Wow! What a day! We are staying in the amazing 1-Star hotel at Euston - the Travelodge! Tom’s Scottishnish overcame him with this booking. He wouldn’t let me book any others because London accommodation is so dear, so here we are in a poky room that is either freezing or stuffy, and a shower whose curtain drapes OUTSIDE the base - refuses to drape inside for water to run off, so the minuscule bathroom floor is a swamp and terribly slippery! I was sure there were critters climbing over me during the night (lice? Just my imagination I’m sure). Anyway, my darling went out searching for brekky this morning. They tried to charge us for two nights instead of one last night (they have a Thomas Witt staying??), so Tom wasn’t going to support their brekky ... read more

After yesterday’s lunch we were not about to chance breakfast with the hotel cooks, so Tom went out hunting and gathering. He did awesomely well because he brought back an orange juice, some berry flavoured porridge, a cheesy bacon flatbread and a latte! Thank you McDonalds! After brekky we went next door to board our train to the Kyle of Lochalsh. That’s where the train was going and where we had seats booked and selected for but we were getting off at Plockton. So after two and a half hours of travelling through little Scottish villages, request stations (where you have to ask the conductor to stop the train), heather covered hills, wide open moors and alongside lochs, we alighted at Plockton station and enjoyed a leisurely 1 km stroll into the village, giving us a ... read more

This morning was a little troublesome. We were packed and had brekky nicely timed, but then when we were leaving and went to pay our landlady, our cards were declined. ALL OF THEM! She only takes debit cards because of the charges with credit cards, but our debit cards wouldn’t be accepted. We gave her what cash we had and went up to wait for our bus. We were now 20 mins late after all the fluffing around with the cards. Luckily Natalie was also running late, but she was able to lend us £150 cash to give the landlady and we could be on the way. Apparently that had also just happened to the Canadians at their lodging. Natalie also then paid for us four to get in to Eilean Donan Castle, our first stop ... read more

Up early this morning to check out of our hotel, cross the road to the bus stations and find the Discover Scotland Tour to Skye and the Highlands. Our delightful tour guide/bus driver is 26 year old Natalie. This minibus has a group of 6 Thai, 1 Canadian Californian, 2 Canadians, 2 French, 3 unknown and Tom and I. We passed the kelpies, Stirling Castle, the Wallace Monument and Doune Castle again before stopping in Callander for a toilet/refreshment break. We then continued on our way, crossing Rannoch Moor, and Glencoe where the McDonalds were murdered all those years ago, and on to Fort William. Here we had time to withdraw some cash and have a spot of lunch before being put on the Jacobite Steam train to Mallaig. This was the train used for Harry ... read more

Wow! Early brekky today, just to be sure everything goes smoothly. We motored up the Thames as we ate, and the watched the docking procedures from our balcony. Tilbury is very significant for me, for I know that my grandparents (who I grew up with but now know are not my biological grandparents), my biological grandparents, and my great grandparents all boarded ships here at Tilbury in the 1920s to migrate to Australia. What a huge step that was for them to take. As we dock I notice that the tide is out and the mudflats of the Thames are exposed (back in the old days scavengers had ”territories” in the mudflats, areas that were theirs to see what the tide had left behind to scavenge and raise money from). Other ports had hitech buffers attached ... read more