Culzean Castle

Well, today has been a very wet day. Complete opposite to sunny yesterday. The area we are in has been on the BBC Radio 2 traffic report. The A77 is flooded and is closed. Let's hope it's open again tomorrow.

We spent the day at the castle. The castle has been built on the side of a cliff and looks magnificent. We took a guided tour of the inside which was excellent and full of history, beauty and architecture. We didn't venture too far outside but there's 20miles of paths, a deer park and gardens.

Coast to Coast

We are back on the west coast having driven from Edinburgh through Glasgow (Glasgow is just a mass of complicated motorways and junctions). We are at Culzean Castle (silent Z) campsite near Ayr.

The weather has been pretty good today and tomorrow we'll be visiting the castle although my knee still hurts.

Tonight we'll be falling asleep to the sound of a couple of tawny owls. I can hear them now.

Edinburgh

We've been to Edinburgh before a few years ago but we skipped the castle. It was too expensive for the amount of time we wanted to spend there. This time we could get in for free (normally £16 each) with our English Heritage membership (sorry if that is sounding like a broken record).

Just like at Stirling Castle we had a guide who was very funny. We saw a few things including the Scottish crown jewels and the firing of the Clock Gun which goes off 6 days a week at 1pm.

In the whisky shop in the castle there is a bottle of single malt whisky from 1964 for sale for £3900! It's bottle 1 of 250.

We decided to hike up to Arthur's Seat which is a 250metre high hill which has great views of the city. It was a bit of a hike and Zoe's knee started hurting so I left her resting while I continued. It didn't take long. It was a moderate climb with steps. On the way down while climbing over rocks I tripped and fell forward. I twisted and landed on my back but I bashed my knee quite badly and got a few scratches and bruises on my hands caused as I tried to stop myself from falling. I think I was very lucky. It could have been a lot worse. Walking all the way back down was very painful. When we got back to Herman I tried to stop the swelling using frozen sausages.

Hopefully I should be able to drive Herman but I think pressing the clutch will be a bit painful.

Stirling Castle

We travelled to Edinburgh today. Driving from the west coast to the east coast took about 3 hours with some amazing scenery. It's very distracting, the scenery. There has been a few times where I've had wobbly moment after looking out the wrong window for too long.
On the way to Edinburgh we caught sight of Stirling Castle from the motorway and decided to check it out for a couple of hours. The entry fee was £13 each but we got in for free with our English Heritage membership.
The castle is well worth the visit. We had an excellent guide to show us around. He was very chatty and knew his history. They also have people in costume to give you more information about each room.

Oban

We've been to Oban before a few years ago but that was to catch the ferry to Mull. We thought it would nice to see what was Oban really like because all we did last time was sit in the car.
On the way to Oban we paid a visit to Dunstaffage Castle and the beautiful Stalker Castle which has been built on a small island (obviously the owners don't like neighbours).
In Oban we ate (I had haggis again), checked out McCaig Tower and the distillery (I had to buy a bottle of 14 year old single malt whisky).
We also did food shopping in Tesco. This may sound like a boring thing to write but we noticed that since Scotland has many many salmon farms in its many lochs the salmon that Tesco sells comes from Norway!

Scottish Sea Life Sanctuary

We've decided to head south towards Oban which is 27 minutes away. It was a tough decision because we wanted to head to either the Isle of Skye, Inverness (where there is a school of dolphins which you can watch from the shore) or the Cairngorms (where we have a chance to see eagles).
Taking the beautiful coastal road we visit the Scottish Sea Life Sanctuary along the way. Here we got to see their resident common seal and their two Canadian otters which was great. They also have a massive aquarium with different types of fish, many endangered,  including sharks, dogfish, wolf fish, congar eels, cod and skate.

Glenfinnan

Today we drove to Glenfinnan which is where Bonny Prince Charlie returned from exile and gathered many clansman to claim back his right to be king against the English. A monument on the loch marks this event.
The Jacobite train also travels through here via the magnificent viaduct which was used in the Harry Potter films.
We also saw the light and heat of the sun. We had 269 seconds and many beautiful rainbows especially over the viaduct.

Glencoe

Today has been a wet day, all day. The sun and the mountains have been hidden behind a thick layer of cloud. The weather report said heavy rain and gales. We haven't had that yet but there is still time.

Waterproofs on, we go for a walk in the area and end up in the Glencoe Village Cafe. Their hot soup and a sandwich combo and the apple and pear pie with hot creamy custard are homemade and delicious.

On the way back we spot 3 red deer crossing the path in front of us and one of them got quite close (6 metres is close). That's another Scottish species ticked off the list.

The Scottish Highlands

Today we've headed for the Scottish Highlands. The journey is a 2 hour drive but it took us a lot longer due to having to stop every so often to admire the fantastic scenery.

We are staying at the Glencoe campsite about 10 miles south of Fort William.

Walk to Ben Lomond

A bit of weird day today weather wise. The wind has picked up and it brings with it sunshine, rain, more sun followed by more rain. But it's so predictable because you can see the weather as it comes across the loch.
So, with this weather in mind we put on our waterproofs and walked towards Ben Lomond along the West Highland Way. The path hugs the lock's coastline so we kept a look out for otters. No otters but we did see a red squirrel (that's one off the list to see) and many swallows which must mean it's still summer!
We were too tired to go up Ben Lomond. Instead we headed back along the easier, flatter road. We must have done 6 or 7 miles by the time we arrived back at the campsite.

West Highland Way

As I write this the sun is setting over Loch Lomond, the rain has stopped and the midges are eating my face. It's worth it though as you can see from the photo.

Today we cycled into the nearest village called Balmaha using the West Highland Way which is a 95mile path from Glasgow to Fort William.

While in Balmaha we ate in the Oak Tree Inn where I had the haggis panini. I've not had haggis before and this panini was delicious. Then we went into the visitors centre with a few questions about the wildlife. Long story, short. We are very unlikely to see otters or osprey. We should see Golden eagles up mountains. Grey squirrels are being wiped out by pine martins. And we should also be able to see crossbills and red squirrels in the forests.

So, fingers crossed and binoculars out

Additional; the sun has set and the bats are out. Simply fantastic

Loch Lomond

We've arrived at Loch Lomond. We have a pitch right on the waters edge and the view was amazing until the mist and rain came in. I still managed to do a spot of fishing though.

First Stop Carlisle

We are back on the road again with Herman and this time we are touring Scotland. We've been to Scotland before in a rental where we went to the Cairngorms and Edinburgh but this time we are heading for the west side, the Highlands and maybe an island. We have no plans unlike the other trips. We are going to go where the mood (or weather) takes us.
The only destinations we have planned for is a campsite in Carlisle to break up the driving and a campsite on the shores of Lock Lomond.
So far it's been uneventful. We've driven up the boring and long  M40 and M6. We did it in 5 hours and there was no traffic. The last time we did the drive there were a lot of road works which simply did my head in for every 20 miles there was a 50mph limit and only two lanes.