying room after both rides!

Keith

A busy summer.

2010-09-01T01:08:00.000-07:00

The title of my last blog (is it really 2 months ago?!) was prophetic - there definitely has been too much to do.

Not having family ourselves yet we haven't sampled much of the family activies on offer in the area but we had a ball with our 3 young nieces on a week long visit in early August. The highlight of their trip wasn't the day on Loch Leven with Lochaber Watersports' motorboat, or the flume at the swimming pool in Fort William, soft play at the Ice Factor or playing around onsite, but simply walking the dogs!

I've entered the Tour de Ben Nevis mountain bike race in September and have been getting lots of miles in. We really are spoilt for choice here as evidenced by the number of mountain bikers and Lands End to John o Groaters coming through, most of whom have made use of our tremendous drying room.
I've been out on the mountain bike lots - round to Duror and back through the glen towards Ballachulish, and the Blackwater Dam Loop to name a few. The Blackwater Dam loop was fantastic with a big climb out of Kinlochleven giving tremendous views to reward your effort. The track then contours round the hill following a huge pipe. Some of the best riding was actually on the pipe as it bridged some of the small ravines, with the drops keeping your attention focused and the views into Blackwater and the surrounding peaks doing their best to drag it away again.

The road cycling has been great too, with quite a few trips out to Kingairloch taking in the climb up to Liddesdale, numerous trips around Loch Leven and a few down towards Oban to break it up a bit. The scenery is truly breathtaking.

I've also managed to get out on the hills too, with the pick being a stroll along the Aonach Eagach with my old workmate Dougie. It was a cracking day and despite an early (6AM) start to beat the sun we still managed to finish a lot redder than when we started.

We've got great personal news too as Davina is pregnant and we have our first baby due in December. Needless to say we are both absolutely delighted and will be sampling many more family activites in future :)

Glencoe Mountain Resort - too much to do?!

2010-06-16T07:42:00.000-07:00

Sometimes there's just too much to do in the area. Bored with world class climbing, scrambling, walking and kayaking in the summer, or with skiing and snowboarding in the winter? Can't be bothered taking it easy and soaking in the views and atmosphere or indluging in some photography? A pint of top quality real ale and some tasty pub grub in the Clachaig not floating your boat? How about trying out some of the new developments at Glencoe Mountain Resort just 15 minutes from us here at the hostel?

They have built on their success from probably the best winter in at least 15 years and added in archery, cross country mountain bike trails, a full on downhill course and the "Weasel trail" (mixed XC/downhill for experienced bikers) for this summer. We were lucky enough to have the opportunity to sample all of the above this morning and absolutely loved it. I sampled the downhill and Weasel trail and had a great time. The downhill is a bit too, erm, downhill for me although the middle and bottom sections were all rideable and great fun. The Weasel trail was fantastic though - old school mountain biking at it's best, with bits of bog, lovely rock slabs and cracking stream crossings. Highly recommended, and best of all it's accessible via the chairlift and you can hire everything you need on site. And - if you use your own bike and are staying with us, don't forget we have a bikewash and secure bike storage available.

Davina had a go at the archery and, after a few warmups, got her eye in and shot close to the bull a few times. The staff enthusiasm was infectious and they're right - it's addictive.

The stunning views of "the Buachaille" from the cafe whilst on a coffee and cake refuelling stop were top class too.

That's enough excitement for one day, time to relax now :)

Looking for accommodation

2010-05-17T06:32:00.000-07:00

This is a blatant plug!

Thinking of coming to Glencoe and don't want to stay in any of our fantastic accommodation? A new website has just launched allowing you to search from amongst almost 100 campsites/hostels/B&Bs/guesthouses/cottages and hotels in the area. There's lots more too - what's on listings, walks, drives etc. etc. etc. The website has been put together by the local marketing association which is a great network of mostly independent accommodation providers.

It's all been put together by volunteers too, and funded by the members themselves.

So - without further ado have a look at www.discoverglencoe.com and let us know what you think.

PS The weather is lovely and it's getting busy - best book in advance :)

Local wildlife

2010-04-21T09:13:00.000-07:00

There's a fair bit of wildlife here around Glencoe - Golden Eagle (still to be spotted by me), buzzards, barn and tawny owls, dippers, pine marten, roe and red deer, salmon and trout in the river and even some highland cows. But my recent favourite is this wee guy here, a palmate newt I think?

I spotted him while out walking the dogs one soggy morning and his defence mechanism of standing stock still worked - the dogs sat right by him without even noticing.

If that's not cute enough for you try this gorgeous roe deer - pic taken from my back door!

Caravan Refurbishment

2010-04-21T09:03:00.000-07:00

We undertook a big caravan refurbishment over the winter period in order to be up and running for Easter. Our local joiner redid some of the floors for us and we have had new carpets, vinyl and curtains fitted throughout. We also touched up the interior - putting on all those wee bits and pieces that had fallen off. The fantastic gas man serviced all of the boilers and gas fires and we gave them a massive clean inside and out. As ever there was more work than anticipated but it's worth it - the first reviews have been really good.

We have kept the same bargain prices as last year for most of this year too, with prices from £220 for a couple for a week or £250 for 4 or more. Each caravan sleeps 2 to 4 (6 if you are REALLY friendly) with self contained facilities and we offer off peak short term lets.

They are already very busy for some dates, and our repeat guests (75% at some points last year) are sure to enjoy them.

Sales pitch over, and pics to follow ...

New member of staff

2010-04-21T08:35:00.001-07:00

We are nothing if not socially minded here at the hostel. So much so that we are doing our bit to pull the UK out of the economic doldrums by increasing our workforce by 50%. Yes - that's right, we have 1 new member of staff!

Monika has been with us for a few weeks now and is helping out with the majority of the cleaning. This has been a revelation as rather than doing everything at less than optimum efficiency (?!) we can do a few things well. Our wee marketing and maintenance plans are coming along well, the website is (slowly) being updated and we're a lot more relaxed and on top of things.

Cheers Monika!

How big?!

