Maureen tours England and Scotland 2011

Sunday 31 July

Brisbane -> Melbourne -> Singapore -> London

Another adventure begins...

Big excitement! Andy and Brenda arrived home from four years living in Singapore, Hong Kong, Guangzhou and finally, Prague at 3am yesterday.  They slept until 3pm, and then we celebrated with Pete and Rob an Aussie dinner at home of Prawn Cocktail, Steak and Salad, and homemade ice cream and fruit.  Very non Czech.  Andy played the didgeridoo and so settled back into Aussie culture.

They look great and we all skyped Nanna and enjoyed breakfast with them before leaving Brisbane on a beautiful July morning (31st).  Arrived in Melbourne on a beautiful July morning also, and are now in the Qantas lounge, thanks to a couple of complimentary passes, waiting to board our flight to Singapore then London. (Yes the A380)

In London, we are meeting the Murphy clan.  Carol (my friend from Med School; we met at the beginning of 1974, and we haven�t changed a bit! ), her husband Mike, and their son, Ben, who is working in London.  Hence, we have two Mikes, so I will from now on refer to Michael Xavier Murphy as simply, "Murphy".  As you know, I am known as "Fitzie", so Mike Murphy will have to have a turn with his surname.

Only 24 hours till we land in London.  Then we have a big day driving to York, then staying in rural County Durham.

Cheers, Maureen.

Monday 1 August

London to County Durham

So lucky! Carol and Mike�s Brunei flight was only 3 hours late.  Imagine if it had been delayed a day.  We waited quite peacefully in the Budget car rental car park.  Got to read the car manual.

Their son, Ben, living in London for over 2 years, greeted them at Heathrow.  Then we motored up to York.  So nice.  Saw York Minster (fantastic Cathedral and we were fortunate to be there as the choir was practicing) and the Shambles (weirdo leaning shops and buildings).  Very cutesy.  Went to Linner (lunch and dinner) at the Royal Oak gastropub.  Absolutely fantastic.  Small, great service, great d�cor, fantastic food, cheap.  Worst part was trying to park.  Everything else was absolutely divine.

The Mill Byre at Mill Granary Cottages - idyllic setting

Morning at Mill Byre

Went to our digs, Mill Byre, Mill Granary Cottages, near Ingleton, NE of Darlington.  Talk about 5 star.  Wow!  We have 3 bathrooms, a huge renovated barn, lovely patio, fantastic view to rolling fields and every amenity known to man.  It is so top class.  Just died into our beds after 48 hours with no sleep.

Tuesday 2 August

Durham

Durham Castle

Durham Cathedral

So, today, we went to Durham.  Unfortunately, the Castle, now a University, was closed due to renovations.  The outside looked great.  We had a huge lunch at the old hospital (now caf�), and went on a superb guided tour of the Cathedral.  Fascinating.  Let�s face it� we have now seen 100s of European Cathedrals.  Our guide, Margaret, was amazing with her commentary and so made it all a great experience.

The town itself is so cutesy, and we loved it.

Finally solved my iPad nightmare.  When at Heathrow, there was no phone shop at Terminal 3.  Bought a SIM card from a vending machine for my iPad; price 20 pounds.  Firstly, the machine accepted a 10 pound note.  Then it would not accept any more notes.  So, put in credit card.  This was charged 20 pounds.  Unfortunately didn�t get the 10 pound note back.  Sim card was the wrong size.  Went to internet shop in York.  They sold me another card for 3 pounds, as the one I cut down did not work.  Later, the system would not accept an Australian credit card without a direct link to a UK address.  Went to a shop in Durham.  They charged me 21 pound, installed and activated the sim and I finally could connect the iPad to the internet.  So all this was 54 pounds for 3 gig of connectivity.  Yuk!

Mike, Rick, Maureen and Jacy

Met up with Jacy Pitman and her son Rick for dinner at the Burtree Inn.  Fantastic evening.  Jacy's eldest son, Mark married Kate McNaughton, one of our good friends.  Will meet up with Jacy�s daughter, Lucy, at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in a few days.

