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Eigg Adventures

January 2016

After a lazy December, we were straight back into the swing of things as soon as we arrived back on Eigg after our Christmas holiday in Shropshire.

We started by clearing out the Adventure Hut. It’s now had a thorough sort out and clean, the walls are freshly painted, we’ve built new storage to hold the additional bikes we’re purchasing and Owain’s work station for servicing bikes is finally laid out to perfection, just about right for his borderline OCD tendencies when it comes to tool placement!

In addition, I’ve finally got a proper desk for working at the computer. No more neck ache from crouching over my laptop on a camping chair. It’s all looking very professional in there, and with a few pictures on the walls, it’s an absolute treasure of a workspace.

Once we had the Adventure Hut up to scratch, it was time to evaluate the bike fleet and work out how to expand. After several days of visiting numerous bike shops on the mainland, we decided to branch out slightly by investing in six hybrid bikes. We spent the summer months collating feedback from our customers and we knew some people were put off the mountain bikes by the chunky feel and high cross bars. As such, we’ve purchased four Giant Roam unisex hybrid bikes, and two Giant Rove female specific hybrids. We’re already wondering if we’re going to have to order more of the Roves, because we think they’re going to be very popular!

We’re very pleased with how the fleet is looking and we think we’re going to have a lot of happy customers.

After many hours of discussion, we also decided to take the plunge and expand Eigg Adventures by offering sit on kayaks for hire. We knew how much we loved paddling round the island in Apsley and wanted to be able to share this experience with visitors to the island. We’ve ordered four sit on kayaks and we are very excited for their arrival! We decided on sit on kayaks due to their versatility and family friendliness. They’re easier to navigate than sea kayaks and they don’t require the same level of experience – although a good amount of common sense is still needed.

Now all we need is the sunshine – roll on summer!

 

December 2015

After a crazy summer involving a house sale, buying a business, moving 500 miles and then finishing off the season, we were shattered!  We decided to give ourselves some time off and spent most of December exploring our new home on the Isle of Eigg.
We fitted in plenty of hikes and shorter walks, visiting caves, exploring the ridgeline from An Sgurr to Laig Bay, going off piste in the no mans land above the cliffs of Cleadale and scouting out some fantastic wild camping locations round the Iron Age ruins at Grulin.
We were both really keen to get our mountain bikes out and get cycling too.  After such a hectic few months, neither of us had been out biking and we were getting withdrawal symptoms! The tracks around the island are such fun for cycling; the single track road makes it easy for getting around and there are loads of natural features to give both of us a challenge; Owain found some handily placed drop offs and I tracked down some banks to work on my cornering.
We didn’t just explore the island though, we wanted to see the coastline too.  As well as some long coastal walks in search of ‘treasure’, we took advantage of a couple of clear dry days to take out our Canadian Canoe, named Apsley.  A paddle round Castle Island and a visit to the seals over there kept us entertained and we spent a relaxed couple of hours fishing from the boat.  Sadly, we didn’t catch anything but we love being out on the water and it’s always fun seeing Eigg from the sea.
It’s been a lovely way to end the year, recharging our batteries and spending lots of time planning for next season.  We’re very excited to see what 2016 brings!

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