Glasgow, Scotland

Finally, it rains in Scotland! After a week of great weather, Glasgow turns on the weather I had been expecting. It rained constantly all day, but I was inside for most of it.

The girls and I started off the day walking to the tourist info to decide what do.

My first stop after that was St. Mungo Museum of Religious Life & Art. My reason for this was to see Dali’s Christ of St. John of the Cross, a controversial, but most intriguing, painting of the crucifixion. Controversial because it is a rare perspective of looking at Christ from above, and not the traditional frontal view of his death. I love me some Dali, and this painting was no exception.

The museum also had displays covering many religions (i.e., Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, etc.) and their role in Scotland. There was even a painting from the Aboriginal Dreamtime.

Behind the museum is the Glasgow Cathedral. This church was built in 1238, and has numerous small chapels, which were full of art students trying to copy the gothic style, and also the tombs of St. Mungo.

After lunch I met up with Kathy and we did a tour of the city’s chambers, located in George’s Square. The City Hall was built in 1880 and houses offices of Glasgow’s Lord Provost (Mayor), local council meeting rooms, dining/function room, and two, three-floor marble staircases. The tour gave us a brief history of the building and a run-down of how the local council works.

This took and an hour, and gave us enough time to go to the Museum of Contemporary Art afterwards. This was four floors of some great works, but the two pieces that stood out for me were by an artist who had done these 3D paintings. The first one was in a triangular shape of a building, which looked all fresh and new in the afternoon shadows, but when you looked at it from another angle, the building looked like it was in a state of ruin. The other painting was of three hallways, which moved when you did. Very trippy, but amazing! I’d love to know how it was done.

With it still raining, another night in was on the cards, so I go some take-away, went back to the hostel and watched a couple of UEFA Cup games.

Oban, Scotland to Glasgow, Scotland

I got up this morning and headed out for some breakfast. After eating I headed back to the hostel to wait for the afternoon’s Haggis bus. On the way I stopped to buy a film for my camera, only to find out there was no money in my wallet. Someone must have lifted the £60 from my wallet when I left it in the pillow case when I went to the bathroom this morning. I was livid, but three was nothing I could do. Damn hassle! I couldn’t believe it happened with only a week to go, after five months of no trouble at all. Oh well!

I got on the bus bound for Glasgow. It made a stop at Loch Lomond, which had a beautiful converted castle as its youth hostel. I was tempted to stay at this magnificent place, bit a lack of things to do kept me on the bus.

The bus arrived in Glasgow at 4.30 pm and four of us (Kathy, Yvonne, Ania and I) went to Berkely Backpackers to check in for two nights. We all went for a walk through the main shopping center in town before stopping at a pub, Shenanigans, for dinner. This was a cheap two-course meal, which was the nicest meal I’ve had for a while.

After dinner we went looking for an internet place, which saw us wandering around in the dark for an hour before we came across one. I read and sent messages for half an hour before we headed back to the hostel for an early night.

Oban, Scotland

I had planned to go to the Isle of Lismore today, but found out that the ferries don’t run on Mondays. I was also too late to get to the ferry across to Kerrera, where there is a monument on the point called the Hutcheson Memorial, that I wanted to see.

What I did instead was take a walk around Oban. I headed north to the War Memorial and then beyond to Dunollie Castle. This semi-ruined, grass-covered castle is owned by the McDougall clan, and was built about 685. The castle has been in its abandoned state since the late 17th century.

From below the castle I walked out to a point, which looked across to the lighthouse at the entrance to the bay.

I sat there for a while watching fishing boats come in and out before continuing north along Corran Esplanade. The walk took me along the water’s edge, past farms and two villages before coming to a camping ground at the end of the road, leaving me with only one option – turn around and come back.

I did so, walking back through town, past the train station to the foot of Pulpit Hill. I climbed the hill and got a great view over both the town and the harbor.

When I came down from there, I walked along Gallanach Road, south of the city, along the water. There was nothing along here to really talk about, but the view was nice. Once again, I came to the end, and headed back to town.

When I arrived back, I grabbed some take-away for a late lunch / early dinner and went to McCaig’s Tower again to eat, and then sit and read from the highest point in town.

I met up with everyone again at the hostel and we decided to go bowling tonight. The bowling alley was over near the train station, so we walked over and each had three games and a few beers.

