Holiday - Doughnut comes home from Holiday

Doughnut comes home from Holiday

Today Tims mum rang offering to bring Doughnut home. We had planned to go to Portland  to pick him up tomorrow but it was very kind for to bring him to us as neither of us really wanted to get back in a car this weekend!

Doughnut has had a lovely time away enjoying being aboe to run around the garden and bothering the other bunnies!  It is nice to have him home.

Holiday - Scotland Day 19 - Drive Home From Carlisle

Scotland Holiday Day 19

  Drive Home From Carlisle

This morning we managed to get ourselves ready and on our way for 8.  The journey home wasn't the best.  We got held up in M6 road works, the M40 was closed so it was busier on the M6.  The M5 also de.ayed us greatly.  We ended up abandoning the route and cut across the Mendips.  Luckily we didn't  get held up aroujd Glastonbury Festival.  We called via my mums in Wimborne  to collect my car and some milk and bread she had kindly got for us.  One of my neices had drawn me a lovely picture of my cat when she had found out that she had died.  It was very kind of her.

We had a great time and it feels like we have been away for ages.  It is always nice to get home though - even if we did end up having a powercut this evening!  The only downside to getting home is all the washing  and sorting out to do!

Holiday - Scotland Day 18 - Edinburgh International Climbing Arena and Drive to Carlisle

Scotland Holiday Day 18

  Edinburgh International Climbing Arena and Drive to Carlisle

This morning I received an upsetting  phone call from my mum to let me know that my cat Skittle had died last week.  It left me feeling rather sad and a bit dazed.  It was not what I was expecting to hear but nice to hear that she hadn't  been in an accident or anything and she had died peacefully.  She had been a rather lucky cat living with my mum and her dog Guinness - even sharing the dogs bed at times!  She had had a few ups and downs but had always fouht through.  Skittle was a happy cat that lived life to the full.  I will miss her very much.

Once I had got myself together we loaded everything  into the car and set off to the Edinburgh International Climbing Arena.  It was an amazing place with so much to have a go at.  Their heighest wall is 30m but they had a lot that was shorter and of easy standard.  We arrived at about 11 and left at 5.30 only having a short break for some lunch!

From the EICA we made our way to Carlisle where we were staying tonight at a Travelodge.  We went to the Toby Carvery in Carlisle for dinner!  A lovely day despite the sad news this morning.

Holiday - Scotland Day 17 - Drive to Kinross, Climbing at BennyBeg

Scotland Holiday Day 17

 Drive to Kinross, Climbing at BennyBeg

This morning we packed everything up and handed the key back into reception.  We had decided that we would go climbing today.  If it was dry we would go to BennyBeg and if it was wet we would go to Edinburgh International Climbing  Arena.  It was slightly drizzly first thing, as we got nearer Perth it started to brighten up.  We decided to give it a go outdoors at BennyBeg.

We eventually found the section of cliff and got kitted up.  We climbed for anout 3 hours till the drizzle started.  The climbs we did were Route Two, Bill and Benny the Flower Pot Men, Tim climbed Bennydorm, we both climbed United Colours of Bennyton, Benny's Groove and Tim finished with New Beginnings.

After climbing  we went to a nearby cafe for some lunch.  From there we decided to head to Kinross and have a walk at Loch Leven and have an ice cream.

We booked into the Trave Lodge and then went to a nearby  pub for a lovely dinner.

Holiday - Scotland Day 16 - Aviemore Osprey Centre and Fenicular Railway in Cairn Gorm Mountains

Scotland Holiday Day 16

Aviemore Osprey Centre and Fenicular Railway in Cairn Gorm Mountains

This morning we wer hoping to wake up so sunshine as the foreacast said last night.  However once again this morning it was cloudy and drizzly!  It did start to brighten up and by the time we left the chalet it had dried up and ws just cloudy.

We decided first to go to the osprey centre at Loch Garten.  It is owned and run by the RSPB.  We parked up and walked out to the centre.  We had already heard that there were no chicks to see because there had been a raid on the nest.  The centre looked out across to an Osprey nest up in some trees in a grassland area.  The osprey was sat on a camera post.  All the telescopes in the centre were already focused on it and the RSPB workers there were very knowledgeable and helpful.  They also had some cameras on some capercaillies in the area.

From there we went into Aviemore as I wanted to get some presents for people.  we also hoped it might give some time for the  cloud to clear over the mountains.  We also had a look in their many mountain sport shops.  I got a good deal on some walking sandals.  And had some lunch.

