Day 1 is a success

Weather good and achieved all and more than originally planned. The Nevis mountain activity centre is very impressive. The Gondola and chair lift offered very easy access to great views and all professionally run by very friendly people. Amazing how much can be achieved with so little effort - and without a car.

Katarina enjoyed it and had no trouble with the extra hike that took us to a peak neighbouring the Gondola peak where the views were stunning. 650m is not much at all by even European standards but you really got the feeling of altitude.

The almost silent chair lift, as it gently swung in the wind and at times seemed to leave us suspended motionless mid air, managed to bring on vertigo at times - not helped by K slamming her feet on the safety bar for a laugh, which by the way is not fixed in place and leaves a gap large enough for even K to slip through if she wasn't careful.

One activity we didn't do was the mountain bike path which was very impressive. At 650m you can descend on a purpose-built winding track that drops at times very severely and directly under the onlooking Gondola passengers. As a cyclist I was very jealous. I'd have loved to do it.

Of course with a kid in tow there's no opportunity to explore in the late evening but at least there's an opportunity to get organised for the next day and keep things tidy. But managing my communication all day by smartphone has been hard work. The mobile coverage was impressive but it's a long way off from wifi.

Fingers crossed for tomorrow but rain is predicted non-stop from 5am-7pm. At least we'll have a chance to use our waterproofs. It might put a halt to any Nevis exploring though.

And one last thing: after reading some Nevis brochures I'm not sure a full ascent is wise. But K is unlikely to get that far anyway so it should all be academic anyway. Our overall plan is to view the three peaks, not necessarily climb them. We are unlikely even to step foot on Scafell Pike next week and our aim is just to see it. At least here we can walk some of Ben Nevis. That should be good enough. At least I'm telling myself. Perspective is important here.