Sun, 27 Oct 2002

author Tim	location Carlisle, Cumbria, England
posted 23:19 GMT	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Isle of Skye ( all photos )

A long day's drive ( )
Heading straight South today, it has to be said that we didn't see anything of major interest.
Of course, the scenery we drove through continued to be fantastic, especially around Loch Lomond.
We stopped for a lunch break at a motorway "services", where lunch cost £8 for two sandwiches, a donut and a piece of cake. Sure, that's expensive, but it's just silly when you hear that Liz bought a warm jacket similar to mine just outside the door for £10!
Shortly after that, we crossed back into England.

author Tim	location Onich, Invernesshire, Scotland
posted 20:19 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Isle of Skye ( all photos )

Around the Isle of Skye ( )
Today we made ourselves breakfast at the hostel (where we slept soundly), and did some reading upon just what is worth looking at on the Isle. A book that Peter lent us recommended the drive across from Brogaig to Idrigill was worth it. Very true - the mountain pass looked fantastic in the clear sunny weather.
Next stop along the road was the Dunvegan castle, home of the MacLeod clan and its generations and generations of people called Norman. They used to be feuding with several other clans, and past leaders were plundering villains, even in the eyes of their own clan.
I believe the present leader is the biggest villain of them all however, charging £6 each for entry, and £3 for a guide book! The castle itself was interesting, but certainly they were quite full of themselves. Lots of long lost artifacts, clan pendants, historical swords, etc. The walk around its gardens was probably the highlight.
What was of interest was the dungeon. About ten metres from the main dining room, it is a hole in the ground ten feet deep, with no other way out. The only way in besides that hole was an arrowslit through which smells of the kitchen wafted to the prisoners slowly going mad and dying of hunger.
The cafe on the way out was (suprise, suprise) expensive, and the second gift shop selling clan gadgets was wearing thin. Still, worth a look, if only the price was more reasonable.
Further down that road, we went to an iron-age house called a broch. It used to be a fort, and was most interesting because there was no admission charge! The story about the Scotts being tight on the dollars certainly rears its head everywhere.
We paid our dues once again to get off the island (!), before driving South along roads we've covered two or three times before. Eventual place of rest for the night is a little town called Onich, right on Loch Linnhe, a little way South of Fort William. We're in a very homely B&B looking straight out our window at the snow-capped peaks across the Loch. Wonderful vista indeed.
Dinner was in nearby "big" town Ballachulish, at a pub recommended by the proprietor. And what a recommendation - one of the best meals we've had so far this trip, and of course a dessert had to follow.
Daylight saving finishes here tonight. I believe it starts in Oz tonight - anyone care to confirm for us? By my rough calculations, that makes the difference eleven hours now.
We're aiming to stay at Peter's back in Carlisle tomorrow night.

author Tim	location Portree, Isle of Skye, Scotland
posted 22:31 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Scotland 3 ( all photos )

Towards Skye ( )
After leaving our B&B this morning (fantastic breakfast, didn't need to eat anything else until 3pm), we headed further South along the East coast, in search of affordable fuel. Eventually topping up at a Q8 (that's just like a BP or Shell - not sure if the reference to Kuwait is intentional), we then headed across one of the few mountain roads through to the West coast.
Plenty of snow was to be found, though it only reached the road at one point. So we just had to stop and have a snowfight! Liz will tell you that she won when I stepped into a hidden puddle, six inches deep with both feet, however I think I covered her with more snow. And that's what snowfights are really about!
The highlands through here were beautiful the first time we came through, but seeing the snow on the peaks, then all around us really makes them special.
Eventually we arrived on Skye.

author Tim	location Portree, Isle of Skye, Scotland
posted 22:31 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Isle of Skye ( all photos )

Yet Another Isle ( )
(Continued from Scotland 3)
This isle isn't so bad however - we can drive back to the mainland whenever we want, as long as we can locate the £4.70 toll!
The Isle of Skye hangs off the Western side of the mainland of Scotland, and in the last few years, much to the disquiet of the locals, a bridge has been built joining it to the mainland.
We called in for a bit of a brochure collection run, to find out just what there is to do here. All this preparation was wasted when we decided to "just drive to the end of the thing". Travelling through towns such as Uig, Flodigarry and Broadford, the road signs in both Gaelic and English reminded us that this at least used to be quite a far away place. The ever-present thousand B&Bs told us that the locals being worried about loosing their independence was perhaps not groundless after all.
For such a small Isle, it has a huge number of very high peaks. In the hostel here, there's lots of walkers staying. Speaking of which, we're staying in the "Portree Independent Hostel", in Portree, which serves as the largest town on the isle. An old post office, it is very warm and friendly, and we have a room which would sleep four in bunks, however we are the only two in it.
We cooked dinner in, had a good chat before retiring to our respective reading materials. Tomorrow we are aiming to take in all the Isle has to offer, before heading back across to the mainland and South a bit further.
Oh, and Peter has actually received my replacement camera!

author Tim	location Portree, Isle of Skye, Scotland
posted 22:31 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Isle of Skye ( all photos )

Yet Another Isle ( )
This isle isn't so bad however - we can drive back to the mainland whenever we want, as long as we can locate the £4.70 toll!
The Isle of Skye hangs off the Western side of the mainland of Scotland, and in the last few years, much to the disquiet of the locals, a bridge has been built joining it to the mainland.
After leaving our B&B this morning (fantastic breakfast, didn't need to eat anything else until 3pm), we headed further South along the East coast, in search of affordable fuel. Eventually topping up at a Q8 (that's just like a BP or Shell - not sure if the reference to Kuwait is intentional), we then headed across one of the few mountain roads through to the West coast.
Plenty of snow was to be found, though it only reached the road at one point. So we just had to stop and have a snowfight! Liz will tell you that she won when I stepped into a hidden puddle, six inches deep with both feet, however I think I covered her with more snow. And that's what snowfights are really about!
The highlands through here were beautiful the first time we came through, but seeing the snow on the peaks, then all around us really makes them special.
Eventually arriving on Skye, we called in for a bit of a brochure collection run, to find out just what there is to do here. All this preparation was wasted when we decided to "just drive to the end of the thing". Travelling through towns such as Uig, Flodigarry and Broadford, the road signs in both Gaelic and English reminded us that this at least used to be quite a far away place. The ever-present thousand B&Bs told us that the locals being worried about loosing their independence was perhaps not groundless after all.
For such a small Isle, it has a huge number of very high peaks. In the hostel here, there's lots of walkers staying. Speaking of which, we're staying in the "Portree Independent Hostel", in Portree, which serves as the largest town on the isle. An old post office, it is very warm and friendly, and we have a room which would sleep four in bunks, however we are the only two in it.
We cooked dinner in, had a good chat before retiring to our respective reading materials. Tomorrow we are aiming to take in all the Isle has to offer, before heading back across to the mainland and South a bit further.
Oh, and Peter has actually received my replacement camera!

author Tim	location Navidale, Helmsdale, Sutherland, Scotland
posted 22:46 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Scotland 3 ( all photos )

We made it! ( )
(Continued from the Ornkey Islands)
Back on the "real" part of Scotland. The ferry wasn't too bad once it got going, although it was pretty rough out on the open sea.
We made a quick stop in John o' Groats before heading South down the East coast - a way we haven't been before. Travelling up and down the mountains, we caught our first glimpse of snow on the far peaks! Imagine our suprise when we eventually drove past some on the side of the road! We didn't get a chance to stop there anywhere, but it was quite exciting all the same.
We are staying at a B&B in Navidale, run (as most are) by a charming old woman who just can't help enough. The water is brown from all the rain (but safe, we're told), and more snow is due overnight.
We wandered down to the town of Helmsdale for dinner, eating at a completely strange restauruant thingo. The menu had about a hundered different items, ranging from seafood (although none was available due to the weather stopping the boats from sailing), lots of fish, etc., all the way through to crocodile, emu, and kangaroo. Not what we expected to find here at all. It also had no space on the walls, what with the movie limited edition paraphenalia (original negatives, signed posters, etc.) and printouts of emails from paranormal mailing lists. A very strange place indeed.
Best news of the day, however, is that Olympus have actually boxed up and sent me a brand new camera, the model ahead of what I originally had, and it is arriving at Peter's place tomorrow. Definately a case of "I'll believe it when I see it."

