This morning I took my 14 year old and pal round Comrie red route. Smiles all round, despite ill pal not up for much. Barreling down icy hills, on rocks, at speed. Proper adventure.
I am now sat in AirSpace at East Kilbride. Looking at the same two lads who are marginally bored after being stopped from anything marginally risky. Thrills now coming from aggressive dodge ball… It’s pure sanitised entertainment.
Next birthday I am dragging him off up the wilds on a bike with his mate… 🙂

Adventure wins every time.

Mine don’t get much out of Airspace either and its only 5mins from home 😀

They are both the same thing to me!

Sanitisation is not adventurous or entertainment.

We just drove best part of an hour to be here.
Next birthday I think a booking at Cairngorm yha and some train tickets… Leave them too it..

I remember as a kid about 9 camping with parents. My father let me in on his plan to catch a monster eel in the River Axe, so we stayed up waiting for the moon to rise high to light our way. As we trekked across the wet meadows of the Levels he taught me how eels could (for a while) leave the water and move like snakes across the dew-laden grass, thus relocating from one body of water to another. We sat by the river, listening to owls, weird shrieks, and the gentle ripples of the Axe. After some time I had a bite. My first eel! We had caught the monster eel! I’ll never forget the way it wrapped around the weed like a python, then around my wrist and forearm as it was landed by the two of us. I remember the stubborn slime on my fingers, and the sharp, heady scent of river-life. We returned to the tent (again by moonlight) , lite the small Camping Gaz stove, set the pan and poached the eel flesh in milk. It tasted delicious, but I remember more vividly the sounds, sensations and scents of a sharp, clear, moonlit adventure across the Levels to hunt the King of Eels!

I’m not saying Center Parcs (never been) or Alton Towers etc are crap … But the top holiday memories of my childhood are most definitely not of commercial amusements.

Speaking of Eels, one of the best adventures I can remember is hiring a 2 person kayak with an Irishman who couldn’t swim on an Island off Honduras… there was an old canal which went inland from a lagoon, bisecting the island. As we set off, with pelicans dive bombing into the lagoon and re-emerging with their bills fat with water and fish, there was a commotion as something under the water took a pelican down and it struggled in vain to escape. What it was remained a mystery~ it could’ve been a shark, but there was also a rumour that a huge crocodile had been captured in the canal a couple of years before we set off on our mission.

It was certainly the kind of habitat a crocodile would relish, with mangroves and mudflats skirting the canal, which in parts was only about 9ft wide. It took a bit over an hour to reach the other side of the island, were we stopped for a bit of leisure time~ Paddy (that was indeed his name and he was always quick to point out his love of potatoes) laid out a towel and did a bit of sunbathing, while I donned a snorkel, mask and flippers and explored along the beach.

I caught some movement out of the corner of my eye under a rock, so went closer to inspect… it was a chunky eel (probably a Moray), that poked its head out and looked ferocious, I got the impression it’s jaw could easily crush a crab or lobster, so I didn’t venture too close in my shorts.

We then set off back along the canal and made it home for the sunset, tired, sweaty and elated at an afternoon well spent

Adventure,always.
All of my childhood ,technicolor memories involve camping out,walking up a fell,gyhll walking,swimming in rivers or canoeing in lakes and running down scree. Excellent fun.