2010-03-01T09:03:00.000-08:00

Fresh from the reports of the two lucky skiers in Glencoe on Saturday I've just noticed this out of the living room window. I've never seen an avalance before but guess I just missed a BIG one...

The line at the top is where the snowpack must have fractured. Ouch...

Finished at last :)

2010-03-01T04:25:00.001-08:00

After a LOT of hard work by a few people on the committee the new Scottish Independent Hostels website is up and running. There's still a fair bit of snagging to be done however it's a huge improvement on our old site, which in turn was much better than the one before. Time to hand it over to the marketing volunteers now to drive visitors to the new site, and to get on with my own work.

There's a big launch coming up soon too, more details later....

Best winter in 20-30 years?

2010-02-23T12:38:00.000-08:00

The weather here has been absolutely phenomenal again, with freezing temperatures and crystal clear skies since last week. We've felt privileged to have world class views from our sitting room window with the cliffs of Aonach Dubh, Sgor nam Fiannaidh and the Pap all looking amazing. We've had guest after guest through, the vast majority of them having epic days out before chilling out in front of the fire.

Unfortunately visitors and other events have conspired against us getting out too much however I did manage a 'run' up the Pap today with one of the dogs. I puffed and peched all the way up, as did Fly, but the views at the top were astonishing with white topped peaks spreading out in all directions. My amateur photography doesn't do it justice but here are a few pics anyway.

I always love the food at the Loch Leven Seafood Cafe and reckon it's the best restaurant in Lochaber. Having been 3 times recently the last time was the best - an amazing buffet put on for local businesses, great craic and a few glasses of wine.

There are lots of reasons to live somewhere as spectacular as Glencoe - these being two of them!

It might not look much but...

2010-01-31T12:05:00.001-08:00

This might not look like much to you but it's the end of 3 years of talking to the local landowner.

We own the hostel and surrounding land ourselves but our old sign stood on the neighbours land. Now, thanks to Davina's persistence, Hugh and Kathleen have given their permission for us to erect signs on their land.

So - the old "Glencoe Bunkhouses" sign is now gone, replaced with two shiny new "Glencoe Independent Hostel" ones. And no more guests arriving red faced and angry after walking up and down the road looking for us :)

PS That's my father standing in front of the sign, not me...

In praise of Mountain Rescue...

2010-01-08T12:03:00.001-08:00

I don't know what happened on the Aonach Eagach tonight and hope everyone got off safely, but have a look at this..

The helicopter seemed to be illuminating the hillside to allow the MRT to reach a few climbers who appeared to be in difficulty higher up.

I think they show the risks the mountain rescue teams and helicopter crew take on our behalf and if you agree you can make donations at many places throughout Glencoe.

Driving 'home' for Christmas

2009-12-23T06:34:00.000-08:00

We've had a good time away recently - a week each in Norfolk and Yorkshire followed by a few days at home catching up and preparing for Christmas before a dash up to Gills Bay for the ferry over to Orkney to visit Davina's cousin and family there. We were due to stay until Tuesday of this week but given the forecast we decided to make a dash for it on Sunday and after a 12 hour nightmare journey we made it to the folks house in Livingston. The last 2 miles took almost 3 hours with the snow, jacknifed lorries and crazy drivers causing absolute bedlam.

It's been worth the trip so far though, with a massive dump of snow overnight leading to much festive merriment. The kids are out sledging, no-one can make it to work and it seems like the world has closed in. Time to concentrate on what's important - friends and family, food, walking the dogs and trying to master a few cheesy Christmas songs on the guitar.

The weather up north is tremendous, with four of the five Scottish skiing centres open and here at Glencoe Independent Hostel we're right between two of them - Nevis Range (open) and Glencoe Mountain (not open yet). We're full now right through until New Year but have availability in the bunkhouse from the 4th of January onwards. So - if you fancy a few days away slipping and sliding down a mountain why not book online now?

Now that the sales pitch is out of the way we'd love to wish all of our customers, past present and future all a great Christmas and a fantastic New Year.

A day out in Edinburgh

2009-11-06T08:29:00.000-08:00

We're down in Livingston* on holiday for a while. It's a good opportunity to catch up with family and friends in what is a quiet time business wise. We've got a few renovations planned to get ready for an extremely full New Year** period, and plenty of r & r too.

We headed into Edinburgh today to take a tour round the parliament at Holyrood, and also visit the "Heart of the Great Alone" exhibition at the Queens Gallery at Holyrood House. The parliament is worth a visit, the building makes much more sense when it is explained to you. The various buildings are meant to represent the leaves on a tree, showing the link with the natural landscape, and the theme is continued within in leaf-shaped windows, complete with metal 'veins'. There is a lot of emphasis placed on our links with the sea too, with the roofs being shaped like upturned boats etc. The debating chamber is fantatic, all open plan and wood to show transparency. It's all free too - why not take in a committee meeting, parliamentary debate or follow it all on Holyrood TV :0

The exhibition at the Queens Gallery is amazing too. It's humbling to think these explorers - Scott, Shackleton and men, undertook such arduous voyages and experiences. With no back up communication it must have been like stepping off the ends of the earth and the resourcefulness, raw courage and endurance is unimaginable today.

I moan sometimes when I'm lying in bed in Glencoe listening to the rain hammering down, or the midgies gnawing at the windows trying to get in, but I definitely need to get some perspective on it!

* No, really
**We're full for Hogmanay 2009, and the hostel is now booked for 2010. Only the bunkhouse and cabin left...

Life in Glencoe....

2009-10-14T13:03:00.000-07:00

I haven't written a blog for while, it's not that I couldn't be bothered, just that I've been so busy. Here's a quick roundup:

I had booked tickets to see Spiritualized at the Royal F estival Hall in London a few months back and decided to take the Caledonian Sleeper to save time. The sleeper is fantastic, a great way to save time and money if you're lucky with the bargain berths. The gig itself was great, for anyone that knows them they played the whole of the "Ladies and Gentleman..." album, in it's entirety, complete with a half dozen each of string instruments, horns and gospel singers. I took the opportunity to visit Woolwich and Abbey Wood where my father grew up, visit the Imperial War Musem, the Tate Modern (see pic - is that really art?!!) and also took in a show.

