Friday, 24 June 2016

Farewell to London

Started writing on evening of 23Jun16, in our apartment in Pimlico

As I write this, steady rain is drenching this part of London. There was talk earlier that we'd be going out for dinner this evening, as we have done most nights but we may now be restricted to the Italian restaurant just outside our door instead of further afield.

Tomorrow we head for home. We're ready to go but have really enjoyed London again, and of course the rest of the trip which went better than we expected it might.

Today of course is the big referendum and the media is playing it for all it's worth. We should learn the results early tomorrow, perhaps at Heathrow or even before. You'll see a couple of images in this post touching on this event.

Yesterday, our second last day in this vibrant and ordered city, we decided that we should visit the south side, that is the part of London on the southern side of the Thames. At first tempted to get there by renting one each of Boris's Bikes from the rack near our apartment we concluded that this idea was probably impractible and fell back on old faithful, the Underground.

Nick Neal, of Sydney, well known food aficionado, suggested we visit Borough Market so that's where we went first.

This is a pleasant place to wander. Not too busy and filled with great smells and delights for the eye.

See what I mean. We bought something from this stall for afternoon tea, even though it was barely 11:00am.

And decided to have an early lunch of bratwurst, German style.

30 sec movie. Borough Market lunch.
A video posted by Mary & Kev Long (@noosatravellers) on


Lunch done, we pulled out the iPad and consulted the Maps App. The reconstructed Globe Theatre was nearby so we set off through the labyrinth which characterises this part of London.

Here's the reconstructed version of the Globe Theatre, right on the riverbank. We briefly toyed with the idea of attending the 3:00pm performance of Macbeth but a quick glance at the box office showed this to be impossible: "Sold Out!". Probably this is one tourist attraction which many US college groups visit, booking months ahead. Certainly there were many young people with North America accents scrambling around the edifice and its support offices.

OK, what else was possible from this start point? Another look at the iPad showed that we could walk downstream on the right bank of the river toward the Tower Bridge. The weather was still OK, so we headed off on what turned out to be a very enjoyable excursion.

Movie, one minute. See HMS Belfast, Tower Bridge, Tower of London, the nearby striking modern architecture and Mary and me sitting in deck chairs drinking beer.

So, here's Tower Bridge. Note that it's not London Bridge, which is a basic but decent bridge nearby which replaced an older arched bridge which was sold to a US entrepreneur who dismantled it and shipped it to a US theme park in Arizona where it can be seen to this day. There's a story around that the entrepreneur thought he was buying Tower Bridge when he struck the deal.

Looking back from Tower Bridge at the place we'd strolled through. That sharp topped building is known as The Shard.

As you can see from the movie, we crossed Tower Bridge to more closely view the Tower of London which we'd thankfully visited long ago so no need to battle the crowds to visit again.

By now we were ready for an afternoon nap and afternoon tea as well, remembering that we were carrying a Borough Market calorie-loaded confection home for that very purpose. We were home in a jiffy on the Underground and the chocolate cake was delicious.

On Thursday, our final morning we headed for shop-filled Oxford Street where Mary was set loose on the shops while I meandered about, with an agreement to rendezvous at a ground-selected location in two hours.

Self explanatory, a picture only legitimately obtainable on this one day, 23Jun16.

On our way on foot to our apartment from Victoria Underground Station we routinely pass Her Majesty's Passport Office. This afternoon, for the first time that we've noticed, there was a long queue at the entrance. Referendum-linked? Possibly.

And so our UK trip is ending. Tomorrow our intention is to use Uber to get from here to Heathrow, Terminal 2. My research indicates that it will take about 30 minutes and cost up to £36, which is likely a much better way to do the journey than all of the alternatives, including Black Cab and the Underground. A little bit of uncertainty adds spice to the trip, don't you think?

See some of you in Noosa in a couple of days.

Thanks for viewing, and for providing us with feedback and news from home and family.

Mary and I welcome your email feedback and comment. Click here to email us.
Kev Long
Author iPad Traveller for iPad and Mac.


