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8 a.m. saw a record turn-out awaiting the bus,
with 41 people booked for the walk and evening festivities. Good to see so
many newer members, and a few faces we haven’t seen since last Christmas.
Our ever efficient committee had organised a bigger bus than normal, which
was quickly filled to bursting with a multitude of bags, props, musical
instruments, and even a complete disco.
Was it the weight of all our gear? Did the big
bus have the same size engine as the little one? In any case, it struggled
to reach double figures in mph, so we made our way very slowly to Mar
Lodge to drop off our gear, and rendezvous with some enterprising members
who had booked in for Friday and Saturday nights.
 We
finally made it to Inverey to begin our walk around 11:15. Most of us
opted to do a short gander over Carn na Moine and Carn Liath (818m), but a
few set off at a cracking pace to complete the longer Carn Bhac walk. We
had an early tea stop in a sheltered area before beginning our ascent of
the exposed hills. The weather was very kind to us, with blue skies and
sunshine throughout most of the day. All around were fantastic views,
especially across to the snow-capped Cairngorms. As Derek remarked, "if
you can’t get a decent photo of the hills today, you’ll never get one".
We were above
the snowline, but a path most of the way and a reasonably light cover of
snow allowed us to keep up a good pace.
 In
fact, we were almost embarrassed how early it was as we caught sight of
Mar Lodge on the return leg. Distance can be deceptive, however, and by
the time we had afternoon tea, walked through the forest and along the
road to Victoria Bridge, it was between 3:30 and 4:00 by the time we
reached our destination.
We
were greeted with rumours that there was only one room – untrue, the lads
and lassies had separate rooms – and only one shower, alas, true! A queue
of towels formed in the blink of an eye. Despite not taking up time-saving
 suggestions
that couples shower together, or that we adopt "one on the pan, one at the
sink, one in the shower", everyone was showered and refreshed in plenty of
time to get their fancy dress on and kick the evening off with a very
stiff gin and tonic courtesy of Steve and Alexis. We had all class of "M"s
– maids, Mexicans, mechanics, Marilyn Monroes, a Munro, a Mona Lisa,
milkman, Mandarin, monster, some obscure Scot that only Alan himself knew
the name of, and even a Monsignor.
Once again the outside caterers did a
grand job feeding the hungry crew. Dinner over, the evening’s
entertainment began. Leading off were Derek on guitar and Tracey on
vocals, who gave us a fine rendition of Silent Night and a Tracy Chapman
song. Next up Alex treated us to The Road to Dundee. The final musical
piece was Anne giving us 4 songs ranging from Joy Division to the Dixie
Chicks, with Robin and Tony on guitars.
Next
was the panto, the theme being the Committee meeting to consider
applicants for the President’s job, the sparkling script again courtesy of
Steve. After rejecting virtually everyone in the club, three external
candidates were interviewed. Braemar Hilton (sister of Paris) and
Supernanny put in a strong showing, but star turn in my book was Borat,
who suitably mangled the english language in a suggestive enough way to
have the audience in fits of laughter. Peter had even gone to the film
during the week to get into the role (don’t bother submitting an expense
claim), and where did he get that suit? Amazing what can be done with only
one rehearsal, especially as Derek accidentally threw a page of his script
over his shoulder instead of one of the discarded CVs, and had to ad-lib!
Great to see this tradition of entertainment being kept alive and well.
Next up the disco, which almost didn’t happen
this year. No DJ, but some equipment was found for hire at the last
minute. Graeme brought a great selection of music, and after all that
practice in the Lemon Tree and The Tunnels, put in a very slick
performance as main DJ of the evening. The night kicked off with an 80’s
medley which filled the floor, and we had every genre and even a few
ceilidh dances before winding up at midnight with Auld Lang Sayne. Within
minutes we were all packed up and on the bus. Another day and night to
remember.
Liam Naughton
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