Whitby, United Kingdom

Here is a deep philosophical question – is 18 days enough time to see Scotland?

And the answer is a resounding “NO”! But this was enough time for us and we will be more than happy to come back again some day.

Can I also just add here that the west coast of the United Kingdom would have to have some of the most glorious scenery! Whether it was down in Cornwall, in Wales or in Scotland, it is breathtakingly beautiful!

One of the benefits of arriving in Scotland in September was missing the worst of the Midgees season! Now these little buggers aren’t like midges at home in Australia, which are slightly worse, but they are certainly worse that mosquitoes at home. And we learnt that there was one product that was the ultimate answer to deal with this little fellows – Avon Skin So Soft! Yes, that nanny-like product that has been the cornerstone of the Avon range for centuries is the frontline defence in the northern hemisphere against midgee bites! So much is it accepted as the only product to use, that in some areas in Scotland, you can buy it over the counter in shops instead of having to find an Avon consultant and wait for delivery! AND… it works!

Our plan of attack for Scotland (well they were talking about leaving the Union) was to cross the border after Carlisle, travel up the west coast as far as Mailag, cross over the Skye and then travel up the Great Glen Fault to Inverness, and then travel down the east coast towards Stirling and Edinburgh, before crossing back in England. And we managed to achieve all of our objectives with no damage to property and no animals were injured in the continuation of our travels.

We had a relaxing few nights when we stayed with Andy & Maya who were fellow adventurers. Nick had followed their updates when they were travelling through South America on their homemade Sidecar outfit. We met them at the UK-Hubb Meeting in June. They live in a beautiful stone house that Andy bought for a song, and spent many years slowly rebuilding and renovating. The result is a lovely old farmhouse in a quiet setting, surrounded by some amazing gardens and scenery. Thanks for your hospitality, guys!

After catching up on gossip and washing, and learning about Wildcamping, we headed north to Loch Lomond, where we experienced our first true “Wildcamping” in Scotland. Unlike England and Wales, free camping (or wildcamping) is accepted practice in Scotland, so if you see a nice spot by a loch or a river, and you aren’t going to cause any damage or be an inconvenience to other motorists or locals, then you can set up camp for a night. However, I have to admit to a touch or nervousness as we were sharing the layby with a single gypsy caravan.

We did some exploring around the Loch, visiting Balloch and Luss, and enjoying some glorious Scottish sunshine. Luss is a cute little Scottish town, right on the shores of Loch Lomond. What is special about Luss? Well, it was where black-faced sheep were first introduced and when the landowners saw how successful they were, this was one of the factors that led to the Highland Clearances. The town has also been used as the location for a show called “High Road”. Now I’ve never heard of the show but it was extremely long-running – 1980 to 2003!

After having a long conversation with some Motorhome folk in the car-park at Luss, we had some things to aim for when we continued our journey north, but our next stop was Glencoe. Have you ever heard about the feud between the Campbells and the MacDonalds? Well it climaxed in Glencoe in 1692, and is linked to the Scottish support for the return of the Stuart family after English crown (& the Scottish crown) was offered to King William III (William & Mary of Orange). Obviously Scots have a REALLY long memory because the oldest Pub in town has a sign at the door welcoming all visitors, unless their name is “Campbell”.

Next big town on the way was Fort William. Have any of you read any of the Outlander books – Cross-stitch, Dragonfly in Amber? Well, Fort William was one of three Forts that were built after William III came to the English throne and defeated James II. It is also a important location in the first two books of the Outlander series. Whilst visiting Fort William, we had a few disappointments – as in the Commando Museum was closed when we visited but we did get to visit the Commando Memorial. Are you asking what the Commandos have to do with Fort William? I did! But during WWII, a training school for Commandos, as well as SOE agents was established near Spean Bridge, at Achnacarry Castle. These days, there is a museum to the Commandoes in the grounds of the Castle, but sadly was closed on the day we tried to visit! Grrrr!

