Can’t believe it’s almost over. 6 weeks today we had just arrived and the whole trip stetched out in front of us. Now, we’re headed back home with lots of wonderful memories, souveniers, video and nearly 5,000 photos!

We woke about 5.45am to the sound of rain of the rooftop. Reluctantly got out of bed, got dressed, finished packing the final items, had breakfast and cleaned up. We then drove to the motorhome owners home, which was just 15mins away and said goodbye to our home for the last 3.5 weeks. Barry, the owner, then drove us in his car to Heathrow. The drive took about 1 hr 15mins and thankfully there was no traffic (early Sat. morning is a good time to travel in London ). Christy thought it was great that she got to sit in the front seat.

We arrived at the airport about 9.30am and got checked in. We then went through security where Amy had her first personal search with the wand and Pop had his bag gone through and some toiletries confiscated (the same ones who flew with from Australia!). We then did some last minute shopping in the airport and picked up some supplies for the plane. Boy, was it crowded. Not too fun at all but I coped. Finally our flight was given a gate number and headed over.

It was a strange set up here and we had to get booked into the flight (again) and then wait. Of course, there were no toilets in the waiting area and it was still over an hour till we’d be up in the air so the girls and I had to sign out again and then sign back in. Our flight was late in boarding due to a problem with the air con but finally we were onboard, settled and ready to go.

I watched 3 movies and a couple of TV shows. I did try to sleep but wasn’t very successful as there was too much noise around. The girls managed to get a little sleep.

At Singapore we had to disembark with all our cabin bags and reboard 30mins later. We decided to go for a bit of  a walk before getting back in the security line – crazy I say!

It was now around 3am UK time and I was feeling sick – from over tiredness. Luckily I managed to get around 4 hours sleep and felt much better. I watched a bit more TV and then it was time to land..or so we thought. We had been running early but there had been some strong winds come through Sydney so runways had to be changed, which meant we had to circle for around 30mins before we could land.

We did manage to see the sunset though out one of the back windows.

Finally we landed about 7.30pm. We then passed through customs and collected our luggage. We were chosen to have our bags sniffed by the dogs which the girls thought was fun. I’m happy to have the bags sniffed but would not have been happy if I’d had to open a bag – they were stuffed full – not quite how they looked when we travelled over . We met our driver around 8pm and were home just after 9.30pm. We were starving and very grateful that Kevin had bought us some Dominos pizza and was keeping it warm in the oven. It was SOOO appreciated. He had the house all tidied and had bought me two beautiful bunches of flowers. The dogs gave us a big welcome home, as did Nan. I’m not sure what time we headed to bed – probably around 10.30 – 11pm. I had a great nights sleep in own bed and woke around 6am this morning feeling so much more refreshed.

Once again we would all have liked to sleep in but we had to started with our last leg of the journey. First up it was back over this bridge.

Then most of today involved motorways which made for easy driving for Pop, but it was rather boring for me – I spent quite a bit of time reading blogs since we had internet access. We could not believe how much traffic was on the road.

We stopped at a Marks and Spencer and pick up some lunch which we had in the motorhome once we arrived at Duxford Imperial War Museum. I had the Mexian 3 bean wrap again. YUM!

After eating we headed into the musuem – my gosh – it was SOOOO much bigger than we’d expected.

So many planes and so little time. It was really hard to keep the kids moving along – they wanted to look at everything and do ALL the hands on activities.

We spent around 3 hour here and really enjoyed our visit. We know Kevin would have loved it. On the way out we stopped for an ice cream.

and the girls went for a ride…

It was then just a 5 min drive tonights caravan park.

We got set up and then on with the “fun” task of packing the suitcases and cleaning the motorhome (ready to hand it back in the morning).

The girls had fun playing with their new knitting things.

Tonight I made a omelet for Poppy and Amy and I had a superfood salad I’d picked up earlier. Yummo!

Hoping to have an early night and good nights sleep. We drove the motorhome off at 8am tomorrow and head to the airport for our LONG flight home.

We woke up to rain again and after getting ready (well not Christy – she stayed in her PJs) we hit the road for a 3 hour drive to Bolton Abbey. The sat nav decided that, once again, we should take the scenic route.

Which was all well and good until we hit a single lane road and came face to face with a truck – who then had to back up to let us pass.

Our adventure over we arrived at todays destination just after 12pm. Lucy, the owner/writer of one of my favourite blogs,  Attic 24, often visits here with her family and I was keen to visit after seeing all her wonderful photos.

The skies were just clearing up as we headed off. First stop – lunch at the Cavendish Pavillion.

I had a kids portion of potato with coleslaw – which was very nice.

