Day 6 - Gone With The Wind

I'm aware that I'm a few days behind with the blog.... No phone signal or WiFi at our last campsite, so there's also a lack of decent photos for this one too! :( I'll update later with pictures!

So tody has been fun! When I decided on the title of Gone With the Wind I really wasn't kidding! The part of Scotland we were in was experiencing some seirosuly windy conditions! Pitting the tent down in the morning was definitely a two person job as we were warned by the friendly campsite owner "careful putting your tents down, I've seen a few fly into the sea and you've really lost them then!". No kidding either! Left the guy lines down until the last minute for those!!

All packed and ready to go, we headed out of John O'Groats and down towards Furness. Our campsite was in Clachtoll Beach, which was a fair drive, but we were prepared for that. We drove through some pretty desolate scenery to be honest. Melvich, Strathy, and Armadale all looked fairly miserable and a bit dull. We were beginning to wonder why they bothered promoting the North Coast 500, then we stopped in Bettyhill.

At Bettyhill there is a café and a tourist information in a small cottage, over the road there is a 17th Century church that has been converted into museum. It was this museum that really changed my mind about the landscape we had just driven through. The museum taught us about the highland clearances, when tenants were evicted from their little black houses to make way for sheep, if they didn't leave then the cottage was set light to. The museum had a video that interviewed some of the Makay clan who were discussing the ceilidh and how having a ceilidh has really brought people back together and me;t the culture alive. There were times when speaking Gaelic was banned and traditional music was shunned, this really sounds dreadful and I'm pleased to see that it's become history now.

Upstairs in the small museum was a room dedicated to clan Makay, this was amazing and lovely to see the price as well as the heritage. I must ask dad how he's doing with our family history and take a bit more interest.

Moving on, I found myself looking at the landscape and abandoned dwellings through new eyes. It's both sad and poignant, I can't see how the lifestyle as it was could have survived, but at the same score it seems wrong to just evict people with no other options.

Next stop was onto Durness for Smoo Cave! I love the name of this place and I've got style brilliant pictures but sadly my tablets and phone are the only devices that can get the super slow WiFi and the pictures are on my -weatherproof, thank goodness- DSLR SD card, so you'll have to check them out later! Smoo Cave was really cool though and had a huge waterfall across the road that looked fierce, then we walked down the cliff side to the cave where the waterfall landed. Prince was a bit scared of the loud waterfall but we went into the cavern to see it and s it was awesome. Not the silly American version of awesome, but proper awe inspiring awesome! It's surprising that a waterfall with that much ferocity ends up just a small stream out to sea! Nate is pretty amazing!

Last stop was our campsite at Clachtoll Beach. This is where I have to have a little moan. It was £21 poer night fur 2 adults, 2 tents, 2 dogs and 1 car. For that you got a bit of soggy grass and cabin toilets and showers. Our campsite at Stroma View was tiny but we had spotless toilets and showers, a washing up area, soggy grass (think everywhere has soggy grass!) and electric hookup, for £10 per night. The campsite at Clachtoll was very nice but had no phone signal at all, and the guy buggered off without telling us the WiFi password, WiFi that was weak at best. Just feel a bit ripped off and won't be giving them great reviews on TripAdvisor.

We did, however, get a chance to go to the beach (Prince had his life jacket on, obviously!). Prince didn't really like the sea to be honest but I'm hoping he will come round when we go to Skye :). Sunset was gorgeous!

Day 7's plans are Achmelvic beach, a castle I can't remember the name of, Lochinver, maybe Ullapool and onto Gairloch.

See you tomorrow! Xx

Day 5 - Found Nessie

We got a LOT done yesterday! Felt like I was driving all day but actually wasn't that long at all really.

We left the campsite at around midday and headed for Drumnadrochit (how do you pronounce that?!). We didn't realise that our campsite was on the other side of Loch Ness to all of the touristy stuff that goes on, so although Drumnadrochit was only something like 5.4 miles away, I had to drive all the way around half of Loch Ness to get to it, roughly 30 miles! Someone really need to build a bridge across Loch Ness!!

We got to Drumnadrochit about an hour or so later, after dropping into Go Outdoors for emergency supplies as the bag for my duvet has given up so a huge compression sack will do the job. To those that complain I take a duvet, it actually packs down as big as Teapot's sleeping bag!





