Mr T and His Flying Machine

Things have been a little busy at work over the past few weeks but Mr T has found something for us to pass our lunchtimes.

Road Trip Day Two - The Route

With day two complete, here is a map of where we went:

H: Edinburgh
B: Falkland
C: Dundee
D: St. Andrews
E: Secret Bunker
G: Anstruther
H: Edinburgh

The Best Fish & Chips in Scotland

We have not had Fish & Chips since arriving in the UK. Why? Well for starters, they're rather expensive, and also they're usually not that nice by New Zealand standards. Usually the fish is greasy and tasteless. We don't know what it is; perhaps the fish is different here, perhaps it's the way they do the batter here. But basically we know from past experience not to bother with Fish & Chips in the UK.

That was until we heard about Anstruther Fish Bar, which over the past several years has won many awards as the best chippy shop in Scotland. Helen got the tip off from her workmates, and seeing as we were to be in the neighbourhood we thought it would be worth a visit. Could they be as good as our old local in Johnsonville?

Upon arriving in the small coastal fishing town of Anstruther, we had no trouble finding the shop. Just look at the queue outside!



Thanks to Helen's parking gene, we found a free park right outside, and joined the queue. The cold, strong wind we had in St. Andrews was here too, and here we were queuing on the waterfront. This had better be worth it...

Once inside, we thought we were almost at the counter, but no! It was like queuing for a Disneyland ride, into a set of cattle pens to queue some more. The things we do just to clog the arteries.


It was an hour to get our food. We must be crazy! But seeing as this was meant to be lunch, and it was now after 4pm, we deserved a medal for patience. Once we secured our dinners, we braved the wind to sit and eat outdoors.

So how was it? Helen had the battered fish, mine was crumbed. Both were nice, by UK standards. And none of the meal was greasy. And we did enjoy it. But I'm sorry to say, I think New Zealanders get better Fish & Chips at all but the worst shops.

After that, we made a beeline back to Edinburgh to return the rental car.

Secret Bunker

Sssshhhh.... don't tell anyone, but there is a secret bunker in Scotland. It was a key military installation for decades after WWII, and especially used throughout the cold war.

The official website will tell you all about it, be sure to pay it a visit. Be sure to have your PC's speakers on before you do. It says "Scotland’s best kept secret for over 40 years, Hidden beneath an innocent Scottish Farmhouse, a tunnel leads to, Scotland’s Secret Bunker. 24,000 square feet of Secret accommodation. The size of two football pitches, one on top of another, On two levels 100 feet underground."

We saw the funny tourist sign (the secret's out of the bag now), and just had to investigate.

Above ground is just a farm house, although the installation is surrounded by radars and barbed wire fences. The farm house is now the gift shop & ticket booth.

The walk into the bunker is first of all down stairs, then down a long inclined corridor.


It is massive below. There are long corridors with doors all over the place, on both levels. Having been there so long, so deep underground, it smells very musty and feels damp inside.

Various rooms have been recreated, including war rooms, communication rooms, the BBC's special studio (for when all other BBC is dead or destroyed!), accommodation for key government and military personnel, sleeping areas and so on.







As Helen and I are both interested in technology, it was rather amusing to see the technology they had in the old days, including fax machines the size of a large suitcase, giant computers, telephone switchboards, etc.

It was interesting so see what a place like this is like, and to see just how seriously they took the cold war back in its day. And if this is the type of technology they had then, secretly, then what do they have now?

We were a little pressed for time, so our tour was rushed, but we still spent over an hour underground and easily could have spent longer.

Saint Andrews

St. Andrews is world renowned as the home of golf, but has rich Scottish history also. Being only a short drive from Dundee, we thought it rude not to pay a visit.

The drive from Dundee is a short one, on a B road, passing by RAF Leuchers on the way. The approach into St. Andrews is coastal, with a couple of miles of golf links.


Helen and I don't play golf, and didn't particularly research where the official oldest course is prior to this visit. And to be honest, there were so many golf courses and links around that we had no idea which one might be it! Not even the Lonely Planet sitting on the back seat of the car helped. So we parked up for a wander.

There was a stiff wind blowing and it was absolutely freezing cold. The wind was so strong that I had trouble holding the camera still to take photos. Probably not a good day to play golf! We did find the Royal & Ancient Golf Club, which was all closed up, and eyed the adjacent golf course, but only knew that we had found "it" upon returning home and researching the internet.

We moved on and drove across town, then parked up where the St. Andrews Cathedral is. Although in ruins, it's a huge building and we must have spent at least half an hour looking around.





From here we also viewed St Andrews Castle from afar but due to time constraints chose not to walk down for a closer look.


Next (planned) stop, the town of Anstruther, via the coastal scenic route, and past many more miles of golf links.

