Off to Scotland - 11 May 2006

I booked Kaz and myself on a Ryan Air flight to Prestwick Airport in Scotland leaving on the 11th May. The Ryan Air special (for 14 pence each) was too good to refuse. One of the two certainties in life struck us immediately. Not death, but taxes of around £30 each. In any case, for the quite reasonable sum of $150 Aussie dollars, our return flights were booked for the 11th of May.

Elise Harris put us up the night before in Putney as this cut about 40 minutes off the morrows trip to Stanstead Airport. We enjoyed a fantastic home cooked meal before trundling down to a pub on the banks of the Thames for an enjoyable grog by the water. I think she was happy to have some company as Ian had gone home for a family visit that week. We were both astounded to hear that Elise had run the London marathon the week before. 42 kilometers by any measure is a significant running achievement. I doubt Elise will make the Olympic team with her time but she can always look back and say “I did it!”

Glasgow – only a stopover

Ryan Air flies its cattle class flights from Stanstead Airport and getting there even from Putney is an adventure in itself. Mainline train, tube trains and the Stanstead Express itself relieved us of the best part of £20. We picked up our hire car (£220 for 10 days) and headed off to Glasgow. Despite the fact Glasgow is a million people, they left me a parking spot on a steep hill maybe 3 blocks from the centre, so I was content to park there for a couple of hours and wander around. Our first intent was to buy a cheap digital camera.

The saga started when we went to use our 18 month old 5M Panasonic only to find that it had suffered a stroke so to speak the day before we left. Attempts to get someone to look at it approved impossible before we left and the prospects of having no pictures from beautiful Scotland was not a thought worth bearing. The likes of Curries and Dixons had cheap name brands (well recognizable anyway) from £120 up, usually more like £150! On an impulse, we tried Woolworths (equivalent to our Big W without the trappings) and picked up a £50 Medion 5MP digital. Adding a 500 Meg SD card for £25 and 2 Lithium (lee-thee-yum as I keep telling Karoleena) batteries for £5 and we were in business!

Now Medion is not a brand I have heard of but I was heartened to see that Woolies also offered the Medion PC range as well. They know quality! Well something that should get through a 12 month warranty at least.

The advantage of this camera is that it is pocket sized. Very handy for a handbag, jeans pocket or coat pocket. My Panasonic has a good Leica lens and is SLR sized and sometimes this is clumsy to carry around and makes you stand out as well with associated camera bags, etc. My only hope was that the Medion would take an acceptable photo.

All the photos that follow are from our little camera - so I feel it was a very acceptable choice.

The Doctor was out

We had a brief look around the Glasgow city centre even spotting a Tardis that doubled as a cappuccino café. Unfortunately the Doctor was out and so no coffee for us. Funny thing about the UK - when we were here 3 years ago, you couldn’t beat a good coffee out of an Englishman. Nowadays, they seem to have discovered cappuccinos with a zest.

Exit stage Left- err Right

We left Glasgow with the intention of heading up the West Coast but after a couple of wrong turns, I settled for Stirling (in the middle). I think that was a good choice (flukey, but good) as it has probably the best preserved castle around and steeped in the history of BraveHeart and Robert the Bruce. That night we walked around the castle perimeter and met a couple perched up the top of the rock knocking off a bottle of red. The day had been warm and the woman was in a summer top. Unfortunately the weather had turned and she was now as cold as ice! Why is it that when any form of sunshine hits this place, people throw off their warm clothes with gay abandon?

The weather kept closing in so we hightailed it back to our B&B. And so the 11th passed to the 12th with the promise of cold weather for Wednesday.

Prize for worst Architectural design

There are a certain number of Architects and Town Planners, who between them, come together to create monstrocities. These people I am sure, had their brains sucked out by a passing alien spacecraft just after they left University and gained employment. And so it was at Stirling, this most beautiful of places. I was left dumfounded.

I have decided that as I travel around UK, there should be a prize within my travel writings for the worst architectural and town planning decisions in the UK.

Great Hall at Stirling Castle

I last visited Stirling in 1997 and they were in the process of restoring the Great Hall in the Castle. Job’s done now and what a job! Folks, it is beyond splendid and the well to do amongst you can hire it for your next party, 21st, wedding, whatever. A glorious site and now they have started work restoring the King and Queen’s apartments. From the standard of the Hall, this next job will be worth visiting around 2010. Put it on your diary.

Stirling Gaol

We checked out Stirling Gaol and that too struck me as an excellent tour. An actor who went in and out of several disguises and characterizations took us around the cells enlightening us on the history of prisons. People have been locked up for years but only took on its current popularity when enlightened individuals felt the number of people dying from floggings was rather high and that incarceration was more humane. It all depends on your perspective really. Especially when the majority of Wardens were more than happy to ensure your life was a total misery and it really comes home to haunt you in this place.