Our Instagram posts

The technical stuff:
Our main iPad is connecting to the Internet mainly through a cellular connection provided (prepaid, 3gb for three months for £16) by the UK "Three" network. On high ground and in town environments this connection has so far proven quite good but, as in Australia, some places lack good coverage so no or poor connection. There are quite a few WiFi options available too although not always advertised. Just ask if you're unsure if available. All except two of our accommodation reservations include free WiFi which is of course the preferred method of transferring large amounts of data but I have been posting these blogs and their images sometimes using only a cellular connection either from inside our accommodation or on the roadside.

Mary's iPhone is operating using an Australian SIM card (Optus prepaid) which is roaming while in the UK and gives us the ability to make phone calls (not cheap) and send and receive SMS. It also uses WiFi, can connect directly to the Internet through the local cellular system (expensive), and use a Personal Hot Spot provided by the iPad (essentially free as the iPad connection is prepaid).
Location:Churton Street,London,United Kingdom
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Thursday, 23 June 2016

London rocks, really

Started writing Wednesday 22Jun16 in Pimlico, London

So, we're in our apartment here in Pimlico. The location is great, with easy walk access to two Underground Stations, both on the Victoria Line, which gives us great access north, south, east and west. Nearby are the essential retailers: grocery, wine, food, cold beer.

We got an Uber cab to here from Kings Cross station on Saturday afternoon, where our Virgin East Coast line train terminated. Again, the Uber experience was great. Opened the App once we were standing at an appropriate car pick up spot, designated the destination, hit the GO button. A couple of minutes later we were in the car and on our way. The ride took about 25 minutes and cost £12.68, probably not much more expensive than the Tube, and certainly way more convenient.

Having done an extensive map recce of this part of London before leaving home, we were locally oriented very quickly and Mary hopped out to the local supermarket around a couple of corners for some essentials while I dealt with a couple of issues back home.

Sunday morning. Great weather. We had a plan (got to have a plan) and the weather was right for it, so straight after our simple home brekky and coffee we headed north, up the street, to Victoria Station. Forty pounds later we had two Oyster cards, each with £15 credit and a refundable £5 deposit. It took a little time to get back into the way of using the Underground but soon we were off, headed for Primrose Hill (change at Euston, get out at Chalk Farm).

Boris Johnson reckons Primrose Hill has the best view of London. It's a pleasant park in an upmarket part of London. And yes, it was a great view in what is a city almost entirely without hills. Not a primrose in sight, though (according to Mary, whom I had to ask, as I wouldn't know a primrose if it bit me on the bum), which is a pity.

Our main plan today was to visit the Camden Market, which is centred on a basin of the same name on the Regent's Canal. This is all north of the Thames. From Primrose Hill it was downhill, as you've probably guessed, to the tow path running along the canal. This tow path, if followed in the correct direction, leads to the Camden Market.

Regent's Canal is a place you can park your narrow boat for up to a week without paying, according to a nearby sign. We saw a narrow boat for sale for £12000, so maybe it's cheaper to go to work in a narrow boat than by car. No congestion charges, either. No rent. Hmmm…

In due course we arrived at the market. Packed, it was. Sunny Sunday. Why not? Shaka Zulu is a restaurant, one of many with a huge variety of ethnic origins.

While the market had numerous attractions of the retail kind, we tired of it within an hour or so, especially as we'd already walked three or four km to get there, including an ascent and descent of the aforementioned formidable Primrose Hill. And especially as we happened upon the Camden Eye, which has nothing whatsoever to do with its London namesake. This slightly less famous Eye is a pub, just near the Camden Town tube station. We settled down for an hour or so with a couple of cold beers and some nourishing bar snacks made mainly of potatoes. Here we planned our next foray into the London heartland.

Weather still good -- Check. Still some energy left -- Check. OK, let's get the tube to Westminster then play it by ear. Westminster tube station exit is right under the towering brow of the Clock Tower, the residence of the world's best known clock, Big Ben.

We emerged from the Underground into bright sunlight and crowds of Americans all of whom were vying with each other to get the perfect picture of the famous timepiece which is useful now only as a tourist drawcard. It bonged ONE just as we were reaching for our sunglasses.