Afterwards we headed to McCaig’s Tower, again, to get some night photos, as the tower and town are well lit. We didn’t stay long, as it was too cold and I’d done enough for one day to last me a week.

Oban, Scotland

This morning Kathy and I caught a ferry over to the Isle of Mull – a 40-minute trip from Oban. Today the weather has become cloudy for the first time since I arrived in Scotland.

Once on the island, we caught a small tourist train to Torosay Castle. This is a small steam train which runs along the water for about 20 minutes.

Train to Torosay Castle, Isle of Mull, Scotland

Torosay Castle is a privately owned castle, which is open to the public. The magnificent home is filled with the history of both the castle and its owners. It is also set on acreage and has a beautiful garden, lined with statues, which Kathy and I walked around. After touring the castle, we walked to a local weaver and jewelers, where I picked up the perfect present for Kelly.

After this we walked back to the ferry terminal, stopping on the way for a late lunch that we had bought at Tesco’s earlier on in the day.

The ferry got us back to Oban at six pm.

Back at the hostel, the Haggis bus had arrived, and on it was Matt, Jen, Yvonne and Catherine. We headed to a pub where Matt and Jen had been in the afternoon, watching the NRL Grand Final. They were meant to be showing some NFL, but when we arrived, they were showing English football, so we decided to go back to the hostel, via the bottle shop, and have a few drinks near the fire and spend the night playing pool.

Isle Of Skye, Scotland to Oban, Scotland

I left Kyleakin at 8.30 am, bound for Glencoe. The Haggis bus made two stops first – at Ben Nevis and Fort William – to drop off and pick up other passengers. On the way I got my first sight of rain since arriving in Scotland, but it only lasted five minutes.

We arrived at Glencoe, to find the only thing to do was go for a hike. That, coupled with the fact that the youth hostel was fully booked, helped me decide to head onto the next stop – Oban. I checked in for three nights, and set about for a walk around town.

Oban is a smallish fishing village that happens to be having a seafood fair this weekend.

I walked through the main street of town and to the tourist office to find out what I can do for the next couple of days. I then walked up the hill to McCaig’s Tower. This was a tower built by a local banker in the late 1800’s in a style similar to that of the Colosseum in Rome. His vision was to have a statue of a family member in each arch, but it never came to fruition. I ended up sitting up there for an hour, reading and listening to my Walkman.

Oban from Pulpit Hill, Scotland

I eventually came back to the hostel when it started getting too cold.

I was going to spend the night in at the hostel (they have an open fireplace) but Kathy suggested going to the movies, which was only a couple minutes’ walk from the hostel. We went and saw The Gingerbread Man in a cinema that makes the loungeroom at the Entrance look like the MCG. The movie was alright, but nothing to rave about.

Afterwards we took a walk along the water’s edge to a War Memorial, before heading back to the warmth of the hostel.

Isle Of Skye, Scotland

What a lazy day! I got out of bed at nine am and that’s the most energetic thing I did all day.

Most of the day was spent out the front of the hostel, in the sun, reading and listening to music. I had lunch at a coffee shop next door with Catherine, before continuing with my basking in the sun.

I bought a rice dish from the grocery store for dinner, so as to not set of the fire alarm like I did Wednesday night.

Tonight was another night at Saucy Mary’s. Not as big as last night, but still a good one. They had a live band as well, who were pretty good. We left just before closing to head over to the Haakin Bar for a bit of a dance, although they were only open for another 20 minutes.

The night finished back at Dun Caan watching a Rage-like show, which was showing snippets of performances at Reading from previous years. I’m not on a mission to go to this festival at another time.

Isle Of Skye, Scotland

I had a feeling last night that this guy in the common room was someone I knew, but couldn’t figure out who he was. When I woke up this morning, I realized it was Jason Pittman (Joanne & Grant’s cousin). I saw him this morning and had a great chat. He is on the three-day Haggis tour.

Today we are doing Nickstour, a bus trip around the Isle of Skye. We left at 10.30 am with our driver, Steve. There were 14 of us, most being from the trip in yesterday.

Our first stop was at Portree, a small seaside village. We had half an hour to walk around and have lunch, which I did with Ken from San Francisco.

After that we stopped at the Old Man of Storr. This is a rock formation on a hill that took us around 40 minutes to get up to. The view at the top was magnificent, looking back over Storr Loch and Raasy, the island to the east.

