Loch Ness and Highlands

(Hi all. This blog entry is belated. I started to draft it at the time we travelled, then only managed to put photos in, then got too busy with our return home. I never actually wrote it up and posted it. So here is my posting, only 21 months late!)

Today we awoke to beautiful weather, perfect for our day of travel. We head off towards Inverness, where we cross the Caledonian Canal then follow it south towards Loch Ness stopping to look at the Docgarroch Lock.

We follow the A82 alongside Loch Ness down to Urqhart Castle, which Helen and I have visited before. It's busy here today, parking is difficult. I take Dad into the castle for an hour while Helen goes for a drive into Drumnadrochit town. Cellphone coverage is not good here, and we struggle to meet up with Helen afterwards, walking around in the heat trying to get a signal.

Eventually we are back on the road. Soon enough at Aberchalder we happen upon the Bridge of Oich which is a beautiful suspension bridge dating back to 1854. We cross the canal then park up to take photos of the bridge.

Only moments later, an alarm sounds on the bridge we just crossed. The lock keeper comes out of his house, and shortly afterwards the bridge is closed to traffic. There is a boat travelling along the canal, and the bridge rotates 90 degrees to allow the boat through. The the bridge moves back. The entire event takes about 5 minutes, the bridge moves quickly and quietly. We were lucky to be here just as this happened.



We continue on down towards Fort William, stopping at a Little Chef for lunch. Passing through Fort William, we happen to see that The Jacobite steam train is in. We park up and go to have a look. When we arrive, the engine is being uncoupled from the carriages so we wait to see it pull away. It's not often we get to see a steam train in action so this is most interesting.

We still have a long drive back to Edinburgh. We head down through The Highlands, where the road is busy, then passing through Doune so Dad can see Doune Castle. We return the car at Edinburgh airport, then we're back on the buses again to get home.

Speyside via Aberdeen

(Hi all. This blog entry is belated. I started to draft it at the time we travelled, then only managed to put photos in, then got too busy with our return home. I never actually wrote it up and posted it. So here is my posting, only 21 months late!)

We rented a car for the weekend, to head up to Speyside. This time our car was a Seat, the best car we've rented by far, it even had fold down trays in the back like sitting in a plane! I loved the trays and sat in the back most of the trip maximising their use.

We left Edinburgh early on Saturday, with cold and rain. We headed north over the Forth Road Bridge. We hoped to show Dad the view across Dundee passing through but it was all fogged in. So we passed straight through, and stopped at Arbroath for a look around. It was too early to buy a smokie to try, so we looked around the town briefly then carried on.

We followed the A92, for a quick and yet scenic drive, up to Aberdeen. We hadn't been here before, but had heard how grey it is. How true! The buildings are all grey, and the sky was grey for us too. It does lend unique character though. We stopped here for quite a while, Dad visited a bank and I made an impulse purchase of some new motorcycle gloves. We also found lunch at a local bakery.

We wanted to tour The Glenlivet distillery, so once leaving Aberdeen we took the most direct route there. It was a beautiful drive through green, rolling hills and the weather improved also. Oddly, passing through all of Aberdeenshire and Angus, we did not see any cattle. Where does Aberdeen Angus meat really come from, we wonder?

We reach the distillery just minutes before a tour departs. Good timing! Having done the tour of Glenfiddich, Helen and I cannot help but compare. The Glenlivet has a much more industrial, commercial feel. Lots of iron sheds, not much character. The tour explains how whisky is made in the usual manner, and the tastings are of course a must, but we came away thinking this tour is second best to Glenfiddich.


We decide to dial up Glenfiddich in the GPS, and it's not too far away, so we head there also. We arrive just minutes before their last tour of the day! Perfect. So we get to enjoy this tour again, and Dad gets to see tour both distilleries and compare. We are feeling very lucky.

From here it is a nice drive to Highlander Inn, in Craigellachie, where we are booked.


