Scotland

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Day 25: Newcastle Upon Tyne > Edinburgh

His side – With a certain unrelished glee, Georgia and I got up to head into Scotland. This was partly due to two reasons, we were both looking forward to going to Scotland, and we both wanted to get out of England. Stargazing was a bit of a bust and we wanted to embrace the new area, new region, and new scenery. I certainly wanted to see what Scotland had to offer, this had to do with certain romantic idealised notions I had internalised as a child. William Wallace, Robert the Bruce, and the Scots fighting off the English; I had to see if my childhood fantasy married at all with the historical reality. England and Wales were marvellous in their own way, like a Tesco offering a meal deal, but frankly I was fucking sick of sandwiches, caravan parks, and Edinburgh offered sweet relief (we had an Airbnb). After a short drive (look Britain, you think 90 minutes is a long drive – it’s just around the corner in Australia), we arrived in Edinburgh. While waiting for our Airbnb to be ready we decided to look at some modern art galleries. So, some backstory – I was a country bumpkin regarding art before I met Georgia. I delved in my younger years (as we all do), in some art; but I mostly I found it woefully pretentious and confusing. That was until I met Georgia, it helps having a beautiful woman explain art to you when you’re 20. Still, I find art falls into certain category, at least in Western art: a) Jesus art, b) wanky portraits of aristocrats, and c) modern art. I’ve wandered through the Tate, the Louvre, and numerous other national galleries in America, and Europe. Basically, I still don’t have much of an idea about art – regardless of this I have wandered aimlessly through a few in my time – pleasantly annoying Georgia as I dawdled at every sign. Modern art, in my opinion seems like just a bunch of people sat in a room and decided how can we make a meaningless, and derivative piece of art; and also be able to make the hollow speech to how much we hate capitalism? I can imagine it now: John let’s throw coat hangers on the floor to show how much Lenin meant to us. That’ll stick it to the Bourgeoisie, it’s like deeply symbolic…. like you know?
Anyway, there was the odd piece I enjoyed that managed to require actual talent as well as artistic merit – but most pieces evolved an artists that literally (yes literally) put up shopping lists on a wall (no I’m not fucking joking) and also a movie that followed a bubble around a house (I had to leave as I was giggling too much). I did enjoy Francis Bacon, and some of the pop art pieces. At the end of the day we wandered to Edinburgh Castle, which was fine but not worth the 17 quid. The castle itself is mostly a collection of buildings built in the past 200-300 years old with winding walls, and situated on a rock with pristine views of Edinburgh. There are many exhibitions on certain Scottish troops, the prison and my favourite – a little place where a Scottish King invited his guests (a rival clan) for dinner to be murdered – see the Red Wedding from Game of Thrones did have some historical basis.



Her side: There was no where locally to eat so we got up super early and drove until we found a supermarket, then floored it to Edinburgh. We arrived mid-morning and were unable to check into our AirBnb until after 4, so having time to kill we wanted to knock over a few of the main sights. There are two modern art galleries on the outskirts of the city, so we decided to have a look at them – if Rhys got a whole day looking at Hadrian’s wall, I was going to go to two modern galleries. My favourite exhibit I saw was by Nathan Coley he had an amazing sculptural piece where he had pulled the pages out of the Edinburgh phone book for every listing under ‘church’; he then recreated models of each church out of cardboard. It was amazing! We then visited the Castle; it was great to do, but really pricey for what it was (or maybe it’s just I am over visiting museums and castles). Our AirBnb was fantastic, and after five nights in our van, we really needed a break!



Day 26: Edinburgh

His side – After a much-relaxed sleep, we got up with a fresh step and ready to tackle the day. Today was a bit of a day about updating our national insurance stuff so we can get work when we finish traipsing around the place. After having a day full of driving and national art galleries, we were ready to knuckle down and do some proper important stuff – like ensuring we could be taxed so we could work. The catch 22 was palpable in this; we can’t work until we had a NI (national insurance number). We can’t have a bank account until we have an NI and we can’t have an address until we have an NI. Anyways, we REALLY needed this NI number form posted off, so we spent most off the morning figuring it out and spending a lot of money to get the documents printed. After this enjoyable experience, we spent the afternoon in the café JK Rowling wrote the first novel to Harry Potter. While we wandered in here with a certain enthusiasm, it turned out to be absurdly long to get a table so we headed off to the café next door. It was a delightful French patisserie that we both enjoyed a coffee at. We spent the rest of the day at the National Scottish Museum; this really is a wonderment to behold, architecturally and historically. The Scottish people have done a lot of for the world; DNA, microscopes, whiskey, haggis, more whiskey – funny accents, kilts, the first magician, the first automatically refilling pint etc. I may be making some stuff up. But as a small nation they’ve tremendously outdone themselves and this is a place worth checking out (for free if you don’t want to donate, which I did because it was worth it).