I've also started to get up the Pap of Glencoe once every week or so and last week saw my quickest time so far. 54 minutes to the top (dog assisted) and 32 down. Next time I'll turn right at the col and head up Sgorr nam Fiannaidh for some extra exercise. The views weren't so good, it was chucking it down, but still great to be out. I've been round Loch Leven twice recently on the road bike. Davy Gunn at Crankitup Gear fitted a new rear cassette for me which gives me a better spread of gears, and most importantly a few lower ones. It's made a difference, I can spin faster now.

Work-wise we took the terrible plasterboard down from the ceiling in the hostel dining room and replaced it with new. Once the taping, plastering and coving is finished it'll look much better. We've got a Belgian walking group sitting in there right now, bottles of Strongbow(!) on the go and they seem to be enjoying it. Our drying room (top class if I say so myself) is proving popular this week too.

We've decided to stick with the caravans at the bottom of the site for next year and give them some much needed TLC. We'll close them down after this weekend, and revamp at least two of them for next year. Most of the vans will be getting at least new carpets and curtains, steam cleaned upholstery, some vinyl and a general spruce up. We may even stretch to some nice benches so you can sit out and enjoy the glorious views.

I'm really busy at the moment project managing a new website for Scottish Independent Hostels. We were awarded Visit Scotland Growth Funding to pay for part of it and we're aiming to have a brand new site up and running for the tail end of the year. There should be a few press releases going out over the coming weeks/months with some more info.

On a completely different note the Aonach Eagach claimed another Mountain Rescue last night, more info here. I was talking to one of the groups that passed them early yesterday and although I can't talk about this incident specifically (as I don't know anything else about it), it really highlights the need to be prepared and be realistic about your skills and experience before heading out on ANY hill.

The Mountain Rescue teams do a fantastic job, and they are all unpaid volunteers. The Clachaig Inn have set up a scheme whereby you can contribute just by shopping - more info on their blog here.

And that's a good note on which to end - take care and if you do get out and about be careful!

The Pap of Glencoe (in quick time!)

2009-09-30T12:23:00.000-07:00

It's a long time since I've been out hillwalking, I've been concentrating mainly on the bike with numerous trips round Loch Leven and slightly further afield. With my appetite wetted by the cloud slowly lifting from the hills this morning, and after sitting in a meeting room all day (the first time in about 5 years!), I decided to take a wander up the Pap of Glencoe. With a dog as company/to pull me up the hill, I set off from the hostel just after 5PM tonight with a headtorch just in case. As it happens I made it up and back in 2 1/4 hours which I was well pleased with. I spent a bit of time on top taking photos and waiting for the light to change. Luckily I was rewarded with some fantastic views, and the sun broke through the cloud to illuminate the hills just nicely. The stags were roaring and even from quite a distance it's very noticeable. It certainly put the wind up Fly a few times.I think this is a fantastic time of year with the heather showing itself and the bracken dying down in a blaze of red and brown. The leaves are starting to thin out again meaning the views from the valley floor start to open out. There are plenty of birds around, buzzards circling and trying to avoid the crows desperate to move them away and geese passing through on their way elsewhere. The Oystercatchers are calling down on the loch-side and the whole world seems to be slowing down ready for winter. In fact, if we had a wood burner I'd be curled up in front of it now (complete with piper and slippers).

If anyone is up the Pap over the next few days and finds a cheap black and silver Nokia phone PLEASE LET ME KNOW! Many thanks..

Autumn is here, and lovely it is too!

2009-09-07T10:09:00.000-07:00

Autumn has arrived, not with a bang but with the sporadic tumbling of leaves in the wind* and the heather starting to turn gloriously purple. The weather has broken too**, and it's good to see some sun again. It's one of our favourite times of year, the crowds depart (although there are still lots of people around), the temperatures drop somewhat from the summer highs (summer highs?!) and the colours really start to come good on the hills.

This all means we can start to recover from the manic summer season - catch up with paperwork, expand our to do lists, sleep and generally have some time to ourselves. Today saw our second day off in 3 days and we took a drive over to Lochaline to take in the sights and do a bit of walking there. Although we've both driven and cycled round Ardgour - Strontian - Glenfinnan many times before neither of us had been down to Lochaline itself. It's a stunning drive, miles and miles of wilderness, with a beautiful river splashing along the naturally wooded valley floor a few miles before Lochaline. We took a side road out to Loch Arienas and then a walk to the 'cleared' village of An t-Aoineadh Mor which was fascinating. Life must have been so hard there, but it's a beautiful setting, nestling just in front of a large natural amphitheater about a mile or so from the Loch. As usual the photos don't do it justice - you'll just need to go and see it for yourself :)

Keith and Davina

*not so gentle tomorrow - storm strength winds forecast :(
** apart from tomorrows forecast 'blip'

Kilmartin - well worth a visit

2009-09-05T11:54:00.000-07:00

While local businessman and all round outdoor guy Ed Daynes was running up Ben Nevis myself, Davina and the dogs took a more sedate trip down to Kilmartin. I was introduced to the area a long time ago by a good friend, and couldn't believe that it was (and still is to some extent) such an unexplored area. It's scenically beautiful (think flattish, gurgling burns and some lovely heather on the bumps), but the main attraction is the history. Within 10 miles or so you've got several castles, more standing stones and burial cairns than anywhere else I've been except Orkney, a cracking museum and cafe, and Dunadd - the site of the founding of the first capital of the Scots. There are are also some amazing prehistoric rock carvings, and carved gravestones in the church from the 14th-16th century.

Unfortuntely I've got no pics - D forgot the camera battery - but even on a low cloud, drizzly day like today it's fantastic atmosphere makes it one of my top areas in Scotland. I love the sense of timelessness - people have been living in the area for at least 5000 years, and some of the 'monuments' date back 3000 years. So - you can actually stand in exactly the same spot as one of your ancestors and wonder if they felt the same as you... Magic!

