I'm gonna do a summarised version of my *cough* rocking Geology field trip to Arran, Scotland. You never know how many Geology jokes there can be until you've been on one. Oh schist shit, where has my sense of humour gone to... ;p [warning: this post has geology jokes sprinkled all over.]

Day 1 - The Long Bus Journey - 16 Mar 06
it was a really long coach journey. (how else can u describe a coach ride? haha) i only recall waking up, looking out of the window and thinking we were crossing the snowy fields of Siberia, but well, it was really just Scotland. =)

We arrived in Ayr, Scotland, where we spent the night in a rather posh hotel(!!!) I also sneaked out of the hotel before dinner where I managed to catch quite a dramatic sunset. What a lovely way to end the day.



Day 2 - Ayrshire Coast - 17 Mar 06
We travelled along the Ayrshire Coast and stopped at certain points to look at various rock formations. (of course, since no one else reading this blog is quite as cool as i am to appreciate the stuff, i shan't go into details. ;p)

Anyway, it was like travelling through Hobbitshire in LOTR on a coach. The rolling vast green hills of the countryside with loads of sheep grazing on it.

see? nice sunny weather. sheep grazing on the slopes. students looking at what? (pillow lavas actually... *wink*)

Thereafter, we made the journey across the straits to Arran. Quite strangely, it brought back fond memories of my navy days. When the sheep (damn it, i really typed sheep), ship's lines were cast and pulled away from the harbour slowly, I suddenly had the image of MSTD (Midshipmen Sea Training Deployment) unfold in my mind. Midshipmen with our peak caps, and ever so smart looking No.3 uniform lining the decks, waving to our friends and families on the dockside, embarking on a 7-week long epic journey. Those were the days. Oh well. Enough of reminiscing now.

We arrived on Arran after sunset and checked into our rooms. After dinner, there was an intrusion *gasp* in our room. Jim (my room-mate) and I were giving a couple of good kicks to our door as it simply wouldn't close, not knowing that we had awakened the monster living beside us (quite literally). Having finally closed the door, and gone back to our room, the door bursts open and this guy whom we've not seen before (whom we found out later to be one of our demonstrators) enters and snatches the key which was on the table! Jim and I were just dumbfounded, wondering if we should let the other demonstrators know that a "stranger" had taken our key! We decided to just wait, and the key was returned to the keyhole safe and sound the next morning.

Day 3 - Corrie Foreshore - 18 Mar 06
ooh. Corrie will be proud that there's a place named after her. (or maybe she was named after the place, but let's assume the former.. haha.. ) Lots of walking. We also climbed up this hill so that we could look at the butts of brachiopods (brachiopods are kinda like bivalves. ok. in very simple terms, imagine a clam).. Nothing much else worth mentioning I suppose.

Oh, i also spent my nights reading The Time Traveller's Wife and got hopelessly lost on it. Such a beautiful and sweet story that I just wanna believe it's real and be a part of it. =)

Day 4 - West Coast - 19 Mar 06
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(in case you think that this is an ordinary full stop, it's not. it's actually a very fine grained, well rounded particle of quartz. look closely)

Day 5 - Mapping Exercise - 20 Mar 06
Spent the day doing a mapping exercise on the Great North Glen Sannox. It was quite fun though. Phil and I were covering the higher parts of the hill and we got to see some pretty cool stuff and scenery. Like for example, sighted some wild deer!

See the two deer in the distance? Ok fine. i'm sua-ku (translated to be mountain tortoise. don't understand? ask someone who knows..;p) can? In Singapore, the wildest animal we see is like the cockroach lor... =X

Oh, Phil and I also got into some close contact with some sheep, which we decided not to disturb. They certainly weren't giving us a sheepish grin. (muahaha. writing this post is so much fun) Rather not be charged at by some ram. I'd imagine it's not very fun.


Ok, i think i shall stop here for now. I kinda realised that my summary is quite *ahem* concise.