Her side: We had a really slow start to our morning and didn’t venture out until lunchtime. Rhys and I both love Harry Potter- whilst I love the books and movies; Rhys is a purist and loves the books more. So while we were in Edinburgh we decided to pop past the Elephant Café where J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter. It was packed, so we didn’t stay to have a coffee, we went someone else instead then headed to the National Museum. I really recommend this museum to those visiting Edinburgh - it provides a lot of information on so many different topics and has a fantastic science/discovery section, which is really interactive (Rhys and I played a reaction time testing game, and I won ha!).



Day 27: Edinburgh

His side – Yes, sleep is wonderful, and yes doing responsible stuff is important. But if I meet a bureaucrat from England or an MP who had a hand behind sorting out this NI stuff – I will punch them on the nose. I won’t actually, but I’ll imagine I will, and then do a victory dance around them while reciting Waltz Sing Matilda. So we wanted to make something out of today after yesterday’s work affair, and boy did we! It involved walking, talking, drinking whiskey, insults, Scots, and everything fun. It was a wee bit enjoyable. We met my Aunty for a coffee, Julie; one of the most amazing humans ever – apart from Mum and Dad obviously, and my other direct family. I’m a lucky guy to have so many amazing relatives, especially on my mother’s side. Julie was on holiday as well, and was with her friend so we met up to have a coffee and discuss plans, as Julie wanted spend time with Georgia and I, which I was grateful for. Georgia, god bless her was starting to wear me down with her animal noises; and I her, with my annoying jokes and well, just my general attitude. Because we had so much fun meeting up with Julie, we missed our walking tour we had planned for this morning. So we went for a whiskey tasting tour – damn what a shame! I ended the day with the walking tour of the underground vaults in Edinburgh. This was a fantastic experience and I thoroughly recommend going (website: https://www.mercattours.com/), it is an informative and interesting tour that shows vaults that were uncovered in the past 20years. I did the history tour and was amazing on what they uncovered. I ended up exploring some of the drinking establishments in Edinburgh in the evening. Which, I can happy vouch for, as a night worth doing.



Her side: Because we had such a slow start yesterday we wanted to try and pack as much in as we could today. We met up with Julie and her friend Gill to have a coffee to start off our morning. We went to a ‘Whiskey Experience’ which gave us a great introduction to how Whiskey is made, and information about all of the different regions in Scotland. I don’t like Whiskey, but Rhys loves it (and definitely doesn’t mind drinking my share of the tastings) and is planning on taking us on a tour of different distilleries, so I liked having some background knowledge and this tour was perfect for that. We then had some lunch before going on a walking tour- we went on a free tour that was marketed as stories of the ‘real Edinburgh’ – it was really fun, informative and cheeky. Rhys wanted to tour the cities underground vaults, again with my aversion to small dark spaces I sat this one out and instead decided to visit the National Art Gallery and do some shopping – I bought a new bag and perused some really famous works of art – I personally think that my afternoon was much better than Rhys’ spent in a scary vault!



Day 28: Edinburgh > Glasgow

His side – Today was a bit difficult for me, and I woke up in a befuddled and dazed manner. I have woken this way, too many times for me to count on a holiday – and I have never managed to stop thinking/feeling, a) the slight amazement I managed to find my way back home to the hotel, and b) oh god the pain. Mostly it’s the pain. Anyway, Georgia kindly drove us out of Edinburgh and I stupidly left my gloves on top of our car and realised a mile later down the road. We drove to Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh, as we heard it had lovely views of the city. I sat in the car, slowly dying, and trying to brace myself for the walk. Luckily, the walk was really enjoyable and it was a good cure for my hangover. The views were very impressive too. On the way to Glasgow, we stopped by the Fenwick wheel, an apparent architectural and engineering marvel that transported boats from the river to the canal below. It was a laughable detour, really not worth the effort and I just had to giggle at my absolute failure, whilst Georgia raged at my poor research, general state of shabbiness, and making us drive to see a pointless wheel. Don’t make our mistake; unless you enjoy engineering and boats, it is not worth the ticket purchase to go on the wheel.