The countryside around here is just to die for.  What a shame we do not have longer.

Love to all,
Maureen

Wednesday 3 August

Lakes District

Big Day.  12 plus hours of driving through exquisite scenery.  Perfect weather.

Firstly, about the visit to the doctor.  Very busy as I was leaving Australia, I left my thyroid tablets in the fridge at home.  Just like annoying patients do to me all the time.  Bugger!  What a business!  I had to ring the local doctor (spoke to his brother), make an appointment, go in and register with the NHS (even though I would be a private patient), and have a consultation.

I can tell you, the life of a country GP in England is very, very slow paced compared to Shailer Park Medical Centre.  Anyway, Dr Neville was very nice, and did not charge me for the consultation, and it all amounted to 5 pounds for the medication.  I left the surgery with him feeling really worried that he should also keep thyroid tablets in the fridge.

Carol, Mike & Ben at Barnards Castle

Local lad distracts the Barnards Castle boys in blue... while his mate does a small job around the corner?

With such nice weather today, we headed to Barnard Castle (a town and a castle).  Just so fantastic.  Walked around, went to the supermarket and it was all enchanting.  Even the supermarket.

Ambleside Pier on Lake Windemere

Mike at Castlerigg Stone Circle near Keswick

Then headed off to the Lake District.  Very busy; school holidays the whole time we are here.  Everywhere we go, we have a yarn to the locals.  I particularly like this aspect of touring.  It is something that bus trips never deliver.  We had coffee in Kendal.  Lovely pub.  Then went on to Windemere, Ambleside, Grasmere, Rydal (sheepdog championships are on there next week), and then Keswick.  This is all Wordsworth/Keats country.  Also Beatrix Potter.  Tried to visit the Beatrix Potter house, but could not find a parking spot; school holidays :(  Went to the Castlerigg Stone Circle (a Druid site), and the views were just magnificent.  Had a picnic lunch there before going on to Ullswater Lake.  Simply wonderful.

Driving in the North-East, near Hadrian's Wall

Tom's Tupperware Tardis

Here we had a good natter to a bloke called Tom Carlisle, who had a camper called the Tupperware Tardis.  It was very small, but had lots on the inside, with a lid.  He was a local, and advised us on sights on Hadrian�s Wall.

Tom even gave us the URL for a digital story he had made for Tyne/Wear museums.  It was all about his favourite road, the Military Road alongside Hadrian's Wall.  Here is Tom's story... http://www.cultureshock.org.uk/stories/my-favourite-road.html.

Ben, Mike & Mike walking Hadrian's Wall

Ben, Carol & Mike Murphy at Steel Rig. Hadrian's Wall goes up the slope on the right.

As you all know, Hadrian�s Wall was built in 120 AD by the Romans.  It was 117 km long.  Abandoned in 383, and it is simply amazing that so much remains today.  There were forts every 5 mile along its length, and we saw many sights including Cawfields, Housesteads, Steel Rig, and Birdoswald.  The scenery was to die for, and we didn�t return to our lovely house until 8.30 pm.  That twilight is so deceptive.  It is dark at 10pm.

Tomorrow?  Maybe Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

Hope everyone is happy and well,
Maureen

Thursday 4 August

Newcastle-Upon-Tyne

Angel of The North - with raindrops

Carol�s birthday.  She is now as old/young as me.  Our first showers. (of rain!)  Decided to go to Newcastle upon Tyne.  On the way saw the Angel of The North statue, the largest Angel statue in the world, at Gateshead.

Amazing Arts Centre � called The Sage Gateshead.  Wonderful architectural lines.  Saw St Nicholas�s Church, John the Baptist Church, the Memorial to Earl Grey, lots of nice buildings, the waterfront areas, and of course, the famous bridges including the Tyne, Swing and Millennium.  All up, a really enjoyable walk.  Had a great linner at the Slug and Lettuce restaurant, and then to the town of Bishop Auckland, to visit the Aldi for some groceries.

