Category: Scotland

Woke up around 7.30am VERY relieved to feel almost back to normal. I even managed to have some hot  tea and breakfast – just a tortilla with some cheese and salad. We got the motorhome all tidied up and re-organised this morning and just before 10am headed back to the Glen Coe Visitors Center for our Landrover Safari Tour.

This was a fantastic trip as we all saw all the main sights around the glen and many of the stories associated with them. It was drizzling on and off but clear enough to enjoy the beauty. It is such a magical place. Every time you turn around you are amazed. I took loads of photos today but have tried to narrow down my selection to share with you.

Sorry…just a few more to go…

The only negative of the tour was that we didn’t have a great view out of the landrover – esp. when trying to look up at the tall munroes. i had planned on us doing a walk here but with being sick yesterday and the weather a bit too wet we decided against it. It will have to go on the list for next time.

The tour lasted for 3 hours until 1.30pm and we were rather hungry upon conclusion so we headed back to the cafe again. This time I ordered (and enjoyed) some broccoli soup.

Just as we finished we heard an announcement that there was to be a special presentation about Highlanders in 10mins. Of course we immediately headed off not really sure what to expect. And it certainly surpassed any expectations we did have. It was very well put together and highly entertaining. They had great pleasure in making fun of us Australians not being able to understand English.

And to cap it off Christy was selected to model the traditional highland dress. She looked so cute.

It was such a great little show and we were so pleased we saw it. We then headed back into the visitors center for the girls to play the games again.

We then went out the lookout where it had cleared up quite a bit. I would liked to have gone for a walk but Amy wasn’t up for it.

Instead when we went to the van park Dad & I went for a walk back into Glen Coe town. It was a nice, easy walk with more stunning views (esp. now as it had stopped drizzling).

Back home I prepared a cheese platter which I enjoyed (in amongst doing the laundry).

It was another beautiful evening and I was so happy to be able to enjoy it today. I will be sad to leave tomorrow but I’m sure we’ll seeing plenty more wonderful scenery.

The girls went out exploring in the loch again this evening and then headed for shower while I got dinner ready. We had pizza tonight but not until nearly 8pm. Talk about dinner with a view.

 

Oh boy, what a night. Kevin and I both had Amy’s vomiting bug. It was horrendous. We were will still feeling very poorly in the morning. My vomiting had stopped but Kevin was still at it. We ended up lazying/sleeping most of the morning. By 11am we were feeling somewhat better – though physically very sore. Luckily we had packed Kevin’s bag yesterday and he headed off to try and do a few things before his flight to London at 6pm.

We headed off to Glencoe. Poppy did great driving the motorhome and we finally entered the highlands.

Just as magnificent as I remembered. Even with the drizzle the place is beautiful. I was still not feeling all that great but the scenery helped to compensate for my misery and I sat with a big grin on my face.

We stopped to take a few photos at Loch Tulla and drove through the Rannoch Moor.

Finally we arrived (in the drizzle) at Glencoe.

And we all decided we could happily live in this house – at least in the Summer :-).

Unfortunately I was feeling pretty bad (though nothing compared to last night). We went to the cafe for the others to have lunch. I continued to sip on my flat lemonade. We then went to the visitors center where the girls found lots of fun games to play and I sat and watched a movie about the Glencoe Massacre.

We left (since we’re coming back tomorrow) and headed to the motorhome park. It was just as I’d hoped and we were given a spot right on the Loch which is just magical.

This has always been my favourite part of Scotland and I’m still in love with it.

Unfortunately being ill I wasn’t able to fully enjoy it today and promptly went to bed to sleep some more. It fined up during the afternoon and Christy was able to spend time at the play park and the girls went for a walk by/in the loch.

I was able to manage a bit of dinner tonight – a slice of bread with cheese and more lemonade. It was a beautiful sunny evening and I was very jealous of everyone out walking. At 8.30pm I went to bed to read and was asleep shortly afterwards, hoping to wake up feeling like myself in the morning.

We packed up and left Stirling at 9am after a good nights sleep. It was an easy run out to Callander where we met up with Poppy and Amy.

We parked the motorhome and all hopped in the car for the drive out to Loch Katrine. It was a drizzly day and VERY cold and windy when we got there. So we were all rather relieved to find out that the SS Sir Walter Scott steam boat that we were booked on wasn’t running (as it was all outdoors) and instead went on the Lady of the Lake.