Her side: Rhys was very hungover this morning but was determined to climb Arthur’s seat. We drove up half way then hiked up to the top, it was an amazing view and worth the climb (I didn’t think I would ever say that!). I then drove us to Glasgow; we detoured by the Fenwick wheel, and whilst it is a great engineering feat, it was definitely not worth the huge detour to see it. We arrived at our AirBnb and had a really quiet night watching movies to let Rhys recover from a big night out before.



Day 29: Glasgow

His side – After enjoying a restful and peaceful sleep, I got up headache free to tackle the day. Georgia and I were looking forward to seeing what Scotland’s second biggest city had to offer. Some Scottish people told me prior that Edinburgh was a smaller and more attractive city; but Glasgow was much larger and the soul of Scotland. Neither of us had much planned, apart from wandering around the city and walked around. We headed to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, which was a delightful place – well set out, full of interesting history, and taxidermy of animals. It had a couple of nice exhibitions, and also the most curious piece that had descending differing human faces made of plaster hanging off the roof of the main hall. Anyways, after that we strolled around the city, and stopped past the modern art gallery.



I was particularly keen to see Sharmanka Kinetic Theatre, as I heard it was worthwhile to do and all I could gather from my research was that it was a puppet show. Boy, were we unprepared for what happened next. We were alone, apart from two American females aged in their 20s, and I don’t think any of us had any idea what we had bought tickets to and how this moment was about to impact on our lives. The website describes it as: “Hundreds of carved figures and pieces of old scrap perform an incredible choreography to haunting music and synchronised light, telling the funny and tragic stories of the human spirit as it struggles against the relentless circles of life and death.” Anyways, basically a Russian artist moved to Glasgow and made weird woodcarvings, some were morbid, some were genuinely hysterical and I still can’t actually explain what we witnessed. All I will say is that some days on our holiday you might get a wonderful museum to explore, and other days you get a wood carving of a monkey puppet with a cymbal attached to its penis.



Her side: Today we did so much walking! First up we decided to go the Kelvingrove Museum, which was a little out of the city, so we drove there – it was the most eclectic museum I think I’ve ever visited, it housed art next to animals and planes! It was really cute and we had some amazing Indian for lunch near by. Our apartment was a little out of the city and after parking our car back outside it, we decided on the way into the city centre we would visit the Cathedral and the cemetery – I know that sounds weird, but it was this beautiful Neo-Gothic cemetery, and the architecture was beautiful. After wandering through the city, seeing the square and the Modern Art gallery we went to the puppet show – this is something that will stay with me for a while – and I still don’t understand what it means. It was the strangest experience of my life.



Day 30: Glasgow > Stirling > Perth

His side – Sadly, we were leaving Glasgow. It is a nice city, although very sprawling and some neighbourhoods have a sad, derelict feel to them. The people are generally kind and engaging, and whilst I have to say Glasgow isn’t a city I find particularly beautiful, it was a nice time going there. Even just to see the schizophrenic kinetic-puppetry madness of a rogue Russian artist. Today we were heading to Perth via Stirling. I was really excited for Stirling. It was a place that held a lot of history in it. As the crossing point for medieval Scotland, it was the key access that split the lowlands from the highlands, and decisive battles were fought here – both William Wallace and Robert the Bruce fought battles in this region. We were initially headed to Bannockburn, the sight were Robert the Bruce smashed the English army. I was expecting your general museum that shows you the history of the battle. Instead it was an interactive battle experience! Since school holidays were over, there were no children in sight. This pleased me immensely. We got a sense of the importance of the site, the context (via hilarious CGI historical figures) and some explanation of tactics. Then we were herded into a battle room. Georgia and I were made respective King of England and Queen of Scotland. Humiliatingly, and I sincerely mean this – I lost the battle. The other people there on my side gave conflicting advice, and the guy running the battle simulation barked instructions that were confusing when it was our turn. I don’t want to say it was set up, but the referee killed us! And I lost as a result... That, and my teammates sucked. In the afternoon, I went to the William Wallace monument, which is a massive hike and then a walk up 250 stairs. Suffice to say, I was very tired after the monument. It was a lovely view over Sterling and had interesting exhibitions on each level of the tower. In the afternoon we headed to Stirling Castle, which was average at best.