We knew we could walk home easily from there so set off with that in mind, stumbling on some interesting markers of world history as we went, as you do in London. It's been here for 2000 years and seen some truly momentous events in that time, and many of them have been memorialised through plaques, statues, street names and structures. I think this is one of the best things about London, the surprises which appear frequently and unannounced as you stroll around.

Mary's shot of the clock. Note that we assume our camera time (on the date/time stamp) was out a little. Big Ben wouldn't be caught showing the wrong time, I expect.

We strolled across the western front of the Parliament buildings, heading south into the Victoria Tower Gardens, from where we could access the riverside path. The crowds depleted rapidly, thankfully and we were able to find an empty park bench in the gardens and just sit and look, again.

The Burghers of Calais, by Rodin. Yes, the actual statue. In the park.

Memorial to Emily Pankhurst. In the park.

Resuming our plod homeward, we crossed the Lambeth Bridge without, as far as we know, bumping into the archbishop, knowing that we could recross the river further upstream and nearer home using the Vauxhall bridge, which was not named after the not-so-prestigious motor car maker.

Looking downstream from the Lambeth Bridge.

Continuing our stroll upstream on the right bank we speculated that we probably wouldn't be allowed to sneak between the river and the building which is home to SIS (aka MI6). To our surprise and delight, for it shortened the route we had to take, the riverside path continued uninterrupted. We climbed up onto Vauxhall Bridge then Mary took this picture of the building which she says was blown up in a James Bond movie she saw.

Clearly they've done a good job of repairing it. The SIS building. If you look closely you'll see that the Union Flag is being flown at half mast. This was because of the killing a couple of days earlier of parliamentarian Jo Cox.

From there it was an easy stroll to our Pimlico apartment for a well earned rest.

That's me, in shirt sleeves, strolling up our street.

~~~~~~

Monday. Raining. Stayed in bed until about 9:00am. St Paul's Cathedral was on our list and good for a wet day, and a Monday, so that was it. Brollies erect, we hit the street, got wet on the way to the Tube then stayed dry on the underground to St Paul's Station, where we got wet again. Neither of us had previously been inside St Pauls. And there's no photos allowed inside. It was certainly worthwhile even though there were many subtle attempts via the hand-held touch screen audio/video guide to convert us to the Anglican persuasion of the Christian faith. Among the greats justifiably interred here are Lord Nelson and Arthur Wellesley (Duke of Wellington). Winston Churchill is buried elsewhere.

No photos, but several boring movies of rain and scrambling through the Underground. Moving on.

The Museum of London is close to St Paul's so we headed there after emerging from Christopher Wren's masterpiece into the rain again. The entire history of London is revealed here, but our legs and patience gave out after another hour or so and we sought solace firstly in the Lord Raglan (probably you can guess what went on there) and later in the Underground, heading home for a break and a post prandial snooze. By now we were becoming Underground experts and delighted in successfully making the transitions between lines and confidently leaping through just-closing train doors and grabbing the hand rail just as the acceleration kicked in. Must check the alcohol content of those beers.

~~~~~~

Tuesday. Leicester Square, "Theatreland". Being keen on experiencing a West End production, we'd decided back home that on this particular day we'd buy tickets to something for that day. So we knew exactly where to go to buy the tickets, and got there easily in good time only to find a line already, even though we'd arrived just before the ticket office opened. Thirty minutes later we had two tickets to "The Mousetrap" for the 3:00pm performance, also we had somewhat depleted wallets.

So we had several hours to kill. Mary opted to do the National Portrait Gallery while I, being more of a moving picture sort of guy, decided to roam the streets, starting with Trafalgar Square, just around the corner from the NPG.

Movie, one minute. Trafalgar Square epitomises Great Britain, I think.


My wanderings took me also through Picadilly Circus where I improbably was gifted a ripe banana by a young lady in the shadow of the Statue of Eros, although I understand the statue is actually of his brother Anteros. Whatever, my GoPro recorded the event.

The bananas were from Panama. Very nice too.

I easily filled in nearly two hours wandering and chatting in the Picadilly-Trafalgar-Pall Mall area before meeting Mary to find a suitable pub for lunch. This wasn't too hard then off we went to the rather small and secluded St Martin's Theatre which was the main recipient of the money we'd been relieved of earlier, at the ticket office. And "The Mousetrap"? Sorry, sworn to secrecy.