I have to say though, I’m rather sick of cafeteria style lunches – trying to order you own food plus get the kids sorted is rather stressful (esp. with Christy who never wants anything proper). We ate outside and then headed off for a 2 hour walk through the woods and along the river.

It was uphill and downhill and we saw lots of puppies, which the girls had to say hello to. We even saw a Golden.

After an hour we crossed the river and headed back.

It was along here that we came across the money tree. Of course, the girls wanted to put some money in.

The walk was tiring but very enjoyable and two hours later we were back at the Cavendish Pavillion for afternoon tea. I had the raspberries and cream I’d spotted at lunchtime with some Yorkshire tea. Delicious. Raspberries here are just the best.

We then walked back to the motorhome and I changed into my more comfortable crocs. Christy stayed behind the rest of us walked to Bolton Abbey for what we thought would be a nice easy walk. However we hadn’t spotted the river and had walk up a steep staircase and down a hill to get to the other side.

But it was worth it. I thought the whole abbey was ruined but part is intact – complete with 14th century roof. We talked to one of the ladies in their and she explained that Henry VIII allowed it to remain so the people of the town had somewhere to worship and only the monastry and other parts was destroyed.

We walked through the ruins and down the river behind.

Amy had wanted to cross over on the stones but got too nervous.

So we walked back to the van and drove back to tonights accomodation. We had passed it earlier today so knew it was back alone the narrow road – but luckily not too far back. This was another lovely park – overlooking the Yorkshire Dales. I loved how you could hear the sleep bleating away when outside the van.

Tonights dinner was pasta with tomato sauce.

The girls went off to play soccer with another family and their boys and Christy came back in tears after falling onto (we think) stinging nettles. Amy had had an encounter on our wood walk earlier today but Christy’s was worse. We put on some cream to help with the sting.

Firstly just wanted to share last nights sunset – stunning wasn’t it?

Christy was out late playing with a friend last night and didn’t come home till nearly 10pm. So we all had a bit of a sleep in till 7.30am. Breakfast was a freshly baked crossant – which was delicious.

Therefore we didn’t get underway until after 9am. We had a couple of stops, including the border.

We also stopped to get petrol as this very antiquated petrol station. The pump was so old is couldn’t even handle the current price of petrol.

We also passed a field of geese – something I’ve never seen before.

Just before 12pm we arrived at Alnwick Castle. It was quite a walk to the castle from the car park and very convoluted to get there but eventually we arrived, in amongst the drizzle.

We arrived just in time to see a magic show – which the girls enjoyed. Of course, they had to buy a little magic kit afterwards.

After the show we went in search of lunch. It was hectic and busy but we eventually got some food and found a seat outside. They had a station with warm wraps and I was very excited to find this one. YUM!!

After our tummies were full we went to the Knights Quest area. On the way the girls stopped to make some soap.

I was pleased to see that Amy was not “grown up” to get dressed in costume. Christy wanted to be a Knight so she could have a sword.

There was the Dragon’s Quest walk through – not really sure what the point of it was besides scaring young kids!

Then there was making an anti-dragon potion….

and sword fighting…

and leaving Poppy holding the handbags .

Later we saw the stagecoach…

and the dungeon ….

views from the top….

and around the castle…

We left about 3.45pm and went via the garden gift shop. This is the second time I’ve seen this chicken pottery and I love it but refrained from buying any. I would have bought the toast server but it was rather heavy.

We then drove the 15min trip to tonights stop. Filled up the tank with water and got settled. And yes, we have internet again tonight .

The girls were quick to start work on their magic tricks.

Tonights dinner is quiche, beans and bread rolls. Can’t believe we’ve only got three nights and two days left!!!

We were all up quite early again and on the road by 8.30am. We had expected to be on motorways most of today but instead the sat nav took us the scenic route through woodlands….

then alpine country…

some ruins….

and finally down to the coast…

and to todays destination – Scotland’s Secret Bunker.

We took the audio tour of this underground complex – built during the cold war and kept in working order until 1993. The audio tour was interesting and well worth taking.

The girls were especially amazed at the dial telephones – I remember having one exactly like this growing up.

We had lunch at the cafe.

And while waiting, we all took the opportunity to check our e-mail in free internet area.

Lunch today was a toasted cheese and tomato sandwich. It came out looking VERY burnt, but once I scraped all the black away it was surprisingly tasty .

We finished off our tour and headed off in the motorhome to tonights accomodation just past Edinburgh.

We were lucky to see a BIG traffic jam just after an exit so we took the exit and went the slightly longer (but faster) way around.  We arrived around 4.15am and the girls disappeared off to the playground.