Her side: We left Glasgow to head up North. I found something interesting out today – apparently I am a warlord and master tactician. Rhys and I went to the Battle of Bannockburn expecting it to be a monument and museum, but boy were we wrong, it was an immersive experience where you learnt about tactics and got to participate in a war game re-enacting the battle. But you get to make the decisions that you want to try in the battle, and even a chance to change history. We were randomly assigned numbers when walking into the ‘war room’ – Rhys ended up as the King of England, and I ended up as the Queen of Scotland. I ended up winning the game, which is hilarious because I know nothing about war tactics and think war is stupid – but I do love to win. The rest of the day was average after that – mediocre food and I didn’t want to climb another tower, so sat in the car.



Day 31: Perth > Dundee

His side – We arrived in Perth last night, and stayed in a caravan park. We went to the go karting place located on the caravan park, just for the novelty of it. I did not enjoy this, passing Georgia 10 times a row when it’s just her and I on the track was a tad tedious. The best part was when Georgia got in trouble for driving too slow (I’m serious, the guy came out with a sign saying ‘get the foot off the brake’). Funnily enough, with being such a flat experience, it was basically the best part of the day as we then drove onto Perth. There really isn’t much to do in Perth, and I would much rather spend my time in Perth, Australia in the future. Whilst I was mildly interested in going to the Scone Palace, but as soon as we both realised the exorbitant entry price we instead drove onto Dundee and met with Julie. We had a lovely meal at a pub in the city centre, and chatted merrily away with Julie.



Her side: I am never going go karting again purely because the helmets are gross and smell like other people’s sweat. We met up with Julie again this afternoon in Dundee and we went to a cute little bar that served these even cuter drinks - they were soda-can cocktails topped with lollies – a simple idea, but they worked and sucked us right in - especially, with the 5 pound price tag per drink.



Day 32: Dundee > Angus Coast > Aberdeen

His side – After a lovely night catching up with Julie, we spent some time looking around Dundee. Georgia and I walked around Dundee the night before, and found that Dundee was a reasonably fine place – with several shops, a couple of busy streets, and restaurants and bars. We made a leisurely exit from our B&B with Julie, and headed back into the centre of Dundee. We were advised that Dundee is having a waterfront development, and a new museum is due to open in 2018. We can happy confirm this is the case, and there is a building that looks nearly completed on the waterfront. I really don’t feel there is much else to add here. Our plans were to go from Dundee to Aberdeen, via the scenic route and look at some of the coastal views, which were meant to be nice. Before leaving we decided to stop by the RRS Discovery, which was a lovely museum that focused on the discovery of Antarctica and the links Dundee had to building the RRS Discovery. You got a reasonable insight into the conditions of the ship, the amount of effort made for this undertaking, and the crew on the ship. It was a fascinating interactive experience.



Because I like to be a big kid (the only reason I am a big kid, is that while I’m in an adult body, unfortunately my brain is that of a 6 year old)- I did the treasure hunt while I was there. This involved ticking off items from a piece of paper that I saw in the museum, and sadly there were no prizes involved. You also got to explore the ship, which was interesting. After this, we showed Julie the delights of a Tesco sandwich meal deal and headed off to Aberdeen. We stopped past Lunan Bay, enjoying the scenery – the bay was nice and in the background there was an old fortress. We arrived late in the afternoon to Aberdeen and settled in to watch a movie and eat a home cooked meal.



Her side: Today was another big day of driving – after starting off back in Dundee to look at the Discovery Exhibition (which was really good by the way – I’d recommend it if you have the time) and the building which wasn’t finished yet that everyone kept telling us was going to be amazing (when it was done) we headed up the Angus Coast to Aberdeen. It was a very scenic drive, and we enjoyed taking our time, stopping for a picnic lunch along the way. We made an attempt to visit a farm, so I could finally pet and feed a lamb, but they had closed for the day. I’m really going to have to look into this more, as everyday I see and more lambs and frankly, I can’t deal anymore – I need to pat one.