As you can see by my attire, I had adopted long johns and other warm clothes under my garb to try and stay warm on what was quite a bitter day. Our tour guide did suggesst that I probably deserved to be locked up based on my disregard for fashion.

You Take the High Road

That afternoon we headed off up through the Highlands and were impressed (maybe not really) to see snow still on the mountains, collectively known as the Munroes after the man who surveyed the majority of them. A dedicated mountaineer in the UK today will aim to climb all 30 plus Munroes with such wonderful records as climbing them all in a year, or a month or other crazy ideas.

That night we stayed at the Glen Coe Scottish YHA (£15 each). This allows me to expand on the conundrum of staying in YHAs. They are great places to meet people and in the UK there are large numbers of hikers, bikers and poor aussies enjoying each others company, self catering, sharing showers, etc. But when you find a B&B for £20 that makes you a big breakfast, even if you need to trot down the hall for a shower, well you do wonder if it is worth saving a few pounds.

I was pondering this in the YHA shower with its 6 second timer. “Saving water is one thing I thought, but why only 6 seconds” I pondered as I kept pressing the tap to deliver water to my partly lathered body. Frankly, I was getting annoyed to the extent of cussing when the shower head fell off and dropped unceremoniously onto my scone. This had the dual effect of causing me to stop cussing and be drenched by a solid inch of spurting water that fortunately stopped after six seconds. I thought this to be such a great way to wake up in the morning that I replaced the shower head and ensured that it was set up for the next user to receive around (4 x 6) twenty four seconds of water before they get the “shower head surprise”. If you ever visit Glen Coe, avoid cubicle #2 from the left!

Skye - 13 May 2006

On the 13th we pressed on toward Skye. We had lunch in Fort William that was described in our Guide book as a reasonable sized tourist town. I personally think Cooma in NSW has more personality – not that I have a right to have a go at my compatriots from the Snowy Mountains. After lunch (which included a quite acceptable cappuccino), we headed up to Malloig and caught the ferry across to Skye (to Armadale). From memory, the car was £18 or so, PLUS we had to pay for our own passage at £9 apiece. Quite expensive really.

That night we found a B&B in Carbost a remote village on Skye. Carbost is the home of Tallisker Whisky but unfortunately, we missed the last tour. I do enjoy it's peaty taste. I decided that the next best thing to a tour was to venture across to the Old Inn and enjoy a pub meal, a few pints, and taste some of that Tallisker whisky. The place was packed out with hikers and the odd Scotsman. This particular odd Scot was dressed up in his kilt and quite happy to leer over any young lady (or old) who happened by him.

About 9 the the Saturday night entertainment commenced. I expected the music to be more like the folk music of the western side of Ireland. To my surprise, the singer did covers of mostly 60s British bands with the occasional song like “Bound for Botany Bay” or “The Wild Colonial Boy” thrown in. Needless to say, he was a hit with the crowd.

Sunday the 14th

It's a Sunday. But no rest for us. I woke up with a clear head despite the many pints consumed the night before. Even though it was a Sunday, my desire to join in church celebrations was short lived. Kazza had gone to the toilet and the flushing mechanism had broken as the toilet flushed. She had that 'do something' look in her eyes. Now your average tourist is not well kitted out for plumbing repairs at B&Bs. All I can say is 'Oh thank you Tony' for the kind present of a Letterman Knife and Multi Plier tool. I finally had a use for it and worked away for a few minutes fixing the loo. Fortunately, the piece of wire holding the flushing mechanism could be reattached with surgical precision thereby allowing us to move on, consciences clear.

Plumbing complete, we set off once more, jostling with sheep, cows, tractors and hikers for space on the single lane roads with passing spaces every 200 meters. It’s a fun way to travel.

Dunvegan Castle

We called in at Dunvegan Castle, home of the MacSumwonoruthers. It had a fantastic garden and interesting displays. I had been reading Bill Bryson’s book at the time as I thought he may have had some useful clues on traveling through Britain. Unfortunately, most of his book concentrates on the English with only small parts given over to the Scots or the Welsh for that matter. Bryson has many acerbic things to say about the British Aristocracy and landed gentry and the way they package up their homes for public display. One of those was the tendancy for each stately home to have a jumping castle. Fortunately, the MacSumwonoruthers had not given way to this line of thinking. Their garden and castle was an excellent tourist facility if still a little pricey.