author Tim	location St. Margaret's Hope, South Ronaldsay, Orkney, Scotland
posted 11:42 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Orkney Islands ( all photos )

Ferry Delayed ( )
We're sitting here in a pub, awaiting our ferry to Scotland which has been delayed. The weather was horrible this morning - very low visibility, with lots of hail covering everything, including Percy.
However, it's much better now and the ferry should sail around 2pm, two hours late.
A quick "have a good trip" to Meaghan, who is on her way back to Oz tonight. Give her a call in the next few days to see how she's doing - she wasn't feeling well here, and will enjoy having someone to talk to back "home", I'm sure!
We did some washing in the main street this morning, as well as grabbing a few bargain CDs from the back of the jazz section (itself at the back of the store). Amazing what you can find. We also bought American Pie cheap on DVD the other day, and got a few laughs last night watching it.
Rough plan for the next few days is to drive this afternoon until we find some where to stay, then drive to the Isle of Skye for a look around. Head back to Peter's, hopefully collecting a camera and finalising insurance problems.
Yeah right! It's never that easy...
[The ferry eventually took us back to mainland Scotland.]

author Tim	location Kirkwall, Orkney Islands, Scotland
posted 15:53 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Orkney Islands ( all photos )

Still Alive... ( )
We're back in Kirkwall, on the Orkney mainland. No major problems on the ferry back here - a little rough but no real complaints.
We're staying in the same hostel we had before, albeit in a different room this time. We went straight for a supplier of decent lunch when we arrived, ending up in a pub where Liz had the first steak since we left Oz - meat is so expensive over here!
This afternoon's ferry to the mainland was cancelled, so there was not much chance of us getting back down there. Instead we are booked on the midday ferry tomorrow, but the weather outlook isn't looking much better. Should be calm after that, at least.
Even when we do get back down, the roads South from the top of the mainland are very flooded, so we will have to plan our route carefully. Glad we have left lots of time to do it in.

author Tim	location Lyness, Hoy, Orkney, Scotland
posted 18:51 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Orkney Islands ( all photos )

Flooding ( )
Well, we knew we were having lots of rain around the place, but have just heard that there has been huge flooding across Southern Scotland, and we're in for severe gale force winds up here tomorrow.
There's no ATM on this island, and we only have enough cash for tonight's accommodation, so here's hoping that we can get across!
Once we get back to the Orkney mainland, next task will be to get to Scotland proper - we heard that the ferry that does that had to be dirverted for the first time ever! What fun this journey could be!
Today we took in everything that Hoy could offer us, in the horrible weather it insisted on showing us. This included several memorials, a war museum, some defence towers and the town Rackwick. This is the start of the walk to the Old Man of Hoy. However, between the extreme winds, us not knowing where we were going, and the sign "There is no mountain rescue available here", we thought better of it.
We did wander in to The Dwarfie Stone, a 5000 year old tomb carved into a piece of solid rock. We climbed inside it, took some photos, and dribbled back into the car.
Just for the record, we are wearing on average a shirt, then windstopper vest, then a fleece (or two jumpers in Liz's case), followed by a huge waterproof warm coat (me) or a rain jacket (Liz). It is not warm, calm or dry here.
An interesting little island, this Hoy. Everything seems like decay has set in - lots of people have gone away for indeterminate periods of time, plenty of ruins all over the place, and there's almost nobody visible anywhere. It's certainly very different than what either of us thought it would be. It's supposed to be seal season, but even they seem to have deserted the place - we haven't seen any.
So we're aiming to get the ferry to the mainland proper tomorrow, weather permitting. As nice as this B&B is, spending half the day here has been long enough!

author Tim	location Lyness, Hoy, Orkney, Scotland
posted 08:58 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Orkney Islands ( all photos )

Hoy Ahoy! ( )
Well, that's a pretty sad joke, but we're now on the island of Hoy. This is the second largest in Orkney, and lies to the south of the Orkney mainland.
We had our first taste of island life last night, when looking for dinner at 6pm, we drove all the way to the other end of the island, only to find that pub was "closed until further notice". Heading back towards the shop we had seen earlier, we found another Inn. No food there. Then to the shop across the road (the only one on the island). It was closed!
So dinner last night was improvised from rice crackers, cheese and chips (which are called crisps here). At least we had enough to improvise with. Lesson two - find food early.
Lesson one was find accommodation early. Out of the first four places we tried, two no longer offered accommodation, and two could not be found. We ended up at the St. John's Manse B&B, where the owner was shocked that we'd come to an island with no accommodation organised! That's how we've done our whole trip so far!!
On our way back from a failed attempt at one of the places, a lighthouse, we ran into some traffic on the road in the form of two cows. They had wandered out of their gate and up the road. Obviously, traffic here is very light. We managed to herd one of them into the gate, after they had waddled up the road as fast as they could away from Percy. The second missed its exit, and we had to drive along behind it until we got to a passing place, where the turbo pulled us past the poor thing as fast as it could!
Working further backwards in time, we got the ferry down here from Houton to Lyness, Hoy yesterday afternoon after being queue-jumped for the lunchtime ferry. A reasonably smooth ride, everyone stayed in the cars, which was a new experience. We were going to have a round-trip via the tiny island of Flotta, but the ferry terminal guy told us not to bother - it's just an oil refinery. Even the much bigger Hoy only has one road on it.
Before the ferry trip, we followed the advice of the Lonely Planet and went into a garage supposedly selling some funky hats, but it seemed that information was out of date :( We grabbed some non-perishable food supplies instead.
First off on Monday, we visited the Highland Park distillery, where the tour was the best so-far. The trip around the malting floor was great fun, we saw the barley actually sprouting. Our guide was great, and like so many people up here, really seemed to enjoy life.

Sunday we went around trying to find a few more places of interest - first stop was Mine Howe. This strange discovery is twenty-nine steps descending into the ground, with a few chambers scattered around for good measure. Theories on what it was range from a drowning place to a ceremonial ground-god contact point and lots of ideas in between. Unfortunately closed for the winter, we looked around the grounds instead, where various excavations had taken place.
We then stopped at Dingieshowe, a sandy isthmus built to join the mainland to Deerness. It has a great beach on one side, where we skimmed some rocks (Liz is getting better!) and walked amongst the weed.
Next we drove around the North-East part of the mainland. This area is all single-track road, and has a few interesting war memorials, burial sites, sheep and cows scattered around. We took a walk down to "The Gloup" - a blow-hole style thing created by the ocean eroding away a cave under the land, and some of the land eventually collapsing. We were quite high up as we walked around it, the constant wind reminding us to stay alert and away from the edge.
A drive around the point of Tankerness failed to find anything particularly interesting, so we headed back to Kirkwall. The relaxing afternoon was spent watching our black-and-white TV with dial-tuning (very retro), and making the decision that we aren't going to Shetland after all. Deciding factors included:

• Quite high cost of the ferry, which is an eight hour overnight ride
• We can get there from Norway enroute to Iceland, so we could conceivably get there next year
• It would be a rush to get down to London in time to meet Margaret
• Lots of people said that there wasn't a lot to do there. Then again, the Orcadians would say that...

author Tim	location Kirkwall, Orkney Islands, Scotland
posted 10:21 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Orkney Islands ( all photos )