Day 33: Aberdeen > Inverness

His side – I was ever so excited for today! I realise that in reading my parts of this blog I may come across as a little dependent on alcohol. But don’t worry; I’m just Australian. I am well known in my social circles, as someone who will drink most things, especially when it comes to cheap price tags and this is a charge that I am more than happy to admit to. But over the past few years, I have begun to develop a taste for whiskey. Not just cheap whiskey with cola, but actually on its own in a nice glass, and perhaps accompanied by a cigar. I don’t know where this sense of conceited, and ostentatious refinement has come from, but I am trying to embrace it as I head closer to my 30s. Anyways, today was the big day – I was heading to the most renowned whiskey region in the world, Speyside in Scotland. It is home to over half of the whiskey distilleries in Scotland. Whiskey is a personal taste, so I am really not going to provide any tips on were to go here. Although, I’d recommend doing at least one distillery tour, so it can free up time for the most important thing – whiskey tasting! A distillery tour is fun, although if you’ve done one, you’ve done them all. There is literally so many distilleries here, and if you are going to do it, try to free up some time to head to some less known distilleries. It’s nice to go to Glenfiddich, and Glenlivet but there are so many beautiful distilleries nestled in such a small place, it’s worth exploring some that are more off the beaten path. Just have a designated driver on hand! By the end of the day, I was feeling considerably tipsy, with many a wee dram consumed and I was glad to arrive in Inverness, where the idea of a hot meal and warm bed welcomed me.



Her side: Today was the day that Rhys has been waiting for – the Whiskey trail, and I am a perfect companion as I don’t like whiskey and am happy to drive. We visited four different distilleries for tastings. Some were absolutely picturesque, and others more commercial. By the end of the day, I was so hangry (angry because I was hungry) and was not fun to be around - sorry Rhys and Julie!!



Day 34: Inverness > Isle of Skye

His side – Today we said goodbye to Julie (or Jubes as I call her). It was a morose affair, as it might be the last time we see her for a couple of years! Despite this, it was wonderful to spend time with her over the past few days. Georgia and I had plans to spend time in Inverness today, and make our way to Isle of Skye in the afternoon. Georgia and I went to the Battle of Culloden and had a wander through the visitor centre, and the site of the battle. The tickets were not cheap, however the museum was worth your time. It definitely falls more into the traditional museum sense, with an exhibit explaining the backstory to the battle, the aftermath, and a sobering battle reconstruction video. There were also some artefacts, and you also got to wander through the site of the battle. It was sad to learn that the entire highland way of life was smashed after that battle, with their sole purpose to try and bring a King to the throne that didn’t really seem like he cared that much for the highlanders in the first place. For me I’m a republican at heart, and it just seems that in most cases, royalty has prioritised their own interests over the welfare of the people. Georgia and I left, slightly sobered by the experience and discussed the folly of war in the car ride.

I think that in my time here in Scotland, I have learnt more about the Jacobites and Bonny Prince Charlie, than I have ever wanted to know. I’m not going to spoil some fun history for you, so if you ever do find yourself in Scotland – don’t worry, you won’t find the Jacobites they’ll find you… Especially at any visitor centre, or at any castle, with a 10-pound admission fee attached. After this, Georgia and I headed back to Inverness to try and catch Nessy – the famed beast of Loch Ness. It was a beautiful day, and Georgia and I enjoyed standing overlooking the water. Neither of us were massive fans of the Loch Ness monster theory, so we made our way around the Loch at a leisurely pace and headed into Fort Augustus, which was a pleasant little town at the edge of Loch Ness. The rest of the day entirely composed of dodging tourists, driving through the highlands, and arriving to Isle of Skye late in the afternoon, where we feasted on two packets of noodles that we bought from the caravan park.



Her side: We said goodbye to Julie this morning - which was really sad 😞 we really enjoyed catching up with her! We left Inverness to visit the Culloden battlefield; the museum and war graves were really moving and interesting. We then had a change of pace and went hunting for Nessie!!! We started off at the northern end of the Loch at Dores, standing here you really get a sense of how big this Lake is! We then drove along its banks, on the south side, until we reached Fort Augusta on the South Side. This was much more tourist driven, and whilst still nice, I preferred our stop at the North end. We then continued onto the Isle of Skye; driving through some amazing wilderness were we ended up at the most incredible campsite nestled between mountains and the water.