Thanks for viewing

Mary and I welcome your email feedback and comment. Click here to email us.
Kev Long
Author iPad Traveller for iPad and Mac.


Our Instagram posts

The technical stuff:
Our main iPad is connecting to the Internet mainly through a cellular connection provided (prepaid, 3gb for three months for £16) by the UK "Three" network. On high ground and in town environments this connection has so far proven quite good but, as in Australia, some places lack good coverage so no or poor connection. There are quite a few WiFi options available too although not always advertised. Just ask if you're unsure if available. All except two of our accommodation reservations include free WiFi which is of course the preferred method of transferring large amounts of data but I have been posting these blogs and their images sometimes using only a cellular connection either from inside our accommodation or on the roadside.

Mary's iPhone is operating using an Australian SIM card (Optus prepaid) which is roaming while in the UK and gives us the ability to make phone calls (not cheap) and send and receive SMS. It also uses WiFi, can connect directly to the Internet through the local cellular system (expensive), and use a Personal Hot Spot provided by the iPad (essentially free as the iPad connection is prepaid).
Location:Willow Place,London,United Kingdom
1 comment:

Monday, 20 June 2016

Edinburgh, Uber first trip

Writing started at Edinburgh Waverley railway station, while awaiting train to London. Posted 24 hours after arriving in London.

We've just been dropped off here by our Uber driver, Neil. I want to tell you and the world about Uber but first a bit about Edinburgh, where we've just spent three nights in a centrally located Airbnb apartment.

I remembered little about Edinburgh from our previous visit, over 30 years ago and I think this is the first time we've overnighted here. Everyone here complains about the weather, justifiably, but science is insufficiently advanced to do anything about that at this stage. This is a compact city, with buildings and roads piled one on top of another as the needs of the city varied over the 20 centuries or more it has existed. As the Scotland capital, it is also bustling and vibrant and packed with tourists, all year round I suspect.

Having visited the Castle, day one, and the Scottish National Gallery, day two, we spent much of the remainder of our time just wandering around and absorbing the ambience. Oh, and I had a haircut, at a one man business run by a Swedish Iraqi who'd very much like to migrate to Australia mainly because of, you guessed it, the weather.

Movie, one minute


Now to Uber. I'd signed up for this revolutionary and controversial "taxi" service several months ago, after I'd seen Pete and Jo use it in Melbourne, and aware that it might be useful on this trip. The App is installed on my iPad which is able to connect to the Internet through the cellular system, which is important for full Uber functionality. I established my Uber account using PayPal as my payment method, another relatively new facility I find very useful.

Knowing that we had to get ourselves and our bags from our apartment in old Edinburgh (a warren of narrow and winding cobbled streets) to the Waverley railway station I decided to do a test run with Uber on our first morning by ordering an Uber ride to get us through the streets to Edinburgh Castle. We could easily have walked this route but I figured that it was better to do a first ever run with Uber when timing was not critical, and the potential cost minimal.

This is how easy it was. We went downstairs, out into the street and stood on the prominent corner of West Bow and Grassmarket. I opened the Uber App on the iPad, seeing that it immediately identified our location and showed us that there was at least one Uber car within a couple of minutes away. Uber knows my name, of course, and of course knows the identity of all Uber drivers and the cars they use. I then chose our destination, from a drop down list as I started to type. Uber then offered to give me an estimate of the cost, which I didn't pursue, instead hitting the button to continue the process. Within a couple of seconds up came a picture of our driver, with details of the car she was driving, and an estimate of two minutes to pickup time. We could see the car's progress on screen and two minutes later the car pulled up, Anna (from Poland) greeted us and opened the car doors to let us board. We climbed in and were off in a jiffy.

Screen shot acquired during the trip. During the trip you can watch, on your phone or similar, the route the driver's taking and monitor progress.

On arrival we thanked Anna and simply disembarked, with payment being made automatically. The minimum charge for UberX in Edinburgh is £3.50 and that is what we were charged. Within seconds an invoice arrived by email as well as a trip summary via the App.

