Friday 22 November 2013

Day 22 - Leaving On A Jet Plane

Day 22 of Rosalilium's blog every day in November challenge
Leaving On A Jet Plane
(Tell us your favourite travel story. Or what is on your travel wishlist? Or what do you think about travelling?)


Whoops, another belated BEDN post - and no excuse really this time, we just got caught up doing other things like wallpapering and cooking.


So...travel.
I like travelling (as do lots of people I'm sure); I adore Iceland and we went there for our honeymoon, but at the moment neither of us own current passports so we try and explore the UK as much as possible instead.
We have a few places we go to each year - Anglesey at Easter, Edinburgh in August and the Great Dorset Steam Fair in August - and we try and fit in another holiday or weekend somewhere else in the UK as well.
We've visited most of the south west and over the last few years had weeks or long weekends in Torbay, Tenby, Aberystwyth, Chester, North East Wales, Bridlington and Scarborough, Great Yarmouth, London, the New Forest and this year we had a week in Blackpool in April.

One of the best holidays we've ever had though was a two week road trip around Scotland - up the west coast, across to the Isles of Skye, Harris and Lewis, across the top and down the east coast. I know Scotland fairly well; I was born there and my parents spent every summer holiday touring round in a motorcaravan. Consequently name a town up there and I could probably tell you where to pitch your tent, get a pint of milk and sample the best fish and chips.

When I met Andrew, he revealed he'd never gone any further north than Carlisle and the Scottish border so I thought we'd better rectify that pretty sharpish. In May 2009 we packed up the tent, cooking stuff, an airbed and duvet and some clothes and set off up north. We camped in a different place almost every night, took hundreds of photos, ate lots of chips and met quite a few different people (including stopping off at an old friend of ours who lived on the Isle of Harris).


So now I'm going to become a boring cliche and show off my holiday snaps...
(feel free to fall asleep)

Rest and Be Thankful, Scotland
A viewpoint imaginatively called 'Rest and Be Thankful' in Argyll Forest Park


Glen Nevis Campsite
Glen Nevis Holiday Park at the foot of Ben Nevis
 
 
Glendale Toy Museum, Isle of Skye
Glendale Toy Musuem of the Isle of Skye (sadly no longer open) - an amazing place filled to the brim with old childhood toys and a lovely owner who said to pick up and play with whatever you like!
 
 
Portree, Isle of Skye - the Quiraing, Isle of Skye
Top - Portree harbour on the Isle of Skye
Bottom - the Quiraing (an impressive rock formation) on the Isle of Skye
 
 
Giant Angus MacAskill Museum - Kilt Rock
Left - in Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye is the largely unknown 'Giant Angus MacAskill Musuem'
Apparently an 7ft 8in giant once lived on the island!
Right - Kilt Rock waterfall on the Isle of Skye
 
 
Calmac Ferry at Tarbet, Isle of Harris - Dun Carloway Broch
Top - the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry from Uig on the Isle of Skye docking at Tarbet on the Isle of Harris
Bottom - Dun Carloway Broch (an ancient type of house) on the Isle of Lewis.
Andrew is actually in that picture somewhere!
 
 
Luskentyre Beach
Luskentyre Beach on the Isle of Harris - an incredibly blue sea and golden sand, much like the Mediterranean, only without the hot temperature.
 
 
A Scottish 'C' Road, Paddling in Luskentyre, Cooking Breakfast and an Isle of Harris Sheep
Top left - on the Isle of Harris. How often do you see a 'C' road in the UK?
Top right - me testing the waters at Luskentyre
Bottom left - the chef cooking breakfast
Bottom right - the sheep on the Isle of Harris were very very tame! 
 

Sunset at the Isle of Scalpay
Sunset near the Isle of Scalpay
 
 
Callanish Standing Stones, Blackhouse Village and Bragar Whalebone Arch
Top left - Callanish Standing Stones on the Isle of Lewis, just as old and impressive as Stonehenge but without the commercialisation.
Bottom left - Isle of Lewis Blackhouse Village
Right - Bragar Whalebone Arch on the Isle of Lewis
 

Ullapool
Back to the mainland at Ullapool in the north west Highlands
 

Dunnet Head
 Right up to the top of mainland UK, Dunnet Head, the most north you can get without taking a ferry.


Lazy Duck Campsite
 One of the best campsites we stayed at - the Lazy Duck Campsite near Aviemore!
 Only 4 tents allowed, swings, a cooking shelter, chimenea, bush showers, a wood-fired hot tub and plenty of ducks - what more could you want? :-)
 
 
Any recommendations which areas of the UK we should visit next?
 
 

2 comments:

  1. I am desperate to go round Scotland more, i have only been to Edinburgh and Aviemore. We went on holiday to Hartington in the Peak District earlier this year and it was gorgeous! It was a really cute little village and the countryside around it was stunning, so my reccomendation is the Peak District! :) x

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    Replies
    1. Oooh we've been meaning to go to the Peak District for ages! We've driven through it and vsiited either side (Yorkshire area and Lancashire area) but never actually had a holiday there. I will have to do a bit of investigating... :-) x

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