It's just under 2 hours from the hostel here in Glencoe, via Oban and then on the road south towards Lochgilphead. Myself and Davina have been many times, in fact we were double booked here for the first night of our honeymoon in 2005 :) Well worth a visit at any time of the year.

We don't always get it right...

2009-09-02T06:56:00.001-07:00

We're always keen to tell you how well we're doing - in terms of reviews, feedback and upgrades, and on the whole we think we normally get things right. But sometimes, and not very often, we get it wrong too. Sometimes it's a minor niggle - the pillows weren't straight, or something (like a loo) breaks and it takes us a while to get the bits to fix it. If you see something that isn't quite right please let us know, occasionally we haven't noticed it.

Sometimes we make bigger mistakes though. Despite all of the procedures we have in place we do very, very occasionally double book someone. We've just had our 4th double booking, and we can only hold our hands up and say we (me..) were at fault. 4 double bookings may seem a lot, and to each of those customers it is a real pain, but we've just written our 4600th receipt. In every instance we've bent over backwards to sort it out, and in all but the last instance we've been successful. So - to Vizzy Sagri and party, all I can say is that I am extremely sorry. We've reviewed all of our processes again, and gone through our entire diary (up to next May) checking things over and over again. It doesn't help much in the short term but thanks for being so unbeliavably understanding.

So - our current 'problem' rate is 0.09% of bookings, and we're going to do everything we can not to increase it.. We know that more and more businesses are moving to computer based booking systems and it'll be interesting to get feedback on them to see how they help.

Time to draw breath...

2009-09-02T06:30:00.000-07:00

August was crazily busy and now the hordes have gone and the rain has stopped, temporarily I would think, we can draw breath again. You may have seen the news yesterday that some parts of Scotland had their wettest August since records began. It will probably be no surprise to any of our August visitors that we at Glencoe Independent Hostel were one of them!

Despite the weather we've been delighted that guests have still had fun - from the Anderton family (mum, dad and 3 boys aged 2-7) cycling round Loch Leven, all 25 miles of it, to hundreds of West Highland Way-ers sticking it out, and European travellers still managing to get out on the hills. It was great to see so many repeat customers too - the Brindley, McGough and Petty families to name just a few. And it was even greater when so many said they'd be back again, despite the downpours. We must be doing something right, even if it is just the price!

Our Hostelworld reviews for the hostel and bunkhouse have been, on the whole, pretty positive despite a few complaints that we "ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE". Well, erm, yes - that's pretty much the point! We've got a whole load of scenery and fresh air, more walking than you can shake a trekking pole at, unsurpassed climbing and scrambling, great kayaking, some decent bike rides and more weather than most other places! We've also got one of Scotlands top pubs just down the road and are slap bang in the middle of the Outdoor Capital of the UK. I guess you get the picture - if you want top outdoor fun you're in the right place, but we don't do ironed sheets, party nights or elevators to the top of the hills!

Our caravans are certainly pushing on a bit in age but we like to think we keep them in good condition, clean and great value, and most of you seem to agree on this too. Our wee cabin is still hugely popular as well - great for couples.

On a personal note Davina spent 10 days over in Aberdeen hanging around between hospital appointments. It's a hell of a journey from here - 4 to 5 hours each way, and I joined her last weekend. Many thanks are due to our families and friends for helping us out so much. My dad was here for nearly two weeks keeping the laundry up to date and checking you all in and out, and our good friend Derek kept the dogs entertained every day. Thanks also to Monika from round the corner in Ballachulish for her help too.

I've been out on the bike exactly zero times although I have managed to keep getting to my guitar lesson going each week. I'll be out on the bike again soon though, if the Andertons can do it I can too!

Breakfast and Loyalty Card

2009-08-04T14:03:00.000-07:00

We're slowly joining the 21st century here at Glencoe Independent Hostel. Not only do we have internet but we can now offer you a basic continental breakfast - bread, jam, butter, 2 helpings of cereal (your choice!) and milk. And all for £2.50. It needs to ordered in advance as there's no way we can do it on the day!

Davina has just printed up lots of loyalty cards too - pick one up and use it to get £1pp off your next stay. That's for the hostel and bunkhouse, so you could end up paying just £9.50 for a bed for the night, plus your £2.50 breakfast of course :) We're working on something for the cabin and caravans too. There are a few terms and conditions obviously, we can tell you when you pick yours up!

Keith and Davina.

Mtb'ing at Laggan Wolftrax

2009-08-03T09:57:00.000-07:00

I managed to get a half day away today to Laggan Wolftrax for 2 1/2 laps of the red route. It's a great route, with fantastic scenery. There are a few semi-sketchy rocky sections on there but for anyone used to riding offroad it's a blast. My favourite section is a tight singletrack descent through the woods, with some swoopy corners round the trees. If you're in the flow you can hit top speeds, I wasn't quite there yesterday! It was great to be out in the fresh air though, I bust myself on the first climb and slowed down for the rest of it :) The cafe is great too, top coffee and cakes, with plenty of mtb mags kicking around to get you back out.

If you're not used to riding offroad it's still good, there's a great green run for all the family. And talking of families it was great to see so many young kids out and about showing up their parents. If I had a pound for every red faced dad I saw puffing after their kids I'd have been able to afford more than beans and toast for lunch! They do bike hire at the shop too so there's really no excuse for not trying it out.

Someone has just started a horse trekking facility in the same location, I don't fancy taking a horse over the boardwalk though...

I've started up a Twitter thing too, see how it goes.

Findhorn

2009-07-25T00:27:00.000-07:00

We are just back from a weeks holiday in Findhorn and it was fantastic! We've had a 2 week long group booking in the hostel and bunkhouse and managed to sell the cabins and caravans for a week at a time too, and definitely took advantage of it. It's been a long year so far and we've been knackered from finishing the renovations to the bunkhouse and hostel bathrooms so this was a great opportunity to recharge before the rest of the season.

Findhorn is a lovely place on a sheltered bay, 4 miles from the town of Forres. It's got two pubs, both serving food, a great bakery, and the flattest roads I've been on for years - perfect for cycling! I managed to get out on two rides with my mate who was also up on holiday with his family. On the second morning we found a cracking little climb at the back of Forres, with tremendous views over the north coast, and even as far as Ben More Assynt and Conival almost 60 miles away. There are a few mountain biking trails around but I didn't get out on them.

