UK Roadtrip 2

After Fort William we decided that we had earned ourselves a break from the car and checked into a hotel for 2 nights in Glasgow. From Glasgow we headed to Edinburgh for a day at the fringe. The Royal mile was possibly the busiest street I've ever seen. And everyone wanted your attention - trying to give you flyers and impress you with their wackiness - it was a bit tiring and we sought refuge in the castle for the afternoon.

The top of Edinburgh Castle

After Edinburgh we headed North once again for the town of Crieff. We free camped at a hydroelectric dam and were soon surrounded by sheep (and clouds). The next morning we headed into town for the Highland games. We parked in town and followed the sound of 100's of bagpipes till we got to the showground. We saw bagpipe competitions, highland dancing and best of all - the caber toss. To say the guys were big is an understatement.

The Highland games in Crieff

Highland Dancers

The Caber Toss

After Crieff we headed south again and out of Scotland. We did a big day of driving and made our way down to the Lake district. Our campsite was great - complete with a stone pub with a big fire - a welcome break from the Tarago. Unfortunatley the whole time we were there it rained. Really rained. It was still beautiful and we had a nice drive around the lakes edge.

After the Lakes District it was another big day of driving out to Snowdonia in Wales. It was beautiful and well worth the drive. First we had a night on Anglesey then headed down to Porthmadog. Then back through the middle of Snowdonia national park and past the mountain itself.

Our Campsite in Wales

Wales Scenery

After Wales we headed to Manchester to catch up with some old friends. Was lots of fun. The next day we headed to Chester and then on to our friends parents cottage where we were treated to some good home cooking and hospitality.

After Chester it was on to Stratford upon Avon for some Shakespeare sightseeing - and then on to Bath.

Roman Baths in Bath

Tourist at the Baths

From Bath we headedto Cheddar and I have to say I have never been more mislead by a towns name. No cheese! A nice gorge and all - but no sign of any local cheddar. From Cheddar we headed down the coast to Padstow where we walked around and found all Rick Steins restaurants. Unfortunately the restaurants were a little out of our price range so we settled for some Rick Stein fish and chips - cooked in real beef drippings! I think that makes them healthy? Right?

The coast in Exmoor National Park

Scary narrow roads

From Padstow Navman took us on the narrowest, most hair raising drive ever. We had to reverse along narrow windy roads many times to avoid oncoming traffic. Besides taking the above photo I spent most of the time with my eyes closed (Ben was driving thank god - but even if I was I think I would have had my eyes closed)

The next stop was St Ives and it was gorgeous.

St Ives and blue sky

Enjoying the sunshine

Enjoying the cider in the sunshine

Tourists in St Ives

From St Ives it was down to Penzance and then on to Lizard point - the most southerly point of England. As you can tell from the Photo - it was a little windy.

Lizard Point - Southern most point and possibly windiest point in England


After Lizard point we headed to Truro for the night. From Truro we headed up to the "Cornish Rattler" cider farm and learnt the secrets of cider making.

From the cider farm we drove across Dartmoor national park. We saw some more gorgeous heather covered hills and lots of wild horses.

Dartmoor wild horses

From Dartmoor it was on to Exeter and then the Jurrassic Coast. It was a gorgeous drive. We stopped off at Durdle door and took a walk along the coast.

Tourists at the Jurrassic Coast

Durdle Door

The Jurrassic Coast


From Durdle Door we headed inland again and made for Stonehenge. And on from there to Oxford the last stop on our driving adventures. After 2 nights we packed the car, drove to London and said goodbye to our lovely little spaceship. It was bittersweet. We also managed to arrive back in London with all our belongings on the one day that the tube was closed to strikes. The bus rides were long and not fun in the least. Stay tuned - next stop.......... Sunny Barcelona!

Tourists at Stonehenge

Scotland Part 1

Our first night in Scotland was spent camped in the grounds of a castle at Lauder. Ben went in to sort out a spot and came out 20 minutes later with a new friend and a very confused look on his face. The owner had been talking to him nonstop but Ben had only understood about 1 word in 5. Luckily he drew a map and we managed to find our campsite.