So this morning we used Uber again, with all our bags. Similar, excellent experience. No stress, no wondering if the car is going to turn up on time or at all, no cab-hailing. We're sold on Uber. And I noticed before leaving home that it's starting to show up in Noosa.

Much of the above was written while travelling at up to 180kph on the Virgin train to London. We're in first class as we thought we'd indulge ourselves a bit and we got a good deal anyway. I must say I'm surprised at how bouncy and downright rough the ride is at speed. But there's on-train WiFi and the seats are comfortable. The ride to London (Kings Cross) takes 4.5 hours and then we'll be Ubering again to our Airbnb apartment in Pimlico.

Thanks for viewing

Mary and I welcome your email feedback and comment. Click here to email us.
Kev Long
Author iPad Traveller for iPad and Mac.


Our Instagram posts

The technical stuff:
Our main iPad is connecting to the Internet mainly through a cellular connection provided (prepaid, 3gb for three months for £16) by the UK "Three" network. On high ground and in town environments this connection has so far proven quite good but, as in Australia, some places lack good coverage so no or poor connection. There are quite a few WiFi options available too although not always advertised. Just ask if you're unsure if available. All except two of our accommodation reservations include free WiFi which is of course the preferred method of transferring large amounts of data but I have been posting these blogs and their images sometimes using only a cellular connection either from inside our accommodation or on the roadside.

Mary's iPhone is operating using an Australian SIM card (Optus prepaid) which is roaming while in the UK and gives us the ability to make phone calls (not cheap) and send and receive SMS. It also uses WiFi, can connect directly to the Internet through the local cellular system (expensive), and use a Personal Hot Spot provided by the iPad (essentially free as the iPad connection is prepaid).
Location:Churton Street,London,United Kingdom
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Thursday, 16 June 2016

Arrived at Edinburgh

Written at Edinburgh, afternoon of 15Jun16

Well, as you can see, we've achieved the transition to a more pedestrian mode of travel in successfully arriving in Edinburgh. But first, let me tell you a little bit about our two-night stay in the town of Pitlochry.

Tourism is Pitlochry's breakfast lunch and dinner, and it shows. Want to buy some Scottish tourist souvenirs? This is the place. I confess I didn't much like it, probably because the warmth and friendliness we'd encountered in the more remote pubs of Scotland seemed to be missing here. And the Guinness and beers were much more expensive. However, it had one big redeeming feature from my POV. The River Tummel which passes through the small town is inhabited by Atlantic salmon which can be seen, by patient observers, free jumping in the rapids. It also has a fish ladder. It was on this ladder, about the 20th rung which uniquely has a glass wall, that I spent an inordinate amount of time but eventually I was rewarded. I have the video to prove it.

One minute movie, suitable for all fish and wildlife lovers:


Maybe if this was the first Scottish village we'd visited we'd have more pictures but the Pitlochry photo archive is almost empty. And there was a fair bit of rain while we were there, which may explain that.

This photo shows the kitchen and lounge windows (arrowed) of our two bedroom Airbnb apartment in Pitlochry. First time we've been behind the wood shed, but it was comfortable, spacious and right in the centre of town, close to all amenities.

And so to today, which began with a leisurely departure from our Pitlochry apartment, which we left at 10:30am, 30 minutes earlier than our scheduled check-out time. It was raining as we turned left out through the carpark gate and headed south to join the A9. The first target today was to fill the car fuel tank at a service station reasonably close to the drop-off point. All three of us were navigating, Siri, Mary and I. A few weeks back I'd pinpointed the BP servo in central Edinburgh which we were heading for (thanks, Google Street View).

It's about a 1.5 hour drive and as we approached Edinburgh the rain eased off and we got a fine view of the three bridges over the Firth of Forth. The latest of these is not yet complete but it makes the oldest and most famous of these Forth bridges look a bit frail. In due course the BP Servo arrived just where Siri and Google said it would be. Phew! Next task was to double park (suggested by our Airbnb landlady) outside our building's entrance, right in the heart of old Edinburgh. Here we planned to find our way into the apartment via a keysafe, then written instructions for finding the actual front door (through black iron gate, through tunnel, into courtyard, up one flight of outdoor stone stairs, find red-painted locked door, through door, up to first floor, find another red-painted locked door, enter apartment). While I was accessing the apartment Mary was guarding our illegally parked car with instructions to talk fast and perhaps burst into tears if a Traffic Warden appeared.

