Isle of Skye Camping Part 2

At about 8am the next morning we got ready to go hiking up the 900 meter mountain that was nearby. We started off with warm clothes on since it was a bit chilly. However, 30 min into the hike I had to remove all of the warm layers as I was roasting! It was clear out and started to warm up quite a bit. We began our ascent up the trail and walked by a large waterfall and a nice little stream. We continued up the trail and as we got closer to the top, the trail disappeared and we had to climb over large boulders and very loose rock. After a couple of hours, we finally reached the top and you could see the entire island from the top. There was a group of climbers at the top as well that were preparing to climb "Inaccessible Pinnacle" or "Inn Pin" as the Scots call it. There were still some patches of snow at the top and we were so hot that we decided to make a slushy out of our energy drinks we brought up to the top with us, and they were really good! After relaxing on the mountain ridge for about 20 min, we began our descent. It was an easy descent until we got to the part where the trail disappeared and turned into a giant hill of loose gravel. My buddy ran down the hill and I have know idea how he did because it took me about 40 min longer than him to get down. I literally went "surfing" down the gravel and fell on my bum several dozen times. We finally got to the bottom and headed back to the camp site. After packing the tent and car, we drove to Talisker Whiskey distillery. I got a whiskey blending glass as a souvenir. We then drove back to the Fairy Pools because my buddy wanted to go swimming under the underwater rock arch that we saw. We got to the Fairy Pool parking lot and began walking the trail to the pools and there was a large group of people in wet suits jumping into the pools. He finally jumped in and swam under the arch. It was pretty cool! I got some amazing photos of him swimming under the arch. I did not go in this time around as I knew how painfully cold it was from the previous day. We walked back to the car and headed back to mainland Scotland and ate at a pub near Eilean Donan for fish and chips to end an amazing trip. After a weekend full of sun and clear skies (I even got a sun burn!) we drove into Glasgow and it was pouring rain! Apparently it had been raining the entire weekend in Glasgow/Edinburgh and we were enjoying the sun. So that sums up my epic camping trip to Isle of Skye and the crazy things that happened. Hope you enjoyed reading all of that. I will post pictures of the trip in the next couple of days. Talk to you all soon!