Around the Tourist Trail ( )
Setting out yesterday morning, we had the intention of taking in as many of the famous Orcadian tourist sites as we could stand.
First stop was the amazing Skara Brae, a 5000 year old well-preserved village, complete with dressers, boxes and beds. It is quite mind-numbing trying to take in the age of it, especially with the freezing wind, rain and hail assaulting us - it's right on the western coast. We actually thought the visitor centre there was almost as good as the real thing - some great interactive displays, and a re-construction of one of the houses.
Next we stumbled across was the Ring of Brogar - thirty-six of the original sixty stones from a huge stone circle. Fairly close to Skara Brae, it is quite possible that these things were all used by the same people.
Aiming for Maes Howe, we actually first found the Standing Stones of Stenness - sheep standing around four of the original twelve 4500 year-old standing stones was quite an interesting sight!
Eventually making it to Maes Howe, which is "the finest chambered tomb in Western Europe". Think of a small chamber with storage areas on three sides, and a ten metre long, one metre high access path on the other, and you'd be pretty close. Also about 5000 years old, this one was plundered in 1200 A.D by the Vikings, who left some very interesting runic graffiti.
Heading up to the North coast, we came to Birsay which has the ruins of a 16th century palace, just there in the middle of the town. A bit further along the road is the Brough of Gurness, a Iron-Age (100 A.D.) settlement. We had a quick look at this before deciding not to pay and enter - so much history in so little space.
Returing to the town (Kirkwall), we went for a walk, grabbing some dinner supplies and a few odds and ends around the town. This included brochures on the ferries both around Orkney and Shetland.
Next on our agenda is to decide what we are going to do for the next few days. Being a Sunday today, nothing much happens, as most here respect the Sabbath quite seriously. So we'll stay here another night, but tomorrow we will probably get a ferry down to Hoy, the second-biggest Orkney island, and it's smaller sister Flotta. We're still not sure whether the expensive overnight ferry up to the Shetland Islands is the way to go. They are also accessable from Norway, then on to Iceland, so that is another option we could take up next year some time.

author Tim	location Kirkwall, Orkney Islands, Scotland
posted 19:29 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Orkney Islands ( all photos )

Across the High Seas... ( )
(Continued from Scotland 2)
Driving Percy off the ferry at St. Margaret's Hope, on the southern-most island of Orkney, South Ronaldsay, we headed around a little to get our bearings. The first thing that struck me was that it is all quite a lot bigger than the maps would have you think.
Consulting the stack of tourist paraphenalia, we noticed that on this island there is also the Tomb of the Eagles. Discovered in 1958 when a farmer ploughing his field struck something not meant to be there, it actually consists of two sites. The main one is the Tomb itself, which is a hut around 10 metres square, stoneage (3000 B.C. or so), which you have to get on a skateboard-type-thing and slide into. Inside there were initially lots of skulls, bones, etc. Quite interesting, and a little scary.
The other is the Bronze-age (500 B.C.) hut. This could be a sauna, cooking-house or basic dwelling, depending on who you ask. It boasts a fire, cooking area, and enclosures for bedding or seating, along with a nearby used-stone disposal area. This was great to look at!
By this time very hungry, we gravitated north to the capital (of sorts) Kirkwall, on the main island. This saw us crossing over three other islands to get there, between which they have built roads, the main purpose of which were to keep the German U-boats from sinking their fleet anchored nearby.
Here we eventually found somewhere to eat (a cafe not all that good), somewhere better to eat (a bakery serving yummy things), and the i. We call it the i, because that's what their sign says. Same as anywhere else, it is the source of all knowledge, the Tourist Information Centre. We added to our brochure collection, and gained directions to the independent Peedie Hostel in Ayre Road, where we are now staying. Quite small and quaint, it is still a nice little place, with a great view across the bay to the Northern Orkney Islands.
We took a walk around the lakes across the road (big circular thing on a Kirkwall map) down to Safeway to grab some dinner ingredients. Cooking in the tiny kitchen, we made a nice meal of chicken fajitias.
No firm plans for tomorrow, but we intend to explore "The Mainland" (here, that doesn't mean the bit of Scotland with Loch Ness, etc., it means the main island of Orkney) for a few days before considering our options for ferries north to other Orkney islands, or the eight (!) hour journey up to Shetland.

author Tim	location Kirkwall, Orkney Islands, Scotland
posted 19:29 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Scotland 2 ( all photos )

Planning to go across the High Seas... ( )
A strange feeling this morning as we were the first to be awake and down to breakfast. Typically, we have scraped in by about ten minutes before they stop serving! Driving straight to the ferry, Liz didn't want to get out and see the ferry dock, to give you an indication of the wind strength.
Was quite a bit of fun driving the car onto a ship, and the journey itself was rough at times, but generally bearable. Memories of my trip on the Fairstar ten years or so ago came flooding back, while the Maxalon kept breakfast from doing the same.
This ferry powered us towards the Orkney Islands.

author Tim	location Kirkwall, Orkney Islands, Scotland
posted 19:29 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Orkney Islands ( all photos )

Across the High Seas... ( )
A strange feeling this morning as we were the first to be awake and down to breakfast. Typically, we have scraped in by about ten minutes before they stop serving! Driving straight to the ferry, Liz didn't want to get out and see the ferry dock, to give you an indication of the wind strength.
Was quite a bit of fun driving the car onto a ship, and the journey itself was rough at times, but generally bearable. Memories of my trip on the Fairstar ten years or so ago came flooding back, while the Maxalon kept breakfast from doing the same.
This ferry actually saw us arrive at St. Margaret's Hope, on the southern-most island of Orkney, South Ronaldsay. Driving Percy off, we headed around a little to get our bearings. The first thing that struck me was that it is all quite a lot bigger than the maps would have you think.
Consulting the stack of tourist paraphenalia, we noticed that on this island there is also the Tomb of the Eagles. Discovered in 1958 when a farmer ploughing his field struck something not meant to be there, it actually consists of two sites. The main one is the Tomb itself, which is a hut around 10 metres square, stoneage (3000 B.C. or so), which you have to get on a skateboard-type-thing and slide into. Inside there were initially lots of skulls, bones, etc. Quite interesting, and a little scary.
The other is the Bronze-age (500 B.C.) hut. This could be a sauna, cooking-house or basic dwelling, depending on who you ask. It boasts a fire, cooking area, and enclosures for bedding or seating, along with a nearby used-stone disposal area. This was great to look at!
By this time very hungry, we gravitated north to the capital (of sorts) Kirkwall, on the main island. This saw us crossing over three other islands to get there, between which they have built roads, the main purpose of which were to keep the German U-boats from sinking their fleet anchored nearby.
Here we eventually found somewhere to eat (a cafe not all that good), somewhere better to eat (a bakery serving yummy things), and the i. We call it the i, because that's what their sign says. Same as anywhere else, it is the source of all knowledge, the Tourist Information Centre. We added to our brochure collection, and gained directions to the independent Peedie Hostel in Ayre Road, where we are now staying. Quite small and quaint, it is still a nice little place, with a great view across the bay to the Northern Orkney Islands.
We took a walk around the lakes across the road (big circular thing on a Kirkwall map) down to Safeway to grab some dinner ingredients. Cooking in the tiny kitchen, we made a nice meal of chicken fajitias.
No firm plans for tomorrow, but we intend to explore "The Mainland" (here, that doesn't mean the bit of Scotland with Loch Ness, etc., it means the main island of Orkney) for a few days before considering our options for ferries north to other Orkney islands, or the eight (!) hour journey up to Shetland.

author Tim	location John O'Groats, Caithness, Scotland
posted 18:38 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Scotland 2 ( all photos )