There's plenty of bird life around too if that's your thing, I spotted an Osprey hunting over the bay on the last day. It's a perfect area for dogs too, we stayed at the Findhorn Bay Holiday Park (attached to the Findhorn Foundation - very interesting). 5 minutes walk through the Foundation takes you onto the dunes area, or into some natural woodland, and 2 minutes the other way takes you onto the beach. Add in a visit to Cawdor Castle and Inverness Highland Games, plus the cinema and shopping in Inverness and we were almost glad to get back to work for a rest!

Thank you (and some more improvements!)

2009-07-09T04:28:00.000-07:00

New showers in the hostel
Wow, it's been a manic few weeks. We decided a few months back that the hot water system in the hostel needed upgraded to provide proper and consistent hot showers on tap. With a bit (lot!) of research we sourced a solution and had the local plumber out to fit it. To keep costs as low as possible we did lots ourselves - drilling up the concrete floors to lay new waste pipes, building some new walls to allow for insulation and wet walling as much as we could. With all the disruption we thought we might as well completely renovate the ladies shower room, and create a new shower, loo and wash hand basin next door too. 3 weeks later and bar a few bits of decoration it's now done! It's pretty sad to be posting pictures of shower rooms online, but we're really proud of what we've achieved! I'm dreading the bill though...

Investment
It got us thinking about everything we've done on site since we arrived 2 1/2 years ago and the amount of work that's been carried out is astonishing. Lots of it is important stuff that you can't see - health and safety certification, caravan site licensing, damp proof courses, improved drainage, new electricity infrastructure, bridge replacements, a gas tank. Other things you can see include providing bedding in the hostel, new beds in the cabin, caravan site landscaping improvements, and our spectacular bunkhouse refurbishment. Add in two new showers in the hostel, and the list is still not conclusive, or finished!

How much?!...
All of this costs money - £72000 to be exact, and for a husband and wife team we think that's good going. We've kept development costs as low as we can by doing as much as we can ourselves, and relying on quality local tradesmen where we need help. We've had huge amounts of help from family - fantastic father in law John Poolman especially, and our local builders "Coe Contracts".

Who does all this?
And the train of thought continued - we do pretty much everything here ourselves - we'll answer your emails and phone calls, book you in and clean up after you, all the while looking to the future and deciding which improvements are most urgent. Most of the time we think we get things right, and are still smiling and helpful when you arrive. In the middle of a big development though, things can get a little fraught and frazzled, and we appreciate your understanding! We're not out for a short term quick win, we're not a big organisation with a massive support network, and limitless cash, behind us - it's me, Davina and the dogs!

Thank you
I think you can tell by now that we're proud of our site, and ourselves, but none of this would be possible without you - our (mostly!) friendly customers and groups. We're not a high end, top quality luxury resort, we provide great value, low cost accommodation. Lots of you come back time and time again, some of you only pass through once, but without your business we wouln't be able to do this.

So - from the bottom of our hearts, thank you - for all of your custom, understanding and support!

Keith and Davina.
:)

Art exhibition and new Glencoe Networking Site

2009-06-19T13:30:00.000-07:00

These are two things that might be of interest to you if you're planning on visiting, or just love Glencoe.

The first is an exhibition at the National Trust Visitor Centre just across the road from here. Caroline Cooke, who lives and works locally, has an exhibition on for the rest of June. I took a quick trip over last week and was impressed. She draws her inspiration from the land, sky and sea- scapes all over the west coast and is obviously very talented. The Visitor Centre is always worth a trip anyway, but even more so at the moment.

Another good place for arts is the Limetree in Fort William. The owner produces his own great paintings, and often has exhibitions and the occasional concert too.

The second development is a new Glencoe based social networking site. It's very cunningly called the "Glencoe Scotland Social Network" and will be a great way of keeping up to date with local event listings and keeping in touch with others. Since it's launch a few days ago it's already attracted a lot of local attention so why not join in? Siging up allows you to add your own photos, and keep in touch via the forum etc.

See you soon!

Loch Ossian Trip

2009-06-19T11:01:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I posted, we've all been a bit under the weather here at Glencoe Independent Hostel so we've been lying low!

I had arranged a trip into the SYHA hostel at Loch Ossian a while back, with the idea being to ride in past Lochs Eilde Mor and Beag before hanging a right past Meanach and Staoineag bothies. When it came to it though I wasn't up for the riding part so I decided to take the train in from Bridge of Orchy instead, meeting up with the old man for some gentle walking and generally catching up. The train journey itself is quick - about 30 minutes, but it's spectacular, with fantastic views across Rannoch Moor. We intended to have a coffee at the Station whilst planning a walk, unfortunately it's closed on a Wednesday. Lesson learnt but I wonder how many people have been caught out by that?

Loch Ossian, and Corrour Estate in general, is wonderful, very wild, desolate and unspoilt (apart from the train line!). There is a wealth of wildlife there too, on a previous trip an otter had jumped out from under my feet as I was taking a 'wee' break! The weather was changeable, very changeable, pretty windy and rainy but it did lead to some spectacular pics. If you've never been out that way it's well worth a trip, there's quite a few activities offered by the estat e, as well as the walking and biking.

Kids, dogs and hills

2009-06-08T09:16:00.000-07:00

It's been a lovely few days weather wise up here at Glencoe, made even better with a family visit. My brother and his wife brought their 3 daughters up for the weekend and we had a great time playing around and catching up. Our collie, Fly, can be a bit feisty but he picks up on our nieces sense of fun and also their sensitivity, knowing when not to try to nip the ball out of their hands! Leah and Jennifer with Fly

We love having kids on site, and children are very welcome in the cabin, caravans, hostel and bunkhouse.

It was a busy weekend for us, the 70 Wild Miles event was on down in Glen Etive and having participated in it for a few years we give free camping to the Royal Navy Reserves who do the marshalling up the loch. They are a great bunch, very organised, tidy and quiet!