Vintage Champagne from Reims for Carol's Birthday

Celebrated Carol�s birthday tonight with vintage French champagne from Reims.  This was a gift to me from Qantas for treating a passenger on the plane on the way over.  Why always does this always happen to me?  This was the first time Qantas has ever given me anything but a "thank you" for assisting.  It was just beautiful.  We sat in the slightly chilly garden, looking over the glowing fields and had fruit, cheese, crackers and champagne for dinner.  It doesn�t get any better than this.

Tomorrow, off to Edinburgh, with lots to see on the way.
Love, Maureen (and Mike, Mike, Carol and Ben).

Friday 5 August

County Durham to Edinburgh

Edinburgh Tattoo, Pipes and Drums

Edinburgh Castle Fireworks

It is now midnight and we are back from the opening night of The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo.  Very enjoyable.  Smaller than you would expect (having seen it on TV a number of times).  8825 people in attendance.  Not too cold a night.  The Aussies were there in beanies, scarves, gloves, overcoats, and plastic garbage bags over our jeans.  The Scots were there in sundresses and thongs.  As you would expect.  Big walk back from the Tattoo (1 hr) warmed us up.

Lindisfarne Castle in the distance; built by Henry VIII with stone stolen from Lindisfarne Priory (foreground)

Earlier in the day, we went to Lindisfarne Priory and also had a big walk out to the castle.  Perfect day, with blue skies and T shirts in the middle of the day.  This showed off the lilly-white arms and legs of the locals.  Have you ever seen such white people?  In the North of England, everyone seems to look the same as well.  No real diversity like London.

Anyway, Lindisfarne was lovely, with a castle across a tidal causeway, and our timing was perfect to drive across on the low tide.  Similar to Mont St Michel in France.  Very cute little St Mary's church there too, and stark ruins of the priory.

There is a Cuthbert Cult in Northern England.  This poor beggar who was a shepherd, did some nice things, and was promoted to being Saint Cuthbert.  There are statues everywhere, and Cuthbert groupies in all the churches.

Must mention the flowers.  Wow!  Everyone here � yes, everyone � has thrown a packet of mixed seeds in a pot or hanging basket, waved Harry Potter�s magic wand, and hey Presto!  Magnificent flowers; just glorious.

Alnwick Castle (of Harry Potter fame)

Warkworth Castle

Speaking of Harry Potter, we went to Alnwick Castle; Harry Potter country.  What a crowd!  That was just the traffic.  It was 22 pounds to see the Castle and grounds, so we had a coffee, a loo stop and peeked in at the garden.  Aren't we scrooges?  Drove around the outside of the castle, and took a great shot of it from a hill near town.  Prior to this we had been to Warkworth Castle, and also did the cheap option of just taking outside photos.  Have been in enough old homes and castles, and don�t need to see another inside view.  Blue skies made it all so beautiful.

St Marys Lindisfarne

Pease Bay

We visited a little fishing village called St Abb�s Head.  All around was spectacular coastal scenery, lots of sea birds, and an unspoiled working harbour.  Friendly locals too.  Nearby, more breathtaking coastal scenery at Pease Bay.  Thinking of our mutual friend Mary Pease � firstly visiting the lovely St Mary's Church, and then Pease Bay.  It was a real Mary Pease Day!

Now we are in our new place in Comely Bank, Edinburgh (45 Orchard Brae Gardens).  Better than expected.  The cupboards are packed with condiments, and the kitchen has every utensil and appliance known to Myers; except for a frypan.  However, we have gone from 3 bathrooms to one bathroom.  Not exactly slumming it.

Cheers,
Mike², Ben, Carol and Maureen

Saturday 6 August

Glasgow

So busy.  Thanks to the GPS, saw lots of Glasgow, including some places we actually intended to visit.  Don�t like to be rude, but… we now know why they migrate to Australia.  The fact that it was cloudy and spitting probably did not help.  However, the people were friendly, and we enjoyed the Cathedral, the University, the Kelvingrove art gallery (outside), and saw numerous weddings.

