in between

the reading of poetry again and the watching of films we actually made it away. i cycled a good old way and my knees weren't too bad - have tried adjusting all my angles, lowering the seat etc so now my left knee doesn't give way as much but my right knee does. will it ever end! lol

so, anyway, we ended up in oban seeing geo and, to save my poor joints i decided a bit of sea kayaking would be in order. t had mentioned she'd fancy the idea of a trip but, given the fear of water/boats/swimming i suggested a taster suggestion might be a better deal. before she could bottle it i was into the rather excellent sea kayak shop in oban where i not only booked her in but had phoned geo, who is almost as afraid of the water, and got him involved as well.

cue much buying of wetsuits before i realised that i had no kit with me and the thought of doing it in waterproofs felt a bit too much like bravado so my kayaking kit expanded ever so slightly. t was very happy tho so that was all that mattered. at least until she got into the boat.

i have to admit i noticed neither the fear nor the tears which was just as well as by the time we were heading back in from our morning out i was looking at her form with quite some measure of envy. true she was burst when we got back in but it was burst and cheery so only then did she tell me how close she'd been to running away. maximum credit to helen the instructor. i'd told her i was only along for the paddle but she managed to not only give loads of attention to two complete beginners (and fearties) but also to get me on my edges without a dunking. i was very impressed. and the other two loved it. i'd highly recommend it.

but what t hadn't done was get swimming. so a couple of days later i packed her into the van and off to st andrews for a dip. i let her paddle about a bit before doing what i swore i never do again after ruining myself on the west coast and actually went for a swim in the north sea. it still isn't pretty water!

but again, just as well as i soon realised just how petrified of the water t actually is. no matter, we braved the waves, splashed about and i'm confident that after a few more sessions a measure of confidence will have been gained. i don't think t'll ever be up for big waves but equally neither might i. full credit tho for confronting the fear head on. i was well impressed.

so much so i felt some sort of reciprocation was in order just out of respect for her effort. me, i'm petrified of heights over water, land no problem, but water!! it's really quite annoying but time to get a handle on it so i suggested we walk over the forth road bridge at some point just so that the shoe could be on the other foot. even the thought makes me feel sick! lol

a full report shall follow...