App & Oz

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Hi folks - welcome to the 2013 walking year, and well done to Ken for getting the big walking weekend on the West Coast organised already - it looks great - sorry I won't be with you, and, of course, Dave won't be there either after his move to Houston, but it looks like you'll have more than a quorum anyway.

Spotted a mention in the Sunday Times today for an interesting little app for the iPhone - Thwaites Wainwright Ale UK Walks Guide. It provides suggested walks, linking them to real ale pubs. It's mostly North of England based, of course, and there's nothing on the App for Aberdeenshire, but 11 Aberdeen city pubs are mentioned, each with its own walk. Worth a try - particularly if you're travelling anywhere and fancy a walk and a pint.

I didn't do much walking when we were Down Under recently - partly due to the deteriorating state of my knees, but mostly just due to the heat - it was downright dangerous going out in the middle of the day at times. The most adventurous walk we dared was on New Year's Day on Kangaroo Island when we visited Flinders Chase National Park and took their Platypus Waterholes Walk:

Nothing like as adventurous as the walks you'll be doing on the West Coast - but I suspect the temperature may not be 40 + C when you're there! No - we didn't see any platypus - they only come out when the sun goes down.

Kangaroo Island lies south of Adelaide in South Australia - next stop Antartica - and looks like:

It's real outback country - a nature reserve and foody paradise.

Look forward to receiving the monthly "training walks" schedule for this year and may occasionally join you if I can.