By my third trip up into the apartment I'd transferred from the car all of our baggage that needed to be transferred. Mary by this time was keen to see what the apartment was like but that was not to be, just yet, as next we had to get rid of the hire car as it couldn't stay parked outside, unguarded indefinitely, without suffering the indignity of clamping or tow away. Thanks again to Google Street View and Siri we found our way through Edinburgh's tight and busy ancient streets to the rental car drop off in the multi-storey carpark adjacent to the central railway station. Mary could possibly have stayed behind in the apartment but I prefer to have her along as co-pilot in tight navigation situations such as this where two pairs of eyes and two brains are better than one.

The car handed over, all that remained was for us to wend our way back on foot through twisty tourist-filled streets and stairways to our accommodation. This simple journey/reconnaissance convinced us that a taxi will be essential to get back to the railway station in three days time with our bags; just too hard on foot, especially when it may be raining.

Some early pics from Edinburgh, which seems a fascinating destination already.

Google Street View image of the entrance (arrowed) to our apartment building. This image helped greatly in finding the place once we arrived in the vicinity.

Even though it was chilly, we couldn't resist an ice cream from this shop in The Grassmarket, which is adjacent to our apartment.

Mary's looking out of our kitchen window while I took the photo from down in the courtyard.

The tunnel to the courtyard behind the black cast iron gate visible in the Street View picture above.

Edinburgh Castle, as seen from The Grassmarket, only a couple of minutes from our apartment. Probably we'll visit the Castle tomorrow.

Off to bed after a busy day, and dinner and a couple of Guinnesses at The Last Drop pub around the corner.

Thanks for viewing

Mary and I welcome your email feedback and comment. Click here to email us.
Kev Long
Author iPad Traveller for iPad and Mac.


Our Instagram posts

The technical stuff:
Our main iPad is connecting to the Internet mainly through a cellular connection provided (prepaid, 3gb for three months for £16) by the UK "Three" network. On high ground and in town environments this connection has so far proven quite good but, as in Australia, some places lack good coverage so no or poor connection. There are quite a few WiFi options available too although not always advertised. Just ask if you're unsure if available. All except two of our accommodation reservations include free WiFi which is of course the preferred method of transferring large amounts of data but I have been posting these blogs and their images sometimes using only a cellular connection either from inside our accommodation or on the roadside.

Mary's iPhone is operating using an Australian SIM card (Optus prepaid) which is roaming while in the UK and gives us the ability to make phone calls (not cheap) and send and receive SMS. It also uses WiFi, can connect directly to the Internet through the local cellular system (expensive), and use a Personal Hot Spot provided by the iPad (essentially free as the iPad connection is prepaid).
Location:West Bow,Edinburgh,United Kingdom
1 comment:

Tuesday, 14 June 2016

Farewell to the Highlands

Written at Pitlochry, early morning 14Jan16

Seems I was busy at Inverness, as I've not updated this blog since our departure from Betty Hill on 09June.

But two enjoyable nights with the FBI (Farr Bay Inn) at Betty Hill flew past. Having visited John o’ Groats and the Castle of Mey two days previously, there was no need to follow the NC500 route strictly and we opted to cut the corner and travel on the lesser and narrower road which exits at Helmsdale. We then turned south, more or less directly to Inverness.


My photograph diary shows a dearth of images on that Friday, but I recall noticing the numerous floating oil derricks prominent in the estuary as we approached Inverness.

Our accommodation in Inverness was arranged through Airbnb, the first time we'd used that facility outside Australia. A characteristic of Airbnb properties is that they are rarely signposted or distinguished from surrounding properties, being often nestled away among numerous similar residences. This requires that the Airbnb user be able to navigate and also be able to communicate with the provider, preferably via Airbnb's excellent on-line messaging facility.