We were freezing.  In layers of coats and jumpers.  The people at the weddings were in precipitous high heels and summer frocks.  I have never seen such a blackened Cathedral (from soot).  But, it was very nice.  The bride had fake tan trowelled on by the bucket, and the organ music and vibe were fantastic.  The view from the top of the necropolis was good, and overall we enjoyed ourselves.

The Falkirk Wheel

On the way back to Edinburgh, we went to the Falkirk Wheel.  This is a huge boatlift that revolves.  The locks between the Union and Forth & Clyde Canals were blocked by roads in the 1960s.  Now this masterpiece of engineering uses the weight of water collected from the upper canal to lift boats up from the lower canal; only uses £10 worth of electricity per day.  The canals now connect between Glasgow and Edinburgh.  Fascinating.

Have to mention that we are eating better than Kings.  Mike Murphy and I did the shopping at Sainsburys in Orchard Brae (our suburb).  What a selection!  How cheap is the food!  And what quality!  For instance � raspberry punnets twice the size of ours for around $2 AU.  In fact all fruit and veg are great value.  A fraction of the price in Oz.

Fiz, Fiona & Mike (Ostomyland meetup)

In the evening, Mike invited two of his internet ostomy mates over to dinner, Fiona and Fiz (Phyllis).  Such lovely ladies.  Even though they both live in Edinburgh, they only knew each other from the internet, so coming for dinner was a first in the flesh for them, as well as Mike.  Carol and I rustled up a warm Thai beef salad and fruit platter, and we had a lovely evening with them, Talk about stoics!  Imagine going back to work in a child care centre, debilitated, with in situ feeding tubes, etc.  They had horror stories of their health, which they dealt with courageously.  Carol and I really enjoyed their company, such that Carol wants to invite more of Mike�s internet pals to dinner!

Sunday 7 August

St Andrew's

Trying to be brave.  The Masterchef champion will have been decided, and I haven�t taken a peek on the internet.

Carol, Ben, Mike Murphy and the other Mike at St Andrews Old Course

Swilken Bridge at St Andrews Old Course

Went to St Andrews famous golf course.  Unfortunately, a showery day.  Nevertheless, we trotted over a few holes, until it really started to rain.  On Sundays, the public can walk the course, free of charge.  Went to the shop and could not believe 70 pounds for a T shirt!  No way!

Dripping wet, we arrived at the Club house and had beautiful coffees and hot chocolate for less than 2 pounds 50 cents.  Such an iconic venue.

Ruins of St Andrews

The cafe where Kate met Wills (for coffee)

Then walked around the town, and absorbed the history at the St Andrew�s Cathedral (pillaged for stone over the last 6 centuries).  With historic graveyard.  Surf was up on the beach, and we retreated to a caf�.  Just beautiful food � 2 courses for 5 pounds ninety.  Just loving the high Aussie dollar.

HM Frigate Unicorn, Dundee

Glamis Castle

Then went to Dundee. Visited a floating 200 year old ship � the Unicorn. Imagine � built in 1824, and still afloat.  It is still fitted out as it was on its last voyage.  Very interesting.  We crawled through all decks, and the man taking our admission was full of interesting details about the ship.

On to Glamis Castle, so like the chateaus in the Loire in France.  This was a royal hunting lodge in the 11th century.  It was the childhood home of the Queen mother.  Such wonderful, extensive grounds.

On to Perth.  Yes, these Poms keep pinching the names of OUR places!  Once the capital of medieval Scotland, we were interested in the Church of St John, founded in 1126.  Here, John Knox delivered his fiery sermons.

Tonight, we dined on baked salmon.  So cheap.  We are really fortunate to be able to cook most of our meals, do washing etc., as we are in rented houses which are very convenient.

Thrilled that our friend, Mary Pease, tells us that her Grandfather was called … "Cuthbert".  Can you believe it?  We actually know someone linked to the famous Cuthbert.  (He is such a hottie here!  Ask in any Cathedral).

Love to all
Mikes x2, Carol, Maureen and Ben.

