03/06/08 Leaving on a Boat.

Today we left Merrill, Dan and the cutest baby Keiran in Langholm and
set of for Newcastle. We are scheduled on a ferry trip leaving
Newcastle at 1830 and arriving in Haugensund at 1800 on Wednesday. We
should have time in Newcastle to stock on the 'home' comforts that we
have become accustomed to, for who knows what we will find in
Scandinavia?!

02/06/08 - On the road and a baby

We'd parked up in the lakeside town of Aldochlay with gorgeous views
of a boat filled bay on Loch Lomond.
We awoke at a reasonable hour, but not too early because there was no
point getting the road for Glasgow's rush hour. Our destination is
once again Langholm in the Scottish borders to visit Daniel's newest
cousin Kieran

01/06/08 - A Lazy Sunday

This time yesterday we were on the top of Ben Nevis - and today Marea
is still in bed! Understandable really because yesterday we ended up
burning the candle at both ends. Whilst we were enjoying our bbq by
the sea a couple of locals, out for a walk, stopped by for a chat.
Whilst we watched the sunset Joe and Linda invited us in for drink at
their place.
They had moved up here 5 years ago from Burton on Trent which is not
far from our old stomping ground of Nottingham and we had a grand
evening chatting away in the very cute house with large picture
windows overlooking the bay. Apparently there had been dolphins in the
bay yesterday, though with only about 10 performances a year
unfortunately they did not make a repeat appearance today:-( Thank
you very very much for your fantastic hospitality Joe and Linda - you
have reminded us that we need to carry at least one spare bottle of
wine around at all times for such friendly encounters.

Back to this morning, once we were finally up, it was time to explore
the very cute mining village of Ellenabeich and the island of Seil
that unbeknown to us yesterday when we drove over a bridge that just
appeared to be over a river was actually a very narrow channel of the
sea!! Hence we were no longer on the mainland. To rub it in further,
in true Scottish style it turns out that this bridge is known as the
Bridge over the Atlantic.

31/05/08 - On top of Britain

"Well here we are at the top of Ben Nevis and it's too cold to write
anymore" - is how Marea started this blog entry. Now back at sea
level, we'd best elaborate further.

The alarm clock made its first appearance in seven weeks, we'd wanted
to be up (bright and) early. But even this early we were no match for
those who'd started at 2am and who we passed as they were coming down
before 7am! They were just completing the 3 peaks challenge in which
they'd climbed respectively the highest mountains in Wales, England
and Scotland within a 24 hour period. Very Impressive!

We were told it would take 4 hours to get to the summit, so figured
leaving before 7 would get us up in time for an early lunch. However
we didn't anticipate our 'lunch' stop being at 9.20!!! Maybe all this
walking is getting us a little more fit than we'd realised. In a
perverse fashion Marea was disappointed the ascent was not more
challenging and rated it much easier than Ben Hope. Certainly our legs
will probably not ache as much tomorrow.
69% of the year Ben Nevis is under clouds but today the view from the
top was spectacular; not a cloud to bother us. Marea's previous
comment about the cold was probably an excuse to stop writing and
enjoy our surroundings a little more because compared to other
mountains we've climbed, this one has had the most settled weather.
We spent over an hour at the top and on the trek back down Marea
choose to conserve energy by sliding down part of the mountain that
had snow. We passed hundreds of people still slogging upwards under
the hot sun. Their alarm clocks obviously don't work as well as ours.

Also today was a wheel chair 'race' to the Ben Nevis summit which was
organised to raise awareness for the charities Scope and Capability
Scotland. Proving that wheelchair bound people can still get out and
about in the great outdoors, teams of 6 (including one one in a
wheelchair) pulled, pushed, carried, man-handled, slogged and sweat
buckets in order to get all their team members to the top. Those in
the chairs weren't getting an easy ride; hanging on for dear life
whilst traversing seemingly impossible boulders and when the track was
a little smoother wheeling themselves as much as possible. What took
us 2 hours 40 mins, was going to take them at least 7 hours!!!