BBC Scotland has a lot to answer for – they have made some great shows over the years! Some examples are “Taggart”, “Monarch of the Glen”, “Hamish MacBeth”. We drove around Glasgow (home of “Taggart”), I still haven’t worked out where Loch Laggan is (site of “Monarch of the Glen”) but we knew that we wanted to visit Plockton, which was the setting of Loch Dubh, the village in “Hamish MacBeth”. We walked around the village looking for the building that was used for the police station – was it this one? this road looks familiar, this doesn’t look right. Anyway, after walking around, we walked up a street when had terrace houses on the left and fenced yards on the right. At one yard, we had the chance to talk to a guy who was doing some late-summer maintenance in his yard. Originally, the land where the yards are, were common land and the villages would put their cattle there to graze. But, after a while, people started to fence off sections of the common land and after 30 years, they were able to claim the land as part of the property. Anyway, whilst talking to this guy, we happened to mention Hamish MacBeth, and he told us that he has just purchased the building that was used as the police station, and yes, it was the one that we thought it was!

As you drive along the Great Glen Fault, you get the chance to drive along two Lochs as well as the Caledonian Canal. And one of those Lochs that you see will be Loch Ness. When you are there, if you visit the Loch Ness Centre & Exhibition, you can learn about the history, facts & fiction of Nessie sightings. By the time you’ve gone through the Centre, you will probably not believe in Nessie! But then, as we were driving along Loch Ness, there aren’t many places where you can get a clear view of the Loch, but if you do, you might be lucky enough to see boat wakes or floating logs that look like they might by Nessie.

You can’t come to Scotland and not see/hear about the Uprising and Bonnie Prince Charlie But the place where you really feel overwhelmed is when you visit Culloden which was the battlefield where the Scots were overwhelmed by Billy the Butcher, aka the Duke of Cumberland. As you walk around the battlefield, you see stones that that are inscribed with the names of the Clans that were at Culloden – the MacGillvrays, MacLeans & MacLachlans, the Frasers, as well as the English who were killed in the battle.

If you have been following our blog, you may remember that we visited Honningsvag in Norway. And when we were there, we found a statue of a Saint Bernard dog called “Bamse” which was owned by a Norwegian Captain who ended up being based in Montrose, Scotland. So, of course, we had to visit Montrose to see the other statue and Bamse’s grave.

By this time, we only had a week left in Scotland and some major tourist venues to visit. The remaining towns on our itinerary were Stirling and Edinburg.

Who has seen the movie “Braveheart”, starring Mel Gibson? Scots agree that the movie has very little connection with the reality of William Wallace, but they do agree that it is a very good rendition of the 15^th Century poem of William Wallace that is attributed to Blind Harry. As you approach Stirling, you cannot miss seeing the National Wallace Monument, which is a very tall structure which you can walk up (all 246 steps – Phew!) and learn about the Battle of Stirling Bridge and the story of William Wallace.

Whilst the Scots won the Battle of Stirling Bridge, they lost the next fight which was the Battle of Falkirk, but then they won the next one and they have never forgotten that one – the Battle of Bannockburn.

On our way to Edinburgh, we made an important detour to a very special Scottish castle – Castle Doune. All I can say is, if you know about this castle then you are a serious Monty Python fan. Yes, that’s right – it was the castle that was used in the movie “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”. And, everyone knows that it was the castle occupied by the French who taunted the English Knights, but it was also the setting for Castle Anthrax and Camelot for the song-and-dance number “Knights of the Round Table”.

So finally, we made it to Edinburgh, but sadly we missed the Comedy Festival and the Tattoo. I suppose that we will just have to come back. However, we continued to OD on Scottish history at Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood Palace. In fact, we will be able to blitz the Scottish History section of any Trivia Night in the future! After her retirement from active duty, the Royal Yacht Britannia was berthed in Edinburgh and is a very popular tourist attraction. And, yes, we also visited her!

And our last day in Scotland was going to be our last visit to a movie site – Roslin Chapel which was in the Da Vinci Code movie. But… once again we forgot about Sunday mornings and possible church services. Yes, that’s right – we visited (or tried to visit) on a Sunday morning and the Chapel was closed! Grrr! Add that to the list for our future visit.