Top o' the Mainland 2 ( )
Right, now we're up to today.
Before setting out from Durness, we had a bit of a look around the town itself. A "Wax and Wine" museum failed to be all that interesting, which was certainly not the case for our walk on the beach. You see, up here, it is extremely windy. The rain comes along when it feels like it. Both were present as we walked around this sandy beach with great rock formations, enclosed in as many layers of clothing and waterproofing as we could locate.
After leaving there, we noted the people we had seen set up camp beside the sea were still walking around. Not sure how they felt after a night of hard rain and strong winds, but they seemed ok.
Next stop was "Smoo Cave". Initially we had decided to go there just because of its exceedingly strange name, but we were soon very glad that we had. Used years ago for smugglers and the like to hide out in, it is the result of a river running to the sea eventually breaking through into a cave underneath it, creating a sink-hole with a huge waterfall. The walk down to it and then standing about 10m away was very scary - the forces of nature are not to be tampered with. The power of this waterfall was amazing, and in the small little cave even more so.
The drive from there across the top of Scotland was one of the most memorable we have ever done. The landscape is almost all rock, wind-swept reeds and grasses, sheep and the windy, hilly single-track road which we clung to in the wind. Running out of supurlatives here. It was great.
A windy pit stop was at the end of the road in Bettyhill - very quick as we decided that Percy was a great place to be after all. Heater on quick smart.
The rest of the day was driving around looking at B&Bs, and walking in the wind (bent into it trying to walk) in the areas between Thurso and John O'Groats. This took in John O'Groats itself (for some reason thought of as the most North-Westerly town on the mainland. It's not - instead just find touristy shops and our first pay-to-pee toilet for a while here), Duncansby Head (actually the most North-Westerly town on the mainland, where it was so windy that plastic bins in the car park similar to what you put out your garbage out in each week had the lid constantly being blown open, and that was the sheltered area), and Dunnet Head (the Northern-most point of mainland Britain). Whew!
A little apprehensive after reading Lonely Planet describe the ferry to Orkney as "two of the most stomach-churning hours spent", we were quite happy to discover another ferry operator working a different route that takes only one hour! We are booked on the 9:45 ferry tomorrow morning from Dunnet Bay. That's about fifteen minutes drive from where we are staying, the Seaview Hotel in John O' Groats.
Here, we got what we paid for (not much), with moldy ceilings, broken TV, and noisy pipes. Admittedly it has character, but I hope the food is good...

author Tim	location John O'Groats, Caithness, Scotland
posted 18:38 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Scotland 2 ( all photos )

Top o' the Mainland 2 ( )
Right, now we're up to today.
Before setting out from Durness, we had a bit of a look around the town itself. A "Wax and Wine" museum failed to be all that interesting, which was certainly not the case for our walk on the beach. You see, up here, it is extremely windy. The rain comes along when it feels like it. Both were present as we walked around this sandy beach with great rock formations, enclosed in as many layers of clothing and waterproofing as we could locate.
After leaving there, we noted the people we had seen set up camp beside the sea were still walking around. Not sure how they felt after a night of hard rain and strong winds, but they seemed ok.
Next stop was "Smoo Cave". Initially we had decided to go there just because of its exceedingly strange name, but we were soon very glad that we had. Used years ago for smugglers and the like to hide out in, it is the result of a river running to the sea eventually breaking through into a cave underneath it, creating a sink-hole with a huge waterfall. The walk down to it and then standing about 10m away was very scary - the forces of nature are not to be tampered with. The power of this waterfall was amazing, and in the small little cave even more so.
The drive from there across the top of Scotland was one of the most memorable we have ever done. The landscape is almost all rock, wind-swept reeds and grasses, sheep and the windy, hilly single-track road which we clung to in the wind. Running out of supurlatives here. It was great.
A windy pit stop was at the end of the road in Bettyhill - very quick as we decided that Percy was a great place to be after all. Heater on quick smart.
The rest of the day was driving around looking at B&Bs, and walking in the wind (bent into it trying to walk) in the areas between Thurso and John O'Groats. This took in John O'Groats itself (for some reason thought of as the most North-Westerly town on the mainland. It's not - instead just find touristy shops and our first pay-to-pee toilet for a while here), Duncansby Head (actually the most North-Westerly town on the mainland, where it was so windy that plastic bins in the car park similar to what you put out your garbage out in each week had the lid constantly being blown open, and that was the sheltered area), and Dunnet Head (the Northern-most point of mainland Britain). Whew!
A little apprehensive after reading Lonely Planet describe the ferry to Orkney as "two of the most stomach-churning hours spent", we were quite happy to discover another ferry operator working a different route that takes only one hour! We are booked on the 9:45 ferry tomorrow morning from Dunnet Bay. That's about fifteen minutes drive from where we are staying, the Seaview Hotel in John O' Groats.
Here, we got what we paid for (not much), with moldy ceilings, broken TV, and noisy pipes. Admittedly it has character, but I hope the food is good...

author Tim	location John O'Groats, Caithness, Scotland
posted 18:08 BST 17/10/2002	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Scotland 2 ( all photos )

Top o' the Mainland ( )
Time to update the journal again - skipping days is generally bad news. First yesterday, then a separate entry for today.
Driving north from Braemar yesterday, we went through some amazingly foggy ski areas, including Lecht. They're not in use yet (still no snow sighted), but it's clear from how many there are that they do get used a lot fairly shortly.
Stopping and grabbing a pizza at a newly-opened Safeway for lunch in Inverness, we had a bit of a look around the town that gave its name to the street where we used to live. A fairly un-notable place, it sits beautifully on some great pieces of water - obviously Loch Ness on one side and Moray Firth on the other. Very scenic when the weather is willing, as it was. Then it wasn't. Then it was. etc.
We followed a similar route north that we did last time we came through here, but this time heading towards the North-West corner of the Scottish mainland.
A drive out on a tiny little road to the coastal town of Sheigra on the Eastern coast was supposed to locate us a place to stay for the night. Great scenery all around the Lochs, but nothing besides a B&B closed for the night and a hotel wanting to charge us £45 per person, or roughly $270 for the night. Back in the car quick smart.
The next possibility was Durness, up on the North coast. Despite only discovering half the town (very hilly here making it quite confusing), we still were quite happy with our accommodation and meal. The meal was at the local "Lounge Bar" - a dimly-lit table overlooking the sea. Lovely. Accommodation was provided at the Parkhill Hotel, recently renovated.
We made a mad dash back to watch The Bill (it's become compulsory viewing over here) at our hotel, where the friendly girl running the place told us that they were prediciting possible snow over-night. That's the first thing that Liz looked for in the morning, but none was sighted. Won't be long...

author Tim	location Braemar, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
posted 22:31 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Scotland 2 ( all photos )

Back into the Highlands ( )
(Continued from Carlisle 1)
Setting out around eleven this morning, we headed straight up the motorways in a rather un-eventful way. Several times this trip Liz has commented that she'd like to take Percy back to Oz with us. The costs wouldn't out too well, though I'm forced to admit I would love to as well.
Not too far north of Glasgow, I took over the driving and managed to "accidentally" find another distillery - The Famous Grouse, near Creiff in Perthshire. This time, we both had a great time - Liz bought a couple of posters of their amusing advertising, and posed next to "The Big Grouse".
As a side note, the whole "Big-Thing" concept (eg. Big Banana, Big Marino, etc.) is quite rare here. This was the first we'd spotted, and quite a good replica of the ones which still decide it's a great idea to chase Percy doing 60mph when we drive by. Overtly inquisitive animals. Or just really stupid.
Lunch was generic food at a generic "Services" - all the motorways here have them about twenty miles apart. Fuel, food, toilets, etc. Weather not boring at all, changing from sunny blue skies to torrential rain in a matter of minutes. Most of the time it's somewhere in between.
Liz is filling the role of the "Transitions" glasses for me - constantly swapping between my normal and sun glasses, as the day goes on. Much easier if it just stayed drizzly and grey like it's supposed to!
We're back in Braemar now, the two of us alone in a room normally for six. CDs were retreived intact (stupid me left them here last visit), and we cooked a great pasta before retiring to reading about the Orkeneys. We're excited!

author Tim	location Carlisle, Cumbria, England
posted 08:57 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Carlisle 1 ( all photos )