In Aviemore the clouds had lifted and there was blue sky!  We headed over to the fenicular railway.  When we got to the base station it was obvious to top would be in cloud.  We decided we would go up anyway!  We only had to wait 15 mins for the next train to come.  The journey up only took 8 mins.  On the way up we saw a herd of reindeer.  At the top we had a look at the view - what there was of it! We had a look round the exhibition they had set up and then went for a drink in the cafe.  just befoe getting the train down we had another look at the view.  This time there was even less that before!  We took some obligatory photos and got on the train down.

Back in Aviemore there was plenty of blue sky and sunshine!  We made our way back to the chalet and had a relaxing evening.

Holiday - Scotland Day 15 - Drive to Aviemore

Scotland Holiday Day 15

Drive to Aviemore

Today were leaving Elphin and moving on to Aviemore.  This morning it was lovely and clear over the mountains so managed to get some nice photos.  We packed everything up and loaded the car.  We took the road to Inverness that we had been down at midnight a couple of days before. We were curious to see the scenery that we had missed.

We stopped a couple of times on the way down to get petrol and have some lunch.  We arrived in Aviemore around 4.  We stopped in the tourist information to ask about a nearby Osprey Centre at Loch Garten and the Fenicular Railway at Cairn Gorm Mountain.

We booked into Pine Bank Chalets where we are staying for the next couple of nights.  This evening we have relaxed and watched the weather to help us decide what we are going to do for the next few days.

Holiday - Scotland Day 14 - Reiff Climbing

Scotland Holiday Day 14

Reiff Climbing

This morning we both slept till about 10am following last nights adventure.  We had a slow morning - or what was left of it!  Tim srted out the caving kit so it was ready to be packed back into the car.  We had a bacon and potatoe scone roll for breakfast/lunch while we thought about what we would do today.  The weather was good and we finally saw both peaks of Sulivan mountain and the top of Ben More!  

It looked clearest out to the west so we decided to go over to Reiff to investigate what climbing there was there.  It was a nice drive over and we had a good view of the Summer Isles. 

When we got to Reiff and after a few deliberations we found a nice section of cliff to have a go at.  We started off by top roping a climb called Slanting Corner.  A nice little climb to start off.  The one next to it was called Skel and then Xyles along again.  all were nice climbs with tricky bits in each.  Tim then had a go at Puckered Wall - I gave it a miss as the bottom section looked to hard! 

To finish we both climbed up Velvet Scooter and up onto the top of the cliffs to pack up and go back to the caving hut.  It was cloudy and a bit drizzly as we got back - we definitely had the better weather where we had been.  We got back to the caving hut around 8pm and cooked some dinner.  Tomorrow we are moving on to Aviemore.  Depending on what tomorrow looks like we will decide what we are going to do on the way.

Holiday - Scotland Day 13 - Drive around North Coast and Smoo Cave

Scotland Holiday Day 13

Drive around North Coast and Smoo Cave

Today we got up early as we had planned to drive around the North Coast particularly to visit Smoo Cave, Dunnet Head and Duncasby Head.  We set off around 8am - the weather was drizzly but looked brighter the further north we went.  We first stopped at a view point near Kylestrome to look at the bridge over the lochs.

Our next stop was Durness where we got a bit of shopping from the local shop and then just up the road for Smoo Cave.  We parked and walked down into the sea inlet.  The cave was a large rock shelter style opening.  Just inside there was a couple of walkways to allow access to a bridge to view the waterfall that cascaded into the left side of the cave.  The pool belw the waterfall filled the floor of that chamber and looked quite deep.  we headed back down the walkways to see the chap that did the boat trips had returned.  In total there were 6 of us that went on the trip.  The chap was a local caver and a member of the club where we are staying.  He is currently digging in a part of the cave to see if it extends any further.  He was very knowledgeable about the cave and the surrounding rocks.  He explained to the group about how caves were formed then took us to the bridge just into the second chamber.  From there we climbed down a small ladder and got into a rigid inflatable boat.  We all had to duck as we went under the bridge and into the waterfall chamber.  The chap moored the boat while he talked to us about the waterfall.  From there he took us to other otherside of the chamber and under a natural rock archway - again everyone having to duck.  Fom here we moored up again and all climbed out.  We went down a stream passage to a sump pool.  Above the sump pool was a flowstone bank where the chap had climbed up  and followed the passage for a fair way. We all climbed back into the boat and went back into the waterfall chamber.  We moored up on the far side so we had a good view of the waterfall for some photos.  Ducking back under the bridge we all climbed back up the little ladder andout of the cave.  Really good trip and lovely to have someone doing it who was clearly very passionate and knowledgeable about the place.  We walked back up the other side of the inlet and had a look at the stream and the waterfall as it goes into the top of the cave.

