Travelling in Scotland

Hello Everyone
Sorry we haven't posted in a while as Scotland didn't have much internet so we could keep you all updated. But we have really enjoyed our time adjusting to living in our new campervan. Scotland is very much like New Zealand only with alot more history which is awesome and the summer is not exatly warm, weather t-shirts and shorts.

Once we got our caravan we started going north and stopped at the Legoland Discovery Centre in Manchester. There we bought the Merlin Pass which will give us unlimited entry for the year into lots of attractions around Great Britain especially London. Legoland was interesting and there were piles of lego to play with and the 4D cinema and lego laser ride were real highlights. Our first night we spent in a Petrol Station carpark and had cold spaghetti because we couldn't work the stove. All good now though.

The next few days we spent driving and reached the lochs of Scotland. They are really deep and the water looks like liquid obsidian. We visited a couple of aquariums and sealife centres buy the Lochs. We also started fitting out the camper with cutlery, pots and all the necessities. We even stopped at Loch Ness and saw the Loch Ness Monster.

After driving passed an impressive ruin on the shores of Loch Lomond and not visiting it because its cost an arm and a leg we decided we need to get the Historic Scotland pass. So our first site with the new pass was Fort George a big English strong hold build by King George the 2nd after an attack from Bonnie Prince Charlie.We were very lucky because here we saw pods of dolphins jumping in Firth of Moray.
From Fort George we had a big day where we vistied three great sites.
We started the morning at Dallace Dhu Whisky brewery where we learnt the long and complicated process of making barley and water into Scotch Malt Whisky (Scotland's water of life). Plus Mum and Dad got there free Dram. Next we went to the ruins of Spinney Palace, an old palace of the Bishops of Moray and then Elgin cathedral.Where we also lucky that right after we visited the cathedral, we caught the end of the local fair and watched an entertaining show with a local farmer and his sheep dogs. We then camped by a golf course and found about fifty golf balls in the grass and gorse but didn't know what to do with them

The following day we visited Duff House in Banff. A hidden gem. It was an old mansion that had been restored after originally being built by a member of the wealthy Duff Family. It was full of an elaborate and beautiful oil paintings worth millions of pounds, beautiful furniture and the walls and roof were decorated. It was flash and grand. It was really amazing

Our next stop was the museum of Scottish lighthouses and the first Scottish lighthouse at Kinnard head. Here we learnt about the history of Scotlands lighthouses. Then we went to Tolquhon Castle which was a favourite castle even though it wasnt the biggest. It was a castle for looks rather then defence like most other castles. It had a bakehouse and kitchens with ovens and a slopdrain, great hall and lots of nooks, crannies and secret stairways to discover.

The next day we visited an unusual site. It was a small museum of Pictish stones. The Picts were a religious people who had carved there lives in stones that are still here today. There was carvings of the Picts, monsters and lots of crosses.Maddy and Johanna even dressed up as Picts Then we went to Arbroath Abbey which once was inhabited by Grey Monks. Here everyone dressed up as monks which was a laugh.

We then visited Stanley Mills an old cotton mill that had once employed most of Stanley town. We all enjoyed the interactive exhibits like mini waterwheels and what it might have been like working in the mill.
The older ones were then inspired to sew seat covers to protect the seats while we abuse then for a year. After the mill we went to a canal and saw the Falkirk Wheel, an engineering marvel. It is a perfectly balanced wheel which lifted canal boats 35 metres up from one canal to the next and could be turned by a single Horse power motor.

We then went into the Capital City of Scotland-Edinburgh. After finding a place to park we walked up the Royal Mile-the bustling centre of the city-to Edinburgh Castle, With it's grand Defensive Battlements and Armoury sitting on the top of a volcanic rock, overlooking the city. We were frightened by the One O'clock gun and saw the Crown Jewels of Scotland! There were lot's of men dressed in traditional kilts playing the bag pipes around the castle! After learning about the history of Edinburgh Castle went to the Edinburgh Dungeons. It is a spooky tour with live actors that tell a stretched story of Edinburgh's gruesome history.
We watched an artist create amazing paintings with newspaper, spray paint and a craft knife and another guy juggle chainsaws and lay on beds of nails on the Royal Mile before parking up beside the Royal Britannia Yacht on the Leith harbour for the night.

We then made our way back to Chinley, England via York where we went to York Dungeons, like Edinburgh Dungeons, We learnt the story of Guy Fawkes that our teachers didn't tell us, got lost in a labyrinth of mirrors and got burnt at the stake for practising witchcraft.

The Nieuwys