We had our weekly day off today, it's fantastic to be having regular time off after years of working 7 days, and we got out on some of the local hills. Tom a Meadoin and Creag Breac will never win any prizes for their height around here but the views back to Glencoe, the Mamores and eventually Ben Nevis were well worth the hike. It's a long time since we've been up in the hills so this has eased us in gently, although Davina and the dogs are curled up fast asleep on the couch in a post cake slumber right now!Me, Davina, Fly & Olly at the top

Devils staircase - on the bike!

2009-06-04T00:24:00.000-07:00

Last night was too good to waste, sun splitting the sky and hardly a cloud in sight. Although the forecast was for much lower temperatures than earlier in the week it was still warm, warm enough for a shorts and t-shirt ride over the Devils Staircase.

Wednesday is normally a night ride with the West Highland Wheelers but with nothing on this week myself and Ed from 'next door' decided to get out anyway. The climb up the Devils Staircase is fantastic, mostly rideable at the bottom but then getting too steep and loose towards the top to get much traction. The views are awesome though - well worth the sweaty scrabble up.

The descent is fantastic, very fast with lots of drainage channels to hop over, great rocky slabs and enough stream crossings to keep your legs cool. The last descent down the access road to Kinlochleven is really fast but there's lots of loose rock on the corners (washed out by the rain?), definitely enough to keep you awake!

A quick pint and chat at the Tailrace in Kinlochleven fortified us for a quick road ride back home. Top night!

Stunning Glencoe weather, boat trips and sharks.

2009-06-02T08:49:00.000-07:00

At last the weather has come good! Late May and early June so far has been phenomenal, much like the rest of the UK by the look of it.

We had a great day trip up to Applecross on Saturday, lunch at the Applecross Inn and then back round via Shieldaig for ice creams. The scenery was wonderful, no pics unfortunately but if you've never been up to that part of the world it's well worth a trip. We passed lots of cyclists on the Bealach na Ba, rather them than me in that heat! It did remind me of the numerous bike trips up and over the pass that I've done previously, including one descent when my rim shattered sending me weaving and screeching all over the road. Scary, to say the least :)

We're getting used to our regular Monday's off now, so much so that we left the site together for a whole day and took a trip on the Waverley out to Tiree. This was a belated birthday present for my dad who travelled up for a few days. The Waverley is a lovely old ship, the last ocean going paddle steamer in the world, and I was pleased to see that the average passenger age had dropped from about 148 to something much lower since my last trip! We love the islands and had never been to Tiree so it was great to visit in style rather than the usual Cal Mac crossing. We had some interesting views of the Treshnish Isles, having never seen them from the north. We also saw at least 5 basking sharks just off Tiree. Unfortunately we didn't get too close as the Waverley steamed pass but we were close enough to the both fins rising well above the water, presumably as they were feeding. The light and distance didn't make for great photographs but it was a spectacular sight.

We didn't see much of Tiree itself, just enough to entice us back for a future visit. The weather was too good to miss a swim in the crystal clear sea where the top 2 inches were warm while the rest was anything but! Most passengers missed out on the swimming, preferring a walk to the village but it's not often you get the chance for a spot of (near) skinny dipping without risking hypothermia!

That's it for now, May was very busy for us and June is shaping up nicely too. It's the MTB world cup at Fort William this weekend and with family visiting we're hoping for nice tidy guests to minimise our cleaning time and maximise our chances of getting across to see it. We've been absolutely flat out this year so far so it's good to be getting the chance to have a bit of time to ourselves.

One last pic of Tiree yesterday:

Glencoe Independent Hostel - now with added internet!

2009-05-27T14:24:00.000-07:00

Lots of you have been asking for internet for some time now and eventually we have two internet kiosks up and running in our reception porch. These will be available 24 hours a day and at the low, low cost of £2 per hour, at least until I figure out how to increase the price on the timer!

We're constantly improving here, our bunkhouse renovation is now very nearly complete and has been running well over the last few midweeks with lots of individuals/couples and weekends with groups.

Our next major projects are to improve the hot water system in the hostel (at the tail end of June) and compltely revamp the bunkhouse loos/showers (end of this year). If you've got any ideas/suggestions for us please let us know - info@glencoehostel.co.uk.

On a personal note I've managed a couple of bike rides in the last week or so, once around Loch Leven on a very rainy & windy afternoon, and a wee race at Glencoe last week. That was great, a solid turnout, and the fastest I've ridden for a long time!

The weather has been really poor but the forecast for this weekend looks unbelievable - 3 days of sun starting on Friday. In fact, it looks so good that we're going to postpone a shopping triup to Glasgow in favour of getting sunburnt out on the hills! Unfortunately we're full already this weekend but if you fancy a last minute trip away try a few places here www.glencoe-scotland.net or www.hostel-scotland.co.uk.

Great biking - Glen Duror

2009-05-17T09:01:00.001-07:00

Despite yesterdays forecast the weather today has been great so I jumped on the bike for a ride through Glen Duror. It's about 35km in total so not too taxing, and is much better done anti clockwise. Starting here at Glencoe Independent Hostel the ride takes you round towards Duror, then a quick left past Achindarroch campsite and a climb up into Glen Duror on landrover track. The middle section, from the end of the landrover track to the top of Glen Duror and the start of Gleann an Fhiodh degenerates into a bit of a boggy mess, but there's some great riding on narrow rocky singletrack from then on. There's some fantastic scenery en-route, plenty of birdlife, and only a few walkers out from Ballachulish to enjoy it. The pic shows the Pap of Glencoe on the right, with the Mamores off to the left, the other one shows some peachy (but sadly short!) Highland singletrack.

That's the second ride this week, last Wednesday I managed to meet up with some of the West Highland Wheelers for a ride around some local trails led by Davy Gunn. Despite the shaved legs and race fitness of the others I managed to hold on for most of the ride, unfortunately this meant I couldn't get any pics for a change!

Bored in Glencoe - never!