The next day we continued heading North and bypassed the major cities heading for Aberdeen. The drive up was gorgeous. We had hoped for a night in a hotel to break up the monotony that is living in a Tarago. Unfortunately we were out of luck as every hotel in Aberdeen was fully booked. Instead we got the opposite – our first night of free camping out in the wilds (a forrestry commision carpark is kind of wild I figure) of Scotland. It’s legal in Scotland to “free camp” with a few minor restrictions you can pretty much pull over and spend the night anywhere – as long as you’re not too fussy when it comes to little luxuries like toilets, showers, electricity and running water. Luckily we’re not.

After a suprisingly good nights sleep we set off for Dufftown. The Scotch capital of the highlands. We booked in for the first tour of the day at the oldest distillery in the area which just happened to be the base for Chivas Regal. Ben happily gave me the role of designated driver and tasted to his hearts content. Lucky for him I hate the stuff so he got mine as well. I think revenge for all my boozy winery tours.

After Chivas Regal we headed over to the Glenfiddich distillery. As Ben had already had 6 glasses of scotch and it was only 11:30 we did what any self respecting grey nomad would do and treated ourselves to a devonshire tea. Then off we went on the tourist trail down the side of Loch Ness. We got a great campsite half way down the loch and literally a stones throw from it (to prove the point I threw stones into the Loch while drinking cider outside the campervan). Not only did I see 1 Loch Ness monster – I saw 4 – and no they are not just out of focus ducks!

Ben at Glenfiddich

The view of Loch Ness from our campsite

Scary Loch Ness monsters


Loch Ness campsite

The next morning we headed south to the bottom of the Loch then drove back along the other side. It was amazing. A lot less touristy, and not as good a view of the Loch but the mountains and valleys were even more beautiful I thought. We headed for Inverness where we spent the rainy, cold afternoon happily tucked away in a pub. Ben had his first Haggis and really liked it, better than horse apparently.

That night we scoured the road directory for what looked like nice places to camp and we found the best. We drove for about an hour up a narrow windy road into the mountains and just as we were about to give up we saw it. The perfect campsite. A flat gravel riverbank nestled between breathtaking mountains with a gorgeous stream and not a house in site. Heaven.
In the morning faced with the usual problem of not having a shower Ben took the courageous decision to strip down and wash in the stream. I think cold is an understatement and he couldn’t feel his feet – or much else – when he got out. He was however clean something that could not be said for me or any of our clothes.

Loch Ness scenery

Highland cows

Perfect campsite

That day we drove right to the top of Scotland and visited the lighthouse at the most Northern point of mainland Britain then spoiled ourselves by checking in to a very expensive campsite complete with hot showers AND a laundry. Money well spent in my opinion. The next day we were back on the road and headed along the top of scotland and then down the west coast. It was amazing. The scenery is breathtaking.
Unfortunately we were attacked by midges and I was held prisoner in the car for hours around sunset. For some reason they didn’t like Ben and he could stand outside in shorts and a t-shirt without too much trouble.

Speaks for itself really

Beach at John O'Groats

Highland scenery - gorgeous


After a couple of nights camping down the west coast we headed out to the Isle of Skye. When we arrived the cloud was so low we could barely see 50m in front of the car. We managed to drive around and find a campsite and Ben "volunteered" to cook. As we were cooking to crazy scots pulled up next to us and proceeded to change into their swimmers and go for a swim. Bear in mind it was pouring rain and about 5 degrees. They asked us how we were enjoying summer but I detected no sarcasm.

More Highland Scenery

Ben cooking in the rain Isle of Skye

Isle of Skye - our campsite was in those mountains

The next morning the clouds lifted and we discovered just how beautiful our campsite really was. We did a circuit around the Isle of Skye and then headed towards Fort William with a quick stop at the gorgeous Eilean Donan castle.

Highland stream

Eilean Donan Castle

London, Cambridge and York

We started our stay in London the traditional way – with a pub lunch and a bit too much to drink. Then a pub dinner and a bit too much more to drink and an early night. Great to catch up with our fantastic hosts Emlyn and James. Day 2 was a slightly hungover trip to Borough markets where Ben was in Foodie heaven and I got free cheese – so everyone was happy. Then a walk along the Thames, Tower Bridge and London Bridge before getting a little lost on the bus ride home.