Isle of Skye > Fort William

His side -It was an absolutely amazing day in Isle of Skye, and we cherished every moment. Georgia and I woke up in this amazing campsite, and took some pictures. Mostly, we just savoured the fact we could wake up with such a beautiful view. An English chap camping beside us advised me that it was snowing in this region just the week before. Go figure. We had big plans for today, trying to tackle as much of the Isle as we could manage in a day. Our first stop was the Fairy Pools, which I would definitely recommend. It was a bit of a hike to get there, but well worth it. The pools are water formations formed in the valley, nestled between mountains. They are essentially small waterfalls, but the colour of the water is the magical component of this nature dish. On a good day, you can see vivid blues, and greens; and luckily enough for us we got to view it all! It’s really difficult to park here, so I’d suggest – pack some walking boots and try and get there early as possible.




We then headed onto Dunvegan Castle, which looked amazing and close to the water. Reportedly, according to reviews, you could spot seals on a colony nearby. Like a lot of things written on the Internet, the reality was markedly different. Dunvegan Castle is still privately owned, and lived in by the MacLeod family still today. There were bucket loads of tourists there, and despite the reviews; you could only view the seals if you took a boat trip. Entry to the castle and its grounds were quite exorbitant. While, I’m sure it costs a lot to upkeep a castle, I don’t think it needs a 15-pound admission fee just to view the gardens. Our spirits slightly diminished, and both us in need for some more caffeine, we drove on exploring the surrounding mountains and scenery. After a short lunch break we headed to BFG territory and enjoyed the spectacular Fairy Glen, a serries of mossy hills located in the countryside. Again, this was just divine to look at. I’d really say it’s almost impossible to not enjoy Isle of Skye – especially on a clear and sunny day. We then got back in the car to do another massive drive to Fort William. Georgia and I managed to find a cute B&B just out of Fort William, that a family ran and enjoyed a much-needed rest.



Her side: Waking up being surrounded by mountains on 3 sides and water on the other is pretty breath taking – this was our first snippet of how beautiful Isle of Skye was going to be. This place is magical; there is no other way to describe it. As Rhys said, we spent time at both the Fairy Pools and the Fairy Glen – both of which were truly spectacular. We were really lucky to have such amazing weather for Fairy hunting. Wandering by the Pools and through the Glen brought back memories of my childhood – I used to love Fairies; Shirley Barber books were my favourite and I had so many figures and trinkets of fairies, I remember building fairy gardens and hosting fairy tea parties with my cousins and dressing up; being in a place as beautiful as this made me think that maybe fairies are real after all…. Whilst we didn’t catch any fairies today, I’m still a believer…



Fort William > Glencoe

His side –Georgia and I enjoyed some fine breakfast, courtesy of our host, who was a lovely nurse, although a tad keen to discuss some of the horrors she had experienced at work. Consequently, we got to the Glenfinnan Viaduct late and missed the train passing overhead. The Glenfinnan Viaduct is an amazing engineering feat, and a wonder to behold. However, I will be upfront and admit that Georgia and I mostly came because of the Harry Potter connection – being the scene in Chamber of Secrets where Harry and Ron followed the Hogwarts train. I’m not a massive fan of the movies, but it was nice to watch Georgia enjoy it. We then walked around and saw an exhibition centre on Bonnie Prince Charlie (seriously, you can’t miss him in Scotland). This is reportedly the area where he raised his banner, calling upon the highlanders to join him. We didn’t go into the exhibition, but instead wandered around the edge of the Loch Shiel – another filming location of Harry Potter. We then drove through Fort William, and onto Glen Nevis. This was a reasonable hike out to a beautiful waterfall, and Georgia was understandably not feeling up to the hike after already such a long day. I loved the walk and the view, and although my legs were feeling like the consistency of jelly afterwards we made it to our final destination to sleep.



Her side: We were immersing ourselves further into the magic of Scotland – yesterday we went hunting fairies, we’ve looked for Nessie, and today we were visiting filming locations for the Harry Potter movies. I love the movies and it was really fun to see the famous Viaduct; although it would have been even better to see the train - so a hot tip make sure you don’t get caught with chatty B&B hosts and make sure you are there when the train passes – you can look up times online (first one comes around 11am I think). We are really getting to the point in these blogs now where Rhys writes something then I have nothing left to write huh??