Our aim for today was to see Nessieland and The Hill O' Many Stanes. Nessieland had appalling reviews on TripAdvisor, so naturally we had to check it out! It was £6 entry for each person and we could take the dogs in too. It really wasn't that bad!! There was a huge tacky Nessie outside and the inside of the 'attraction' was made up of stuffed Nessies and Nessies that looked like they'd been made from paper machet! It was good fun though and there was a video lasted about 20 minutes that took us through the history of Nessie.

The shop was great and ot over priced too! I brought myself a few more post cards (I collect them!) and an I <3 Scotland hoodie which is REALLY comfortable!!

Leaving Drumnadrochit we headed out towards Wick for our next stop, The Hill O'Many Stanes. Just as we went past Loch Ness we thought we'd stop and grab a few last pictures, and low and behold we have taken a picture of The Loch Ness Monster! In keeping with tradition it's very grainy and not very clear but it's obviously Nessie! Luckily I snapped another too, check out the bottom for a better picture!

Off we went along the way! We were due to arrive at our campsite quite early so decided to take a "quick" detour down to Nigg village where there is one of the finest surviving Pictish stones ever found. It was located in a really pretty little church in Nigg and it had it's own room etc. The graveyard of the church was also really interesting, having some of the strangest but fascinating gravestones in the grounds.

We followed the 'Pictish Trail' along a bit further and came to Shandwick where, above the village, is another huge Pictish stone. It's a bit odd seeing this random bit of rock in a glass case above the village, but once again the carvings are really pretty and intricate. I might get a Pictish tattoo as they're my ancestors. Haven't decided yet :)

Onwards and upwards once again, off to the Hill O'Many Stanes! This was such a peaceful visit. I don't know what it is about neolithic stone sites, but they seem to have a really calm and still atmosphere about them. The Hill O'Many Stanes contains a few hundred stones that are not much more than knee height, the tallest is about waist height , that fan out down a hill side. It's not a very big site at all (around about the size of The Sanctuary near Avebury) and didn't take long to walk around, but it was interesting to note that it's not believed it's a "religious" site but more probably an early form of graveyard (although there are no buried bones) or commemoration site for the ancestors, as generations have added to the stones over the years. The Hill O'Many Stanes was a lovely visit and I'd recommend it.

Almost at the end, quite literally! We drove through a few more villages (I can't remember if Helmsdale was before or after The Hill, but it was really pretty too) and came to Wick. I thought Wick was going to be fairly big(ish) and a bit more bustling, but honestly... it was a bit of a dump! The road from Helmsdale to Wick (A9 I beleive?) was a really odd drive as it was populated on the edges by derelict cottages ans brand new cottages. It seems that people don't mend their property they just build a new one? Very strange.

Continuing on and we arrived in John O'Groats, which is quite literally at the top of mainland UK, the most Easternly point. Just like Wick though, John O'Groats seemed a bit dead and deserted. I expected a seaside type town with lots of tourist crap, but there really wasn't much there. Luckily for us we arrived just in time for a few pictures by the sign, pick up some post cards and snap some lovely pictures of sunset!

Got to the campsite about 15 minutes after, pitched, fed, watered and in bed by midnight. Ready to start it all again on Thursday! Next stop is Clachtol Beach, via Toung and Smoo Caves!

Until tomorrow folks, over and out!!

 Live photo album: https://goo.gl/photos/Gos9KaSACAwi4n7b7

Things I have learnt from this trip:
1. Robert Burns was right; “the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry”
2. Even clean wet dog smells just like wet dog
3. A wool and linen cloak is an incredibly versatile piece of clothing and I've no idea why it went out of fashion from the 15th Century onwards?!
4. My dog is really REALLY nosey
5. I had some brave relatives
6. Princess is a racist dog (she doesnt like Chinese people... how ironic)
7. Prince does some seriously disgusting poos...

Day 4 - Gone Fishing

Our Campsite!

Pointing the way

Today has been good fun, not much driving for me meaning I could relax and chill out a bit! Back onto the road trip on Wednesday! Hardly know what day it is to be honest!

Mountain Dog!

We started off our day with a very lazy lie in (interrupted by a small child who decided that playing saucepans like a drumkit was apropriate... grr...).

The Falls of Foyers

As our campsite is located in Foyers we decided to have a look at the Falls of Foyers. This waterfall comes from the River Foyers and feeds Loch Ness and generates hydroelectric, which I think is really cool!

I got to try out some of the photo techiques Kate has been teaching me about to make the water look really smooth. Naturally I forgot my tripod though so had to improvise! I think the pictures came out ok!

Prince LOVING walkies!!

