Trying Canoeing on Craigavon Lakes

Tried my hand at Canoeing on Craigavon Lakes. For some reason, once I got a bit of speed up I started to go around in circles :)

Family photograph taken on David's second birthday.

Joel and David's first time in the Mountains with daddy

Joel has always been talking about going up the mountains 'with daddy' so we all made a trip this week to the Cloghmore Stone near Rostrevor. Its a 40 tonnes granite boulder and it's only a 10 minute walk from the high car-park in Kilbrony Forest Park.

Seven Sevens Mourne Mountain Challenge Walk

On the 8th August I competed for the first time in the “Seven Sevens Mourne Mountain Challenge Walk” (organized by the Red Sox walking club). The idea is to climb the 7 highest peaks in the Mournes - each one is over 700m with the highest Donard being 850m. Tim Boyle accompanied me on the walk. We thought we had done quite well and were surprised to discover that we finished in position 206 and 207 from a field of 242 including 25 who didn't finish. Hats of to the others! Although we had little energy left during the last two hours, it was hard to see where else we could have made up time. Would I do it next year again? Ask me in a years time when I have forgotten how the legs felt for 4 days afterwards :)

...PARDON??? ...Oh the time? Eh (don't tell anybody - right?)... 12 hours and 39 minutes...
I logged the walk on a Suunto Vector Altimeter watch and I registered a total ascent of 2705m (10 peaks i.e. where a height difference of 200m was made after a descent). The distance was 28km!!!

Claudia with the boys on our return from a cycle to Oxford Island. As you can see, it was hard work for the boys :) This trailer can be hired from Craigavon Watersports Centre

Launch of Craigavon Cycle Trail

We made it into one of our local newspapers last week at the offical launch of the Craigavon Cycle Trail and map. The picture on the top right is the Lord Mayor of Craigavon, Alan Pentland from Sustrans and Claudia with Joel and David in the trailer we hired for the day.