Old Man of Storr, Isle of Skye, Scotland

Looking Towards Storr Loch, Isle of Skye, Scotland

We were all relieved to get to the bottom and relax in the bus for the next drive up to Kilt Rock. This is a cliff face on the east coast, that is said to look like a Scotsman’s kilt, though I couldn’t see the resemblance. There was also a waterfall here – Mealt Falls – which had a huge drop to the seaside below. Not far from here we saw another couple of waterfalls as well as some old salmon smoking factories, which were at the bottom of the cliff, and looked completely inaccessible.

Time for another climb. We reached another hill, The Quiraing, and climbed to its 600-meter peak. Once again, the view was so beautiful. I wish I could just bring the tent up here and camp and take in the view 24 hours a day. Also, while I was up at the top, I ran into Matt from the Contiki trip (small world is an understatement). He’s also staying in Kyleakin, doing a three-day Haggis – so I will catch up with him later tonight.

Our next stop was The Fairy Glen. This is an area in the north of Skye which is littered with miniature mountains. These were formed by giant glacial deposits, but the better legend has the King of Ireland marrying a fairy and moving to the area. The Irishman felt overwhelmed by the vast area, with its huge mountains, so his wife made all these smaller hills to make him feel more at home.

After climbing a couple of these hills, we headed for home via Uig and Portree. We stopped at a pub on the way home for a drink, before getting back to the hostel at 6.30 pm.

When I read back what I had just written, it doesn’t go near doing it justice. What we saw in eight hours and the ground we covered was like nothing else. And once again we were blessed with incredible weather. Not long after getting back to the hostel, we headed out to Saucy Mary’s – the local pub – for a big night. Liverpool and Manchester United were on the telly, and some card games in a pub full of backpackers, who knew each other for the most part, made for a quality night out. We came home at closing time and watched telly and chatted until three am.

Inverness, Scotland to Isle Of Skye, Scotland

This morning five of us caught a mini-bus around Loch Ness.

Our first stop was the Official Loch Ness Monster Exhibition. This was a little 40-minute tour explaining the legend of Loch Ness, which the whole area bases its tourism industry around. The exhibition is good, in that it didn’t say that there was or was not a monster, but gave stories of sightings, fake photos, and exhibitions of scanning the loch. The exhibition finished with the usual souvenir shop, with this one selling kilts in the tartan of various clans – I kind of wish we had a Scottish background.

After this the bus continued around the lake to Urqhart Castle. This castle, in ruins since being destroyed in 1692, sits on the loch’s edge, and with the fantastic weather, creates the most beautiful scenery I have ever witnessed. To top it off, above the entrance to the castle, was a man playing the bagpipes. Perfect! The serenity was only once destroyed – by a low flying RAF helicopter heading to a base further north.

Urqhart Castle, Loch Ness, Scotland

Urqhart Castle, Loch Ness, Scotland

We stayed at the castle for about half an hour before going down to the wharf to catch a Jacobite Cruise back to Inverness along Loch Ness. This trip took us an hour and a half. With the morning fog lifted, and not a cloud to be seen, the cruise along the loch, with the surrounding mountains, was so relaxing I didn’t want to get off.

When we got back to Inverness, we had time to grab some lunch before jumping on the Haggis bus at 2.30 pm, heading for the Isle of Skye. We drove along the same road as the mini-bus this morning, dropped some people off at Loch Ness Backpackers, and continued on our way.

We stopped at Loch Cluanie for a photo break, as this is yet another brilliant landscape, as well as Eilan Donan. Eilan Donan is a castle owned by a Scottish clan that is still in working order. The castle had been destroyed in a battle, but rebuilt when a man dreamt a vision of the castle and was paid by the respective clan to do so. It was also used in the movie Highlander.

Loch Cluanie, Scotland

Eilan Donan Castle, Loch Cluanie, Scotland

We got to Kyleakin on the Isle of Skye at six pm and checked into Dun Caan Backpackers, where I shared a room with Kathy from America, Ania, Catherine and Yvonne from New Zealand.

I had a packet pasta for dinner on the second attempt, after I left a lasagna in the oven and set off the smoke alarms. Even though I was embarrassed, I stayed in for the night, watching TV before heading off to bed at 11 pm.

Pitlochry, Scotland to Inverness, Scotland

I got up at nine am to see what looked like a typical Scottish day – fog and mist and not a hint of the sun.