2009-05-11T14:07:00.000-07:00

Today was a funny day, a bit stop-start and by 6PM all I'd managed was 2 hours sitting in the garage in Fort William waiting for 2 new tyres, lunch at Crafts & Things and an unfulfilling few hours cleaning caravans. Then Terry arrived. Terry runs a cracking hostel on the Isle of Skye and enjoys mountain biking. He turned up here very hot, very sweaty and knackered after a 40 mile ride across Rannoch Moor and then down from the Kingshouse. That's pretty impressive, but when I tell you he's 74 it's got to blow your socks off. So after a blether and a coffee he headed off and it was enough to get me out on the bike for the first time in weeks. It's been all work and chocolate really, and in between that I've managed some boat trips and stuff but I've not been motivated to get out.

So - with the fantastic May weather (at last!) here are some pics. I was lucky enough to bump into some of the local lads - Callum is studying the Outdoor Ed course at Lochaber College and was out scouting some new trails with his brother and mates. He was good enough to show me round and I picked up a few cracking lines along with the ones I'd found previously. The views of the Pap of Glencoe and Bidean were fantastic, I love the way the cliffs of Aonach Dubh glow red in the sunset at this time of year. So - if you're lacking motivation too just get out, good things will happen! Cheers Callum!

More wildlife - Mull this time.

2009-05-05T12:47:00.000-07:00

While we were enjoying ourselves in Glenfinnan last weekend John took a few days away to Mull. He was based at Tobermory Campsite. This is well situated in lovely countryside, a mile and half from Tobermory, very basic but well priced. The weather was great on Saturday, ideal for a trip to Iona. If you've never been it's definitely worth a visit, with the abbey itself although the main draw for us was the peaceful atmosphere and scenery with wonderful beaches and clear seas. Caledonian MacBrayne run a day trip to Mull & Iona starting from Fort William, with the nearest pickup to Glencoe is at the Corran Ferry 8 miles away.

The weather on Sunday wasn't too bad either so John took a trip with Richard Atkinson at Wildlife Mull. John thought that Richards knowledge was phenomenal - he's been on Mull for 18 years and running tours for 16! The days tally included Golden and Sea Eagle, Hen Harriers plus Johns personal highlight - two sets of otter, one of which had young pups.

Yesterday (Monday) John went out with Turus Mara off the west coast of Mull to visit Staffa, Fingals Cave and a puffin colony. Staffa is wonderful, a very odd shaped island comprised of basalt columns and again it's well worth a visit.

Between us we've seen a lot of wildlife recently, there's a fair bit around the hostel grounds including Roe and Red Deer and plenty of birds such as buzzard, treecreeper, woodpecker and cuckoo. Slightly further down the road we've also seen Barn and Tawny Owls and I was also lucky enough to see a pine marten whilst out walking the dog one night!

Anyway, enough of this, Man U are 3-0 up against Arsenal in the Champions League semi final so here are a few gratuitous pics of my trip to Old Trafford for the Porto game a few weeks back!

Glencoe, Golden Eagles and dogs!

2009-05-04T08:48:00.000-07:00

May has dawned bright, breezy and cold so far. In fact it's been colder than April although it's slightly milder today.

We had some great bookings at Glencoe this weekend, 3 nights in each of the bunkhouse and cabins and very little changeover in the caravans and cabin and we took advantage of it to have a 'normal' weekend. We had lots of visitors on Saturday so after a few hours chatting and playing guitar we headed off down to the Clachaig for an early afternoon pint of Golden Sun, and what a lovely pint it was. That put us in the mood for as much of a pub crawl as we can manage these days with another pint at the Loch Leven Hotel. The craic can be good down there with a decent mixture of locals and visitors.

Sunday looked good weather-wise so we took a trip over to Glenfinnan House Hotel, and out on Loch Shiel with Loch Shiel Cruises based there. The scenery was wonderful but the main interest for us was trying to spot some wildlife. The trips turn up Black throated diver, otter, sea eagle and Golden Eagle and luckily we spotted the last of these. If you look at the pic, left hand side, quarter of the way up, that wee dot is the eagle! Someone with a better camera would have had a field day. The return trip gives great view of Glenfinnan Viaduct, aka the Harry Potter Bridge (!) and the monument to Bonnie Prince Charlie. I'd never spotted it leaning to the left before but it's pretty obvious from this angle:

On the subject of animals again we are often asked if we are dog friendly. The answer is yes and our two had a ball yesterday playing with a guests Cairn Terriers. We allow dogs in our cabin and caravans if pre-booked, and for group bookings in the hostel or bunkhouse too. We love having dogs on site and although our collie (Fly) can be a little firey it's normally just initial nerves and excitement and he settles down quickly. Our wee terrier (Olly) is great though and some of our Glencoe guests will already have been loved to death by him on my final rounds around the hostel, bunkhouse and caravans each night!

A well earned break...

2009-04-28T12:51:00.000-07:00

We have just taken advantage of a few days lull to take an extremely well earned break. Phones off, no email and no work. We skipped hostels for a change and tried something different - a lovely hotel in a different area. After a personal recommendation we booked the Coul House Hotel in Contin, 15 miles west of Inverness. I knew the area slightly from the Strathpuffer mountain bike race, but really we chose the hotel for the food, area and proximity to Inverness for some 'culture'. A quick dash up Loch Ness-side saw us arrive at the hotel late on Sunday afternoon, just in time for a quick turnaround and out for a meal at Contrast in Inverness although pound for pound we still think the Mustard Seed is hard to beat. It was tasty enough and we nipped across to Eden Court to see a movie - a rare chance to catch one and one of the things we miss living in Glencoe.

Monday morning we took a drive around the Black Isle as neither of us had been and we were especially impressed with Cromarty itself. Unforunately, like us, Cromarty was shut (see pic) but we did have a good wander around. On our return to the hotel we polished off a high tea - (salmon and cucumber sandwiches included), and then got our boots on for a stomp across the local hills to ward off a cream induced snooze. We enjoyed the walk but both agreed this is top mountain biking country and that we'd be back on two wheels soon. The walk did have get us back hungry enough for a fantastic dinner at the hotel. In fact the food is definitely the main draw here, followed by the first class Scottish hospitality.