On the road, finally?? ( )
We hit the road again this morning, with a few things still not quite how we'd like them.
I'm getting sick of writing about them, but basically we still have no camera, and the insurance is sorted but not finalised, at a higher figure than earlier projected. The joys of life.
We've of course heard quite a bit about the Bali crisis over here. Yesterday there was even a talkback radio linkup between one of the radio stations here and a Perth station. Very strange to hear Aussie accents again! Wonder how they'll sound when we get back home...
The little things on Percy are attended to - good to have a car 100% (except for pretty dirty) before we head out on the road, or run out of warranty.
Was up very early this morning online, searching for ferry information to Orkney (in short: prices reasonable, should be ok), and fired up ICQ. Who should be there but lots of work people from the RTA! Had a great chat with them, glad to hear Craig is taking over where I left off by randomly un-plugging servers then enquiring which servers they are.
Read an entire novel yesterday - The Bourne Identity. Quite good, but not as good as the feat may suggest. I just wanted to do it. Also we have been brushing up on our German. Silly to waste all those years of education.
[Later that day we headed off north into Scotland again.]

author Tim	location Carlisle, Cumbria, England
posted 22:42 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Carlisle 1 ( all photos )

Photos up! ( )
Find them on the Photos page - there's new ones in both Scotland and North/Central England sections.
Looking forward to getting my digital camera back...

author Tim	location Carlisle, Cumbria, England
posted 15:12 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Carlisle 1 ( all photos )

Sunday Lunch ( )
A lot more reading has been undertaken, as well as organising all of our things. We have clothes everywhere, and need to get them organised this afternoon before we get back on the road.
Today we went in to Carlisle to pick up the photos from development - the best of which are now online!
After that we went to Thursby to grab a bite to eat at the Ship Inn, where we have had a drink before. Being a Sunday, sunday lunch was the order of the day - a great meal including Yorkshire Pudding, which we still can't quite used to.
Forgot to mention a couple of things - when we were in Lanark the other day we went for a walk up to the Falls of Clyde where I had been before - still nice and scenic, of course. Also, when in Scotland, do as the Romans do - I tried haggis, which was interesting but not quite to my tastes. My stomach also had a bit to say on the matter, but all settled down now!
Percy needs a wash and a vacuum - we'll get around to it at some stage.
While in the pub today we discussed the plans for the coming weeks. The general idea is to travel first to Braemar (to pick up what I left there last time), then around the north coast for a day or two. Jumping then on a ferry across to Orkney Islands, stay a few days then up to the Shetlands. Once complete, we basically make our longest run yet back down the country, possibly detouring into Wales, before eventually intending to pick up Margaret in London on the 2/11, where we stay for a week in the Goodwood B&B as before.
The Itinerary page has been updated to show this as best as possible.

author Tim	location Carlisle, Cumbria, England
posted 19:56 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Carlisle 1 ( all photos )

Relaxation ( )
Enjoying doing not much. Today was spent in pajamas until about 3pm, reading various books.
The concert last night at the Tythe Barn was great! Peter sings in several choirs, and this one, The Abbey Singers, is celebrating its 40th anniversary year - playing a selection of the choir's favourite songs, which actually managed to fit quite nicely with the crowd's favourites (Liz and I included). We've been humming and singing the tunes all day since. Thanks to Peter for the invite.
Peter was out for most of the day, so Liz and I decided to organise some dinner. However, at 5:30pm on a Saturday, the only place selling meat would have been the supermarket. Which was unfortunately "under new management" and not able to sell us meat. Sure, we could have had vegetarian, but we're a little worn-out from that from travelling around with Meaghan for a few weeks!
Dis-heartened, we grabbed some essentials instead, and returned home to discuss the possibilities with Peter. Since he had been singing all day, he wasn't in a mood to cook either, so we decided to grab some Chinese take-away.
We're now dividing our time between watching England's first European Cup football (you know, soccer) qualifier and the snooker.
We are intending to stay here tomorrow night, get the car fixed up on monday morning (only niggly things - a door handle stuck, a fog-light out, and a wiper sprayer that doesn't spray), then head back up into Scotland.
More details as we completely change our minds!

author Tim	location Carlisle, Cumbria, England
posted 21:05 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Carlisle 1 ( all photos )

The good and the bad ( )
(Continued from Scotland 1)
The bad:

• We of course had to say goodbye to Meaghan today. It's been really great to travel around with her, and was both good and bad to wave her off. Good because she's going home, which is what she wants, but bad because we're going to miss her.
• Nothing else bad really. Can't complain too much.

• Percy is insured! The story is that we tried un-successfully with the AA (ie. NRMA) to get our current insurance sorted out, but they just didn't want to be helpful in any way. I then jumped online and eventually found a place specialising in insurance for young drivers, got a quote and decided to finalise it tomorrow. However, a guy from the company actually rang me!!! I couldn't believe it either. His quote actually bettered any others we had found, and we are now insured for two hundered pounds less than we were paying before!
• Peter has generously "lost" two tickets in our direction to a concert of his tomorrow night, so Liz and I will stay here for a little longer yet.
• I rang Olympus about the complete lack of reply on the camera. The guy disappeared for five minutes, came back and said "It's been too long - that's not acceptable." "Couldn't agree more", I replied. "I'll get you a new one by the middle of next week", came yet another totally un-expected development for the day.
• We have a place to relax for a day or a few. Makes a nice change.

author Tim	location New Lanark, Scotland
posted 22:53 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Scotland 1 ( all photos )

Glasgow ( No photos )
We're back at New Lanark youth hostel tonight - we knew it was good, and it was quite close to where we spent the day today - Glasgow.
A strange city, we wandered around a little and saw the Cathederal (dated 1277 or so), town square and some other interesting places. Not quite as interesting as Edinburgh, we easily decided to leave once we had seen most of the major tourist places.
Having lunch was one of the enlightening things - the waitress was very rude - a typical Glaswegian? Most of the rest of them were reasonable however.
The breakfast at the B&B was great this morning - a very nice lady running it all. We then drove to a retail complex on the shores of Loch Lomond. Not quite what we expected to find, the scenery was of course fantastic as we had a nice walk along the shores, skimmed some rocks, and did the general touristy thing.
It was only a small drive from there to Glasgow. A supermarket run produced lots of vegetables for a curry tonight, along with some ice cream which we had to then find a place to store. The friendly girl running the hostel (which Liz and Meaghan are convinced has the hots for me) happily found a place for in her private freezer. Not comment from me.
Being Meaghan's last night with us, we had a great excuse to consume cider, beer and lots of wine while trying to make ourselves feel better. We'll miss her of course, but are happy that she is returning home.
Liz and I will be driving back to Carlisle after dropping Meaghan at the station tomorrow morning (with the obligatory teary goodbye, of course) to stay the night with Peter and attempt to sort this insurance garbage out.

author Tim	location Arden, Luss, Alexandria, Scotland
posted 18:25 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Scotland 1 ( all photos )

Back on the road ( No photos )
We took off this morning after spending two nights in Oban. It's quite a nice place there, and we may end up there again due to it being a fairly major ferry port for the Hebrides, Mull and Skye, etc.
We headed down the Cowan Penninsula in search of a place to stay for the night. This nice trip through the great mountaenous regions took in Inveraray (a wonderful pub lunch stop in a place staffed by Aussies), Strachur, and then the loch-side town of Tighrabruaich. A few little B&Bs around the place were either unstaffed or full, so we decided to head back to the Youth Hostel at Loch Lomond.
This meant driving basically back where we'd come from, then along to the town of Luss. However, contrary to what we have found so far, the guy running the hostel was quite rude, and there was no way to get a room with the three of us together. This is due, and I quote, to "putting boys and girls together is just asking for trouble". That's quite strange, considering that the place offers family rooms, according to the youth hostel book. Oh well.
Not much further down the road, we came upon the Polnaberoch B&B. This nice little house has four dogs and a proprietor who seems to live only to garden. It's quite spectacular actually. Since we got here we have just had some tea before relaxing for the afternoon. Dinner is coming soon.
The not-so-good news today has come from two fronts:

• The AA are not accepting our insurance no-claim-bonus, which means a huge increase in the premiums. We're going to have to head back to Carlisle on Thursday to make some phone calls and get it sorted. Again. We're currently insured until Friday.
• Apparently there are bad fires all around Sydney again. Best of luck to the SES and other personnel involved - we're thinking of you all. Meaghan is eager to get back and re-join the Rural Fire Service. She was hoping for a gentle ease back into it but that may not happen. If you have any news on this let us know via email - Aussie news is hard to come by over here.

author Tim	location Oban, Argyllshire, Scotland
posted 14:47 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Scotland 1 ( all photos )

A Blinding Flash of Inspiration... ( No photos )
... has seen me realise that I have been carrying around enough tech-gear to get online anywhere with our mobile phone and a bit of initiative. The cost is high, but if we keep it quick...
Just some light wandering around the town today, which is good, since Meaghan decided that we needed to hit the town last night. We're staying here again - it's very nice, and after all our wandering it's good to not have to pack everything up. We can actually relax.
We're toying with the idea of wandering over to the Isle of Mull, but at the cost of £61 for the ferry ride (taking Percy), we're not quite sure just how to approach it. That's pretty steep for an island we can see about a mile away.
We found a great little pancake shop while wandering around yesterday, so guess where we had a massive breakfast this morning. None of us made it through, but it was a good change from toast, jam and coffee.
The girls and I went our separate ways this morning around town - I found a great little War and Peace museum, and a quick stop into the tiny Oban distillery, while they stocked up on gossip and retail therapy.
The rest of the day will be more of a rest before we head out for dinner somewhere.

author Tim	location Oban, Argyllshire, Scotland
posted 17:51 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Scotland 1 ( all photos )

Loch Ness ( No photos )
Well, I got in some better sleep, but the girls still managed to find a good snorer. Meaghan was planning on throwing pillows and apples, and Liz's evil plans were not printable here!
Since the rest of my room was up at about 6:30am, I got up nice and early and tidied up the car while Meaghan eventually dragged herself out of bed.
We took a slow drive north around Loch Ness, up the quiet side before coming back down the busy side. Wow! The scenes were all of course fantastic, and the return of fantastic weather meant blue skies with some nice low-lying cloud in the middle of the Loch. There's nothing much to say about it that you haven't already heard, only that it's much larger than I ever thought. We managed to avoid the tourist areas this time, so no cheap Nessy garbage. I'm sure we'll manage to find them again...
We then drove back south past where we stayed last night, and down to the sea-side town of Oban. The biggest thing for miles, the Lonely Planet book still describes it as "there isn't much to see or do", but we still think it quite nice. The Youth Hostel here is four stars - very nice, and we have a view over the bay. Not bad for only £2 (we filled up a youth hostel reward card, and get a free night. Paying a little extra got us our own room).
Not really an overly adventurous day, we're planning a trip off to the Isle of Mull tomorrow - we can see it across the bay. Cooking some veges and potato bake for dinner, and will have a nice relaxing night in with hopefully some decent sleep for all. Now they only have to poke me if I snore and I usually shut up!

author Tim	location Loch Lochy, South Laggan, Spean Bridge, Scotland
posted 19:32 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Scotland 1 ( all photos )

A day of Lochs and Locks ( No photos )
Yesterday we eventually got checked in, and found ourselves not in our own room for the first time. This weekend they are runing a promotion for the Year of The Mountains, so the hostels are packed out. This was most evident in that none of us got any sleep (snoring, creaky bunks, lots of people slamming doors, talking, etc.), and are ready to retire early tonight (again in shared dorms).
After checking in, we went for a walk back to the aforementioned one store in the village - the girls' excuse was to get a drink. The twenty minute round-trip saw us get sopping wet - little wonder these mountain youth hostels have drying rooms!
The night was tied up with a puzzle, writing postcards, cooking dinner and then attempting sleep. Which didn't happen.
So today, we woke (not that we were really asleep) to the sound of a large group of boy scouts or similar running a breakfast. Joy was us as we dragged ourselves through beds, showers, etc., and then to leave the rooms by a ridiculous 9:30am. Such is the pain of cheap rooms in the mountains.
We then drove about 150 miles directly to our next location - Loch Lochy. This took us through some more amazing scenery - Ben Nevis (not that we could see the top, of course), the "Five Sisters", and of course endless sheep, waterfalls, rivers and rolling hills.
A trip this afternoon while awaiting check-in took us to Fort William - the nearest "big" town for miles. It actually has a pedestrian-only area in it!! Here we found me a nice warm jacket which has been long needed to replace my aging one, the girls of course found lolly/chocolate/nibbly shops, and Percy found some cheap fuel.
We came back, checked-in, and checked out the kitchen (necessary because some of them don't have working ovens, etc.). We took a walk down to Loch Lochy itself, and observed a lock lift the boat of some touristy types' boat up into a higher section of the river. Interesting, but not as fan-dangled as the Falkirk Wheel of a few days ago.
Next we decided to drive to nearby town Spean Bridge to procure necessary dinner ingredients. However, the entire town seemed to have lost electricity supply, so it was another trip back to Fort William to find a supermarket.
Dinner consumed, we are now occupying ourselves with journals and books, and it will probably be quite an early night to make up for lack of sleep.

author Tim	location Torrindon, Ross-shire, Scotland
posted 14:52 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Scotland 1 ( all photos )

Some "proper" weather at last ( No photos )
Wouldn't you know it, after earlier today saying how we were having fantastic weather, of course we then see just how bad it can get. It's drizzling non-stop, coupled with occasional heavy rain, strong winds, and mist reducing visibility in all directions. Liz is doing well driving through all this on more single track roads.
We made our way fairly directly here, but even though Ullapool and Torrindon are on the same page on the map, this most direct route still took half the day. This is probably due to the huge (1000m, cloud-obscured peaks) mountains we're surrounded by. The one(!) shop here has an entire rack of mountain-climbing books and not too much else. There's not even a pub!
The coast road on the way in was once again spectacular - lots of climbing and falling, and no-where dry to stop for lunch.
We have to wait until 5pm when the counter is open again for us to check in - there is a nice, warm-looking section downstairs, but we need a PIN code to get in. So, the girls are reading and I'm doing web updates. Luckily we bought our own food to cook tonight - there's nowhere to buy/eat nearby.

author Tim	location Ullapool, Ross-shire, Scotland
posted 08:22 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Scotland 1 ( all photos )

Driving through The Highlands ( No photos )
Before leaving the castle yesterday, we took in the neighboring forest with an hour or so's walk. It's rather different up here to anywhere else we've been - the trees all go directly up, pencil thin, fighting for some sunlight. Also, the current Autumn colours make for a nice spectacle.
It wouldn't have been too long a drive from the castle over to Ullapool, but Liz quite rightly chose to direct us on several scenic routes. There seems to be a Loch by every road up here, and the view across some of these to little islands with ruined castles on them is definately unforgettable. Also adding to the experience is that we are somehow managing to once again have fantastic weather. It was actually described by us as hot at midday yesterday, although the wind is admittedly trying.
After visiting a few towns including Dornoch, Rosehall, and Lochinver (situated on Loch Inver), I was directed to drive us a little way North of Ullapool, and onto a nice little windy road. About twenty miles long, almost completely single-track-with-passing-places, it took us by the coast and through the mountains in some amazing scenery. Lots of rocks-through-the-grass sea-side land, plenty of stupid sheep on the road, and the ever-present even stupider drivers doing 40mph coming the other way around blind corners. Lots of fun!
Back on the main road, we made our way back to Ullapool. This drive was directly up and over a mountain range, so it was great to see some more little lochs up in the high parts of this - not at all what we expected to find.
Ullapool itself is quite interesting - we quickly spotted a seal or two in the bay directly out our hostel window. They haven't re-appeared, but we have been keeping a lookout just in case. We wandered the shops for a while before looking for a place for dinner. At one restaurant, we enquired what the "vegetarian meal of the day" was. The reply came that it wasn't very good, and we should try a restaurant up the road. So we did!
In the end, we passed on that other restaurant (with the over-Aussie waiter), and ended up in a little bar/pub/hotel. Here, the Russian waitress served us various types of lasagne, followed by a trip to the sweet menu.
Stumbling home, we watched some TV before calling it a night. I'm not sure what time we need to be out of here this morning, but nobody looks like they're in a rush.