Hiking on Skye

I managed to persuade Kaz to do a bit of hiking up the Quarraine later in the afternoon, a reasonably difficult climb to a rocky outcrop. We weren’t on our own as the place was positively awash with day trippers out for a good walk. I was very proud of Kaz who made it a good 2 kilometers along quite a narrow climb. This was the day she discovered that besides claustrophobia she discovered on our last trip when we explored the Bronze Age Mines at the Orm in Wales, she could add a genuine fear of heights to her list of “things not to try again”. She traveled back alone (on her insistence I might add) as she was determined to beat the fear. I went on nearly to the top. The views were exhilarating!

We spent that night in Plockton, a pleasant little village. We lodged at a B&B for ₤20 a head. A hotel in the town, about the same quality was ₤60 a head. Sometimes I cannot understand the UK method of pricing. In Australia, a room is a room. Sure, you pay for a double but not double the price!

15 May 2006 - but no Nessie

We pressed onward to Inverness with a stopover at Urqhart Castle. In fact, it is a site of a ruined castle overlooking Loch Ness. There has been some rudimentary restoration of elements of the battlements etc. to give the place a taste of the ‘archaeological’ and an attempt to present it using a Jurassic Park movie scene take-off. In reality, the place should be free. The Scots, like the English are harvesting the tourist dollar. Folks, if you go that way – see a real castle. They cost about the same, are ten times more interesting and often have exquisite gardens. Not this place! My advice - don't bother!

Places you stay at in a town influence how you feel about the place. When we got to Inverness, we found the SYHA only to find it was fully booked. We later found out that a guest had managed to fall out of a top bunk and thus, all top bunks were off the accommodation choice. We went into town, finding a cheap hostel called Baz Packers. ₤14 for accommodation did save us a few quid, but it was close to a negative star rating. Still, it was clean and we were warm and cozy.

Inverness itself was cold and damp. We looked around for a few hours the next day but decided that the appeal of Inverness was lacking on this trip.

To the North - 16 May 2006

On the 16th May, we drove north, stopping at Tain and duly noting its Whisky distillery for future reference. We checked out the “Time through Tain” exhibition. All that did was to remind me once again how religion has been used for purposes both good and evil for centuries. But let me not imbue you with my shot at the clergy and kings for I must tell you of the magnificence of the north and particularly John O’Groats.

John O Graots is a hyped up piece of nothingness with a port and ferry to the Orkneys. It claims the honour of Britains most northerly point, which it is not. That goes to Dunnett Head a few miles away. We booked for the next two nights at the SYHA. We had a room to ourselves for ₤15 each but by crikey was the weather cold. We went for a walk hoping to see the elusive puffins but I fear I am destined to never see one alive.

17th May to Orkneys

The one day tour from John O'Groats cost us ₤57 each. The bus driver was from Liverpool having relocated there. He got the job cause the tourists could understand his English!

The Orkneys are` home to one of the greatest natural harbours in the world, the Scarpa Flow. It was where the captured German Fleet was scuttled at the end of World War 1 by their skeleton crew when their commander heard the Brits planned to use the ships against the Homeland.

The islands have become linked thanks to the creation of the Churchill Barriers. Initially, old merchant ships were sunk between the islands to prevent German U boats from sneaking in to attack the British Fleet massing here in World War 2. Despite the obstacles, one German sub managed to get in, sink a cruiser and get out again. After that, Italian POWs were shipped here to create concrete barriers that now form bridges between the islands. You can make out a couple of the wrecks in the water.

The Churchill Barriers created a strange phenomenem. The sea on one side is several meters higher than the other on a regular basis. It is all to do with the \North Sea meeting the Atlantic ocean. Apparently when the tides run against each other, it is amazingly spectacular and dangerous.

The Orkneys were a poor cousin in financial terms until the discovery of oil in the North Sea. Now the harbour is used by supertankers who fill up from an oil line from the fields. Oil money pays for education, roads and a great deal of employment on the island. Unemployment is below 1%.

The Italian Chapel

A proud and lasting legacy from the Second World War is the Italian Chapel on the Orkneys. Built from two old war buildings and lined with Spam cans turned into tin tiles, this Chapel is a marvelous testimony ti human creativity and ingenuity.

Italians come here in their droves to see this little chapel. It is often used for local weddings so it has a useful life still.

About 10 years ago, the original builder came back and restored it. You only visit for a short time (like most tourist attractions) but this place was worth the stopover.

Ring of Brogar

The Ring of Brogar was our next stop on the islands. It is a Neolithic stone ring. The effort to quarry, then drag these huge granite stones for miles, stand them and align them in an almost perfect circle astounds me. Some of the stones are missing but less than a quarter. Some have been struck by lightning. I was just struck by the power and symbolism that it must have generated for the ancient people who lived here so long ago.

