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Published: January 9th 2007
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So we have completed the 2006 World Tour of Scotland, our first warm (read Baltic) up to our Big Adventure!
We had a great few weeks spending as much time as possible with family and friends over the holiday period. We also managed to sneak in 3 days away exploring the West Coast and the North. The traditional overeating and drinking was interspersed with some beautiful runs through the Scottish landscapes as we train for the ascent of Mount Kilimanjaro in February. We enjoyed running through the crisp highland air around Huntly castle and Grantown (-7C) and the stunning backdrop of Edinburgh in the early morning too scared to slow down for fear of hyper-thermia setting in.
Christmas was spent with family. Watching Colin, Irvine and Clover opening their presents really gave us that christmas feeling and we’re still not sure how Santa got that Pool Table into the play room….. Christmas dinner was huge with Paddy, Anne and the family in Grantown.
We headed South through Edinburgh to catch up with Wendy’s old friends (well, older than Wendy who is still in her 20s) in the capital. Then through the South West for a brilliant reunion of
the best folk-rock band never to have made it, “Slainte”.
Then a fun day with Wendy’s family in Glenrothes included a most entertaining Chinese food eating competition, which Gemma won (by a chip)….
Finally, it was goodbye to the hire car, to Scotland and most disturbingly to the Hair Straightners. Armed with just a backpack each, we entered the world of public transport and headed South over the border….
Turtles on Tour - a collection of memorable moments
“The Birth of the Turtles”
As we donned our backpacks in Edinburgh our thoughts turned from the important stuff in life (leaving family and friends, putting careers on hold, travelling to foreign parts etc) to the sudden realisation that we now resemble two large, unwieldy and potentially dangerous Turtles. This point was hammered home as Stuart took out an old lady with a casual shrug of the backpack clambering on board an Edinburgh bus.
“Scottish Language”
During the introductions to Wendy’s family in Glenrothes, cousin Sean was intrigued to know what Stuart thought of all these Scottish accents around him. Hmmm, time to brush up on the brogue….
“Ullapool School Tale”
Finding ourselves in Ullapool (a
small fishing village in the far North West of Scotland) for the evening, we decided to spend some quality time on the internet putting some final touches to the quickest ever planned world trip. The local internet café couldn’t print at the time so directed us to the local library, conveniently located in the local school. The café owner even phoned the library and confirmed that, since we seemed to know what we were doing, we could just go into the library and get started ourselves if the librarian wasn’t there.
So we headed off and found the school. All was quiet and dark as we entered the building, but we found 2 ladies cleaning a corridor. They directed us to the library and we entered the dark room. We thought it a little strange that absolutely no-one was there, but we continued. Booting up the PC in the corner, Stuart set to work getting on to the internet, while Wendy went to pay a visit to the little girls’ room.
Wendy returned a short time later having realised why everything seemed so small in the bathroom and why no-one else was around. We had found our way to
the local Primary school instead of the local Secondary School (where the library is housed). We beat a hasty retreat and were escorted off the premises by 2 concerned looking cleaning ladies…. You can also read another version of this story in the Ullapool Gazette where they are appealing for witnesses of the random backpackers breaking into midget schools across the country.
“Stac Pollaidh Declimb”
During our exploration of the West coast, we climbed a mountain by the name of “Stac Pollaidh”, a beautiful walk with some exciting exposed scrambling on the summit. This was made more enjoyable by the fact that there is a new path up the back of the mountain which is in really good shape.
Since the day was cold, windy and wet, Stuart thought it was a fine idea to take a short cut down the old path on the front of the mountain. Yes that would be the non existent old path that was now a step life threatening stream down the face of the mountain. Stuart spent the entire descent on his butt in heather and Wendy chose to scale the mountain on her face on all fours! Luckily we had
purchased some really useful miniature gaitors so by the time we finished with the near to death experience of descending Stac Pollaidh the only dry patch on our clothes was a thin strip around our ankles.
“Mountaineering Shop OCD”
One unexpected side effect of the preparation for our trip is the fact that we are now both obsessed with Mountaineering shops. You know the type; with shiny new equipment
everywhere, stuff that you don’t know the purpose of but you know would look really really good in your back pack. So we’re both weaning ourselves off this expensive and time consuming habit and are now able to pass these shops by without more than a glance and a quiet comment about caribeners or sleeping bag liners…..
“Day of the Pies”
There are some things about your homeland that you will always miss and will always look forward to upon your return. Aside from the obvious family, friends, home etc, Stuart really missed the famous Scotch Pie. This is a rather nasty food item peculiar to Scotland made of meat and deep fried pastry. After a few days of moaning about being in Scotland and not having savoured this
delicacy, we secretly stopped at the chip shop in Grantown and got a Pie Supper. We scoffed this gleefully on the way home making sure it was all done before we arrived so no-one would guess our gluttony. As we entered the house Anne announced that, since Stuart had missed Scotch Pies so much, she had made a special trip to the local butchers while we were out and had some for us for lunch.
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Deano
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Hey Guys, Lovin being number 1 in regard to adding the comments! Sounds like you are having an amazing time - so so jealous! The Temp - oh my god, so so cold. Its been discustingly hot over here upwards of 36 (Melb). Great photo's - look forward to seeing more! Dean