Day 3 we went for a walk to Clapham junction through Clapham common and then around lunch time we headed out to Camden markets where we were tempted by a huge array of tattoo artists and very cheap peircing deals – we passed. The food stalls were amazing and while I had a morrocan curry, Ben had a pork roll cut straight from a pig on a spit... to say he was happy is an understatement. That night Ben cooked a delicious risotto for Emlyn and James to ensure we were invited back. It worked of course.

Day 4 was our last full day in London and we decided to do the tourist thing. We did an open top bus tour and then went and saw a play in the West End. We saw Agatha Christies “Mousetrap” – the longest running play in the world...EVER! We saw play number 24,036 and it was great. The ending was almost runied by the old man next to us who had seen it before – but luckily he forgot who dunnit and promptly after intermission and woke with a start when the clapping started at the end. Then another pub meal for dinner and an early night – apparently it was a “work night” – whatever that means?

Tourists

Excited about the show


The next day we caught the train out towards Heathrow and picked up our little Spaceship. His name is “Starbuck” and he is fantastic. As Ben lost his drivers licence in Beijing when his wallet was stolen, all the driving falls to me and we headed off towards Cambridge. The 2 lane roundabouts threw me at first – I could figure out how to get on them – but getting out of them was a different story. I had 3 attempts at the entrance for the motorway before I finally got it – more by luck and closing my eyes than skill.

We arrived in Cambridge around 4 and went to check in to our camping ground. It was a great little farm in a tiny village and the hosts were lovely. Lots of people seem intrigued as to why we are spending 5 weeks in a tarago but everyone is impressed when they see how nifty it is inside. The next day it was time to get supplies and we had lots of fun trying to think of fun things to buy – did we need 3 litres of red and 3 litres of white? Probably not – but we like to match our wines to our food.

Ben and "Starbuck" in Cambridge



Why am I in a field of wheat? Who knows.



We saw the sights in cambridge and headed back for a homecooked spag bol. The next day we drove to the seaside and had lunch overlooking Munsley beach. Ben’s observation that “no one has umbrellas, everyone has windbreaks,” pretty much says it all. Was very pretty though. We hadn’t anticipated trouble finding places to stay but as it was the middle weekend of the summer holidays most places were full so we headed inland to a little place called Barney to spend the night.


Beachside in Mundsley

Beachside in Mundsley

After one night in Barney we had seen all there was to see and set off for York. Our campground in York was in a nice spot and they had a ferry that took you right into the centre of town. We spent a day seeing the tourist sights and had a famous Sunday roast for lunch. Unfortunately the roast was the opposite of the weather – dry.

After York we drove up through the North Yorkshire Moors. I was really looking forward to it before we got there and it was even better than I expected. All the heather was in bloom so the mountains were covered in purple. The roads twisted and turned all over the mountains and were lots of fun to drive – although I think some of my erratic cornering left Ben (and the groceries in the back) looking a little worse for wear.

North Yorkshire Moors







We had planned on having lunch in Whitby but were once again foiled by the school holidays and we couldn’t find a park so continued on. We did however make a quick stop at the Abbey above town, but decided against paying the steep entrance fee (I did manage to get some long distance photos over the fence though- for free!). We continued on and lunch ended up being a rather desperate 3 o’clock stop at a Nandos in Middlesborough’s “entertainment quarter” – and not at all what we were hoping for.





Judging by Ben's outfit it must have been washing day

Great over fence photography


After one more stop to stock up on a thermos, an umbrella and a fleece jumper (ahhh English summer) we arrived at our stop for the night just outside the town of Durham. Of course the rain cleared up once we had an umbrella, and we are now sitting looking over the fields, sipping cider as the sun sets. When it rains it really rains – but when its sunny – it really is beautiful.

Ahhh Cider!!

