Category: Travel
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The Cairngorms
We’re in the very lovely Cairngorms in Scotland for a short break. I love this place. It’s my favourite landscape: rivers, fields, forest, and hills. It’s so quiet and peaceful with very few people around and is perfect when you want to relax and unwind.
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Stirling
9 years ago today I became a mother. Daniel’s birth was very quick and hideously painful. I did not get any pain relief for his birth because although I asked for an epidural, there was no anaesthetist available at the hospital in Christchurch to administer one. It was ghastly. But now he has grown into a…
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Strathisla Distillery and Huntly Castle
We had a really full day today with lots of walking and train-travel. We took the train to Keith which is a very small village about an hour north-west from Aberdeen. I thought Doug would like to visit a whisky distillery and Keith is home to the Strathisla distillery. Question: Does anyone know which whisky is…
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Park City
I am in Utah for work and have been so busy I haven’t had the chance to write any posts or read any blogs. It’s a good busy though as I’m getting to meet so many of the talented people I work with. Even going to the toilet can be a challenge because I see…
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Slains Castle
We took my sister to Slains Castle today. It’s a castle ruin about 25 miles north along the coast from Aberdeen. It was a scenic drive along the coast through undulating fields of farmland overlooking the vast expanse of the North Sea. Slains Castle’s claim to fame is that it supposedly inspired Bram Stoker to…
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Edinburgh – day 2
Today we went to the MC Escher exhibition at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art Two. It was brilliant. There was quite a long queue but they’ve installed a timber maze on the front lawn so I waited in line while the kids and Ben ran wild in the maze. It was well worth…
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To Banchory on the Deeside cycleway
We stayed in Banchory last night and I’m typing this from a very comfortable hotel bedroom. For a little while now we’ve been wanting to extend our cycle ride on the Deeside cycleway but felt that Aberdeen to Crathes and back was about our limit given we’ve got small kids and the Bakfiets. If wanted…
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Evolution and adventures
Explaining evolution to kids is harder than you think especially when you’re riding a bakfiets at the time and they’re firing questions at you from the box in front. It started on the cycle ride home today with, “How come some kids have brown skin?”. I tried to explain that humans have evolved to have…
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Black Spout Waterfall and Blair Athol Distillery
We enjoyed our last day in Pitlochry and are all very sad to be leaving. I highly recommend this little village as a place for an enjoyable family break. This morning we went for a short walk to Black Spout waterfall. It’s a 60 m high waterfall just next to the village of Pitlochry and…
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Squirrel Nutkin and a fish ladder
I saw not one Squirrel Nutkin but two Squirrel Nutkins this morning (and by Squirrel Nutkin I’m referring to the very elusive red squirrel). I went out by myself just after breakfast and it didn’t take very long to spot them. They’re much smaller than I thought and very, very cute. They’re incredibly agile and…
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Pitlochry
We are in Pitlochry in Perthshire, which is in the middle of Scotland. We caught the train from Aberdeen yesterday and plan to spend two nights here. We thought about booking one of the Co-wheels cars but it actually worked out to be the same price, if not cheaper, to catch the train. That’s including the…
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Park Güell
I’ve had a headache for the past 24 hours which pain killers are not killing and so there was only one thing to do: go for a run. It sounds counter-intuitive but running often alleviates headache pain for me. So this afternoon I ran up to Park Güell, a lovely park with some architectural features…
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Santa, reindeer, and snow!
I got my Christmas present early today in the form of snow! No, it’s not snowing in Ballater but we drove to the village of Braemar – a gorgeous, gorgeous place – and then up to the ski field at Glenshee. It was only about 30 minutes away by car but I was driving and so…
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Stone circles and whisky
Today we went in search of some stone circles. Humans have lived in Aberdeenshire for thousands of years and there are lots of important archaeological sites here including some strange and intriguing stone circles. They don’t really know what these were used for but I’ve read they may have astronomical significance and/or they were used…
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Dunnottar Castle, Scotland
We had the bestest day ever today. We went to Dunnottar Castle, a Mediaeval ruin on a dramatic and rugged outcrop near the village of Stonehaven. We caught the train to Stonehaven which was wonderful. I love trains and have sorely missed this mode of transport in New Zealand. It was only about 15 minutes…
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My new home: Aberdeen
Aberdeen is endearing itself to me. It’s the little things that make a difference. Like this front gate I walked past yesterday with a tin of biscuits for the guard dog. Just in case you want to rob the place and a fierce dog is standing in your way, the owners have helpfully provided the dog biscuits…
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