This was a lovely cruise. We had originally planned to go one way and ride bikes back along the path but with the on and off rain and the COLD day we decided not to. Instead we cruised up to Stronachlachar enjoying tea and shortbread.

We hopped off to take some photos and then hopped back on board for the hour long cruise back to Loch Katrine.

We all enjoyed this and the weather was fine enough that we could enjoy the view.

And we even spotted a Goldie :-)…. look closely…

We then visited the shop – which had lots of lovely unique gifts. And we found our favourite Borders.
We left and headed in search of lunch. We found this very unique cafe.

Cute little decorations.

We had a lovely lunch – I had the first lentil soup of the trip (lentil soup is the best in Britain).

Then it was back to Callander. We went to the Rob Roy visitor center but had just missed the film and Christy needed the toilet desperately.

While we waited for Pop and Chrsity to return Kevin went shopping – and yes, he did buy it.

I then visited the local fudge shop – they had a great selection and we bought some more tablet.

And another goldie spotted :-).

Since it was still a bit of a wait for the movie we decided not to bother (I’d just watched movie Rob Roy anyway and we heard about him on the cruise) so we walked back to the motorhome/car and set off for tonights park. It was a short drive through beautiful countryside.

We had planned to go out again to see some waterfalls and a folklore center but by the time Christy ate her lunch (she didn’t eat anything at lunchtime and was now starving) we were too late for last entry. We stayed inside for the afternoon and got Kevin all packed up for his trip back home tomorrow. The girls worked on their journals and when the rain had come back in and we had fun watching people set up their tents in the rain :-).

Of course Kevin made me try on his hat :-).

We decided to have dinner out tonight for our last dinner with Kevin and found a lovely little pub in the nearby town. We could have walked but it was still drizzly so we took the car.

We were made very welcome and they even opened up the dining area for us. First we were seated in this cute little area while we looked at the menu.

We loved the kids menu.

Eventually our meal was ready and we were seated at our table in our private dining room. Both girls weren’t feeling well and even though they ordered a meal neither of them ate a bite. I enjoyed my leek and brie tart but could only eat one !!!

Then it was back to the motorhome to get all 5 of us settled for the night. It was cozy but we managed.

Kevin and I woke up around 6am to lots of mist on the hills. We had a call from Dad at 8am to say that Amy had been vomitting during the night and was still asleep. So we had a lazy morning – playing on the computer and Christy started watching a DVD. Eventually they turned up around 10am but Amy was still sick and promptly fell asleep on our bed. But at least the vomitting had stopped. When the rain stopped for a bit we got out for a walk around the campsite and Christy played at the park.

While Amy was still sleeping Kevin, Christy and I went to the shops to buy an extra suitcase for Kevin to take home. We also picked up some salads for lunch.

Amy was feeling somewhat better on our return but not 100%. Poor thing – she looked a fright :-).

We had some salads for lunch (I forgot to take a photo) and then Poppy and Christy went to the movies to see Shrek in 3D. I used the free time to tidy up the van a bit and wash all our towels. Amy slept a bit more but when she awoke felt well enough to go the Old Town Jail. So when we picked up Poppy & Christy from the movie (which they both really enjoyed) we went straight to the jail and arrived just before last entrance at 4pm.

This also meant we were just in time to take the last tour of the day. This was really great – two actors playing out the various characters who made up the goals past – from the hangman, to the warder to the convict.

Kevin and Christy tried out the exercise yard..

and we got a great view from the top viewing area.

Christy bought some pink handcuffs…

and posed for her mug shot :-).

We left just a few minutes before closing time very glad we’d been able to fit this in.

Tonights dinner was pies and some of the rice salad we had a lunch heated up. My veggie pie was delicious and I’m glad we’ve got more to have another night.

Amy decided to go back with Poppy aswas looking forward to another bath in the hotel (and we’re very glad she was there last night to be sick and not in the van). Later we sampled some IRN BRU (Scotland’s 2nd most popular soft drink). I don’t like soft drinks but this was okay – I thought it tasted like creaming soda.

Christy then showered and we realized the grey water tank was full so we moved the motorhome so we could empty it. Christy watched some more of her show and I typed up todays post.