Bonnie Dundee

A brief visit, we really just wanted to say we've been to Dundee! I'm glad we did. After driving along the open roads, we suddenly came around the corner, and before we knew it we were crossing the Firth of Tay. The view is amazing, with the city sprawled across the other side, perched on the side of a hill.


We immediately thought there must be a lookout at the top to find. We tried unsuccessfully to follow the towns tourist signs, they would take us so far then suddenly run out leaving you on a road to nowhere. After driving around aimlessly for a while, seeing the town but nothing in particular, we decided to move on.

We stopped to fill the car up before crossing the bridge again, and there I saw a tourist sign. And I got a name for the lookout - Dundee Law. We dialed it up on the GPS and off we went! The drive up reminded me of heading to the top of Mount Victoria at home. And the view was equally spectacular.


We will return to Dundee by train sometime to take the city and in by foot. Next stop, St. Andrews.

Falkland

For the second day of travel, we decided to head towards Dundee then tiki tour back towards home. Rather than drive the A road, we went on the B road. Along the way, not far from Dunde, we saw a sign to Falkland Palace and decided to investigate. A few miles up the road from our turn off, Falkland is a really old town dating back to the 1300s.

One thing I find in the UK, in the little villages, is that all the modern cars look so out of place, and sometimes I wish they could disappear so I could really get a feel for the old town. Falkland is such a place.

We quickly found the town square and parked up so we could go for a wander.


The town tourist map pointed out that many houses have marriage lintels above their doors, containing the names of people in centuries gone by who married and lived the houses.


Just down the road is the old palace, unfortunately closed because it was too early on Sunday morning. So we took photos and moved on.


The town is just starting to bloom, and promotes itself as a spring destination. All around the town on the outskirts, are displays like this.



What a lovely town! Time to move on, next stop Dundee.

Road Trip Day One - The Route

With day one complete, here is a map of where we went:

J: Edinburgh
B: South Queensferry
C: Blair Atholl / Blair Castle
D: Pitlochry
E: Dunkeld
F: Perth
G: Scone Palace
H: Scone
I: North Queensferry
J: Edinburgh

North Queensferry

North Queensferry is our last stop for today. The counterpart to South Queensferry, just across the water, it's another village. Before crossing the bridge,we drove to a lookout directly beneath the rail bridge, to get a photo of the road bridge.

Scone

Scone anyone? We were driving through Perth, navigating the township on our way home, when we saw the sign for Scone Palace. Could this be the birthplace of the scone with jam and clotted cream? There is only one way to find out, detour!

We had already visited Perth by train, and on foot our travels were limited. So it was nice to cross the River Tay and drive up along to Scone Palace. Unfortunately for us, it was closed. Again we're too early in the season. A shame, as it seems it would be an impressive place to visit.

Oh well we continued on towards the Scone township. Years ago we failed to find Mississippi Mudcake in Mississippi. Can we redeem ourselves by finding a Scone in Scone? Unfortunately the answer is no :-( We saw nothing of interest in this sleepy hollow and drove on by disappointed. Perhaps third time lucky; any suggestions on places we may try this stunt again?

Pitlochry Fish Ladder

Pitlochry was not a town we had planned to visit, but after visiting Blair Atholl we stayed on the B road a little longer on the return journey. Several miles down the road was Pitlochry. This was a busy place, buildings really had a unique character, the high street was long, and busy, the town is obviously a popular weekend spot to visit (like Wellingtonians popping over to Martinborough).

We were passing through, but I saw a sign that said "Fish Ladder" and was interested so we made a detour.

Pitlochry is beside the River Tummel and has a hydro-electric dam. As the river is travelled by salmon, the dam has a fish ladder which allows the fish to migrate upstream, passing the dam by jumping up a 34 pools, each a little higher than the last.

The ladder is so long it doubles back and forth, this is a necessity based on how far fish can jump, and how high the dam is.

Here's the view of the lake at the top...


This is the view down river. Note the fisher ladder on the right, heading first of all away from the dam and then back towards it.



A close up view of the ladder, from the top, looking down the steps. See there is a bend some distance away, then the steps continue down towards the dam.



Sadly, it's not the right time of year to see fish migrating. So we just watched the empty pools for a while :-)

Dunkeld

Dunkeld is a small town about 20 minutes away from Pitlochery. We detoured here because we saw a sign for Beatrix Potter's Garden.

On the way into town we took a further detour to see the local neighbourhood. Up the road we saw a sign to the Hilton. It went onto a private road, wide enough for only one car, with a number of passing bays. It was perhaps 2 miles to the hotel. It's a big old building, with individual chalets around, in a sheltered riverside location, and is essentially a fishing resort. The carpark was full of Range Rovers and expensive European cars. Wikipedia describes it as "Hilton Dunkeld House & Country Club". Say no more! After a few minutes taking in the river view, we sheepishly hopped into our Ford Fiesta and left to find Squirrel Nutkin.