Prince and Princess LOVED the walk and Prince was trying out his new hiking bag, he was bouncing around like a new puppy! I think he and Princess think they've become mountain dogs or something, who am I to spoil their fun? They had a great time! We enjoyed the walk too, although I am clearly not as fit as I thought I was! The climb back up was really steep, had to stop a few times... to take in the view obviously!!

We've had a bit of a mixed bag weather wise, ranging from really cold and windy right up to lovely sunshine and wondering where the suntan lotion is! It's been nice, but I can safely say I am really bored of rain now..!

Its all too much for Princess

Tomorrow we start the North Coast 500 tour going upto our first stop which is in Wick. Today, however, we decided to check out Fort Augustus which is a small town a the bottom of Loch Ness, it's famous for having Neptune's Staircase, an eight lock system on the Caledonian Canal that takes the boats up or down. It's the longest lock staircase in Britain and really cool to watch. I loved how one of the lock keepers had little pink fairy wings.

Neptune's Staircase

Quick stop off in a pub by the lock (I would NOT reccomeng "Light Ness" pale ale to anyone, it was sadly quite horrible!) and a scout around the gift shop, my post card collection is growing quite considerably and I can see how HARVe would be really cool to get aerial shots for post cards, wish I'd had him for Neptune's Staircase!

Live catch!

Back to the campsite and we picked up two fishing kits (kids ones!) on the way back and decided to do a spot of fishing in Loch Ness. We're really bad at fishing, this is apparent! Although, saying that, we did make some catches! Teapot caught a spring (with free rock) and I caught some algae and a twig! For junior fishing rods using jelly tots as bait, I'd say that was pretty good going!!

A Spring AND stone!!

Luckily we had reserves with us for dinner, and by 2200 the weather had really gone freezing cold (luckily no rain) and the "I'm just going to get warm in my pjs under my duvet/sleeping bag" quickly turned into "I am asleep".

Plenty of fish...apparently!!

All in all, a good day! Wednesday's exersion: Nessieland (which is apparently rubbish but probably so bad it's good!) and Whaligoe Steps on our way to Wick!

Day 3 - Happy Families (and Haggis!)

Caringorms National Park
A stunning drive!

A few things on the agenda today: Elgin & Loch Ness.

Elgin and Forres is where our family come from ancestrally, so we wanted to check it out and see where it all began as it were!

<3 Love it <3

The drive from Ballater to Elgin was beautiful again, mostly through the Caringorms National Park again, mostly following the River Dee. We went out of national parkland and  back into civilisation to take in towns like Aboyne, Alford, Huntly, and Keith. All were really pretty and looked like lovely places to stay, but we were sadly moving on fast! We did stop in an Asda for some munchies and were pleased to see the amount of Irn Bru for sale!! Must be the Scottish blood in us, we <3 Irn Bru!


Finlay had woken up in one of those "I'm going to be a pain in the backside" moods, every five minutes I had to watch him like a hawk because he was either pissing somewhere he shouldn't be, trying to artistically stick his poo to something (he does that...), steal something, chew something or just be a general nuisance (his favourite was flossing his teeth on guy ropes...). We decided to let him into a little secret. If he was a good boy for the journey up from wherever Asda was (think it was in Keith) upto Elgin, he'd get a really special treat!

Happiest. Dog. Ever.

Not entirely sure how well the promise worked as he was still a bit of a pest, but while we were in Elgin looking at the war memorial guess who arrives! Daddy!

Mum and Dad have also been holidaying in Scotland for the past week in their caravan, they will stay until the weekend and go home, this is the point where our paths pretty much crossed so we thought we'd say hello to the old folks before posting them back on their way again. Finlay was so happy to see Dad and almost didn't believe it!

We spent a while wandering around Elgin with the old folks, which was nice. Stopped in a pub for a drink, sadly no Irn Bru on draught this time, but we had it in cans so hopefully next time!

Cpl James Younie,
Cpl Robert Younie
Private A. Younie (other side)

Stopping at the war memorial was a poignant moment and we found a few Younie names on there. Not sure what I should have been feeling at that point to be honest, it was a mixture of excitement to find something with "Younie" on it, but also sadness because that was a distant relative that died during one of the World Wars. It's an odd feeling that's for sure.

Elgin

Few hours with the old folks and pick up a few supplies form town and we were back on the road. Of course not before partaking in that very most Scottish of dishes... Haggis and Chips. Seriously, that is food of the gods right there!!!

