Sep 11, 2019 - Edinburgh

We spent today in Edinburgh. So technically speaking we did a 1 day international trip. Edinburgh is roughly a 2 hour drive from Carlisle. We spent the day wandering the royal mile, seeing The Elephant House (this is where J.K. Rowling wrote a lot of Jarry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone) and exploring the Edinburgh Castle. Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, and is a beautiful old town, which has many old buildings. The city has two main areas called Old Town and New Town. New Town dates back to the 1700's, so it still features a...

Sep 8, 2019 - Day 26. Sunday. 8/9/2019. Inverness to Edinburgh

Day 26. Sunday. 8/9/2019. Edinburgh Another beautiful sunny day as we travelled by train from Inverness to Edinburgh, a journey lasting nearly 4 hours travelling through beautiful countryside and villages. We were able to check into our hotel on the Royal Mile when we arrived, and then we went and had a snack and a wander, before returning and resting! Scottish dinner tonight - guess that means haggis!!! Will let you know! Wow! What a night! Delicious Scottish meal including Haggis - which I didn’t eat, surprise, surprise!!! We were piped...

Sep 7, 2019 - Day 25. Saturday. 7/9/2019. Inverness - Eilean Donna Castle

Day 25. Saturday. 7/9/2019. Inverness We walked to the station and joined the train to Kyle of Lochalsh, a journey made all the more comfortable for us by facing forward. Some had to face backwards. The scenery was outstanding, and we were fortunate to be sitting on the right side of the train for the best views. Sometimes one can be lucky! We passed through the Scottish Highlands and lochs from east coast to west, seeing sheep, llamas, deer and passing through the village of Plockton which we visited in 1998 and where the TV series Hamish...

Sep 6, 2019 - Day 24. Friday. 6/9/2019. Inverness

Day 24. Friday. 6/9/2019. Inverness. Our day started with a cruise on Loch Ness. It was absolutely freezing as we waiting on the small wharf for the catamaran to appear on the choppy water. I sat up top with the wind cutting through me - not risking sitting in the closed area with the food smells! I’d rather the freeze than the alternative!! Sitting on my own, I was soon surrounded by ancient - well, maybe just very old, French ladies, who were so sweet. We did a lot of smiling at each other, which was a distraction for me. Ian came up soon...

Sep 5, 2019 - Day 22. Wednesday. 4/9/19. Ballachulish

Day 22. Wednesday. 4/9/2019. Ballachulish Yesterday we saw heather, and today we had sunshine! Scotland at its best! We went to Fort William and saw the ‘Hogwarts Express’ pass over a bridge and then walked up to Neptune’s Staircase, a series of 8 locks which raises the canal by 19m over a quarter of a mile and was built between 1803 and 1822. It takes approx. 90 minutes to travel through by boat. It’s an amazing feat. The sky started to clear, and we were able to see the top of Ben Nevis, Britain’s highest mountain. We then had free time...

Sep 5, 2019 - Day 23. Thursday. 5/9/2019. Ballachulish to Inverness

Day 23. Thursday. 5/9/2019. Ballachulish to Inverness. The day looks promising weather wise. Lazy morning then after checkout we went to Fort William and had a couple of hours to fill in there due to afternoon departure of train. The morning train was booked out which was unfortunate, as it meant that we didn’t arrive at Inverness till 8pm after a long day, and then we had to have dinner. We travelled on the Jacobite Steam Train, made famous by its appearance in Harry Potter films. We climbed into the mountains which are spectacular,...

Sep 3, 2019 - Day 21. Tuesday. 3/9/2019. Day trip to Isle of Mull

Day 21. Tuesday. 3/9/2019. Ballachulish to Isle of Mull Despite the continual rain and mist, we have a great day today. It just meant that we couldn’t see everything clearly. And we were all wishing that some of this lovely, gentle rain would fall in Australia for a week or so. We went by bus to Oban where the ferry leaves for Isle of Mull where we were visiting Duart Castle. We had a couple of hours in the nice little port town, then boarded the ferry for the 50 minute crossing. I was a little nervous, wearing my wrist band, and plaster...

Sep 2, 2019 - Day 20. Monday. 2/9/2019. Edinburgh to Ballachulish

Day 20. Monday. 2/9/2019. Edinburgh to Ballacluish s of Fort Williams. Cold and windy walking up to M&S to get a sandwich for lunch before boarding our first train - Edinburgh to Glasgow 52 mins, followed by Glasgow to Fort William 3h52m scenic trip. Unfortunately, it was either raining or very misty and foggy, so vision was somewhat limited. We can’t control the weather, and kept thinking how much this would be appreciated in Australia - gentle rain. The next 10 days aren’t looking good but we’ll do what’s on offer. Our hotel for the next...

Sep 1, 2019 - Day 19. Sunday. 1/9/2019. Edinburgh.

Day 19. Sunday. 1/9/2019. Edinburgh We had a good sleep in and late breakfast. We walked to Calton Hill, one of Edinburghs first public parks and an important part of the Edinburgh World Heritage Site. In the 1600’s it was the site of Public Executions. Wonderful views of old buildings of Edinburgh, from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to Edinburgh Castle, Parliament House and from the highest point you can see the Firth of Forth to Fife. Old buildings include the National Monument, Nelson’s Monument, City Observatory and Portuguese Cannon. An...

Aug 31, 2019 - Day 18. Saturday. 31/8/19. Edinburgh

Day 18. Saturday. 31/8/19. Edinburgh We left about 10.30am and wandered through Waverley Railway Station to the Royal Mile. It was swarming with tourists and buskers and although it closed a couple of days ago, there were still many signs advertising the Fringe Festival. It was quite cool, with a cold wind blowing up the Closes, but we were dressed for the cold. We watched a peaceful protest parade pass and walked until our feet were saying ‘no more’. Had some lunch then back to the hotel where I fiddled and finally got some photos attached...

Aug 31, 2019 - Day 17. Friday. 30/8/19. In air to Zurich to Edinburgh

Day 17. Friday. 30/8/19. In air - Zurich - Edinburgh Had the best sleep I’ve had for nights. Settled down about 10pm and woke 6 hours later. We both had a lot of catching up to do. We arrived on time and it was a long wait at Zurich, and we both struggled to stay awake - the feeling of falling into a deep sleep and missing the next flight is not good! Ian nodded off on the flight to Edinburgh, so I thought I’d close my eyes too. Good little nap, but when Ian woke, he had to pat me on the knee........so I was awake too! These little signs of...

Jul 19, 2019 - Scotland - Exploring Smoo Cave and searching for Puffins

While sleeping in the bothy (glorified garden shed) sounded like a novel idea it came with some drawbacks. The main one being that we think there were mice in the wall cavity near our heads as we heard them scurrying about all night.....which meant I didn't get much sleep. Being on the coast I've been enjoying mussels for dinner which have always been very nice in a white wine and cream sauce. I've also had some great salmon salads. Grae on the other hand has been enjoying his haggis and splashed out a few times, once ordering collops of...