I'm composing this in NetNewsWire on Tuesday evening, but won't post until some time Wednesday, having been offline for nearly 2 days - Orange don't seem to have much in the way of coverage in the Lake District. My only contact with the office (during, of course, the one day when I *really needed* to speak to everybody) was a couple of text messages and phone calls this afternoon whilst halfway up Scarfell Pike, and even they were interrupted by patchy coverage.

We left Snowdonia yesterday morning and headed northwards, stopping briefly for tea in a small town near Kendal whose name I have already forgotten. Just after this stop, Dad and David pottered off for a mini-walk in the afternoon and I sat by a lake, watching the ducks, reading, fretting about work and generally tapping away. Then a short drive on to our current B&B, a magnificent old farmhouse in the middle of the countryside dating back to the mid-1600s.

In the evening we drove down to a local pub and met up with my dad's cousin Gill and her husband Jim, who I think I'd only met once before, at my uncle Rogers funeral about 7 years ago (apologies offered and corrections sought, I ought to be more accurate about such things). Over a rather tasty meal we chatted and I caught onto a few nuggets of 30-year-old family gossip (of which there seems to be quite a bit in our family).

Then today, we tackled Scarfell Pike: a lovely spot about half an hours drive from the B&B, which despite the presence of Sellafield nuclear power station on the horizon and the RAF buzzing overhead every couple of hours, is absolutely beautiful. We walked, scrambled, climbed, admired views, paddled in (and drank from) clear mountain streams, and general did the whole outdoorsy enjoyment thang. And now, it's back to the pub for refreshment...

Updated: it's now Wednesday evening and we've arrived at the B&B in Scotland, having spent lunchtime sitting on the shore of Loch Lomond... pics later.

Today has been beautiful - easily the best weather that I've ever seen in Wales. We got up early (well... 8ish), breakfasted in the dining room of the B&B we're staying at, then drove off to Snowdon. After finding the car park by the starting point we were hoping to use already full, we turned around and managed to find an alternative lay-by, at the start of the Watkins path up the mountain.

I've never done this one before, and it's significantly longer than the others I know (the Pyg track, Miners track and Grib Goch - sp?), mainly because you start much lower down and climb the full way up. But the weather made this very pleasant, and we meandered up past brooks and streams, until the last 45 minutes which was much more of a scramble over rocks than a walk.

The top of Snowdon is always a bit disappointing: crowded with people who've come up on the train to have their lunch and look out, and the café is a bit surreal. But the view is still good. We sat down with sandwiches for a few minutes, texted a few people (of course), and endured harrassment from a suspiciously round and rather demanding sheep...

...and then down, along the ridge. And then up the ridge again (legs complaining by now). And then down again, rather steeply across a field laden in heather, and back down to the track which brought us up, and back to the car.

Oh, and despite managing to survive a week in Greece in ridiculous temperatures without getting a tan, one September day out in Wales and I'm already sunburnt...

Well, we've arrived; after about 6 hours on the road, we rolled up at the B&B in Betws-y-coed at 6:15 and settled in. I've not been here for a couple of years now - for a while a group of us got into a routine of camping around Llanberis once or twice a year (usually in the winter), but we've fallen out of the habit.

Betws-y is quite unashamedly aimed at tourists, and the streets are full of people wandering about even now; but it's beautiful, nestled in a valley bisected by a small stream (which I can hear from my bedroom window as I write).

I'm absolutely shattered, mainly on account of heading out to Hard South at the Honey Club for Ju's birthday celebrations with the usual suspects (Span/Jude/Emm/Jen/Steve/Hosker x 3) last night and finishing at around 6am when the cider finally ran out. Spent most of the car journey lurching in and out of the Land of Nod.

And first thing tomorrow - Snowdon!

Wow - I've just seen a #mobitopia post concerning a film being made about Riot-E. I remember these guys well, we met them when we first set up Future Platforms and they were scouting around for game developer partners. At the time they were very focused on SMS content, but from what I remember they spent oodles of cash on licensing huge film properties (e.g. Bridget Jones) then doing very little of any real worth with the licenses. I was quite fond of the broken English which they used to describe themselves - their slogan was something like "we don't write games. we create riots"...

I'd love to see the film - just hope it gets a UK release. Wonder if we'll see any familiar faces amidst the debauchery?

With appalling timing, I'm off on holiday again this week. Last time this year, promise. And I am never taking 3 weeks off over the summer again. Not even during August, when "everything is always really quiet" - urk.

Going to do the 3 peaks with my dad and a friend of his - Snowdon, Scarfell Pike, and then Ben Nevis. Should get some nice photos.