The Usual Suspects

Reminds me of the line up from The Usual Suspects.......Has anybody here seen Keyser Soze???

Grasmere and Easedale Tarn

So it just carried on getting colder and colder, with -18 deg C being the record. Dunslair Bongo, obviously hankering after warmer Japanese climes, took a hissy fit and spilt the contents of its rear heating matrix all over the drive. (It did this stealthily, dripping bit by bit into the frozen snow so we didn't notice until after the thaw). All sorted now though, so a trip away was long overdue and we headed off to the Lakes. We stayed in a Youth Hostel rather than camping but the Bongo was pressed into service as picnic/warming up base after our activities.
The weather did not play ball. Here we are enjoying the view at Easedale Tarn

Conditions could best be described as "atmospheric". The tarn was partially frozen so some ducks were swimming in the shallows near to shore, while others appeared to be walking on water as they skittered around on the ice a little way out. There were also plenty on "floating stones", some added by the mini-Dunslairs.

Here's Dunslair Bongo wating for us back at base in Grasmere

Snow causes Bongo Withdrawl Symptons

Started snowing in these parts around about the 18th December and hasn't really stopped since. We've accumulated an average of about a foot of snow, which makes the town look fantastic and has allowed us to share our Christmas with two very cheerful snowmen (now sporting snow overcoats as the picture indicates). But poor old Dunslair Bongo hasn't been anywhere since the snow started. We keep knocking the snow off the AFT and digging him out, but our road is in a very un-bongo-friendly state so we haven't ventured out.

Happy Birthday Bongo

Mid December the anniversary of our ownership of Dunslair Bongo more or less coincided with the birthday of the most senior (if only in age) member of the Dunslair household. A Bongo Birthday Party was held, complete with cake and candles.

Bongo for Sale, 1.6 million

A friend recently spotted this advert in a supermarket window

Looks like an absolutely bargain at only 1.6 million (Malawi Kwacha, approx £7,000!). The supermarket was in Lilongwe, Malawi, see below

Autumn on Rannoch Moor

You might have noticed it's been a bit wet recently. We managed to sneak a quick trip north, more or less in between two fronts of torrential rain and high winds and as usual, the Bongo did us proud.

Lonely looking Dunslair Bongo at its overnight stop

It was too windy overnight to risk the AFT but we woke to a lovely calm morning

Looking across towards Ben Dorain (think that's spelt correctly)

We had the first hour or so of our walk in dry weather and then it started raining (just a bit).

Rain on it's way!

The rain gave us our first opportunity to test the flexibility of our un-converted Bongo in bad weather. All summer we were fortunate enough to be able to use our Stimson Explorer Kit from the tailgate and it had worked superbly. But by pushing both rows of seats back as far as they would go, we found we could comfortably use it inside the van too. We only had the two adult Dunslairs with us this time, so there was plenty of room, even though we couldn't lift the AFT in the wind. If the two mini-Dunslairs were also present, one of them could have sat on the fold up seat behind the passenger seat. The other would either have had to sit in the drivers seat or squeezed in next to us on the middle row of seats. So we were able to spend a day out in the elements, with everything Rannoch Moor could chuck at us and come back to hot food and drink and somewhere to change in to dry clothes. Result.

Bongos in the Wild West

Dunslair bongo was joined by a visiting Angus bongo at Ardnamurchan Lighthouse, the most westerly point of the British mainland. Here they are at the bottom of the lighthouse

And here is a bird's eye view of the bongos from the top of the lighthouse!!

Fantastic autumn weather on the return journey- here is a Bongo-eye view from the Corran Ferry across Loch Linnhe