author Tim	location Carbisdale Castle, Culrain, Sutherland, Scotland
posted 08:26 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Scotland 1 ( all photos )

A Night in a Haunted Castle ( No photos )
We took advantage of the SYHA (Scottish Youth Hostel Assn)'s ability to book and pay for places ahead yesterday, and organised both last nights accommodation (at the SYHA's pride-and-joy Carbisdale Castle) and Friday night's - they have a £5 deal which we had to book early for. Quite handy, it meant we could arrive later and know we had a room organised. Quite a change!
Before leaving Aviemore, we fuelled up Percy and did a few dabbly things in town - trying to hook up to the net (no luck), make a few phone calls (Happy Birthday Mrs Meaghan's Nanna!), and stock up on some more junk food.
I managed to convince the girls that we needed to visit a few last distilleries, and they kindly obliged. No more tours, we just had a quick look around and then visited the shop.
At one point on this little tour, we drove past a man pushing his hand down in the universal "slow down" sign. I obliged, although we didn't know what to expect. A little further, a woman was walking along the road, around a corner. This time her hand signals were not as clear, so we slowed down even further. Imagine our suprise when about fifty cows come walking, ever so slowly, around the corner. Liz just had to take a photo, so while we waited by the side of the road for them all to pass, she proceeded to snap away. However, a passing bull decided that he needed a closer look. The power window was deployed upwards with full force, just in time to get a great "clack" from the bull-ring against the glass. He snuffed and snorted a few times at Liz's red shirt, before deciding that opening this can was going to be a little difficult to open, and continuing his wander onwards. Eventually the road cleared, and the woman following the herd came over and laughed with us all.
After finally leaving the Whisky trail, we ventured North around Inverness, and through some great scenery. This took in the coast drive to Comarty (where we almost caught the ferry across to Balnapaling), then north through Dingwall and plenty of other little towns. Our destination was Carbisdale Castle. After a quick stop at Tain for supplies, we finally made it.
The place is amazing. It was bequeathed to the SYHA completely intact, and now functions just like any other Youth Hostel. With the exception that it is a massive castle, sleeping two hundered people or so. All sorts of paintings, statues, and plenty of strange little rooms made for a memorable experience.
We cooked ourselves dinner (sweet-and-sour veges) and enjoyed it in one of the dining rooms, before retiring to a little alcove by a window on one of the massive landings with a drink or two.
While getting up during the night, both girls reported sightings of the resident ghost. I'm not so sure...

author Tim	location Aviemore, Inverness-shire, Scotland
posted 21:36 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Scotland 1 ( all photos )

A Hard Day on the Whisky Trail ( No photos )
Let's hear it for Meaghan after her first update! And I only had to correct about fifty spelling and grammatical errors before it was suitable for public consumption! Not that my spelling or grammar is all that good...
This morning saw another massive B&B breakfast - a nice change after all the Youth Hostels. I even tried some porridge. Still don't like it, however. Liz struggled to get through a massive serving of scrambled eggs.
Up here we are on the so-called "Whisky Trail", in the heart of Scotch Whisky country. So, when in Rome, try their porridge. And whisky.
First stop was the Strathisla distillery, famous for its Chivas Regal. We toured the sites, tried the "nosing", then the tasting (which the girls didn't appreciate much!), then on to the shop. I've started a collection of miniature bottles - the big ones are too expensive and need to be carried home somehow.
Then, we moved on to the Glenfiddich distillery. This was much more popular (probably something to do with the entry/tour being free, and you still got a free sample at the end), different, yet still mostly the same. A nice late picnic lunch was had there, as we decided our fate for the evening.
This ended up with us deciding on another youth hostel in Aviemore. It's another nice place, yet is run by the first non-nice person we've found so far. Guess it had to happen.
We did some shopping and cooked our own dinners, before retiring to a quite evening in with website updates and reading.

author Meaghan	location Aviemore, Inverness-shire, Scotland
posted 21:09 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Scotland 1 ( all photos )

Meaghan speaks! ( No photos )
Ok, so yesterday we decided to treat ourselves to breakfast in the town of Braemar after looking through all the crappy touristy shops much to Tim's delight! we then headed north or east depending on whether you ask Liz or Tim we found this small stone circle which was kinda cool and then continued our journey and found this quaint seaside village with a great beach that even had sand as opposed to the standard pebble beach I have encountered since being over here.
We decided to go for a nice stroll along this beach and were having a pleasant time when this massive golden retriever decided it wanted to play with us and came bounding down the beach headed straight for us and rather than stopping or slowing down like we thought he would he knocked Liz's legs straight out from underneath, which was absolutely hilarious, although I don't know if Liz would agree.
So after our beach shenanegans we headed off again on a quest for a B&B and found this fantastic farm that was harvesting tatties (potatoes) and was run by this lovely lady who was probably the fist really Scottish person we have met. She use lots of Scottish words like "aye", and "its wee bonnie", it was really hard to keep a straight face! They had two really cute dogs except one of their names was Meaghan which was a bit off putting.
Finally we hopped in the car again to find some dinner and drove through this great coastal village with load of really steep winding streets and Liz got plenty of driving practice i think she could be a rally driver now! I would have just stalled a million times. We finally got dinner in The Highland Haven, in Macduff before retireing back to our farm B&B.

author Liz	location The Palace Farm, Gamrie, Banff, Scotland
posted 10:01 BST 1/10/02	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Scotland 1 ( all photos )

Into the Highlands ( No photos )
From the hostel in Falkland yesterday, we drove East through Fife to Crail which is a busy little village on the coast, and here we began to get into golf course territory, much to Tim's delight.
We drove on to St Andrew's, the home of golf, and spent an hour or so looking around the St Andrew's Cathedral ruins and its graveyard. We came across some (empty) old stone coffins that had been uncovered, and Meaghan and I were horrified when Tim suggested we 'get in and lie down for a photo'! Suprisingly we refused, and went and had a look around the famous golf course which apparently costs £90 a round.
It was a very popular place, with cars everywhere, so Tim was dragged away, and we drove north over the Firth of Tay Bridge, which seemingly went on forever over the river, through Dundee and then headed inland looking for a B&B, and before we knew it we were in the Scottish Highlands. The scenery was indescribable, so you'll just have to come over here and see it for yourselves. There were huge mountains either side over us, and Tim had lots of fun driving over the rolling valley roads.
We ended up skipping the B&B, and instead went to the hostel in Braemar, which was set amongst the woodland. The area around us was a very popular hiking spot, and there were also a lot of ski lifts that, whilst not in use at the moment, probably don't stop in the winter. I am hoping to come back here to ski early next year. I'll have to see if I can get Tim on a pair of ski's :)

author Tim	location Falkland, Fife, Scotland
posted 11:14 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Scotland 1 ( all photos )

Off again ( No photos )
Once again heading away from the internet access, here's a goodbye for another week (at this rate, anyway).
We tried to find a dinner last night but left it too late - all the pubs/restaurants were too expensive or full. So instead we made our own dinner, from whatever we could buy at the little supermarket thingo. Quite good!
Spoke to mum and dad, as did Liz and Meaghan, so we've had a good rest and a catch up here.
Off for some more adventure!

author Tim	location Falkland, Fife, Scotland
posted 19:12 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Scotland 1 ( all photos )