Glencoe > Loch Lomond > Paisley > Ballantrae (over two days)

His side – As we didn’t do much in our last two days, I have made this as one entry. Originally, we had wanted to go to Isle of Mull or Campbelltown, but as funds were getting short and the drives were heinously long, we decided to leisurely make our way down to our ferry destination point to Northern Ireland. Scotland, while a beautiful and marvellous place – doesn’t have much in the way of infrastructure. It’s not uncommon to have no mobile reception (which doesn’t help when you need it for GPS), and long winding one-way roads. This means, that while the literal distances aren’t long, it becomes long to drive, due to the shotty nature of the roads. This is in addition to the confusing ferries that run on an irregular basis out to the Isles of Scotland that makes it harder to plan.



I have very much enjoyed our time in Scotland, my impression of the Scottish people are an industrious and friendly bunch. I find them less reserved than the English, delightfully so, as it reminds me of back home and the interactions seem more relaxed. We started out in Glencoe on day 2, making our way through the historic town and the surrounding mountains. Georgia and I saw a red squirrel on our way out of Glencoe, which was amazing! We had planned to go now to Loch Lomond, in the hope we would find some otters, as some websites advised us you could spot some wild otters if you were lucky enough, as they are secretive critters in the wild. To do this we went to the town, Killin, which was on the edge of a Loch. Unfortunately, we weren’t lucky enough to spot an Otter – but we did enjoy a coffee overlooking a river with an ancient bridge running over the river.
The next day, we planned to go through Paisley to Cairnryan, our ferry town to Northern Ireland. I just want to make a comment on Caravan Parks while I have a chance. I have spent more time in them than I ever care to, as this is the only way we could afford to travel as much as we wanted to. Most are overpriced; for what essentially is some gravel that you park on. A lot will try and charge you extra for a hot shower, without an ounce of embarrassment. I can imagine it would be more enjoyable if you had a proper caravan, and not a Toyota, that has been converted to a campervan. It’s a car masquerading as a campervan. Look, don’t get me wrong – I’ve loved the experience – but I haven’t cherished the snobbish looks from other campers in their luxurious palaces on wheels. Additionally, I have spent more time in the company of smelly, sweaty, old British men in the site bathrooms than I’d ever wish on anyone. Seriously, who doesn’t wash their hands after going to the loo? Anyway, end of rant. The next morning, while we prepared to leave, a friend from university, who was currently in Europe messaged me about her amazing travels in Austria and recommended I go there. I replied to her that I had just witnessed an old man pour a plastic bag of urine into the toilet in the caravan site.



We drove on through Paisley, which was a forgettable town, and not worth stopping in. I continued to munch on the most disgusting faux-Dorito chips that I purchased earlier in the day. Georgia reached over in the car, ate one and said, “It is horrible.” “Yes absolutely disgusting” I happily agreed, continuing to munch on them with a savage masochistic pleasure. This must be a sign of aging, as since I bought it – I refused to throw it away until most of it was consumed. We arrived at a pub near Cairnryan in the afternoon and had a meal there, with the plan to sleep in the pub car park, as I was not giving any more money to caravan parks in Scotland. We had some really fun interactions with locals in the pub, particularly our mate Baz – who advised me I was punching above my weight dating Georgia, and that we needed to name our firstborn son Sparticus. His logic was that no one would ever mess with Sparticus. It was for us at least, a typically Scottish way to end our time in Scotland.




Her side: The tail end of our time in Scotland was a bit quieter – we had packed so much into our time and had to cut a few things out as we were too ambitious and would have signed ourselves on for a few ridiculously long drives (by to ambitious I mean Rhys is an idiot). We spent the next few days taking our time to get from Glencoe to Ballantrae which was the town over from where we were catching the Ferry over to Northern Ireland. The highlight of these few days was definitely the sunset at Ballantrae- it was beautiful (and I managed to capture a great time lapse). It’s fitting that we spent our last night in Scotland looking at a sunset – as our mate Baz from the pub said it’s just ‘wow’. We had been extremely lucky and had such great weather to explore all of the amazing beautiful places that Scotland had to offer. We’ll definitely be back

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