Skara Brae - a time machine

Scara Brae was a must see, just due to the sheer impossibility that it exists. Here is a stone age settlement that was discovered only 100 odd years ago when a storm that lasted several days, blew away the sands on a beach to uncover this settlement. Hidden for several thousand years, the settlement is now protected and somewhat restored so that the visitor gets a feel for the stone age life.

The end of our day was to stop in Kirkwall, the capital of the Orkneys. St Magmus Cathedral is a magnificent church and as it belongs to the people, there are no fees to pay to take in its features. You can tell you are a way from the city lights in the north, particularly if you ask for a cappuccino. I am sure in 5 years, with the continual arrival of tourists plus oil revenue financed Barista courses, even the Orkneys will see decent cappuccino.

I would love to come back for the mid summer golf tournament her. It is apparently sponsored by the local brewery, or maybe distillery (I cannot recall which one). It kicks off at midnight given that at that time of year, daylight is all around.

18th May 2006

Off to Aberdeen
Before leaving the north, we had to visit the real most northerly point of Scotland, Dunnett Head. Lookout posts still stand there, erected during WWII. Since it was really only more sand and sea, plus it was bitterly cold, we bid farewell to the edge of Britain and headed off drove down through the middle of Scotland via Bonar Bridge. That part of the world feels so isolated. You hardly pass a car, see a farmhouse or signs of civilization. You are kept on your toes though dodging sheep and lambs.

The image here is of a place near John O'Groats called Duncan's Head.

When we arrived at Tain, we took the time out this circuit to visit Glenmorangie Distillery. They almost found a whisky Kazza liked ( a Madiera 'flavoured' whisky). But in the end, I had to help her finish it as it was still too strong for her. I felt it was my duty to ensure her dram found a good home. It turns out this particular distillery is the biggest in Scotland. I actually hadn’t heard of it before but it certainly did enough for me to part with ₤18 for a bottle of their 15 yo single malt.

We quickly scuttled through Inverness and pressed onto the “oil town” of Aberdeen. Folks, it is unwise to go to Aberdeen without accommodation pre-booked. Oil has made this town wealthy and busy. We did, in the end manage to find a guest House near the city. It was quite expensive at ₤25 each but it did offer a warm bed, good shower, the typical big breakfast and Internet access.

19th May 2006

There was something about Aberdeen that I liked as soon as I drove into the City.

Aberdeen is a prosperous town – now. And it is all thanks to North Sea oil that provides jobs, jobs and multi-national firms. That hasn’t always been the way. The city was almost bankrupted a couple of hundred years ago when the forefathers agreed to a rather ambitious plan to ‘level’ the city. Aberdeen is built on some hills and essentially, the forefathers conceived the idea of raising the valley floor by using what amounts to as a bloody big platform. The result you see around the min street is as impressive a city as anywhere in the world. Stepping off the main street and you can descend stairs that take you down 20 and 30 meters to the old city.

Aberdeen is grey! Its city centre and buildings are all built of grey granite and one commentator in a book I read suggested that in the rain, it was as welcome as cold porridge. But when the sun shines, the mica in the granite sparkles.

It really is a city of contrasts. Wealth and poor, grand houses and high rise tenements on the outskirts, and a fantastic Maritime Museum. It is quite easy to see a great deal of self interest in the collegiate admiration between the oil people and the Aberdinians. The maritime Museum is a great example of this having been upgraded with oil money to become a world class tourist attraction. It has a ₤1M model of an oil rig that rises 3 stories through the building. The history of oil and exploration makes for an interesting backdrop to the side displays of the old fishing and boat building industry that had almost completely died off in the 1950s.

Aberdeen - the Wyndy City

I love wandering the old streets of cities in Europe. I couldn't help but chuckle over some of the names. Kaz insisted I have a photo underneath number 1 Back Wynd. Said it was appropriate. Now what is that about?

19 May 2006

We spent two days in Aberdeen taking in the sights. One gem of a tourist attraction is Provost Skeen’s house. It was due for demolition before the Queen Mother showed some interest in adding her support to it’s restoration. She had foresight the old departed dear. This place is now fully restored and is a delight, particularly the ceiling painting dating back to 1622 that had been plastered over during the reign of destruction of the old Catholic icons that was known as the Reformation.

At one stage, the place was a youth hostel, infirmary - you name it.

Whilst at the Provost, I got a call from Dance Holidays in Spain. They were keen to get some people to come run some lessons there. It was an opportunity not to be missed and will be the subject of a future blog.

