Kayak trip Gardenstown- Pennan

A high pressure area above Scotland on Saturday gave us the impulse to head North and explore the Moray Coast by kayak. We started from Gardenstown, a beautiful pittoresque village, and paddled to Troup Head which is the largest breeding site for gannets in the UK.

After observing the colonies of gannets, guillemots, razor bills and fulmars breeding on the steep cliffs, we headed to the village Pennan and explored some caves. While I was experimenting with the new waterproof camera (stills and video), Jaap couldn't resist to practice his eskimo roll again. Some of the pics are not the best quality, but that might have to do with the extreme digital zoom I had to use in some cases and being on the water at the same time. I guess it will come with practice!



What I really enjoyed doing was making short videos, especially underwater. This is my first attempt in compiling several short videos into one short movie. I hope you like it!

Watercolour painting

The storm and rain yesterday gave me the opportunity to practice a bit more with watercolours. This time I used my newly bought practice book and chose one of the examples to follow step-by-step. It took me much more time than expected and although there are few mistakes in the painting, I'm quite pleased with the result. Most of all, I really enjoyed doing it. Next week my art class will start again so I will hear what my teacher thinks. Then I'm also able to further practice my technical skills so that I can hopefully make progress!

Skiing in Glenshee

And the snow fun continues with skiing at Glenshee with Lucy and Dave last Thursday. I had finished a lot of work the previous days so I thought I deserved a day off! Unfortunately Jaap had meetings so he couldn't come with us. The conditions were excellent; no wind, blue sky, nice snow (apart from a few thin/rocky spots). We had a great day out as you can see on these photos.



Lucy and I also took some video shots, some of them while skiing at the same time. That was a real challenge, but great to do. Be warned though; you might get dizzy watching it!

Big kids having fun in the snow

I'm still having fun in the snow, but this time with our neighbours. First we discovered a cosy iglo with posh seats on Banchory golf course:



Then we sledged down from the biggest hill there. We have experimented with all sorts of sledges and the plastic garden bag filled up with snow is definitely the winner. The orange bivvy bag with sleeping bag inside for sitting comfort was also a good one, especially because it could take three people! View a compilation of video shots here (Facebook readers should click the link "view original post" below):

Experimenting with watercolours

With snow blizzards outside and not in the mood for skiing among the crowd or getting soaking wet on a hill or river, I stayed inside and experimented with watercolours instead. This is the result.

Hogmanay in Stonehaven

Happy New Year! I wish all my dear friends and family a very happy, healthy and prosperous 2010. We spent Hogmanay (Scottish for New Year's eve and day) in fishing village Stonehaven, half an hour drive away from our home, watching the famous Fireballs Ceremony (click here for more background information about this yearly event). Dressed up with multiple layers, we got ourselves a good spot well before the mass of people arrived. It only meant waiting in sub-zero temperatures for nearly two hours. Despite the frozen toes it was definitely worth it! View a short video I took here:



A much better overview is given in this video created by the organisation itself.