Pop & I enjoyed a cheese platter while the girls played and I uploaded photos to Flickr. Later he cooked a BBQ dinner – but we ate inside as the wind had gotten a bit cool.

So sad this is our last night in Scotland .

We were up just after 6am this morning, had a visit from the local red squirrels and was on the road at 7.50am. We had a two hour drive to Archeolink Prehistory Park and arrived just after opening at 10am. Dad was feeling a bit off still and drowsy so we made a few rest stops along the way.

The park was not what I had expected. We watched a film about the park which was good then we were left to wander around by ourselves – which we did. Christy stopped for a play in the park.

At 11.30am we joined the tour (and Pop went back to the van for a rest/nap). The tour was much better as our guide explained much more about what we were seeing than what was on the board.

At the end of the tour the girls did some wool craft – which they enjoyed.

At 1pm we went back to van to find Poppy just about to come join us. Instead we had a quick lunch in the motorhome before heading on to Haddo House.

Haddo House is special to my family because Pop was one of the Haddo babies – born during WWII when pregnant women were moved from Glasglow to the country houses to give birth.
We arrived just after 2pm so had a bit of a wait till our 3.30pm tour. We passed the time by taking photos of the exterior and strolling through the gardens, before finally sitting to wait outside.

Pet graves..

A tree planted by Queen Victoria.

We then joined our elderly guide for a tour of the house. He was great – spending much of the time talking to the girls. We saw the room that Queen Victoria slept in – which is where Poppy would have been born as that was the room turned into the maternity ward.
At the end of the tour we even saw a portrait of the man who first bred golden retrievers – after seeing some large red hunting dogs in the Russian circus. We really enjoyed our tour here – even without the connection it was one of the best we’d been on. The guide clearly loved the place and loved sharing his knowledge about everything. I’ve been here before but don’t remember being so impressed. At the end Poppy was asking to write in a book about Haddo babies.

We left around 4.45pm and headed to tonights accomoodation at Hill Head Caravan Park.

Once settled I went off to do another load of washing. In between I got dinner organised and downloaded photos.
Dinner tonight was a lovely vegetable lasagne.

The girls and I then did our nails and even Poppy got some pampering by Christy – no he didn’t get his nails painted, just filed and polished!

Then it was time to write up todays blog and head to bed. It started raining a little while ago so we’re hoping it passes over by tomorrow morning.

Today started with a grocery shop at the Tesco in Aviemore. We then walked up and down in search of crafty shops to buy stuff in. But there was only one and they didn’t have anything especially nice. I was rather dissapointed as I remembered some good shops here 10+ years ago. Amy did spot a Goldie though .

We then drove the Highland Fork Museum.

This is an open air museum that is amazingly free to get into. First up we watched a film about the museum and then visited the 1930s school house. Then down to the 1700s highland village. It was great to get a real feel for house people once lived.

The girls were also able to dress up.

And Christy had fun pretending to grind oats.

We then headed back to the cafe for some lunch. Today I had a roast veggie quiche – it was nice but would have been so much better heated up.

And I had some of this orange hedgehog slice. The caramel slice was Amy’s.

After lunch we explore the other end of the museum – which was more about farming. And we found a cute hen with 8 little chicks.

Lastly the girls visited the play park. It was a great one and I think Christy could have happily spent hours here.

From here we went to the Leult Working Sheepdog Farm. When we arrived the dogs (well some of the 18) all came running to greet us. I was surprised how much they wanted to be patted – even nudging our arms much like our own dogs would.

There were some 10 week old puppies as well, already in training.

And, of course, the sheep.

At 4pm it was time for the demonstration. This was amazing. Watching one of the dogs bring some sheep from the back paddock. All the dogs were just itching to have a go.

I took most of the photos with the Nikon but took a few to share with you now. The shepherd lined up the dogs and had one of the dogs weave the flock through them. So clever.

He also sheared one of the sheep….

and the girls got to have a turn as well…

Lastly they got the bottle feed the lambs.

We enjoyed our time with the pups and sheep. Unfortunately Poppy wasn’t feeling the best (possibly coming down with the flu). We drove back to the caravan park and I got a load of washing done while dinner cooked. Christy went off to play with some friends. Pop rested and had a bit of a sleep. Amy played on her DS and I played on the computer.

Oh, and I forgot to show you the mismatch socks I got yesterday. Aren’t they cute?

So nice to have a bit of a sleep in this morning. Eventually we got up, got organised and set off for todays adventure. After a quick stop at the Estate visitors center we went to the Cairngorn Reindeer center. We saw some of the reindeer (most of the 100 odd herd are on the hills).

There was also a lot of kids activities and info about the reindeers which filled in time before our trip up to see the herd. We followed our guide in a convoy of cars and then walked for about 20mins. It was a lovely walk through the forest.

