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Published: August 5th 2009
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Today we docked in Rosyth Scotland which is about ½ hr away from Edinburgh. Mom and I had an early breakfast in the Lido then met Erin and Dennis in the Queens Lounge for our tour to the Falkirk Wheel & Antonine Wall. We almost canceled this tour when we first got on since they had changed it to a 3 man icon and added the following note “Guests will be walking thru grass knee to waist deep at the wall and this tour is only recommended for physically fit guests”. We teased my mother that would mean neck high grass for here and obviously wouldn’t work for Erin’s wheelchair. She talked to the Shore Excursion office and they indicated the Wheel was accessible and that there was a visitor center that we could stay at instead of taking the walk to the Wall. The tour was booked out when we boarded (we booked on line in Jan) so we decided to keep it.
We had a great tour guide and learned a lot about the area on the ½ drive to the wheel. We then had about 30 mins to walk around before boarding the boat for the ride.
The wheel was finished in 2002 as part of their millennium project to reconnect the Union and another canal (Sorry forgot the name) which would allow travel by pleasure boats over the canals between Edinburgh and Glasgow. There used to be a series of 7 locks to get from one canal to the other and it took almost an entire day to get thru them. The wheel takes just several minutes to raise the boats up 35 meters (115 feet) to the Union Canal. The wheel is intended to look like a double Celtic axe. It uses very little power (the same amount needed to boil 8 pots of tea to lift it). You board the boat and ride into the wheel section which is then closed. Once both sections are ready the wheel starts and you move to the canal above. It seems very slow and it doesn’t feel like you’ve gone over 100 feet up but it only takes a few minutes.
The boat captain was very funny and gave us the safety lecture indicating they have to do it much like an airline safety announcement but not to expect to find life jackets under our seats.
There are only 2 and they are already allocated to her and her assistant. She also explained that if we did have to evacuate the boat and didn’t know how to swim to just stand up since the water is only 5 feet deep. And that they’d direct us on which side to exit the boat (the dry one). The canal is only 12 or so feet wide. It was never intended to be a tourist attraction but to be used by the pleasure boats.
After getting to the upper canal we took a ride thru a tunnel and then turned around and took the trip back down to the bottom of the wheel. It was all very interesting and with the great weather we had the views were also very nice. Dennis then went for the hike to the fort/wall while the rest of us spent time in the gift shop, took photos of the wheel going up with the next boats, and got a bite to eat in the café.
We got back to the ship early in the afternoon and did our normal routine of Tea for Mom with Dennis, Bingo, dinner, and then the
Falkirk Wheel
Boats on both sides (one coming down one going up) show. Erin won another game of Bingo. The casino is closed until after 11 since we’re still too close to land as we sailed out of the River Forth. The show was the last one by the cast for this cruise and was called Dancing Under the Stars. It was very good but now we had to turn our clocks ahead so lose an hour tonight. We need to get up early to try and beat everyone to the laundry and then deal with packing.
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Janet
non-member comment
Rosyth/Edinburgh Scotland
HI Sharon, I just read Aug 4 and 5 blogs, they sure have a lot of tunnels there. You guys doing ok in the bingo games. We never win. The info and pics are great as usual. Thanks, you are missed. Janet