Jennifer, our young hostess in Inverness, was on the ball. She'd let us know by message where the key safe was located and of course, the combination. As for us, we had to get ourselves to the address, identify it positively, find the key safe and check ourselves in. All this was achieved easily. In good time we were settling in to Jennifer's spacious apartment, tucked in under the rear of her substantial three story terrace home in Ardconnel Street, a couple of minutes walk from the busy centre of Inverness. Car parking is a crucial part of this arrangement as seldom is it freely available so close to city centres. In this case, Jen had provided us with a voucher to be displayed on the dashboard and we'd found space in the road directly in front of her home. Easy.

That first evening we opted to just do a pizza or similar (readily available in frozen form at the nearby CO-OP) at home, accompanied by one of the bottles from our dwindling supply of Paarl reds which we'd been carrying with us, in the mobile cellar parked outside, since Skye.

The substantial bedroom was windowless, being sequestered under the main house. This was a great help in getting to sleep early that evening, and for sleeping-in the next day as sunset and sunrise are only a few hours apart up here so close to the North Pole. One of the key attractions of this Airbnb was the WASHING MACHINE, as many of you will understand. Mary had the first load in and whirring around while we dealt with brekky and the relative complexities of the other appliances.

It was while dealing with the TV that we discovered that from nearby London there was live coverage of the Trooping of the Colour for the sovereign's birthday. That, and the washing, sorted out the morning. The amazing TV coverage (the Brits and the BBC do this so well) was over by early afternoon so, despite the threat of drizzling rain, we decided to take a stroll along the River Ness, and in the process check out possibilities for a pub dinner later. To my surprise, and delight, there were several fly-fishers wading the river just near our apartment. The salmon are running but it appears they are not so common as the fishers would like them to be, or as they allegedly were in the old days.

We'd crossed the Ness on one of the footbridges and then crossed back on another, bringing us back into the city centre, where we found ourselves faced with numerous pub options. But one, in particular, caught our eye, or rather, our ears, as there was music clearly audible whenever the door of this otherwise ordinary building opened. Peeking in, we were astonished to find a dance/singing party underway, with most of the participants of our age or even older. Irresistible, especially as the musicians were of a similar vintage and the songs mainly old Scottish.

Movie, one minute. Try to spot Mary in there.
A video posted by Mary & Kev Long (@noosatravellers) on


We left after a Guinness or two and it was still going strong.

On Sunday, after getting the second load of washing sorted, we went down Memory Lane by car, to Drumnadrochit, which we'd previously visited in 1984, with our children. Nothing much had changed, and we still didn't spot Nessie.

Monster? What monster?

Last time we'd overnighted at a B&B in Drumnadrochit, before heading south. This time we did the circuit around Loch Ness, doubling back toward Inverness at Fort Augustus and coming back on the narrower road which edges the southern side of the loch.

We still had time to visit the Culloden Battlefield, just NE of Inverness, which we couldn't fit in on our previous visit. This was the site of the demise of the Jacobite rebellion, under the dubious leadership of Bonnie Prince Charlie, at the hands of the better trained and equipped Government forces led by the Duke of Cumberland. There's a fairly new visitor centre here and we also were lucky enough to be included on a free guided battlefield tour, of which there are only two a day.

Cottage on the battlefield, reconstructed in Victorian times, so quite authentic. By Mary.

Movie of the battle simulation experience. One minute.



Sunday was done, and so were we. Again we opted to stay in. Mary did her culinary magic with some bagels and we were into bed early for Monday meant departure for even further south, Pitlochry, but not by the direct route.

We had no particular desire to experience the delights of Pitlochry but were happy to try it as a waypoint between Inverness and Edinburgh, with a diversion through the Cairngorms National Park. This diversion was mainly because Mary wanted to experience Balmoral Castle, the famous summer holiday residence. It was on the way, even though it's out of the way, so why not? I wasn't so keen, but was pleasantly surprised.

The castle is in a wonderful setting, on the banks of the River Dee, whose clear, rushing waters had me salivating at the impossible prospect of fishing for the salmon and trout which inhabit it.

Still haven't seen a red squirrel on this trip. But they must be here. Walking up to the castle entrance.

Flowers for the castle interior are grown in the garden. Mary's photo (see more in the movie).

Scotch thistle motif on gate with castle in the background. Mary's photo.