Monday 8 August

Edinburgh

Day in Edinburgh today, Mary MacKillop�s feast day too.  So much to see and do.  Could spend a month here and be frantic.  Of course, it is cold.  However, today, it was fine, with a sunny afternoon.  We spent hours touring the castle.  What a spectacular sight!  It towers above Edinburgh on a big volcanic plug.  We did a free tour of the castle and loved it all. Typically Scottish � there was a gun salute at 1 o�clock.  Only one o�clock � so that they only had to fund one shot of gun powder.

We saw the Scottish crown, the stone of Scone, the Main Hall with its amazing ceiling, the Governor�s house, Margaret�s church, the War Memorial, the Dungeons, the Castle and all the rest.  Mary, Queen of Scots, must have been pretty bored as a prisoner doing embroidery for 20 years, before being beheaded.

We headed down the Royal Mile.  The Fringe Festival is full steam, so we barely noticed the historic buildings.  Street theatre of dozens of genres was abundant.  Carol and I did pop in to St Giles Cathedral, with its beautiful stained glass and chapels, to light a candle for another Mary.  It was so ornate, and the Mick Cathedral looked so Protestant.  You figure.

After 6 hours of constant walking, we headed home, with our amazing Sainsbury�s on the way.  We had pre-prepared a chicken curry, and then all but Carol headed out to meet up with Rebecca Pitman (Katie McNaughton�s sister in law), and friend Amy.  We saw comedian Stephen Reid perform.  Whacky, funny and different.  This place is buzzing.  But cold.

Love to all,
Mike x 2, Carol , Ben and Maureen

Tuesday 9 August

Edinburgh to Glencoe

Via Inverness and Loch Ness

What a huge day!  Rose early and headed to Stirling Castle.  Decided it looked a lot like Edinburgh Castle so did not enter but enjoyed the magnificent views, on a sunny and cool day.

Doune Castle.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail was shot here.

Then on to Doune Castle.  What great value for money that visit was!  This is the castle featured in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail".  Unlike Stirling and Edinburgh, it was not crawling with visitors, and was just fascinating.  The audio tour incorporated some of the film scripts and we had great fun.  It was the residence of Robert, Duke of Albany in the 14th Century.  Lots of private stairs and narrow passages made it all very mysterious.

On to Pitlochry.  This is surrounded by pine forested hills, as we began to travel into the Highlands.  There is a hydroelectric dam, and a "salmon ladder" beside it for the fish to swim upstream in early summer.  None today.  There is a very large Festival Theatre in this little town of 2900 people.  You should have seen the posters for upcoming productions � Sleeping Beauty, My Fair Lady, and lots of others.  What a busy theatre group!  The sun was shining and it was freezing in the shade.  We had a picnic lunch and coffee beside the river.

On to the Cairngorm mountains.  So beautiful.  At one point we stopped to admire the view.  A Chinese family had pulled up, and one of the ladies was singing beautifully, while another danced exquisitely.  Just us and them.  What a performance.  They were really, really, good.

Admired Inverness, but stopped only briefly.  Lovely view out towards the North Sea.

Loch Ness with little Monsters in the foreground

Where most Loch Ness Monster rumours are born?

Then down to Loch Ness, avoided the (tour coach-friendly) motorway, took the narrower road down the more picturesque southern side and it was just perfect.  Such a lovely setting.  There was a bloke in a caravan, who had forsaken his girlfriend, job, and former life and now made little ceramic Nessies and sells them to tourists, to fund his research into the Monster.  We imagine his research is mainly in the pub.  The scenery was just divine and the afternoon perfect.

Drove down past other lakes along very, very, narrow roads, and through magnificent scenery to Fort William, where we picked up bread and milk and a few odds and sods.

Then on to find our little house/Cottage in Glen Coe, beside a pub (the Clachaig Inn), way out in the sticks.  A little difficult to find at first.