Back in the car we carried along the North coast to Thurso.  Here we got out and stopped for some lunch.  We found a bakery where we could sit in and have a pie!  A little way further round the road we stopped at Dunnet Head.  The most northerly place in mainland UK. We could see out to the Orkney Isles though they were covered in a lot of cloud.  We coud see the Old Man Of Hoy sea stack though. We took some photos from both view points and then made a dash for the car as it was very midgey!

Our next stop wah John O'Groats.  It was very touristy!  We had a little walk around until a chap arrived and started playing the bagpipes!  We hen decided we wouldn't hang around long.  We took shelter in the tea room so Tim could have a cream tea and I had a toastie.  Next we went to Duncansby Head - a beautiful section of headland.  We walked out to where the sea stacks were and passed a sea inlet that was full of birds.  There were Fulmars, Puffins, Gannets, Guillimots, Razorbillls, Shags, Gulls, Great Skewer, Oyster Catchers and many more. 

The next section of the day was to drive down the east coast, find somewhere for some dinner and then head back over to Elphin.  We Headed down the A9 till we got to Dunbeath where we found out there had been a fatal accident earlier in the day and the road was still closed for the accident investigation teams to do their work.  The only way on was to either sit it out and wait for the road to be reopened or to take a nearly 100 mile detour - there aren't many roads across the nrthern parts of Scotland.  We decided to stop in a pub for some food as we were wanting to eat anyway.  When we got inside we found a few other people had had the same idea!  The pub were very kind in getting everyone sorted out for a table and getting food out as quick as they could.  One of the waiters also rang the police for up dates for us all.  We arrived at the pub at 6.45 and by 8.45 we had eaten and they still had no idea when the road would reopen.  It had by now been shut for 7 hours!  I didn't really fancy the idea of hanging around any longer and thought we should take the massive diversion to at least be on our way.  In chatting to one of the waitresses who lived locally she said she would probably take the diversion and the roads weren't that bad.  We got on our way and 2 hours and many miles later we were back on the road we needed to be on.  Luckily there was no fog around and it stayed light till quite late.  We decided to go as far as we could on the hope that road conditions would remain ok and if they got bad we would pull over and sleep it out.  Thankfully the roads were ok and with both of us trying to help the other stay awake and alert we eventually got back to the caving hut around 1am!! We were both pleased to be back and thankfull we hadn't hit any animals.  Red dear, sheep, rabbits and owls had been fairly active during the last section of the journey in particular.  We both climbed into bed and I don't think it took ustoo long to drop off to sleep!  A very enjoyable day even with the nightmare we had at the end!

Holiday - Scotland Day 12 - Caving in Cnoc Nan Uamh System (Knockers)

Scotland Holiday Day 12

Caving in Cnoc Nan Uamh System (Knockers)

Today we woke up around 10 am.  The weather was dry but still very cloudy - no sign of the hill or mountain tops!!  It did look brighter in the distance so hoped it would get better later.  We deciced that we would go caving as it didn't matter if it was drizzly.  We got partly kitted up and drove up the road to the base of the valley we were going to walk up.  We finished kitting up and had a look at the map to check the route up to the cave.  It was just over an hour to walk up the valley to the entrances.  

There were 3 - the first one we got to was a 100m waterfall flowing at a 45 degree angle.  

It leads to a sump where the stream sinks.  It can aparently become quite exciting in high water conditions.  The second entrance was a shake hole shaft above the start of the waterfall in the previous entrance.  The third entrance is the one we wanted

 - it was a rock shelter with a low archway to the right hand wall which gave access to the rest of that cave.  A short stooped walk led to a 1m climb down into the stream passage.  The stream carried quite a bit of water and was flowing rather forcefully.  We had to cross the stream and climbed up a bolder slope to the right hand side.  At the top a low crawl brought us out into Beachbarow Chamber.  A pretty chamber with gold and silver moon milk and some straws.  Another low crawl round to the left led into the top of the Grotto.  Climbing down and to the left opened into pool chamber where the stream was deep and flowing across from right to left.  Climbing up in the Grotto revealed some straws and some small stal.  

Climbing down and to the right in the Grotto brought us to a powerful waterfall.