Hamburg, Amsterdam and Brussels

The train ride from Copenhagen to Hamburg was great. Nice first class seats and an interesting section where the train drove onto a ferry and crossed to Germany then drove off.

train on a ferry crossing into Germany

To be fair anywhere we went after Copenhagen would have suffered by comparison. Hamburg was just unlucky. We arrived around 3 in the afternoon and walked to our hotel. The hotel was alright and after checking in we set out to explore the town. We had both heard great things about the lakes so headed in that direction. Unfortunately they seemed to be having some kind of algae bloom and it was all pretty green. I’d post some photos but we actually didn’t take any in the two days we were there. For anyone who knows how attached I am to my camera I think this is enough said.

We hopped on the train for Amsterdam pretty early on day 3 and arrived mid afternoon. We figured out the tram system and were soon on our way out to our hotel. It wasn’t located in the centre of town but it made up for its location with its funky rooms. The whole room was controlled by a nifty little “moonpad” and allowed you to change all the lighting colours etc depending on you mood. Lots of fun. After playing with the settings for a while we headed back into town to meet our friend Paul who had flown over from London for the weekend.

Amsterdam was just fantastic. So beautiful and so much fun. I think of everywhere we have been so far its our favourite. We spent the night wandering around the canals and having some beers. Day 2 was spent in much the same way and that night we met Paul’s sister for dinner as well.

bike and canal in Amsterdam


view from canal cruise

Night view of the canal


Day 3 we ventured out of the city for a bit of a crash course on Dutch culture. We saw windmills, cheese making, clog making (she said they were comfy but I have my doubts) and lots of very flat land. Dinner that night was a canal cruise complete with walking tour of the red light district. Was interesting to say the least.

We were originally planning on 4 days in Amsterdam but this quickly turned into 6 and if we didn’t have to get to the UK we would probably never have left.

Day 5 we reluctantly went and booked our tickets to Brussels and then with much pleading and begging from me I managed to get Ben to agree to a peddle boat tour of the canals. Was a lot of fun – suspect we looked a little ridiculous but it was worth it in my opinion (probably not in Ben’s).

Ben and a lot of cheese

Goats and windmills

Canal pose

Peddle boat fun

I amsterdam? Doesn't make sense but its cool.



The train to Brussels left around 12 and we arrived around 3 in the afternoon. I’d done my research and intentionally booked a hotel within a km of the station so we headed off on our 15min walk. 3 hours later we were still walking, without a map, with all our bags and not very happy. I can honestly say I have never been so lost in my life. Just as we were about to lose all hope of ever getting out of the labyrinth of backstreets of Brussels we saw a taxi. 10 euros later we were at our hotel – we had been nowhere near it. Needless to say the taxi driver probably got the biggest tip of his life and if I hadn’t been so exhausted I would have hugged him.

Dinner that night was at a little outdoor restaurant where Ben had the biggest pot of Mussels I’ve ever seen (and yes there were lots of Van Dam jokes). Then a stop at a little deli to buy some beer.

View from our hotel roof of Brussels

Church in Brussels


As we only had 1 full day in Brussels we thought we better make the most of it. We headed out early and walked into the central square. So beautiful. We then jumped on an open top city tour bus. Was all going great until a sudden heavy deluge sent everyone running for the stairs. We were sitting downstairs feeling pretty smug as everyone poured down the stairs. Unfortunately we quickly discoved open top buses are not designed for rain as the whole roof leaked. The bus was all fogged up and full of very wet unhappy tourists.

Then it was time for some Belgian waffles in front of the manneken pis (little peeing boy statue), a quick cultural hit with a tour of the Renee Magritte gallery and some local beer in a pub. Then back to the hotel for the last night of our European leg for now.

Ben in Brussels

Brussels Grand Place and some impressive clouds

Manneken Pis - not as big as you would think

More churches and impressive clouds

Church in Grand Place


We caught the Eurostar around 9 and were in London 2 hours later. So here we are – in London after 6 weeks of trains, ferries and the occasional train on a ferry. We have 3 days to try and get our clothes clean again before the next leg – 5 weeks in a campervan (aka Tarago) first stop Edinburgh Fringe!

Getting off the eurostar in London