'Ee by Gum'

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My turn to kick off and bring you up to date (Nik). We left for John o Groats on the last entry which took us across the northern coast of Scotland. Highly recommended remote beaches where you can sit and watch the birds ... the feathered type as there are no people. We have become amateur twitches over the weeks and can now confidentally distinguish between big white birds, medium sized brown birds and little black ones. Having reached the furthest point north I can reflect on some observations made. The further north you go the more the english language gets distorted, by the time we got to the highlands Im convinced the local population could not even understand each other, the way they spit and gesticulate , which is not helped by the fact you cant see their lips move because of bushy red beards, the blokes are even worse. Needless to say we mainly kept our own company. Also the further north you go the more isolated you become, we lost radio reception for several days which means the only voice you hear all day is that of each others, this as you can imagine was more difficult for me than it was for June. We were so desperate at one stage that if the only thing I could have tuned into was Chris Moyles we would have listened to it. Another interesting point of note is that right up the top there the daylight hours are very long, it seemed wierd at eleven o clock at night being able to sit and read my train spotters weekly magazine in natural light. Having done the obligatory photo and stare into the mist from John o Groats we headed south through the Cairngorms. Very impressed with Braemar and the surrounding area no wonder it is a favourite retreat for the royal family. The surrounding hills of heather and forest almost seem manicured, the town itself is famous for its highland games when every September 'Jocks in frocks' meet up to throw a variety of heavy objects across a field. For the last few days following an excursion through the Northumberland hills we have visited the yorkshire seaside towns of Whitby, Scarborough and Filey . Although up until now we have been avoiding towns I think we were ready for some civilization. As the kids are now finishing school these places have been busy, it has been fun sitting watching the northern families enjoying the typical day at the seaside. Peter Kay could get enough material to do his next christmas special in a couple of hours easily. June has just appeared to put her case for the defence so I shall hand over.
I think he means June has just woken up. His fingers are turning a little rusty, what with the few showers that we have had to endure. He has also forgotten that he's married to a northern bird. Can't add much to the above apart from the time when Nik put to use his first aid training. Whilst zipping along the Scottish highways we spotted a rather rotund lady face down in the mud at the bottom of a steep bank. Nik thought she was doing a David Bailey and taking a close up of a rare flower. She had in fact, rolled down the hill and split her head open. I acted as the dutiful nurse and handed bandages, swabs etc and he did the wrapping up. We sent the pair off to the nearest town to seek help. Good deed for the day. You can tell we are in Yorkshire at the moment, they are charging up to 40p for a 'P'. Needless to say the bushes are getting a good watering. Next stop Norfolk, meeting with technical daughter so might be able to add more pics.

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Photos

Lindisfarne
High and dry

Robin Hood's Bay
Steps and more steps

Whitby
Whale bones

The Fens
Dykes and Ditches (what fun!)