I walked down to Pitlochry Dam to sit down and write in my diary, when I ran into Adam, Andy & Catherine. I joined them for a walk around the lake, which headed north for about two kilometers, before crossing a footbridge and turning back.

We arrived at the hostel with about half an hour to spare before the bus came to pick us up, giving us enough time to have some breakfast. By this time the fog had lifted and once again it had turned into a glorious day.

The bus took us to Inverness, with a stop in Aviemore to pick up a couple more people.

In Inverness we decided to stay at Bazpackers, which was fairly close to the center of town. We checked in and headed to the tourist info to see what we could get up to. We ended up booking a bus and ferry trip for tomorrow morning for the four of us to go to Loch Ness.

We then went for lunch before I headed off on my own. I walked through the shopping district and then down to the river, where I sat in the sun for a while reading the paper. After this I went for a wander along the river, heading west, until I came to a footbridge, which I crossed and walked back on the northern side of the river.

The walk took me back to the hostel an hour and a half later – just in time to head next door to the Harlequin Bar for happy hour. Everyone from today’s bus was there – Adam, Andy, Catherine, Jenn & Matt from Brisbane, Patrick from Perth, Joan from Canada and Bernice & Daniela from Perth. We had a good night and left just on closing time. I shared a room with Adam, Andy and Catherine in a small but relatively cheap room.

Edinburgh, Scotland to Pitlochry, Scotland

I woke up as we were pulling into the bus station at Edinburgh. At 6.45 am this is a quiet city, and nothing was open. Which is typical because I was both starving and busting to go to the toilet.

It took me 15 minutes to walk to Haggis Backpackers from the station, but had to wait another hour before it was open.

The bus left at nine am, with only ten or so people, with the sun blazing. We made a stop within a couple of hours at Perth to pick up two more people before moving on to Pitlochry. All but one of us got off here, and stayed at the youth hostel. Once we’d gotten everything in our room, we, Adam from Woy Woy, Andy from Brisbane, Ania from Adelaide and Catherine from South Africa, headed down to the tourist info and picked up walking maps.

We had some lunch in a park nearby before heading off on our trail. The trail took us out of Pitlochry to the south before getting on the walking track. It wasn’t long before we came across The Black Spout – a beautiful 60-meter waterfall, where we stopped to get some photos.

Black Spout, Pitlochry, Scotland

Not long after this we came across the Edradour Whiskey Distillery, up above the town. This is the smallest distillery in Scotland and one of a few which still use manual labor instead of “factory line production”. We did a small tour of the distillery and sampled some of the product (not for me) before continuing on.

We walked for four hours all up, just taking in the views of Pitlochry and the neighboring town of Moulin. When we finished, we stopped at a market to buy some dinner and then went back to the hostel. I was stuffed after a long night on the bus and a half day walk, so I decided to stay in – as did everyone else. We ended up in the common room for a night of Trivial Pursuit until around midnight.

London, England to Edinburgh, Scotland

Talk about lazy days. I was up until 2.30 am with Reggae and Ange Petic (who has just got back from Portugal) just chatting and watching bad television.

This morning I crawled out of bed at 10.30am to the sounds of people cleaning, so I got up and did my share.

Midday, Reggae and I went to a local café for a big fry up. The food was great and it’s good to do something with just one person in the house (instead of organizing a million) even if it’s only for an hour or so. I helped her with some shopping afterwards and we headed back to the Castle for an afternoon on their roof in the sun. When we got back her friend, Ange from the Mansions, had turned up so the three of us were joined by Kelly, Lisa and Cousin Suze. We stayed up there until about six pm, when it started getting a bit too cool.

I went and made sure everything was right for my trip this evening.

I left the flat at eight pm and had 45 minutes to wait until the bus left for Edinburgh.

It took over an hour to just get on the freeway and it wasn’t long after that, that I was asleep thanks to the Normasson. I had a restless night but slept through our two scheduled service stops – which was a blessing. Luckily, I had a seat to myself.

London, England

We decide to head up to Camden Markets today. The tube ride is a long one and when we get out of the station, I’m amazed by how many people are around.

We decide to meet up at 2.30 pm, so we can go our own ways.

The markets are shops either side of Camden High Street and then two lots of stalls – one behind the pub (which is massive) and a smaller bunch next to the canal. It took me an hour and a half just to walk up one side of the street, having stopped in heaps of record, book and clothing stalls. By the time we had all met up, it was decided that we all needed time looking around. It was here that I bumped into Helen and Sarah, who we met through Eurobus in La Rochelle. They did both the southern and northern circuits before coming back to London, where they are now working.