Camping on Isle of Skye Part 1

Well, as promised, here is the post about my camping trip to the Isle of Skye in Northwest Scotland. A couple of weeks ago, my buddy from the university and I decided to go for a weekend camping trip to the Isle of Skye. We had our exam on Friday and hit the road immediately following exams. It was a 4.5-5 hour drive to get there and on the way up we saw several herds of deer. I managed to capture some AMAZING photos of some of the stags and the scenery on the way up, including a couple of photos of Eilean Donan Castle on the water. We drove into Skye at about 8.30pm and found a camp site that was only £6 per person to pitch a tent for the night. We had portable grills and cooked burgers with haggis patties on top along with a couple beers each. Great first night of camping! In the morning, we woke up, packed the tent and drove up to a town named Uig. Near Uig, there was a Glen called the Fairy Glen. We arrived to this so called "Miniature Scotland" and it was exactly just that! Small rolling hills with ruffled grass and a small loch in the middle of it all. It was a small scale Scotland in the middle of nowhere! We explored the area for about an hour and left. After Seeing the Fairy Glen, we drove to the Old Man of Storr where we hiked up about 2,500 feet and explored the giant rocks for about 2 hours. It was absolutely amazing! After hiking Storr, we stopped at Kilt Rock and took some photos of the waterfall that pours into the North Sea. We then headed to our next camp site in Glen Brittle. On the way to Glen Brittle, we stopped at the Fairy Pool trail head and hiked down the trail until we reached a series of blue pools of water and waterfalls everywhere! There were several pools that were quite deep. I'd say about a 10ft depth...trust me, I know! Ah, yes, about that... Well, we stopped at the first deep pool where there was a waterfall. I told myself before we left Edinburgh that I would jump in the Fairy Pools no matter what the temperature was. After gathering up enough courage, we both took turns jumping into the pool. I must say, it was the coldest swim I have EVER taken in my entire life! It literally felt as if I was covered in hot needles! The part of my body that felt the most pain was in my feet. I jumped out yelling and after about 5 min I felt amazingly refreshed! I've got photos to prove this...will post them soon! After the Fairy Pools, we drove to the camp site and pitched our tent. We then played French Pool on the beach whilst drinking beers, which is a grand game! After about an hour of that, we decided to go for a walk along the coast and check out the waterfalls that were nearby. This was at 8.30pm at night and it was still light out. We began our walk, what we thought was just an ordinary walk but ended up being so much more than ORDINARY! While we were walking, my buddy spotted a sheep in the distance lying on its side and thought it was dead. I saw it as well and it looked quite bloated. We started walking closer and the sheep's head popped up and she looked right at us for about 2 seconds and then put her head back down. That wasn't a normal response because the sheep on Skye are always running from you! So my buddy went around the backside from about 20 yards away and didn't see anything. However, upon closer inspection, I got closer and saw that there was a lamb's head sticking out! I yelled to my buddy and we dropped our stuff. I told him to go around the back and that I would approach from the front and tackle her. He approached from behind and she saw me getting closer and decided to try and bolt. As she began to run, my buddy dove at her and grabbed onto her fleece and was about to lose her...until she got to me. She ran right at me and I just dove into her and tackled her to the ground. She wouldn't go down at first so I had to reach and grab her leg and pull it out from under her. She finally went down and I restrained her while my buddy pulled the lamb out. The lamb came out, he handed it to me while he checked for a twin. I tried reviving it and massaging its chest, but the head and mouth were ice cold. The ewe must have been pushing for a while and was unable to pass the lamb. Sadly, the lamb was dead. We left her to lick the lamb and headed on our merry way. What a crazy end to a day! We got back to the campsite, washed off and went to bed. Will type the rest of the trip in Part 2!!!

Equine and Exotics Exam

Well it has been a while since I last posted...slightly over a month if I'm not mistaken! Have been extremely busy studying for this past examination on equine and exotic animals. We had the exam last Friday and it was VERY difficult! I would say that it was one of the most difficult exams I've taken since I've been here. I had been studying for a couple of months in preparation for this exam. The questions that came up on this exam were not representative at all of the material that we were lectured on. There were 4 equine questions, which were very difficult and 3 exotic animal questions, which I knew quite well. I answered the questions as best as I could but not sure what to expect for a grade. I will find out in a few weeks. Last Tuesday I also had to perform two clinical examinations. At the first station, I had one of the sheep vets ask me all about sheep breeds (which I nailed), skin diseases (which was very random) and had me perform a thoracic auscultation and ruminal auscultation as well. Before beginning, the examiner asked me if I preferred Dan or Daniel. I told him that Dan was fine by me but if he wanted to call me "Fonz" he could do that as well. This triggered an entire 4-5 min conversation on Henry Winkler and Happy Days, which was an odd but funny icebreaker before he began questioning me. We finished early and I moved on to the next examiner. I was presented with a group of calves and had to assess two from a distance and guess the weight and body condition score of the two, which I am sure I butchered! I then had to get the calf that was lying down to get up and move into the crush. The calf would not get up for me and finally after struggling for about a minute, she decided to get up. I had to put a halter on and lead her into the crush. The halter was a non-slip halter so I couldn't adjust it and it took me a minute or so to figure this out. I finally decided to just throw it over the head to see if that worked and it went on with a tight squeeze but worked. Once restrained, I had to perform a clinical examination. I finished slightly early with that station as well. Once I was done I was very relieved and had to begin studying more for the written portion that was Friday as I talked about above. So now I am waiting on results for the veterinary public health exam, the two clinical examinations I did and the equine and exotics examination before I purchase a plane ticket back home. I sure hope I passed everything! Especially equine and exotics! Immediately following the examination, Olly and I headed to the Isle of Skye for a weekend camping trip. Details on our trip will be posted on another post, as it will be a long description! Hope everyone is doing well and will see you soon!