Off to Loch Ness via Inverness and Go Outdoors. Only drove through Inverness but the bit we wer ein looked a bit of a dump if we're being honest, hoopefully the rest of it is a bit prettier!!

Haggis & Chips mmmmmm

A couple of hours later and we arrive at our campsite. We changed sites because apparently Borlum Farm has rubbish reviews, so we are now at Loch Ness Shores campsite, and we're staying for a couple of days. Low and behold we turned up in a downpour and it was seriously windy all night... I'm hoping to be able to get HARVe up at some point but not if this wind keeps up. Will keep you posted!

That's about all for today, don't forget to chekout the live photo album. I finally got around to getting up the pictures form Glenshee, still absolutely stunning!

Over and out!

Seriously shattered doggie!

 Live photo album: https://goo.gl/photos/Gos9KaSACAwi4n7b7

Things I have learnt from this trip:
1. Robert Burns was right; “the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry”
2. Even clean wet dog smells just like wet dog
3. A wool and linen cloak is an incredibly versatile piece of clothing and I've no idea why it went out of fashion from the 15th Century onwards?!
4. My dog is really REALLY nosey
5. I had some brave relatives

Day 2 - The Search for Wall

Curry for Breakfast

After getting into the campsite at 2335 on Saturday night it was a shocker to be up at 8 the next morning! I think it was probably the quickest we've ever put the tents up and got a cup of tea on the go!

My Handsome Boy

Prince is enjoying the exploring and sleeping in the car bit of the holiday, he's not so sure about the whole tent thing. Fabric house isn't his favourite, but he's getting used to it!

Up early and out today with a few missions to complete: Find a bit of Hadrian's wall to have a selfie by and do the same to the Welcome to Scotland sign!

Hoping to knock the first one off early we stopped at Corbridge Roman Town, which is owned by English Heretics (not Heritage, as they're working hard to either destroy or ruin our heritage). As usual for an EH property, the entrance fee outweighed the actual attraction, which was a bit sad really. The museum was ok and I found a few Roman games counters which was interesting because they were very similar to the ones I made for medievals. Looking at the artefacts on display it's interesting to see how "civilised" the Romans were in comparison to the later medieval people, I wonder why that is? Answers on a post card please!

Roman game pieces

There was an area to look around outside which was a tiny town and military base, that was quite cool to be able to wander around an actual size town.

After Corbridge we were recommended to visit Aydon Castle, which was a manor house owned by the Boarder Reivers (history close to my heart there). we drove up the tiny little path towards it but it was another £5 to enter, there really wasn't much to see either so we decided a quick scout around the outside was all we'd do.

Onwards and upwards again (kind of, we actually travelled South to Corbridge...) in search of lunch; provided by an ok 'tea room'. More like a greasy spoon, but it was ok!

We searched for ages to find a bit of Hadrian's Wall but honestly couldn't find any (or any that wasn't owned by English Heretics, and I hate giving them money!). So that's still on the list do do for the way home!

Fantastic. Wondering if the other
side says "First Cafe in England"?

Quick trip through Norumberland National Park (which is TOTALLY stunning by the way) and a drive past the 'Last Cafe in England!', and WE FOUND THE SIGN!!

Very exciting, had to do the tourist thing of having a few pictures by the rock and sign and it's off into Scottyland!.

Obligatory Selfie

We travelled on the A93 road all the way through the Spittal of Glenshee in Caringorms National park and I must say... wow! No picture I can take will ever describe how utterly beautiful it was! There's a ski resort in the highest point (as well as an 18 hole golf course!) and it's odd to see Scotland looking really alpine like Swizerland or somewhere, but the gorgeous mountains and log cabins just added to an utterly pleasant drive and I'd highly recommend it to anyone!


Stay over at Ballater Caravan Park and a kindly lady charged my netbook (which is nearly dead again...) so I could update Day 1 and Day 2, as well as upload all my pictures! Don't forget to check out the Live photo album, I'm updating it all the time with some amazing photos!







 Live photo album: https://goo.gl/photos/Gos9KaSACAwi4n7b7

Things I have learnt from this trip:
1. Robert Burns was right; “the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry”
2. Even clean wet dog smells just like wet dog
3. A wool and linen cloak is an incredibly versatile piece of clothing and I've no idea why it went out of fashion from the 15th Century onwards?!
4. The A93 is the most beautiful road in Britain.

Day 1 - Road, Rain and Relatives

This blog post is a day late, sorry about that! The campsite we stayed on didn't have agreat phone signal!!

