A trip to Bonny Scotland

We had a wonderful trip to Scotland and England last month. Before we left all our UK friends here warned us to take plenty of warm clothing, raincoats and mozzie spray as we would, apparently, be eaten alive by mosquitoes and drowned by torrential rains in Scotland. We did as we were told and piled our bags high ready for the onslaught. What we had for three glorious weeks was a bit of cloud, a few chilly days, half a day of rain and not a mosquito in sight! We drove our hired car up the east coast of England to Edinburgh and on to Inverness and then to Skye and down to Oban, and the Isles of Mull and Iona. Then back to England and the Lake District before heading to Kent to visit my Aunt and Uncle.The countryside was diverse an absolutely beautiful. So often reminded us of the South Island of NZ. 

 

 

 

Edinburgh Castle was great not that different to our own local Carcassonne Castle, which, if pressed, I would have to say I prefer! Beautiful sunny day, loads of tourists, we walked from our apartment through the cobbled streets and up the hill to the castle. The stone buildings generally seemed rather drab. Still, maybe that's their appeal, old and grey with age! Great restaurants and cafes though. Martin had the regulation haggis for breakfast! Yuk! Scottish salmon though...to die for!!

Went to visit Nessy in Loch Ness, but she must have been away for the weekend cause she didn't make herself known to us. What a beautiful part of the world! The lochs are absolutely gorgeous and even on a misty morning like this one.

Martin will tell you that he climbed Ben Nevis (in the background), what we actually did was take the cable car up to the top of a mountain beside it and walked over to the viewing platforms. Still a little snow, and very windy but wonderful views of the surrounds. Being a loyal NZ'er I would have to say that it is not a patch on our South island mountains though! They have a mountain bike track that stretches from the top of this mountain to the bottom which looks absolutely terrifying! Apparently they have had national championships on it and the new one they are building will be even more challenging. Thank goodness Chris wasn't here or he might have been tempted!

The Isle of Skye was lovely, very rustic and full of little seaside fishing villages. We had a great night in a pub with some of the local old timers who regaled us with stories from 'around these parts'...at least what we could understand of them. The more they drank (and boy did they drink!) the harder it was to make sense of the brogue! Once again we were made very welcome and everyone was most impressed that a couple of little Kiwis should make it this far up into the world!

Oban was a really great little port town, we loved it so much we stayed three nights! It was from here that we took the ferry to the Isles of Mull and Iona. We stayed in a hotel that catered mainly for bus tours (largely elderly English) but we were given an amazing room that had recently been redecorated overlooking the harbour at a very cut down price...so who could resist!? The first night we were invited to  a Scottish evening in the hotel which comprised a Trivia Quiz and a Scottish duo singing local ditties accompanied by a young bagpiper in full Scottish regalia! We managed to get 6 out of 20 questions right to which our fellow contestants gave us a big round of applause when they found out we were from NZ (I think they felt sorry for the poor confused colonials!). Then commenced the singing and dancing part of the evening. Boy, how some of those oldies could get around the dance floor! Lots of line dancing moves and even a few jives. Great time had by all! The Isles of Mull and Iona were lovely, like walking back in time. Iona would be a great place for a 'get away from it all' holiday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the way back into England we passed by Gretna Green. There were several weddings happening so we said a quick "I do again' and left them to it!

Back in England and we headed for Hadrian's Wall and found the most amazing working archaeological dig in a place called Vindolanda. There were apparently at least seven Roman Army forts here from as far back as 2000 years ago. The people who are excavating here are largely volunteers who come for several weeks or more each year to be part of this amazing experience. They are daily uncovering relics of daily life in the fort. One volunteer told us that she and her husband had been coming every year for 8 years for their summer holiday. She said that they had only touched the surface of what lies beneath and that the dig could continue for at least another 100 years! The museum here was fantastic, everything from Roman soldiers shoes, to children toys and clothes as well as some beautiful hand crafted jewellery and much more. The most special part of the display are what they call the Vindolanda Tablets. These are really like postcards from the past, stories in letter form that tell us about the daily trials and tribulations of people from our distant past. There are letters from leaders to captains, from wives to husbands, shopping lists and even a letter from a mother to her son saying that she had enclosed socks and two pairs of underpants! This is a must for everyone coming to this part of the world!

Some of the volunteers getting down and dirty!

 We finished our trip in the Lake District which was once again absolutely beautiful and a place we will certainly come back to as there is so much more to explore.

We stayed in a very posh hotel right on the edge of Lake Windemere where the breakfasts were so good we decided to stay another night! 

A brief glimpse of a really fun trip. Another wonderful opportunity that neither of us take for granted!