20 May 2006

Off to Fyfe
We motored down the pretty Scottish coastline to Dundee where we paused to spend a few hours going through the Discovery Point museum dedicated to the famous Arctic explorer Captain Scott and his brave group of fellow explorers, scientists and seamen. The displays are very good but it is the preserved ship that is a delight to visit. You get a vivid idea of how tough it must have been and how dedicated a bunch they were. I guess their motivation was glory but these men risked everything for their cause and country. The story of the gallantry of those who came to rescue them and also of the folly of some of their choices makes this a very worthwhile display.

And so on we traveled, down through Fyfe. We stopped at the old St Andrews course for a look-see. Neither of us are passionate enough about golf to do more than admire the scenery. Driving through the town, you now see up to 4 “new” courses. The auld boys at St Andrews are certainly expanding the golf courses in the area to take full advantage of the golfing tourist dollar.

21 May 2006

Edinburgh – a Capital Place
Forgive the pun – but I think leaving Edinburgh to last on our trip was a capital idea. After 8 or 9 days touring across, the countryside, seeing sheep, cold weather, sheep, remote beaches, sheep, one lane roads, sheep, whisky, sheep, only one Puffin and sheep, Kaz was rather pleased to be back in civilization once more. We chose a B&B not far from the city, around a 2.5k walk. After settling in, we set off toward the City and got into the City Centre on a somewhat drizzly day.

The city was having an Art theme based on Cow statues. These were close to life sized cows done up as Robots, Dancers, Cops, you name it. I had my picture taken milking Robo Cow.

Discovering the Castle

Kaz was taken by the modern fashions of Edinburgh and I can still remember with delight Kaz admiring the fashions and as we strolled down West Approach Road. As we came to the corner, I pointed out a girl’s lovely shoes to her thus keeping her attention focused as we stepped around the corner. I then said “It’s amazing isn’t it how we can notice little things like that and not see the big things around us.” She looked at me quizzically before crying out in an amazed voice – “Oh wow – what a castle!” And this was folks her introduction to Edinburgh castle.

We walked through the Princess Street gardens before ascending the granite tor and taking our tour of the Castle. I could detail more of this fantastic place but I really think that you have to go there to fully appreciate it’s magnificence. Kaz enjoyed the tour and was particularly taken by the 13th century St Margaret’s chapel.

Edinburgh – a Capital Place

21 May 2006
My favourite part was the huge cannon, Mons Meg. Another part I loved were the cannons, put in for the tourists more than 100 years ago. They were not the originals but rather from retired ships. Having wheels, they would have proven useless if required to defend the castle from any serious attack. Anyway – you all must go there!

As the 21st of May closed, we chose a restaurant in Rose Street and celebrated our arrival with a plate of mussels. We finished the night off with a couple of pints before retiring to the B&B.

Royal Yacht Britania - then home

22 May 2006
Next day, we went down to the port at Leith and took the tour of the retired and refitted Royal Yacht Britannia. All I can say to you is that the Yacht is bigger than any of the 20 footers I’ve been on and done out in more opulent style. Liz and Phil both had separate rooms with single beds. In fact, the only double, perhaps Queen sized bed (ha ha) was the one Charlie brought in for his honeymoon with Diana.

And so folks, it is with some confidence that I can say that I have seen the bed where Charlie bonked Di. I was prevented from testing the springs as various security measures such as locked doors kept cretins like me from bouncing on the bed.

After concluding the tour, we headed back into the City and went up to the Castle once more to the Royal Mile. Here we took one of the walking tours of the city. I find these tours wonderfully informative. There was a particular point where our guide was pointing out the place where the scaffolding that hung many a Scottish rebel was when a youth scragged out his throat a big swag of spittle depositing it near us. It was one of those experiences where all of us on the walk verbalized or at least thought ‘You dirty little turd.’ It turns out that it is a Scottish custom to spit on this one particular stone, a spit at authority or authoritarian control and it is quite legal to spit at this spot. Our guide doubted that the youth knew the meaning or symbolism of his actions.

As we walked off, I pondered whether I should drop some Aussie spittle on that spot but Kaz was eyeing me to ensure decorum was maintained!

Our tour was quite interesting but the weather so cold and miserable and the walking bit so slow that by the time we finished, the two of us were as cold as corpses. We ventured off to find warm lodgings and food. We found such a place in the Newtown area and concluded our visit to Edinburgh.

Homeward Bound
The 23rd of May saw us make the drive back through Glasgow and onto Prestwich airport where we caught our return flight. Our trip back was uneventful and we were glad to sleep once more in our comfy, warm bed in rainy old Surrey