We have stayed in this town before, at a B&B, and enjoyed this bar, this time we wanted to stay here. Needless to say we weren't disappointed. I took Dad for a walk down to the river, then we settled into a table for the night to enjoy a hearty meal and some whisky tastings. What a nice, relaxing way to spend the night. It's a shame we cannot do this more often.

An update for you all

Hi all,

Those of you who check our blog regularly will notice we've been falling behind on our blogging.

We decided a while ago to return to New Zealand. The date is now fixed. We depart from Edinburgh on the 4th September, and travel home via London and Los Angeles, arriving back in Wellington on 10th September.

As a result, life is a blur at the moment. We had our trip to Italy,which was just fantastic, then came home via London where we picked up my Dad. He's come over to stay for a few weeks in Edinburgh. Helen and I are now working our last month in our jobs, both of us finish around end of August just days before we depart.

We have to plan vacating and cleaning our flat, packing and shipping belongings home, along with taking weekend trips away with Dad.

We've also been job hunting for positions in NZ. Helen's applying for a few jobs, and I've now secured a job at Housing NZ Corporation which I start one week after arriving home.

We hoped to have a last month to enjoy Edinburgh; to see a few local attractions we've not yet seen, and revisit our favourite haunts one last time. Unfortunately, this has coincided with the Edinburgh Festival. The town is packed with tourists. Bus timetables are worthless, buses are running so late. The rubbish collectors have been on strike too in Edinburgh, so rubbish bins are overflowing everywhere and the city is under siege from large numbers of seagulls.

So all in all, Helen and I are feeling a little bit like we would just like to get all this over with, and return home now.

We look forward to seeing you all again soon. In the meantime, please keep an eye on the blog, on postings older than this one, as we back-fill the remainder of our Italy trip, and tell you all about our trip down to Gretna Green!

Mike.

North Around the Firth of Forth

Yesterday we headed south, so today we're heading north.

First of all we go to the Falkirk Wheel. We went there once before but thought Dad would like to see it. When we were there last time, it was winter and the canals were frozen. Now, in summer, the place is in full swing. Dad gets the see the wheel in action, but also the locks are in use. Boats are coming up the canal, and through the lock, to get to the wheel. We get to see the lock empty and fill twice as each boat goes through. Very interesting!

Next we head off to a place Helen and I have had on our list for some time, but never made it to. Dunmore Pineapple House was built in 1761, and is a unique structure. A house shaped like a pineapple! It is surrounded by lawn and a few trees, and is not open (unless you want to stay a night inside). So we merely came, saw, and satisfied our curiosity. Then we went back to the car and moved on.

We continued on towards our main destination for today, Scone Palace. This is another we tried to visit before but it was closed then. Today we knew it would be open. It wasn't overly busy and we were made to feel most welcome. We did the obligatory tour inside, and also walked the grounds which was quite relaxing.

Scone is pronounced "Scoon", not as in the posh way of saying "Scone" and certainly not the Kiwi pronunciation "Scon". Anyway all this talk of scones made us hungry so we stopped in the cafe here to have one each with jam and cream. It has to be done!

Scone Palace really does have a colourful history and much of it hinges around the Stone of Destiny, aka the Stone of Scone. The real thing (if it is in fact the real thing) is held at Edinburgh Castle, but here they have a replica of it outside the chapel.

We saw the beginning of an archeological dig here today. Some students from a nearby university have been planning this for some time and while we were there they started the dig. Fascinating.

Having time to spare, we went on to Falkland Palace. We visited this town once before but it wasn't open so we wanted to visit again. Today we were in luck. This was an interesting palace. Not a ruin at all, but complete and furnished inside, although one wing was destroyed many years ago by fire and is a ruin itself. This visit exceeded our expectations.

Once we were done here, we headed back towards Edinburgh, diverting through Perth. We made a brief stop at North Queensferry to park under the rail bridge and show Dad the view. Then we crossed the bridge, and returned the car to the airport where we had picked it up.

