A Taste of Raasay...

Thought we would make all you ‘wild wilderness people’ out there wish you were here! We took time of from our sales, advertising, rebranding and marketing machinations and went for a walk in the woods with the dogs in the middle of May, and here is the result.

Photos to whet your appetite and entice you back to Raasay to visit the house and island for spring 2009. We will show you how summer and autumn progresses soon.

We didn’t photograph the deer that the dogs disturbed in the birchwoods, the fledgling dippers nesting by the side of the river, the dragon & damsel flies hovering over the river pools or even the golden eagle that soared overhead– the first three were too fast for us and the sight of the eagle held us spell bound!

Why don’t all you absent friends and staff share with us and send your spring photos - of where ever you are and what ever you are doing and we will post them on our visitor’s blog. 

Another great week at Comrie.

The year is flying by and another group has had a fantastic trip to Comrie. Thanks to everyone that made the High School of Glasgow trip so special, it's great that everyone had the opportunity to have the Raasay experience despite Raasay House being renovated. From the reports we are receiving back from the kids they had a fantastic time and really enjoyed themselves. We can't for Raasay to re-open so you can enjoy visiting us.

Thursday next week I will be heading up for another site meeting; so I will be able to give everyone a update about what has been going on at the big house over the last month. For now I can tell you that the house is a hive of activity; there are about 30 labourers working on the house at the moment and lots of progress has been made.

In the mean time here is a poem by Chloé and Jessica and the rest of the High School of Glasgow pupils wrote after their trip to Comrie.

"At Comrie Croft we've had such great fun, slipping and sliding and bruising our b*** (Thumbs).

Our instructors our loads of fun too,there's Kevin and Steve and Ally who:

plays the guitar and sings Britney Spears, it's good music but we have to block our ears.

And then there is John, he springs down the cliff, he still manages to live, as if!

And tird, sorry third there is Kevin, he makes us eat plants, but when we're not good he goes off and rants.

Next there is Colin, who's nickname is Buzz, He's kind funny and friendly to us.

Then there is Neil, he wears a kayak skirt, and always helps Michael to get out of the dirt.

And then we have Ray, who made the Cormorants wear flowers, and when we're with him we have fun all hours.

Next there is David, he's really quite skilled, and with flying arrows we almost had him killed!

Then there is Steve, he's full of life and glee, but shiver with him and you'll pay 50p

Finally, there's Gordon, although he was ill, he'd much rather be climbing up a steep hill

Thanks very much for this amazing trip, it's all down to you we've not broken a hip!"

Hope you all are well, it's very lonely here without all of you running around the House.

Check back soon.

Greg



Baincroft Loch at Comrie Croft.

Thoughts from Cliftonhall

Here are a few comments from the kids that came to Comrie Croft from Cliftonhall, Edinburgh.

"Today we arrived at Comrie Croft at about 11am. The main thing we did was doing a REALLY long cycle in the woods! I was being lazy and walking with my bike up the big hills. I was also really proud of one of my best friends for her AMAZING effort in cycling. I had a great day today and it feels like we've been here forever and I never want to leave!"

" Today we played some fun games. Then we went Mountain Biking. We went up the hill. We went really fast down the bumpy hill. There was a lot of rocks. There was an awful lot of mud. I nearly got stuck!. Then we played some fun games. The night was upon us and we had hot chocolate and cake."

" First we went on a disc hunt and drew a mapwhere we had found them. we also had a camp fire and cooked up food and went to bed."

"Today we did Rock Climbing. It was very exciting and fun. At first it was scary, but then it was fun. We also went for a walk up a mountain. The slope we climbed was 50 degrees. When we got back we had a barbeque. After the dishes were done we had some free time."

" Today we went canoeing. It was very cold, but it was soooo fun! Then we went for a yummy lunch, then we all went for a walk. We went to the beach and made a fire, that was fantastic. We all got to help make it, but we all had to be very careful."

" The first thing we did was go for a very long walk. It made you quite tired but it was fun. Then we did some climbing and abseiling, which was scary if you looked down but if you didn't you were fine! Finally, the last thing we did was go for a scavenger hunt, where we had to find everything on a list."

"We went canoeing and it was fun, but it was a bit cold. We walked back and had such a nice lunch. It was lasagne. We then went to Ossians cave where there was such a cool waterfall. we made a fire on the beach. I think its bed time."

"First we went on a scavenger hunt which Emily and William won! Then we had some lovely Tomato soup for lunch, then we went outside and did archery. At the end of the session we did a shootout and the prizes were Mars bars then we had tea. Finally we played games, then made a fire and roasted marshmallows and bananas. I reallyenjoyed my holiday and I really liked the instructors as they were very helpful."

As you can tell from that little selection, they really enjoyed themselves, as we the staff enjoyed working with them. We commented that if all our groups were as appreciative, attentive and helpful then 2008 and onwards would be well worth looking forward to.

Well done to all from Cliftonhall!