Had a call from the owner of the previous house in Edinburgh who claimed we:

1. Forgot to turn on the dishwasher (guilty, we think)
2. Turned off the freezer causing a flood on the floor.  Apparently the power to the freezer looks like every other switch above the kitchen bench, so when we turned off everything as we left, we must have done this one.  (guilty)
   We were told this had never happened before.  Amazing!  Have never encountered a freezer switch which looks like lightswitch before.  They always have a plug.  And we certainly have travelled.  However, a puddle of water on the floor cannot be too terrible a problem.
3. Vacummed up water with the new Dyson vacuum cleaner.  (Absolutely not guilty).
   Apparently it was a week old, so we think the cleaners were not familiar with it, decided to clean up the leaky freezer, and then decided to blame us.  Very upset about being implicated in this one.

Had a long discussion with the owner, who, understandably is protective of his new vacuum cleaner, and seems to believe the cleaners instead of us.  He�s wrong there.

Went to the pub next door to our house for dinner.  Very nice.  So homely.  This settlement has only our house and the pub.  Isn�t that incredible?  Nothing else for miles around, and Ben Nevis towers over us.

Unfortunately, the weather looks to be turning rainy tomorrow.  Will see.

Cheers to all,
Maureen.

Wednesday 10 August

Oban, Argyll area

Chips Menu, Oban
Would you like chips with that?

Call That A Flood?

Rainy day!  Made the most of it.  Went to Oban.  Nice, but wet.  Souvenir shopped, had coffee at a fish and chip shop which advertised "sit doon or take oot", admired the fake Colosseum.

Then drove around the region.  Parts of it were simply stunning.  Even in the rain.  Only had to turn back for flooding once.  A mere 30 cm or so.  Us Queenslanders do not call that a flood!  Luckily, we had such a sunny day yesterday.  Boats everywhere.  God knows when it is warm enough to go sailing!

The huge steep mountains have been covered in ribbons of waterfalls.  It is like those pictures of Ayer�s Rock, except very, very green.  The creeks have been roaring along with chilly fast flowing clear water.

We were lucky to see it in the sunlight on the first day, and also seeing so many waterfalls is pretty special.  Where we are staying is the best part of Scotland.  Unbelievably beautiful.

Cyclists (Jeremy, Jen, Angela and Kirsty) at Clachaig Inn

At the moment we are in the Clachaig Inn, the pub next door to our house; in fact, the only other building for miles around.  This is the best village ever!  Met up with some young people cycling from one end of the British Isles to the other; Lands End to John O'Groats.  80 � 90 miles a day.  Feels like thousands of kms a day… apparently.  Names : Jen, Jeremy, Kirsty, and Angela.  Great company in the pub.  Their blog is www.smartlife-lejog.co.uk.  They like Cadell Evans (who arrives back in Melbourne in a few hours), of course.  Jen is a mechanical engineer designing clothes to monitor heart rates and temperatures etc., for cyclists.  Jeremy is in IT, Angela makes orthopaedic implants and Kirsty is a teacher.

Tomorrow, we might have a chilling out day, here is paradise.

Love to all.
Carol, Maureen, Ben, Mikes x 2

PS. Am so hot!  Danced the night away to great music at the pub; made friends from Germany, Hong Kong, Philadelphia, France, Glasgow and around here.

Thursday 11 August

"The Jacobite" steam train, Fort William to Mallaig

Started the day with a big sleep in, and woke to hear Carol announcing that she had cooked breakfast for us.  Decadence!  Mike Murphy had seen something about "The Jacobite", a steam train from Fort William on the net.  This has been voted Number 1 rail journey in the world for the last two years (by "Wanderlust" magazine) and strangely isn't even mentioned by Lonely Planet or the Eyewitness Colour book.

Fort William is 30 mins away.  We arrived over an hour early and joined a queue, and managed to get a train cabin to ourselves.  We could photograph and see both sides of the train, so were very happy.