Then finally we arrived at the herd. The reindeer were just so gorgeous and all came running down when they saw our guide with the bag of food.

Their antlers are like velvet and full of blood so continually growing and very sensitive.

Food was spread out on the ground and we were also able to handfeed them.

And just check out the hooves – perfect for the snow!

We spent around 30mins with the herd and then walked back to the motorhome.

From here we drove further up the mountain to the Cairngorn Mountain Railway. We caught the railway even further up.

We had lunch at the cafe. Despite having an unpleasant time getting Christy to eat a few bites of her fish, the view and Vegetable Soup was great.

Then we went out to the viewing area.

Then it was back down the railway and to the Highland Wildlife Park. The first part is a drive through, which the girls thought was fantastic.

Lots of great animals. I took lots of photos with my Nikon but can’t download those until I get home.

You then walk around to see some other animals – just like a normal zoo. Not too many photos with my normal camera as the battery was getting low.

We enjoyed our visit here but it started to rain right towards the end so we missed the last few animals and Christy missed out on a play at the park. We headed back to the caravan park but the rain never really came to anything. Shortly after we arrived back some nearby neighbours came to invite the girls on a walk with them (and their dog). Christy had gone with them yesterday and another family with a little boy she befriended and must have made a good impression. They returned about an hour later. We had an easy dinner and relaxed (again). Can’t believe we’re into the last week of our trip and that it’s nearly over

It’s another beautiful day so it was somewhat reluctantly that set off this morning for the 90 min drive to Culloden.

We arrived around 11am. First up we went through the visitors center. It’s well set out but was a bit too much reading for the girls. The short 360 deg movie showing what the battle was like was really good and bought tears to my eyes. We saw a presentation which was really good and probably more helpful to the girls.

We then went out to the battlefield where we took the audio tour.

It wasn’t as moving as it’s been the last two times here but I’m not sure whether it was because of the weather (last time it was gloomy) or the audio tour (as opposed to the live guide) or just that we had the girls! It was still good though and very sad to think of all the lives lost in the battle and the subsequent end to the traditional highland way of life.

We had lunch at the cafe, where Amy spotted a Goldie.

Christy sat at the special kids table.

I had a lovely salad.

followed by the sharing of Mars Bar Slice.

Next we drove to Fort George (getting a little lost along the way).

This was SO much bigger than we’d expected. Another audio tour told us the main points of this still working barracks (thought the Scots Watch are currently in Kenya).

We also saw a show about the life of a soldier – and amazingly it was same guy from the Glen Coe demonstration. He even picked on Christy again and when we checked with him at the end of the show that it was indeed him he remembered her giggly .

We left here at 4.30pm and drove to Aviemore and on to Rothiemurchus Estate where we are staying for the next 3 nights. It is not what I had expected. It is HUGE and the campground a little more rustic that I’d thought. At first I thought we were in the wrong campground .

Once the initial disappointment was over it really is a nice park – full of  trees and streams.

And thankfully, I have internet again so am able to blog the last few days.

Just how beautiful can one country be. We woke to blue skies again and set off at 8.30am for the scenic coast road to Ullapool. We started off with more rolling green farm areas and I was beginning to wonder if the whole coastal area would be like this. But then we spotted the mountains in the distance.

The scenery was just incredible and around every corner or bend it was even better. I lost count of the times Pop and I said beautiful, amazing, gorgeous, fantastic, spectacular and awesome. Words fail to describe the land we drove through so hopefully these photos will capture some of it. And truly amazing part was that everywhere was 360 degree views.

We stopped at Smoo Cove to stretch our legs and take some photos.

Later we stopped at a Spar and bought some lunch ingredients. I few minutes up the road we found the most amazing place to eat. There was even a picnic table for us to have our picnic lunch. It was a little chilly out but it was too magical a day to eat indoors.

We had make your own wraps…

Followed by some butterfly cakes…

Driving on down the coast (and slightly inland) we had a number of photo stops, including Ardvreck Castle.

We were admiring the view (again) and coming down a big hill when I spotted our caravan park in the distance. WOW!! Another magical location.

Once set up the girls went off to play on the stone beach. Pop & I enjoyed a cup of tea/coffee then we all went for a walk around the park. I took LOTS of photos.

The girls flew a kite….

Christy made rock sculptures…

and they both sat together on the beach being loving Sisters (actually they were getting on very well all day today).

Poppy and I relaxed. I thought it only fitting to read Coast magazine.

Dinner tonight was pasta with a tomato sauce.

We played some blackjack, I typed up todays report and we headed to bed at 9.30pm. Another beautiful sunset.