Byland Abbey

Today was a bit of a crazy day to be honest. Teapot needed an emergency trip to the dentist in the morning so we couldn't leave when planned at around 10/1030 but thought its ok we'll leave around midday and miss the early traffic, good plan. Except I get all the way to Duxford (about 40 minutes) and think 'did I pack HARVe's batteries?' back home, only to find yes, I did indeed pack them!

Byland Abbey

The drive from my house to Yorkshire was both uneventful and dreadfully boring... M11/A14 all the way... very very boring.

We did, however, decide that yes we could have a little stop in Ampleforth and say hello to our Aunt and our Grandad, and caught them just as they were on the way out. My Aunt has a Corgi mix dog and my Grandad has some odd mix that's Corgi/Chihuahua/Goodness knows what so Prince and Princess had a great time hanging out with them for an hour or so!

On the way to Ampleforth there are two options, there's Sutton Bank which is an enormous hill that lorries aren't allowed up (but with one of the most beautiful views in England; see picture!) or there is the 'Caravan Route' which goes past the ruins of Byland Abbey.

View from Sutton Bank taken a while ago on my phone

Love a bit of decay!!

I chose the Caravan Route because I wasn't sure how my car would car dragging the trailer up Sutton Bank (and didn't really want to be towed home on the first day) but also because my great-Grandmother used to like in Old Byland and my dad remembers playing in the ruins of Byland Abbey as a child (before English Heretics took it over and charge you a fortune to go in...).

Byland Abbey ruins are beautiful and well worth a look if you've got time or arrive there before they lock the gate! The ruins really do show what a magnificent building it must have been!

Almost at Ampleforth!

Back on the journey from North Yorkshire to Northumberland, another two hours to Bellingham where the campsite was. Bit scary as it got dark and we were followed through the back roads of Northumberland National Park by a taxi driver flashing his lights wanting me to pull over. I'm not a violent person but neither am I stupid... I will not be pulling over for a random taxi in the middle of moorland! Nothing was wrong though (think he was just being an arse) and after about an hour of searching we finally found the campsite, ready for a whole night of torrential rain!!

Dinnertime for my little prince <3

 Live photo album: https://goo.gl/photos/Gos9KaSACAwi4n7b7

Things I have learnt from this trip:
1. Robert Burns was right; “the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry”
2. Even clean wet dog smells just like wet dog
3. A wool and linen cloak is an incredibly versatile piece of clothing and I've no idea why it went out of fashion from the 15th Century onwards?!

Less than 24 hours....

Less than 24 hours to go and I honestly can't say I'm totally packed...!!

Water To Go bottle
Fantastic because I can drink
water from anywhere
thanks to the filter!

My living room looks like some kind of bomb has hit it, a bomb that includes clothes and bags and stuff sacs, pots, pans, camera parts, bottles... anything really!!

My "tech bag" is full to over flowing with spare batteries and lenses, cameras, chargers and all sorts! I've borrowed two batteries from a friend for HARVe (the Hovel Aerial Reconnaissance Vehicle, otherwise known as my quadcopter!)so I've got roughly an hour of flight at a time with him, so hoping to get some lovely aerial shots and footage. Especially of Loch Ness... mostly of Loch Ness!!

Princess testing out
her backpack!

With Google's new Photos I can upload photos (upto 16MP) and video (full 1080p HD)completely free and unlimited storage! Which is fab!! I will make my Scotland 2015 photo album publicly available for you all to look at!


Other than a few bits, I think we're pretty much packed! Prince and Princess look so cute in their matching camo backpacks and have been a mixure of excitement and total confusion all day with all the packing. Prince will be SO happy about being in the car tomorrow, I can guarantee!!

Very misleading front cover story

 Teapot brought home the Daily Star today, apparently its a slow news day because the headline is a misleading story about a chap who's been searching for the Loch Ness Monster and has yet to find him so he's finally given up. Good on him for trying, now move over and let me give it a go is what I say!! :)

My handsome Prince

Little Princess

 Well, I think that's it for now! Tomorrow will be a roughly 6 hour drive upto Northumberland to our first campsite. Not looking forward to the long and boring drive, but really looking forward to the scenery from Yorkshire onwards!

Until tomorrow, over and out folks!

xx

N.B. As usual, I've changed names; even the dogs. I don't believe in using people's real names on my blog, so don't worry... the dogs aren't ACTUALLY called Prince and Princess! ;)