Hadrian's Wall Path is a 135 kilometres (84 miles) trail that follows the course of the stone wall that was built by the Roman Emperor Hadrian, who came to power in AD117. A frontier road had already been established, after failed attempts to conquer Scotland, and Hadrian decided to construct a wall from coast to coast, separating Scotland and Britannia. It would run from the River Tyne, east of Newcastle, to Solway Firth, west of Carlisle. Construction of the wall started in AD122 and it took around ten years to build. The wall was 15 feet high and around 8-10 feet deep. I had arrived in Carlisle the evening before. Due to logistics, I had decided that it was easier to stay in Carlisle for two nights and take the bus out to the starting point ... read more

Today was the day I think we were most excited about as we were of on the Hogwarts Express! When booking the trip there was the option of paying extra to take the Jacobite Steam Train and being a fan of Harry Potter, I just had to do it! We left Fort Augustus after breakfast and headed to Fort William, where we would catch the train. On the way, we had a short stop at the Commando Memorial. What a beautiful spot! The Commando Memorial was built in 1951 by the sculptor, Scott Sutherland, to honour the original British Commando Forces. It is located near Spean Bridge village, overlooking the training area the Commandos used. You can see Ben Nevis in the background. It was such a peaceful place. Knowing nothing about the memorial, I am ... read more

So the long journey to the Orkney Islands now had to be done in reverse and we were leaving, heading back to the main land and to Fort Augustus. I really enjoyed my time here, and would love to come back to further explore these islands and also head further north to the Shetland Isles. We drove back to the port at Burwick and caught the ferry. The journey was about an hour and uneventful. I enjoyed a sausage butty and a brew for breakfast. Back on the mainland, we stopped at Badbea, in Caithness, which was a clearance village. There was a sign on the gate at the entrance to the clearance village warning us that helicopters would be spraying chemicals on the bracken. The sign had today's date on Tuesday 16th August and the ... read more

What a horrible early morning! We left at some ungodly hour (I forget the exact time, but it was around 7 am or before it). The hostel had made us breakfast boxes up, to be honest they were a bit shit and I wish I'd saved my cash. Luckily, our new guide knew the score and left us to sleep the ride away. We drove through Golspie continuing on our way north. We also drove past the shortest street in the world, Ebenezer Place in Wick, which is just 2.06 metres long. Our first legit stop was Duncansby Head, which is the most north-easterly point in the Scottish mainland. The weather was bit brisk when we got off the bus,which was probably a good thing as it would help chase the cobwebs away.We took a walk ... read more

Not a great night's sleep, so I was pretty tired when I hauled myself out of bed. I enjoyed a quick breakfast before it was time to leave. I had really enjoyed staying in Stornoway and would love to come back and explore the area so more. But today we were off to the Isle of Harris and then making our way across to the Isle of Skye, so it would be another busy day. We did a quick Tesco stop to pick up some supplies as we wouldn't really be stopping in many places with civilisation. As we were driving out of town, I noticed that a lot of the shops were religious ones, charity shops and bookstores selling religious texts. We asked our guide about this and she told us that the Outer Hebrides ... read more