Trespass: Review of the seawater lightweight jacket
An Outdoors Family
by An Outdoors Family
2y ago
I have been testing out the Seawater Waterproof Jacket from Trespass* over the past few weeks and found that it has lot to offer for a lightweight waterproof jacket for this time of year. First thing’s first though, let’s talk about the features of this Womens Lightweight Waterproof Jacket with Hood: Waterproof rating – 3000mm Breathability rating – 3000mvp Grown on Hood Striped Jersey Lining 2 Decorative Faux Pockets on the Front 2 Zip Pockets Inner Storm Flap I’m usually a bit sceptical about lightweight waterproof jackets, apparently preferring an either all or nothing approach to my coat ..read more
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A mum/son winter wildcamping weekend
An Outdoors Family
by An Outdoors Family
2y ago
The weekend before our son’s 8th birthday, I decided to take him away wildcamping in the Cairngorms. It was something we had been talking about for what felt like months and months, but on that weekend, the weather looked too good for us not to pack our bags and head out. We parked the car at Linn of Dee and walked to Bob Scotts Bothy, somewhere we have been to a few times before so knew the area. It was my first time taking him out camping, so I was a bit nervous, with a new tent I’d never used and hoping my back and hip would survive the 12km walk there and back. I asked him a few questions ..read more
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Mount Somers Woolshed Hut, New Zealand
An Outdoors Family
by An Outdoors Family
2y ago
One feature of New Zealand hiking (or tramping as it’s called there) is the Hut System they have.  Most hiking routes have huts located at day walk intervals so we thought we had to try them out. We chose a short overnight trip to a Hut called the Woolshed Hut on Mount Somers in the Canterbury region of the South Island. The hike started as many do in NZ with quite a bit of gravel road to drive along to get to the start.  From there we walked along a valley before climbing steeply up past old mine workings where once upon a time coal was mined.  One thing we are not used to is t ..read more
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3 big challenges for my 40th
An Outdoors Family
by An Outdoors Family
2y ago
We’re not a family who gives any thought to New Years resolutions, but 2020 is a big year for us so it’s feeling a little different. Don’t shout it out loud but I’m 40 at the end of the year and have been mulling things over about how best to celebrate. Keith’s also 40 this year and we’re celebrating our 20 years anniversary when we first met. See what I mean about it being a big year? My mind wandered to far flung places for a bit of travel and adventure to celebrate (Costa Rica and Belize topped the list!) I also thought briefly about taking part in a swimming or running event. Who was I kid ..read more
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What I learned from getting outside
An Outdoors Family
by An Outdoors Family
2y ago
I know what you’re thinking….here goes another blog banging on about how great it is getting outside, research says this, grandma said that… Well, I don’t think you’d be far wrong… kind of I’ve been having bit of a tough time of it lately. I haven’t been feeling myself for a few weeks, which really really annoyed the hell out of me. I had gotten stuck in a cycle of days seeming to be full of the same thing, day in, day out. It’s easy to put blame on baby’s routine and things we need to do for decorating his room. Activities our eldest wanted to fill his day of, mainly parks, parks and more par ..read more
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The Outdoors Fix – a chat about our family adventures
An Outdoors Family
by An Outdoors Family
2y ago
The Outdoors Fix is a podcast hosted by Liv Bolton, which, acoording to her website is “A podcast to inspire people wanting to make adventures outdoors a bigger part of their life”. We’re the first to admit, we were a bit shocked when we got a message from her asking if we could have a chat about our family adventures. Take one look at her page and there are some big hitters on there; world record breakers and some big name adventurers. And then there’s us. Liv described it as a ‘lively’ podcast as there was some chatter from all 4 of us on there, though we still don’t know where our then 10 m ..read more
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Why we chose to spend our shared parental leave in New Zealand
An Outdoors Family
by An Outdoors Family
2y ago
When we had our son last summer,  we decided to make use of shared parental leave, taking three months off at the start of this year. We were wanting to go on an adventure, take in the views,  go on hikes,  lounge on beaches and do a spot of wildlife watching while we were at it. Quite a list, eh?  Adding to that list, we wanted it to be somewhere where travel would be straightforward and, as baby would be about 6 months old at that time, somewhere safe with good health care if anything were to go wrong. Keith eyed up hikes in the Canary Islands and one massive trek in ..read more
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Wildcamping at 32 weeks pregnant
An Outdoors Family
by An Outdoors Family
2y ago
This time last year the UK was basking in glorious sunshine. Think along the lines of long summer days where the temperature regularly hit the mid to high 20’s….  Pretty good for Scotland!  But at 32 weeks pregnant with ankles the size of an elephants and a bump to rival any baby elephant bump,  I’d had enough of wallowing away in the garden,  unable to drive because bump was too big to fit behind the wheel,  loving the long days with the paddling pool out but longing for more mountain views. It didn’t take much persuading to get Keith and our son on board for my crazy ..read more
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Munrobagging with kids; a checklist
An Outdoors Family
by An Outdoors Family
2y ago
Getting outdoors here in Scotland is something we can’t get enough of as a family. We’ve had countless adventures wildcamping, getting away in our campervan, canoeing or challenging ourselves on some of Scotland’s best mountains. Munros are mountains in Scotland that are over 3000ft. There are 282 munros and people who climb them are called munrobaggers. Those who ‘bag’ them all are ‘compleatists’. We’re just going to put it out there now that we don’t think of ourselves as serious baggers nor do we think we’ll ever compleat….possibly… There are many reasons why people bag munros. For us, it’s ..read more
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Safari Walk in Wester Ross – blog by our son
An Outdoors Family
by An Outdoors Family
2y ago
*** A short blog by our son on a little walk near Gruinard bay towards An Teallach   It was really hard first. There were lots of vines, even more bog! There was some stunning views of waterfalls. We didn’t manage to get to the end. There was a lot of rock climbing. It felt really fun going through the rhododendron tunnels. I loved it! It was like an absolute jungle. The really interesting bit was the vines coming together like a big train tunnel. It was really sunny. When we stopped for lunch, there was some perfect spots for sunbathing on rock slabs. Also, there were lovely cliffs i ..read more
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