Wes and I had an amazing time away this weekend. Admittedly, the weather wasn’t great, so we didn’t get to top the munro we planned. Friday night we headed up to Thurso to check out the surf. We spent our coldest night ever in the tent, it felt like the chilly wind was blowing straight onto our noses so we had to hide away snuggled deep into our goosedown bags. A surf contest was on, the annual Cold Water Classic, which also travels to Tassie! The waves were big, and we spent a good few hours (sometimes in the rain) watching the pros carving it up before heading over to the west coast for some munro bagging. It was raining solid when we reached our destination Kinlochewe and Torridon area, so we skipped the tent pitching and checked into a cute little hostel. Actually it wasn’t as easy as that, seems a lot of campers were looking for a hostel at the same time. But we were lucky and after a bit of hither dither we were cooking our gourmet camp food in a proper kitchen. When we awoke Sunday morning the munros were covered in snow, not a good first sign. When we got to about 500 or so metres toward the summit of Slioch, I freaked out and suggested heading back. It took a wee while for me to convince Wes, but as we started our descent a windy hail storm hit us and we knew we made the right decision. We still managed to score some amazing views for a six hour hike (in between the rain anyway).
ok, so it’s only Thursday, but with a flexi-day booked for tomorrow, I certainly have that Friday night feeling. Hurrah! Wes and I have camping plans again this weekend. And again the weather forecast is terrible (heavy rain top of eleven, light rain top of ten, light rain top of ten, heavy rain top of ten). Oh well. I’m sure we’ll go anyway. Hopefully this time we remember to pack the camera so we have a few photos to share next week!
In other headlining news, it seems our iron is broken.
Although the weather forecast was not great (rain, 3-9 degrees), Wes and I decided to brave it camping in the Cairngorms. And we’re so glad we did! We had hardly a spec of rain and instead three days of blue skies! Yes it was cold, but bearable when the sun is out. We set up camp next to the fast-flowing burn at the Rothiemurchus Estate and on Saturday we set off on a 15 mile hike up into the Lairig Ghru to the Pools of Dee (where the River Dee starts) and back to Whitewells. We have been wanting to hike into Lairig Ghru for a while, but our previous attempt was foiled by temporary terrible map reading skills. It was a good hike and worth it when we reached the ’summit’ where we could see the pools on one side, and the track we took on the other. We definitely earned our venison casserole at the Cairngorm Hotel on Saturday night. On Sunday we woke early to take part in the RSPB’s Caper Watch, we were running a bit late when we arrived at 7.10am (started at 5.30!), but we managed to see our first capercaillie doing it’s lekking display. Stroke of luck for us, as the previous day they had 50 people turn up and didn’t spot a single bird! Yesterday we packed up camp and had a quick 2 hour hike around Loch an Eilean and a spot of lunch overlooking the mountains before coming back to the city. Just a pity we left our cameras and my phone at home so we have no evidence! I’ll try to get a pic off Wes’ phone tonight, but not sure if it will work.
When I first arrived in the UK, it took me a while to work out whether it was just the milk that tasted different (it does!) or whether the Milo itself is different. Ok, so the tin says ‘made in UK’ instead of ‘made in Australia’, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a different recipe.
On our way back here from our recent trip to Oz, I unpacked a few wedding presents to make room for tins of Oz Milo. Sounds crazy, but I just HAD to work out if it really is different or all in my head. It was Ray (Wes’ stepdad) who suggested I make up identical glasses of the drink to properly compare, one using UK Milo and one using Oz Milo. Being home sick today gave me the perfect opportunity.
You can see from the photo, they are wildly different compositions.
The UK version on the left is darker, harder somehow, and more crystalline. The Oz version is paler and more powdery. Thus they each behave differently in milk: the UK dissolves quicker and what remains has retained more crunch; while the Oz becomes soft, wet and less crunchy. The taste test? Different of course. The UK is more chocolatey and sweet, whilst the Oz is malty and creamy. Both taste good, however my preference is definitely the Oz version. I will happily drink the UK again once my Oz supply runs out.
Upon inspection of the nutritional information, not a single nutrient has the same % in both, which I suppose proves it’s a different recipe altogether. The taste test was more fun though!
