I’m on my third cup and it’s only just 10am. I don’t usually have more than one coffee in a day … but I am still tired.

Andy and I spent a long weekend adventuring. We joined a friend and her dogs on a short trip to explore Carrbridge in the Cairngorms National Park. It’s a village close to Aviemore, a very popular spot for tourists in summer and winter. Carrbridge is less touristy, but man we had fun going on walks there.

Our cabin was only a 15 minute walk from the village’s main attraction – an old packhorse bridge which is believed to be the oldest stone bridge in the Highlands.

There’s a plaque near the bridge that gives a bit more information:

“At the beginning of the eighteenth century, to the inconvenience of both travellers and local people, there was no point at which the River Dulnain could be crossed when it was in spate, and burials at the Church of Duthil were often delayed.

Brigadier-General Alexander Grant of Grant, Clan Chief, commissioned John Niccelsone, a mason from Ballindaloch, to build a bridge at Lynne of Dalrachney. Built between May and November 1717, the bridge was paid for out of stipends of the Parish of Duthill.

Its parapets and side walls were badly damaged in the 18th century and again in the famous flood of August 1829, giving the appearance it still has today.”

From there on we walked some of the nearby trails along the river and through the woods, making the most of the dry (but cold!) weather. Andy and his two friends had a blast. So did we.

We were all suitably knackered whenever we got back to the cabin, tho.