After a beer at the Ben Nevis Inn, it was back on the road for us. We
checked out the very pleasant Oban, before heading to Ellenabeich
which we chose solely because on the map it looked like a quiet spot
to park up for the night.
On arriving there we realised we has come across a real gem of a
place!! We found a fantastic parking spot right on the shore front
over looking the bay and numerous islands out to sea. Time for a BBQ
and a bit of cider while we gaze out to sea and reflect on getting to
the top and back!

30/05/08 - How to decide who drives.

Today was time to head back to the mainland, and continue the journey
south. After stopping at Kyle of Lochalsh to pick up another yummy
Haggis from the local butcher we checked out the very picturesque
Eilean Donan Castle. This sits out on a small island in Loch Duich.
Home to the Macrae clan, this castle was completly restored from
1912-1932, so you can wander through the fully decorated banqueting
hall, billetting room and kitchen. Daniel thought it would be fun to
look through the visitors book and find someone from Piopio.
Strangely enough he couldn't find anyone, but did see that the
Ballentynes from down the road in Aria had been visiting 6 days ago!!

I know that the norm when driving is for the person who is sleepy to
be the passenger. But Marea has a funny habit of falling to sleep as
soon as we get on the road, and therefore misses all the fantastic
scenery. So to combat this, whenever Marea begins to feel sleepy, she
takes over the driving. Don't worry Mum, for some reason driving
wakes her up again, and we can both enjoy the scenery!!

Numerous stops were made just to take in the view and appreciate the
shorts and t-shirts weather.
We also stopped to stretch our legs for and hour in the Glengarry
forest and took a quick dip in the river to refresh and wash hair.
Brrrh!

Onwards still to Fort William the closest town to Ben Nevis. Ben Nevis
being the highest mountain in the UK at 1343m will be great one to
tick off the list. The weather forecast is for a clear day tomorrow so
we have parked up at the mountain base and hope to get and early start
beating the inevitable Saturday crowds.

29/05/04 - The Needle, Prison and Table.

We'd parked up last night at the base of the Cuillin Hills and we
decided that the keen walkers who showed up nice and early were a bit
too eager to slog up these impressive mountains for a complete
white-out and no chance of a view. I guess it is just a matter of
opinion, but we are fair weather walkers - so there was no chance that
we were tempted to join them. There has got to be alot more stuff on
the island that will actually provide a view!!
Hence we were of to the northern side of the island, via Portree to
stock up on a few things, then onto the 'geological eccentric' (guide
book's description) Trotternish Peninsula.
The guide book certainly was not lying; the rock formations everywhere
were amazing. There were lots of towering cliffs, rock columns jutting
out, and a waterfall dropping 100 metres straight into the sea.
We decided that taking all this in from the road just doesn't cut it,
so headed cross country (without the van) for the Quiraing; a
labyrinth of cliffs and pinnacles all bunched in together and great
fun to clamber around in. We did find the Needle and the Table, but
are not 100% sure if we found the Prison, we did find an area totally
surrounded by cliffs - I guess that could have been the Prison?
The weather seems to be improving tonight - fingers crossed the
elusive Scottish sun will grace us with its presence again tomorrow!!

28/05/08 - Midgie Magnet

I was going to call everyone that told us it rains alot in Scotland, a
bunch of big fat liars!! But today our perfect record is over as the
heavens opened. On a brighter side, we get to see a different beauty
of Scotland. It is quite a sight all the mountains rising up out of
the sea and lochs then disapearing into a cloud of mist.
From the Wester Ross area we continued south to Kyle of Lochalsh, and
then over the rather impressive Skye Bridge and onto the Isle of Skye.

First stop on the island was Glenbrittle, right at the foot of The
Cuillin Hills - perhaps we are too optimistic that tomorrow the
weather may come right and we'll see the tops of the mighty Cuillins!!

It was here, thanks to the wet and windless conditions that we found
out that Pat is NOT midgie proof. Fortunately we have some anti
mosquito incense burners left from Pats previous owners. These
effectively seem to kill and stupify the evil beasts and they have
created a 'carpet' of dead midges all over the lino. Gross!!!
Never mind, even midgies couldn't spoil our fantastic Haggis that we
had simmering away in the pot. Yum Yum!!!!