All in all we had a great break, it's good to be looked after for a few days, and great to see a manager taking on a huge challenge and investing everything back into their business as we are.

Glencoe Independent Hostel - why "Independent"?

2009-04-25T15:13:00.000-07:00

Quite often we answer the phone here to be asked why we are Glencoe "Independent" Hostel. The answer is simple - we are independently owned and are quite separate to the Scottish Youth Hostel Association. Although independently owned we do belong to a national marketing and networking organisation - Scottish Independent Hostels. This is a thriving organisation, comprising over 100 hostels across Scotland.

Now, some may say, with a hint of truth, that you have to be mad to do what we do - long hours, low pay and hard, hard work! And it's fair to say that many hostel owners have a certain 'character' to them, but we think that's partially what makes Independent hostels so good. So when you get a lot of feisty hostel owners together in one room, as we did on Wednesday for our AGM, you may expect fireworks. What actually happened though is that through vigorous discussion we managed to elect a new chairman and set up several working groups to keep pushing the organisation forward. We think we've got a great product and we need to get even better at letting people know. Thanks to Morags Lodge, Fort Augustus for hosting us and providing some much needed half time refreshement!

Glencoe - great one minute, rubbish the next!

2009-04-25T14:56:00.000-07:00

Monday evening saw Gordon, Loes and the team at the Clachaig putting on a great night for local business owners. After a free pint of Cairngorm Breweries Sheepshagger (always a good start!) some local food producers rolled out a few tasty goodies for us. Letterfinlay gave us great cheeses and sausages whilst Rowan Cottage Kitchen had one of the best pork pies I've ever tasted. Their treacle tart was not too bad either! It's always good to check out new beers and food, and even better in good company.

Tuesday was rubbish, quite literally. Organised by Gordon at the Clachaig and with help from Thomas at the SYHA next door, we spent the morning resplendent in yellow bibs and with safety signs all over the place doing a litterpick. We took in the 'old' road starting with the Green Pool just after the village, right up to the Clachaig junction and were very surprised at how little litter we acually had to pick up - thanks to all of our customers for being tidy! It was still worth doing though as the pic shows.

The weather has continued good this week (apart from the obligatory soaking on Tuesday morning), we're still working on our tans though!

What a wonderful April.

2009-04-21T08:20:00.000-07:00

April boom time!

April has been crazily busy this year, probably helped by the fantastic weather and of course Easter. The hostel, caravans and cabin are going a bomb and the vast majority of our guests are British. It's great to see so much home based tourism, everyone seems to have been prompted by the recession into rediscovering why millions of overseas travellers head this way each year!

We managed to take some time out from a busy Saturday for a trip on SeaXplorer, run by the same company as Vertical Descents. The boat fairly shifts when it gets going but we took it easy to begin as we took in the islands on Loch Leven before heading out past the heronry by the Ballachulish Bridge. Simon then opened up the throttle to take us over towards Ardgour. Dave's commentary was good - apparently there are some nesting sea eagles on Ardgour somewhere, and the arctic terns are due any day on their way through from Antarctica! If either one of these appear on the next trip it could be spectacular. Even on a fine Saturday it was still cold out on the water but the supplied waterproofs did their job in keeping us warm, with lunch at Crafts & Things continuing the thawing process.

Sunday saw a completely different change of pace, over to the Gathering Place at Ballachulish Golf Club for a round on the Dragons Tooth golf course. Since being taken over in February the new team have been hard at work and the place is looking very neat and tidy. The xylophone on the bar to summon the staff is a nice touch! The beer and barbie were great, much better than our amateur swiping around the course. One word of advice though - if you're beginners like us take more than 3 balls each...

"Alpine" Bunkhouse Renovations

2009-04-16T12:46:00.000-07:00

Exciting times here at the hostel, our bunkhouse is undergoing a massive renovation, and the website will be updated soon with new text and photos. The triple tier "Celebrity Squares" bunks are gone and we have created two new fully insulated bedrooms, one at either end. One side will sleep 8 and the other side will again sleep 8 but this time in two rooms of 4. The central area is the communal area with cooking and seating for 16. We think this gives us the flexibility to not only keep our existing groups happy but also to cater for individuals, families and couples, and of course it's now much warmer, cosier and modern. The loos and showers are on track for upgrading later this year.

We've had a few groups in already and they've given us good feedback. The builders are in this week putting the bedroom walls up and fitting new doors. All that's left after that is to put ceilings on the bedrooms and get someone (a local school?) to do a mural on the walls to brighten it all up.

We've done the vast majority of the work ourselves, and for a previously self-confessed ham fisted DIY disaster zone (that's me), I think we've done really well! The team comprised myself, wife and father in law John (what a star!) and my folks and brother for the last few days getting ready for the first group. So - we like it, hopefully you will too :)

Keith

PS The weather was fantastic again today, very warm although a fair bit of wind too. Looks good for the next few days too.

Great Glencoe Weather

2009-04-13T12:12:00.000-07:00

It's been a lovely day here in Glencoe, in fact it looks like a decent week. There are still flecks of snow on the hills, and skiing at Nevis Range and Glencoe Mountain (weekends only), but it's a great time of year for kayaking, cycling or mountaineering.

We've had Reading Uni, Cardiff Uni and Imperial College London in our newly refurbished bunkhouse for the last 3 weeks and they've all had great fun in the hills and on the water. Cardiff especially made great use of the drying room and everyone gave us great and useful feedback on the new look "Alpine" bunkhouse. If you've been before, the (in) famous triple tier sleeping platform is gone, and it's finally joined the 21st century! The website will be updated soon with a new description and pics.

On a personal note I made use of the good weather 2 weeks ago to get in a birthday mountain bike ride at the fantastic Laggan Wolftrax with my Collie dog Fly. I felt fitter than I thought I would although Fly struggled up the hills! I left him to sleep in the car whilst I did another full run, and then we both re-energised with coffee and cake on the terrace. I had another quick run round Loch Leven on the road bike later in the week and the scenery still blows me away.

That's it from Glencoe Independent Hostel for now, it's my first blog ever so hopefully the clicky things work.

Take care!
Keith