Another weekend road trip over. Stay tuned, there is another next weekend.

Gretna Green and Borders District

Today, our destination is Gretna Green. We head off at a gentlemanly time of around 8am. First we head out of Edinburgh to show Dad where I work. This isn't as simple as we hoped, the road to my work was closed for roadworks, so the GPS took us on a tour through some narrow B roads to come in the other way.

We then carried on through Penicuik, stopping briefly to fill up with petrol. While there, I bought each of us a drink. I got Dad a Wee Bru to try. He likes it!

We headed on towards Peebles. Last time we did this was in a bus. It took forever, and we thought we were going so far. In the car, 15 minutes and we were there! We stopped to walk the main street and let Dad see the river. A relaxing start to the day.

Next we continued on towards Gretna Green. The drive took us through some nice A roads, and lovely scenery. We went through Moffat, another nice town which we stopped in briefly hoping to visit a bank, but it was closed.

Eventually we arrived in Gretna. Once there we followed our noses, and that led us to a large outlet mall. We stopped here and ended up all buying a few shirts, shoes plus other goodies. I asked a shop assistant if we were far from the border with England, she explained it was just up the road. We could leave the car parked here and walk to the border. An excellent plan!

We found the border easily, and took photos of it plus the road signs in either direction. Finally, Helen got to stand with one foot in England and one foot in Scotland. My workmates here in the UK think we're crazy, but us Kiwis thinks it's exciting because our own borders are out at sea.



We then returned to the car, and headed around the corner to Gretna Green itself. History aside, this is still a busy wedding destination, and even today there were weddings on, but it's also major tourist spot. This makes the whole thing seem so tacky, I feel perhaps worse then Las Vegas. The carpark was geared towards parking lots of tour coaches, and even more cars.

The place was full of souvenir shops. And of course being the first port of call over the border from England, is loaded with Scottish souvenirs, and of course bagpipers. Yet somehow it doesn't feel that Scottish after living in Edinburgh. Helen took a tour through the wedding museum, and eyes the anvils inside. Dad and I passed on that one. We then depart. An interesting place to visit but it all seemed a bit surreal.

We head home a different way, dialing up Edinburgh on the GPS and letting it find the way home. This takes us back on a more direct route. We firstly pass a number of signs, "Welcome to England" and "Welcome to Scotland" as the road we're on criss-crosses the border. Finally we're in Scotland for good. Yes, the novelty of borders has worn off now!

Our next destination is Langholm. As you may know, Helen and I are Lilliput Lane collectors. We visited the Lilliput Lane factory in Penrith last year. Lilliput Lane is now owned by Enesco. They also own Border Fine Arts, amongst others. They used to have a factory shop in Gretna Green, but this has now moved to Langholm. So we wanted to stop and have a look. As it turns out, the shop has products from all of the Enesco group. We made a couple of small purchases. Then at the counter we found out that the Lilliput Lane factory in Penrith has recently closed and has moved to Langholm. This new saddened us. It's the end of a generation. Yet another family business being ruthlessly taken over by a faceless corporation. We may have just purchased our last Lilliput. We wonder what has happened to those friendly people we met at the factory, and especially what of the red squirrels whose home was there? Because they were so well looked after by the staff.

Heading towards Edinburgh, we take a detour when we see a tourist sign to Hermitage Castle. This takes us on a back road that seems to go on forever, getting us further away from the beaten track at every turn. We find it eventually, and it's a lonely site for this beauty which is still in remarkable condition. And it's Dad's first castle ruin visit so very exciting!

The day is getting on, and we're getting hungry. We missed lunch completely and now we're looking for dinner. Unfortunately the towns are few and far between on this route. We eventually find a little pub/restaurant in Hawick, who treat us to a lovely meal and friendly service. By the time we leave, it's about 7pm.