Climbing up to the right led to the streamway at the top of the waterfall.  Crossing the stream we climbed up one of the short falls to climb up along the streamway following it upstream.  This brought us out into Landslip Chamber - a large chamber sloping up to the right with the stream running through it on the left.  Continuing through this chamber at the bottom we went round the edge of the sump pool.  A few crawl and small chambers on from there took us to Far Passage.  We gave up and called it quits half way down this passage as it eed to be on hands and knees crawling.  The passage evenutally leads to a static sump that we had no intention of going through.  On the way out we madde our way back to Landslip Chamber and then found a higher level route that bypassed the waterfall climb and instead brought us out into the Grotto.  After an awkward climb down into the Grotto we headed out through Beachbarrow Chamber the same way that we had come in.  On the walk back down the valley we tok a small diversion to look at another cave entrance and were glad we had not chosen that cave to go in as the entrance looked very wet.  It was still drizzling for our walk back and was still very misty.

Back at the caving club we got showered and changed and then sorted out our kit.  After dinner we had the very exciting task of doing some hand washing!  We had a relaxing evening with the wood burner going!  Tomorrow we are hoping to do our drive around the north coast.

Holiday - Scotland Day 11 - Drive to Fort William then Elphin, Waterfalls

Scotland Holiday Day 11

Drive to Fort William then Elphin, Waterfalls

This morning we both woke up having slept well.  It was fairly windy and a bit little drizzle.  After getting showered - which were amazing for campsite showers - we packed ourselves up and started loading the car.  We managed to even get the tent wiped off and down and packed away without it raining on us!  We decided not to go with our plan for doing some climbing and headed for the ferry to get off Mull.  We arrived at the ferry to find we didn't have to wait long.  As we were crossing it started raining and then rained on and off all day!

We got to Fort William and stopped for some lunch - we had some unfinished business with one of the pie shops! (Basically we had been there and had a lovely pie each when we were last in scotland. On the way home I wanted to stop there again for lunch as it was so nice.  Tim said he would rather drive on and stop.  Where he chose to stop was a dreadful little town called Renton.  It was very rough and I have not let Tim forget about it since!  Tim had decided that this time we would stop so he could let me drop my grudge!)  It has made up for it but I don't  think I will let him forget it!

After a walk round Fort William we went and did some food shopping  and filled up with petrol and set off once more.we drove up past Loch Ness and on up to Ullapool.  On our way we stopped at Rogie Falls for a walk.  

Elphin is only 15 miles om from Ullapool so we are no that far away from civilisation!  We arrived at the caving club, unpacked everything and made ourselves some dinner.

By now it was dry again outside so we decided to go for a little walk to look at a nearby waterfall.

By the time we got back it was gone 10 and still no sign of it getting dark!  On our walk back we saw a few heardsof red dear.  

Back at the hut there were 2 other people here just stayin the one night.

Holiday - Scotland Day 10 - Ferry to Isle of Mull, Eas Fors Waterfall, Tobermory, Craignure Campsite

Scotland Holiday - Day 10
Ferry to Isle of Mull, Eas Fors Waterfall, Tobermory, Craignure Campsite

It didn't take us long to get packed up and going this morning.  We arrived at the ferry in good time - we were even the first ones there!  While we waited we walked along to the lifeboat station and I took some photos.

Once loaded onto the ferry we made our way to get some breakfast.  They anounced that it wasa bit windy out in the sea so to be careful when moving around the boat!  The crossing was fine really - could have been a lot worse! 

We arrived on the Isle of Mull at about 10:30.  We had seen a waferfall on the map that we wanted to go and see.  The roads here on Mull are mostly single track with passing places.  This meant it wasn't quick getting to places!  

We got to the waterfall and parked up. There were three sections to the waterfall.  the top two were easy to get to from the road.  

To see the bottom part we walked down the road till we could find a way down to the sea.  We then walked back along the beach to take photos of the rest of the waterfall.

Tim was pretty sure there would be a path back up the other side so we went back up that way.  We crossed the river and tried looking for a path.  However there was no path so we found hat looked like the most sensible place and made our way up the steep slope to the top where hopefully we would find road and the car.  Eventually we did!  I was rather pleased to see the road!

Our next stop was Tobermory.  There was a lifeboat station there I wasnted to go to and also another distillary.  It was also the place where the kids programme Balamory was filmed from so we saw all the different coloured houses!

We next headed back to Craignure to the campsite to book in and get the tent up while it was still dry.  When we got to our area there were a few bunnies around.  

We got our tent up and then went out for some dinner.  We went to a pub just down the road - lovely meal and nice and warm inside.  It had only drizzled once today and that didn't really need a coat putting on.  It has however been windy and chilly.  

It s very strange to be sat in a tent and have access to wifi - even if it is a bit slow and won't cope with photos!!  Hopefully we will sleep well!!