We had a fantastic weekend away at Glenshee Ecocamp and the Braemar Gathering. We stayed in a vintage train wagon which has been converted into off-grid accommodation.
It was wonderful! Very quiet and peaceful (except for our noisy kids!) and lots of stunning scenery including a starlit sky at night. The kids were not bothered by the lack of electricity and wifi – having donkeys, llamas, and squirrels around definitely helped.
We spent Saturday at the Braemar gathering. The drive from the Ecocamp over to Braemar is the highest road in the UK and absolutely gorgeous. In winter they call it the snow road. We went over and back several times and each time it’s a little bit different depending on the weather and time of day. Sometimes there’s low cloud and you can’t see anything, other times it’s sunny and you get to enjoy a sunset, or maybe there are dark clouds and it looks foreboding. Whatever the weather, I always feel small and insignificant with those ancient hills towering up in all directions. The heather gives the hills a purplish tinge and there are beautiful old stone bridges, sparkling clear streams, the odd stone bothy, and lots of sheep. If you’ve never done it then you absolutely must. It’s a good, safe road. Steep in one place but nothing scary. It’s two lanes the whole way with plenty of places to pullover, stop, and take photos.
The Braemar Gathering was exciting. It seemed to be busier this year than last but maybe that’s just my imagination.
Here’s the Queen’s motorcade arriving.
Afterwards the Queen opened a new building which has just been completed and will be home to a museum and cafe. It’s a beautiful building and tastefully designed to fit in with the architecture in the village.
She’s the one in the turquoise dress and hat.
Both kids competed in the sack race which was mayhem. Daniel was one of the oldest and so had to start from right at the back but he jumped so fast and gained a lot of ground, managing to side-step the children in front of him who had fallen over.
rachel.blog 
Great story and photos. Glad to see you are still timing your star jumps to perfection – this worries me sometimes as an ability! You are lucky to live in the most beautiful country.
It is the most beautiful country. There’s no-where else I’d rather live. And as for my jumping photos, it requires lots of jumps to get it right 🙂
How wonderful! I wonder why my Scot grandmother ever emigrated. Cheers to you from the Shetlands.
I sometimes wonder the same thing but I think a lot of people left for the gold rushes in Australia and North America and the hope of a better life.
Empty roads and skies! Such a non-South-East-of-England thing. It looks beautiful.
I couldn’t work out if it was you or Elizabeth coming out of the caravan.
The roads are very quiet in Aberdeenshire. It’s one of the things I love about this region.
Lovely photos. I struggled to see the queen.
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