We make a beeline for home in Edinburgh, stopping only in briefly in Galashiels to take a few photos of the pretty Bank Street Gardens.

A Big Weekend Ahead

This weekend we have booked a rental car. We've not managed to see much of the borders region (down south, where Scotland meets England), apart from our day trips to Peebles and Berwick Upon Tweed, so wanted to head that way. And with Dad here, we had no excuses not to go!

We picked up the car from Edinburgh Airport on Friday night. An uneventful affair, we met at Toby Carvery for dinner before jumping on the airport bus to get the car. Once we did the paperwork, we went and found our car, a Vauxhall Astra 4 door petrol. An OK car, but in hindsight not an economical one. We all jumped in the car, and before I could turn the ignition Dad jumped out again, as two Tornados flew overhead at low altitude, and straight across the runway. Very cool!

While we had the car, we popped into Helen's work to get some boxes to take home, these we can use for packing belongings to be returned to New Zealand.

London to Edinburgh

Not much to report today, except that we're on the 8:00am train to Edinburgh, sitting in first class. A rather uneventful day but with a couple of highlights.

First, we found Platform 9 3/4 in London. Dad accidentally pushed his luggage trolley through but we managed to rescue it back.

Secondly, we saw a group of trainspotters at York station. One had binoculars, another had a video camera. Very amusing!

We arrived in Edinburgh early afternoon. The city is packed with people, the festivals have begun. We get Dad a bus pass, then head straight for home.

London & Hairspray

Today we have a full day in London, and not too much planned. We start with a leisurely breakfast at the hotel, before venturing out mid morning. The first destination is New Zealand House, the NZ High Commission in London. Myself and Dad had never been there before. We just wanted to see it. Actually the real reason to visit is that behind it is a shop full of NZ products. Helen wanted to buy some Burger Rings, Twisties etc. We found both without a problem.

We then wandered around a bit, and found a busy spot to sit and people watch. Most interesting see the parking wardens play Cat & Mouse with chauffeurs in rather flash cars, they are waiting to pick rich people up so continually drive around the block and park up before being pounced on again. Amusing!

We then headed back to the hotel again, for a rest, and to see if our train tickets had turned up in today's post. Success!!!!!! They turned up, and we all did a little victory dance, we were so glad. The alternatives to get to Edinburgh tomorrow were scarily expensive, so we could all finally relax now.

We have tickets booked to see Hairspray tonight, so gather up our belongings and head off, again via the underground. We surface at Holborn and make our way to Shaftsbury Theatre on foot. First we pick up the tickets. Here I see that Nigel Planer is in the cast. This is exciting, having watched him in shows such as the The Young Ones, and Filthy Rich & Catflap. Once we have the tickets, we have some time to spare.

We find a pub nearby, so stop in there for a drink. Then we wander down some random streets just to see where we end up. We happen upon the British Museum. We have time to pop in for a quick look so why not? This is amazing inside, the glass ceiling is incredible and it's got a spacious, airy feel. Where do we start? Helen is interested to see some Egyptian exhibits so we head that way. Once inside the exhibits, it is a very traditional museum. I expect to see rows of moths pinned inside glass cabinets somewhere. I've never seen so many mummies in one place. Spooky so think we're looking at actual people in some cases. We don't have too long to spare now, so it's a flying visit around a few exhibits, then we need to head back to the theatre.

Time for the show. We love the Hairspray movie, and wanted to see the show. I didn't come with any preconceptions, but somehow thought I'd compare it to the movie and therefore not enjoy it as much. I was wrong! The stage show is so much better. Totally alive, great cast, colourful costumes, and oh so funny. And some scenes were different to the movie, which kept us interested comparing storylines also. We laughed our socks off the whole time. I highly recommend it.

By the time we got out, it was bed time for us, so we wandered home via the underground again. Tomorrow we head back to Edinburgh with Dad too.