Today was cloudy, but no rain.  Like a cold Brisbane winter day.  This steam train journey was magnificent.  The train toured to Mallaig � a small fishing port with a population of 770.  On the side of our carriage we saw the sign, "Hogwart's Express" and noted it had been used in the "Harry Potter" films, as had the Glenfinnan viaduct which we traversed.  The journey went past Britain�s highest mountain (Ben Nevis), deepest Loch (Loch Morar), shortest river (River Morar), and most Westerly Station (Arisaig).  Just wonderful, so relaxing, and highly recommended.

During the stop in Mallaig, we went to a restaurant (Shell�s) attached to the "Steam Inn Bar", for an early dinner.  My fresh scallops were lovely, as was Carol�s fish. Mike x 2 and Ben also enjoyed the food.

Had a lovely return train journey and on to our bit of paradise in Glencoe.  Looking forward to a big drive around the Isle of Skye tomorrow.

Cheers, Maureen
PS. Will upload photos later.  We have almost no internet access here (one bar of signal at the pub next door!)

Friday 12 August

Isle of Skye

Day 12 of feeling Carol�s bum.  Mike Murphy says I could do worse.  Of course, this is the only course of action I have available to me when putting on my seat belt over and over!  The Mike boys are in the "control panel" in the front seats, and do the entire driving � no mean feat.  The girls and Ben are in the back � Carol in the middle.  But… had another great day.  Are we blessed or what!

Good job we�re sturdy.  Today was 11.5 hours of travelling, and tomorrow is well over 400 miles of travelling.

Have to mention that all road signs in this part of Scotland are in Gaelic (and English).  About 7 per cent of people here speak Gaelic.  I told you we were in the sticks.

Maureen at Eilean Donan Castle

We drove up to the Isle of Skye today.  Sensational!  Scotland�s answer to Kangaroo Island and Fraser all in one.  Nice morning with good weather.  Saw the mist-topped Five Sisters and Eilean Donan Castle at Dornie on the way.  As our friend, Noela L. would say, "Picture-scew".  Over the bridge at the Kyle of Lochalsh.  Then on to the magnificent natural sights �

A 100 year-old cottage thatched with heather.  Have to tell you that the heather is in full bloom everywhere.  Just everywhere.  So pretty and lavender.  Also the other flowers � daisies and thistles, and lots of others we cannot name.  Yellows, whites, and purple in the main.

Then past the capital of Skye, Portree.  So cute and colourful.  Also crowded.  Could not find a park, so went on to The Storr � an unusual rock formation.

Had coffee at Columba 1400 in Staffin.  This is a leadership centre taking young people who are disadvantaged and off the rails into their care.  Like Boystown.  They have great success statistics.

On to Kilt Rock, with vertical and horizontal patterns in the cliff face � have to admit it looked a bit like tartan.  Wonderful coastline.

Mike & Maureen at the Quiraing

Skye Boat

Over to the Quiraing � a series of landslides has exposed the roots of this volcanic plateau, revealing terrain featuring spikes and towers.  Peat bog in between.  Saw a motorhome attempt a stupid parking space and spin the wheels and bog.  Ran the other way.  Yes… we are ashamed, but they were silly, and we had nothing to rescue them with.  We even adjusted our itinerary, to accommodate this new obstacle.

There was a food van there at the Quiraing with crocodile, kangaroo and zebra burgers. Mike Murphy reckoned they were not Zebras � just painted horses.  The lady in the van looked offended.

Went on to beautiful coastal villages and a medieval cemetery (St Columba�s).

Gardens at Dunvegan Castle, ancestral home of Clan MacLeod

Then � Dunvegan Castle.  Had a great time talking to the volunteer guides.  The MacLeod family have lived there for 800 years (except for about 50 years when they rented it out).  I thought we were amazing to be in Shailer Park for over 30 years.  The gardens were huge and beautiful.  Had a wonderful time then a few hours drive home.

Quick visit to the pub to use their wi-fi and upload this page.  Huge drive to the Cotswolds tomorrow,
Cheers, Maureen, Mikes x 2 Ben and Carol

Continued on Page 2 - The South

Page 1 - The North | Page 2 - The South | Back to Maureen's Home Page.