After a good chat with them I kept walking though the markets as it was decided we’d meet up again at Dingwall’s (the pub where Benno works) at four pm.

A chicken curry lunch kept me going while I wished I had more money for the million things I wanted. There were some great t-shirts, and CD and video bootlegs that I would’ve killed for. In the end I settled for a Melvins shirt and Nick Cave’s biography.

Before I knew it, it was four pm, so I went and met everyone at the pub, including Jane and Benno, who I haven’t seen in nearly a year. Benno has to work tonight, but he has organized for us to come back to his pub tonight to see a comedy show for free.

After a couple of drinks, a few people decided to head home. Cam and I go back with Jane to suss out her and Benno’s new place.

We were there for about an hour and met up with Creany before going back to Dingwalls at seven pm. Our names were on the door, so we saved £10, walked in and saw Benno hard at work.

The show was great. There were five acts and a compare, and all were hilarious. The show ended at around 10.30pm and while the others prepared for a night of clubbing, I headed back to the Castle with my free Guinness and glass that were given as we walked out the door.

London, England

Today is another extremely lazy day.

At 11 am, Suzy, Lucas, Cam and I caught a bus down to Brixton, where we went to the library to use the internet. We were there for an hour before walking down to the markets and taking a stroll through. I think I’m coming down with a cold (perfect!), so after buying some fruit we just catch the bus home.

Today is mum’s birthday, so I called her late last night and caught her before she headed off to work. She seems well, and tells me that Kelly has only one week left of school – God I feel old!

When we get back to the Castle, Jen and Karla are there, returning from Greece. Everyone stays at the house talking travel until it’s time for everyone to leave for their flights to Munich.

This leaves only four of us and I decide to get a pizza for dinner and once again spend the evening in with everyone in front of the box, chilling.

London, England

Once again, nothing was planned for today. It’s as though this week is our holiday within our travels.

I did, however, get my act together enough to book a trip around Scotland with Haggis Backpackers. It’s a hop-on-hop-off service as well – so it will be my own mini-Eurobus.

When I get to town, I also purchase my return ticket to Edinburgh on the bus, which will leave on Sunday night from Victoria.

I head to Leicester Square, where I spend my time looking through record stores and book shops on Charing Cross Road.

I want to head to Trafalgar Square to go to the National Museum, but I’m not sure how to get there. Besides, I said I would meet Reggae for lunch, so I got back on the tube to make my way to London Bridge.

We met up at noon, and Cousin Suze, Lisa, Cam, Bert and Reggae were there, as well as a few of Reggae’s work mates (including Duncan from Sidcup). After a couple of drinks, the locals headed back to work while us tourists decided to head on home.

We stopped for some take away in Streatham Hill for a late lunch before settling in for an afternoon of television watching.

Tonight, Lisa and Cousin Suze took charge of dinner, cooking everyone spaghetti bolognaise. Tonight no one could be bothered doing anything so we all stayed at home. Luke, Kern and Beck arrived back today from their adventures in Egypt, so it was good to catch up with them, as they head off to Octoberfest in Munich tomorrow.

London, England

After a fairly good sleep in this morning (we are sharing a room with Cousin Suze and Lisa) we don’t get up to too much as most of Roberta’s time is spent making sure everything is alright with her backpack.

We do, however, go out for lunch at The Genevieve again, after Monday’s great meal. Today, unfortunately is another story, as the food is terrible and not properly cooked.

After lunch we keep heading west on the main road of Streatham Hill just looking at the shops. Roberta picks up a couple of things for her flight before we head home.

At three pm we start our long journey out to Heathrow. We catch a BritRail to Victoria, where we change for the 20-odd stop Tube ride to Heathrow. Check-in is no problem, and we only had time for a coffee and coke before Roberta disappeared into customs before boarding her flight.

No point in me hanging around any longer, so I got back on the train to make my way back to Streatham Hill. I arrived home at around the same time as Roberta’s flight actually took off.

Tonight is Cousin Suze’s 28th birthday, so we have a mini celebration for her i.e., balloons, streamers and cake. Meanwhile, Bert Petic cooked up a storm for us.

After dinner Cam, Bert and I headed down to Big Hand Moe’s to have a couple of beers to end the night off.