Some of Fife ( No photos )
Sorry - the updates are going to come thick and fast while we have the ability to do so!
After Liz woke up at 1:30pm (not feeling well), we finally got moving for the day. We covered more or less the central section of Fife, including the coast line from Elie back to the bridges over the Firth of Forth. We then came back via our first proper Loch!
We're in a slow, do not very much mood, so tonight will probably just be a dinner then bed. There are a few nice little pubs and cheapish restaurants around here, so we'll see what we can find.
The people running the B&Bs and the hostel staff have on the whole been very friendly, advising on various pubs to check out and of course which to avoid.
Not sure if the girls will be able to sleep tonight after doing so for most of the day :)
Tomorrow we will probably head out north via St. Andrews, and the eastern end of Fife.
A few more random observations on British Life:

• Radio here is terrible, unless Classical is your thing. The three most common songs we hear on the radio (no matter what station) have been called Songs 1, 2 and 3. They appear almost non-stop.
• There are still plenty of bad drivers on the roads.
• It's very hard to get lost anywhere - all the signs are very good.
• The media here is so much worse than Australia. There seems to be nothing that is sacred, and large-scale death and destruction is routinely relegated after news of celebrity boob-jobs.

author Tim	location Falkland, Scotland
posted 10:50 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Scotland 1 ( all photos )

An update at last ( No photos )
The last day or two has in general see us move Northish from Edinburgh towards Fife, which is the region we are in now.
Yesterday we had a look at the Falkirk Wheel - a strange boat lift thing the likes of which I can't really describe. Just have a look at the website!
Next we came north, stopping at the Wallace Monument - a tribute to the Scottish hero William Wallace, of Braveheart fame. Quite interesting, but the prospect of another 270 steps after all our previous walking meant we didn't actually climb up it.
We've also taken in Arthur's Seat - a 250 metre or so mountain in the middle of Edinburgh - a pain to climb with my horrible knees, but a great view (and photos of course) from the top.
Last night we went to a local around the corner for a few drinkies and a bit of food. It was good all round, and these Youth Hostels we have stayed in the last few days mean that we are saving money in general. More to spend later!
Today (when the girls eventually wake up, that is), we're probably going to take in the surrounding areas in Fife - that includes St. Andrews with it's famous golf course, and quite a lot of the costal surrounding areas. We will probably stay another night here - the price is good, and it's only been open for the last few months after a major re-furbishment.

author Tim	location Falkland, Scotland
posted 19:06 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Scotland 1 ( all photos )

Woohoo! ( No photos )
It's been a week since we left Peter's house, and I've finally found a net connection where we can plug the laptop in. How annoying it's been. The girl running the Youth Hostel was quite happy for me to tinker around for a while - many thanks to her!
I'll write a more detailed update later. Cheers!

author Tim	location New Lanark, Scotland
posted 11:29 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Scotland 1 ( all photos )

Edinburgh ( No photos )
I'm writing a quick update in the hope that I can find a decent Internet cafe somewhere today - all found so far have no laptop facilities.
Yesterday we had the most amazing breakfast so far - porridge, yoghurt, chopped fresh fruit, scrambled eggs, etc. Didn't need to eat for hours. That B&B had the hugest bathroom any of us had seen - I had a bath - great way to unwind after the day.
We then drove into Edinburgh. After parking in the street to find a tourist information place, we moved the car to a car park nearby where we drove him into a "bay", locked him up, then the door closed. What happened next, we don't know. He must have been taken on a conveyor belt somewhere - it took a little while to get him out later.
We started out on a walk that Liz had found in a little Edinburgh By Foot book that she found, but rapidly got side-tracked at tourist shops, Whisky centres, and fudge-land. Of course, we ended up buying five huge slices of fudge, along with numerous touristy things.
We spent a little time looking at some hostels to stay at, but they were quite expensive and had nowhere safe to park Percy.
The main thing we did was a trip through Edinburgh castle. It's so high up, and you wind around and around towards the top. We saw the crown jewels, the place where the piper stands at the tattoo, the war memorial, etc. The weather turned nasty just to remind us of where we were, and we spent a fair bit of time looking around in general. The girls liked some mead that we tried, so we may have to purchase some of that.
We decided to stay out of Edinburgh, and found a youth hostel at New Lanark - a tiny little village tucked between a river and a cliff-face. We couldn't even find the road in at first. The hostel itself is great - we're going to spend tonight here as well - it's cheap, clean, quiet, and almost smack-bang in the middle of Edinburgh and Glasgow. Dinner was take-away Chinese and a bottle of red, at the hostel.
This morning the girls slept in until 10am when I returned from a three mile walk. This was along side the river, up to The Clyde Falls - Britain's highest. However, it pales in comparison to the falls we have in Australia at only 27 metres high.
We're going to head back into Edinburgh now, taking in Arthur's Seat and looking a little more seriously for a decent Internet cafe.

author Tim	location Preston, Scotland
posted 18:40 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Scotland 1 ( all photos )

Border Country ( No photos )
(Continued from North and Central England)
After rising to a great breakfast this morning (though Meaghan was a little slow after last night), we set off to finally make it over the elusive Scottish border.
We took the path through the Northumberland National Park, which meant that the actual border crossing was upon the top of the hill with great views for miles across Scotland. Here, there were huge stones with "England" and "Scotland" on the appropriate sides, and a bag-piper busking infront of the sign. Not touristy at all! Much to the girls disgust, I organised someone to take a photo of the three of us.
We took some nice little back-road trips around the place, including a snacky lunch at Etal, sea-side stops at St. Abbs (looking to stay at a Youth Hostel there, but the owners appeared to have been taken away for Police questioning) and a wonderful drive along the Eastern Scottish coast (we're still below Edinburgh - plan to get there tomorrow).
All in all, not much has changed coming across the border. I've been told "you're not allowed here with an accent like that!" (jokingly) by a local, the shops sell Haggis now, and a "Full Scottish Breakfast" now appears amongst our breakfast options, along with porridge and haddock.
This afternoon we went for a quiet stroll around the village, where Liz made friends with a bull (whilst both her and I were wearing red tops - I kept away!).
There some updates on the Itinerary page - Meaghan is now getting a train back to Bletchley on the 10th of October, whilst Liz and I travel to the more remote areas of Scotland. Up until then, we'll see the standard tourist places. This probably means Edinburgh, Glasgow, Loch Ness, etc. That's more than enough planning for now!

author Tim	location Preston, Scotland
posted 18:40 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Scotland 1 ( all photos )

Border Country ( No photos )
After rising to a great breakfast this morning (though Meaghan was a little slow after last night), we set off to finally make it over the elusive Scottish border.
We took the path through the Northumberland National Park, which meant that the actual border crossing was upon the top of the hill with great views for miles across Scotland. Here, there were huge stones with "England" and "Scotland" on the appropriate sides, and a bag-piper busking infront of the sign. Not touristy at all! Much to the girls disgust, I organised someone to take a photo of the three of us.
We took some nice little back-road trips around the place, including a snacky lunch at Etal, sea-side stops at St. Abbs (looking to stay at a Youth Hostel there, but the owners appeared to have been taken away for Police questioning) and a wonderful drive along the Eastern Scottish coast (we're still below Edinburgh - plan to get there tomorrow).
All in all, not much has changed coming across the border. I've been told "you're not allowed here with an accent like that!" (jokingly) by a local, the shops sell Haggis now, and a "Full Scottish Breakfast" now appears amongst our breakfast options, along with porridge and haddock.
This afternoon we went for a quiet stroll around the village, where Liz made friends with a bull (whilst both her and I were wearing red tops - I kept away!).
There some updates on the Itinerary page - Meaghan is now getting a train back to Bletchley on the 10th of October, whilst Liz and I travel to the more remote areas of Scotland. Up until then, we'll see the standard tourist places. This probably means Edinburgh, Glasgow, Loch Ness, etc. That's more than enough planning for now!

(customised)