Beatrix Potter's Garden wasn't the highlight of our day. The Beatrix Potter Exhibition next door was closed for reburbishment, and the garden was devoid of flowers, as spring hasn't truly arrived here yet. We did however spend some time reading about how Beatrix Potter loved spending time in these parts, and how much of her inspiration came from the surrounding Scottish countryside.

The wind was picking up, and it was bitterly cold now, so we hopped back in the car to continue homeward.

Blair Atholl

Blair Atholl is a small town in Perthshire. The main destination here, and the purpose of our visit, is Blair Castle.

Blair Atholl is a quite small town, the drive there deviates off the A road not long beforehand, and follows a scenic route along the river Tay. This is holiday park central, with two large caravan parks that we saw. Obviously a popular summer destination.

Blair Castle is on a huge estate, with dear parks, large areas for hunting and large gardens (which unfortunately we did not have time to walk through). We did not realise before visiting just how large this is.



The castle is really just a huge house, many centuries old. It oozes old money! In centuries gone by the various Earls, Dukes etc have amassed a collection of furniture, jewelery, silverware, chinaware etc. Much of it is on display within the castle. The most impressive thing for me is the long hallway downstairs that runs from end to end, and is lined with dear heads (skull & antlers), each with a year, weight etc. It's an amazing site.

Unfortunately photography was strictly forbidden within the castle, so I can't show you much. Within the ballroom, they were serving mulled wine. It was very quiet, we were the only people there, and I asked the attendant if I may take a photo. I was told I could take one, as long as there was nobody else in the photo. Here's the result. The walls are lined with over 170 dear heads. Just amazing.



You can see more photos at http://www.blair-castle.co.uk/thecastle/tour.asp

After Blair Castle, we went to a nearby pub for lunch. We then headed in a homeward direction, next stop Pitlochry.

Stanley Mill

About 7 miles from Perthshire, we saw a tourist sign to Stanley Mills and decided to investigate. It's an historic mill on the river Tay, which in its day used water to power the mills for cotton and cigarette ribbon. It's now a museum to its former self.


Unfortunately it was closed so we couldn't look inside. It was however a beautiful, still, warm day at this time. We had a walk around and of course took photos for you to enjoy.


With that short detour aside, we continued back onto our intended journey. Next stop, Blair Castle.

Forth Road Bridge

After South Queensferry, it was about a 10 minute drive to get on the Forth Road Bridge to cross the Firth of Forth. The drive across the bridge gives the best view of the adjacent Forth Rail Bridge. Although it looks big, it only takes a couple of minutes to drive across.

South Queensferry

South Queensferry is a historic town, which has been a ferry port for centuries, and is now on the outskirts of Edinburgh.


Its sea view is dominated by the two Forth Bridges, one for rail and the other for cars. Our first port of call, there was a light morning fog and a rising sun, very picturesque.

Weekend Road Trips

The weather’s been wonderful for the last week, and the days are getting longer. So we hired a car for the weekend, a nice little Ford Fiesta 1.2L diesel. We took two day trips, Saturday and Sunday, returning home to Edinburgh on Saturday night rather than staying somewhere overnight.

Helen had to pick the car up herself, so had to do all the driving. Lucky me! We traveled a selection of M roads (boring divided highway) A roads (like SH1 back home) and B roads (interesting and scenic, but slower).


The Scottish countryside around where we drove is a lot like New Zealand’s North Island, with lots of rolling hills, mostly farmlands, with either grazing animals or fields full of potatoes, turnips etc. But everything is so much older and rustic, adding a charm and character unique to this country. The majority of farm houses are old stone cottages, and instead of wire fences there are stone walls. Everything we saw was a postcard picture.

So there are a number of blog entries to follow the one you are reading now, covering some of the places we visited, which will trickle through over the coming days.

A nice walk home

Well I can hardly believe it has been a month since we last posted something on the blog. As you can probably tell we haven't been up to much. Mike has had a cold for the last couple of weeks and ended up with a week of work. My contract has been extended which is great, and we are both looking forward to summer.

The days are getting a lot longer now, with 12 hours of light. Tonight I decided to walk home, although it was a bit windy (nothing like Wellington wind of course), it was a beautiful night and the sun set was amazing. A couple of these photos aren't the best, my little camera has issues with this lighting but I had to post them anyway to give you some idea. This city just gets more and more amazing everyday.



Now that the weather has warmed a little we have started to notice that there are more people commuting on motor bikes. I got a good shot of this guy tonight waiting at the lights, have to say it was a pretty cool quad-bike