SCOTLAND (No. 3 of UK Visit)

We both fell in love with Scotland and again we encounter glorious scenery especially up in the highlands where any Scotsman will tell you that there is nothing there, but really there are spectacular rugged mountains which one can imagine snow-capped in winter but now are covered in the most glorious mauve heather.  We take the opportunity whenever we can to drive through the moors dodging sheep and horses that have had the right of way for hundreds of years.  Our hosts in B&Bs are very friendly and treat us as one of the family.  We stay in quaint and sometimes grand accommodation depending on who inherited what in the way of estates. 

A rather grand B&B - we think this one was inherited

On one of our back-road treks we stumbled upon a place called 'Birkhall' and while taken aback by the presence of a 'Bobby' on the gate we continued to wrack our brains as to who may reside there.  Once we drove past Balmoral Castle (where the Queen is in residence for summer) we discovered that 'Birkhall' is Charles and Camilla's summer house, once occupied by the Queen Mother.  Explains the policeman.

We are both keen on taking the roads-less-travelled and a good percentage of our time is spent exploring tiny winding tracks (they call them roads) over mountains and past paddocks and through glorious villages that most of the Brits and Scots themselves would never have seen.  

And a castle pops up here and there

Afternoon tea in Scotland

There's that glorious heather again

The Scottish are very friendly people and have the most wonderful accents and a good sense of humour.  Australians are heartily welcomed amid wisecracks about the cricket and the Scottish version of 'g'day mate' said with their beautiful accents.  Although they do try to offload a Fosters or two we decline – YUK – why do they think we send it over there?  We are fortunate to catch up with a fellow cruiser who had sailed with the rally from Darwin through Indonesia and Malaysia and on to the Mediterranean to finally return to Troon in Scotland.  Iain and his friends entertain, feed and provide a bed for us for a night of Scottish hospitality – just great, thanks so much. 

Inverness Castle, now government offices

While in Edinburgh we treat ourselves to a night at the Castle to watch the 2011 Military Tattoo and what a wonderful experience that was.  Just fabulous.  The TV does not do the night justice and we are so glad we rugged up and bought a blanket and climbed the steep stairs to really goods seats to enjoy the entertainment.

Opening the Tattoo

 

A spectacular finish

On arrival however, we were a tad worried as the hotel we had booked 4 months earlier told us that we were double booked but would be accommodated in the hotel 'flat'.  Hmmm – the flat was not fit for squirrels let alone guests and a frustrating afternoon's debate ensued but finally we found alternative accommodation - and a refund - and the following days made up for all the fuss.  Strange though, the alternate accommodation we found was hosted by a lovely Indian lady with a very strong Scottish accent.  Weird looking at a Sri Lankan/Indian-looking lady and hearing her speak with a Scottish accent.  Hope I didn’t stare for too long. 

Loch Ness and up through the beautiful Scottish sailing grounds around the islands off the mainland are again breathtakingly beautiful and of course we had to drive to the Mull of Kintyre (yes we had Paul McCartney playing while we shivered and sipped red wine from the bottle overlooking the Mull watching the sunset and the mist rolling in from the sea....) corny we know, but it just had to happen.  Finally we reached northern-most tip of mainland Scotland (Dunnett Head) to see the Orkney Isles in the distance.

The top end of Loch Ness

All too soon we have to leave the Scottish summer (just like Winter in Melbourne really) to wind our way back into the lush green English countryside.  

The pretty coastal town of Lynmouth

Lynmouth

Anne Hathaway's house (wife of Shakespeare)

A back road somewhere in England !

For your viewing pleasure - The Amazing Falkirk Wheel.

The Falkirk Wheel is a rotating boat lift located in Scotland.  The wheel has an overall diameter of 35 metres (115 ft) and consists of two opposing arms which extend 15 metres beyond the central axle and take the shape of a Celtic-inspired axe.  Two sets of these axe-shaped arms are attached about 25 metres (82 ft) apart to a 3.5 metres (11 ft) diameter axle. Two diametrically-opposed water-filled buckets or gondolas each with a capacity of 80,000 imperial gallons (364,000 litres) are fitted between the ends of the arms.

These gondolas always weigh the same whether or not they are carrying their combined capacity of 600 tonnes of floating canal barges as, according to Archimedes principle: floating objects displace their own weight in water, so when the boat enters, the amount of water leaving the gondola weighs exactly the same as the boat. This keeps the wheel balanced and so, despite its enormous mass, it rotates through 180° in five and a half minutes while using very little power. It takes just 22.5 kilowatts (30.2 hp) to power the electric motors which consume, in four minutes, roughly the same amount of energy as boiling eight kettles of water.

The wheel is the only rotating boat lift of its kind in the world - press the arrow below to see it in action.