redwatt

Well, all of our problems seem to come to the surface at Heathrow. After a lovely breakfast we tried to get the lift down to the Heathrow transfer trains - the lift wouldn’t work. So we found another lift that did work, only to find that the train platforms were closed and a bunch of security men standing around chatting, taking the time to briefly tell us the transfer train wasn’t working. I had the temerity to say “well how do you get to Terminal 2?” And they said the Piccadilly line, underground. So we turned and muttered a few choice words about Heathrow. One of the security guys must have realised we were strangers in a strange place and followed us, asking if we knew the way. We said we had no idea so he ... read more

What a sad day, our last day of exploring in Scotland, for tomorrow we drive to edinburgh and fly to London. Caithness was bright and shiny. We drove through and around more town lands of my ancestors. Just Kirkstyle and Canisbay. A number of our Davidsons, Dunnets and Cormack lived in Kirkstyle over the years, and so many of our cousins are buried in Canisbay The Canisbay Kirk is the most northerly church on mainland Britain, and it looks out to the Orkney Islands. From 1959 until her death, the Queen Mother worshipped here, as her local parish church for her holiday home, Castle Mey. Now it belongs to King Charles (and is currently closed). Jan de Groot, the man who found John o’Groats is buried here, as are many, many of our distant cousins. We ... read more

Today was unexpectedly and very happily turned topsy turvy. We were about to head out this morning when Shannon instigated a full family face time, which was just lovely, especially as it is Mothers Day over here. So we all chatted for over an hour, catching up on everyone’s goings on. Then Sheila came in and offered us a chance to have a real meal with lots of vegies. We’d had a conversation about the lack of veggies in pub meals and all the local dining places are booked out for Mothers Day. Sheila’s son had a booking for today at a buffet, but his fiancée had her hens night last night and is not feeling up to dining out today, so they offered us their booking. So lucky!! So we abandoned our plans. Tom wanted ... read more

Sorry I didn’t write this up yesterday - I was not in the right headspace. This morning we left Sandend - so sorry to leave, we’ve had the loveliest time. We set off with lovely plans for stopping enroute to Dunnet, but these did not eventuate. We had planned to stop off at a distillery as we were passing right by, but unfortunately they were unexpectedly closed. So we continued on to Glen Morangie, but they were open only for sales in the shop. We had planned to have lunch at the Morangie House Hotel, but contrary to their website, they were not open at all, until Sunday (Mothers Day). It was about this point that the Optus coverage ceased. It seems they cover the UK, just not the highlands of Scotland. So we drove on ... read more

Well! What a difference a day makes - after our snowy day yesterday, today was quiet, calm and sunny! ‘Twas lovely. We decided to spend the morning doing the one activity that needed to be rain free, and spent the morning walking and driving the streets of Portsoy - the village where my dad’s grandad Davidson (who died in Sydney in 1954) was born, and where the various branches of our family lived 1792-1919. We found two of the streets they lived in and walked up and down them, as well as the main shopping street. We also found one of the houses, if they haven’t been been renumbered since 1895. Grandad Davidson became a baker here in Portsoy (his father was a Cooper in the fish curing business), before moving to Northumberland. We came across ... read more