Balmoral visit movie, one minute
A video posted by Mary & Kev Long (@noosatravellers) on


We rolled into Pitlochry at 4:30pm, after driving across the Cairngorms through wonderful scenery and encountering very little other traffic. Here again, we're using Airbnb. I tried for traditional B&B but couldn't get a response from some local providers I tried by email. Airbnb is likely going to continue eating into their traditional market, but it may take a few years. Here our accommodation is the most spacious yet. We have two bedrooms, separate kitchen, bathroom and lounge right in the middle of Pitlochry. Even better, although nothing to do with the accommodation, we awoke to a cloudless sky and no wind.

We have no particular plans for our 36 hours or so here but it's a pleasant village in a mountain setting. Population is 2,700 which goes to over 8,000 in the holiday season (soon). There are prospects of watching salmon migrate upstream, and Mary has her eye on some new shops already.

Off to Edinburgh tomorrow, where we return the hire car at the railway station, spend three nights in another Airbnb before catching the train to London.

Thanks for viewing

Mary and I welcome your email feedback and comment. Click here to email us.
Kev Long
Author iPad Traveller for iPad and Mac.


Our Instagram posts

The technical stuff:
Our main iPad is connecting to the Internet mainly through a cellular connection provided (prepaid, 3gb for three months for £16) by the UK "Three" network. On high ground and in town environments this connection has so far proven quite good but, as in Australia, some places lack good coverage so no or poor connection. There are quite a few WiFi options available too although not always advertised. Just ask if you're unsure if available. All except two of our accommodation reservations include free WiFi which is of course the preferred method of transferring large amounts of data but I have been posting these blogs and their images sometimes using only a cellular connection either from inside our accommodation or on the roadside.

Mary's iPhone is operating using an Australian SIM card (Optus prepaid) which is roaming while in the UK and gives us the ability to make phone calls (not cheap) and send and receive SMS. It also uses WiFi, can connect directly to the Internet through the local cellular system (expensive), and use a Personal Hot Spot provided by the iPad (essentially free as the iPad connection is prepaid).
Location:Elm Court,Pitlochry,United Kingdom
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Friday, 10 June 2016

Turning the corner

Written at Farr Bay Inn, Betty Hill, on 09Jun16

This will have to be a quicky. Our days seem to fly past and even now, the bar is opening downstairs and I'm rapidly running out of writing and editing time. So here goes.

Yesterday was moving day, and so is tomorrow, but more of that later. These two-night stints at B&Bs give us a full day between sleeps to do bugger all, or to visit features obscure and quirky which are overlooked by many.

Our one full day in Durness, Tuesday, allowed us to visit the famous Smoo Cave, the only cave in Scotland not used by Bonnie Prince Charlie when hiding from the Redcoats. The cave is inhabited during most days by an obsessed gentleman by the name of Colin Coventry. His obsession is the cave, and any other cave within his bailiwick, and he manages to make a little money on the side by conducting guided tours of the inner section of the Smoo, accessible only with his equipment and knowledge. Four pounds was the tour price, and I snapped it up as it seemed to fit well within my parameters of quirkiness. Mary opted not to risk her neck in climbing down to the rubber dinghy, essential to Colin's operation, in the partial darkness, so stayed in the sunshine. My one minute movie of Colin's tour is below.

Movie


As I emerged from the cave after the tour, the vanguard of a southward travelling seamist lifted over the cliffs from the North Atlantic and that was the end of the sunny day. The landscape was transformed in that most of it was no longer visible. Our host at Bae Seren B&B, Andy, was asked by his three year old son why it was misty. "Because it's Scotland!" was his reply.

Durness to Betty Hill

We'd had a great stay in Durness, but Wednesday was the day to move east. This was the day we deliberately overshot our next stay location (only 1.5 hours away) to travel further east still to visit a couple of other places before returning west.

The first of these was the Castle of Mey, favourite home of the late mother of the present monarch of the UK and other countries, including Australia. The Queen Mum, as she was affectionately known to the public, bought this barely livable ruin for £100 in the 1950s, after she'd become a widow and thus lost residence rights at Buck House. Mary did the tour of the extensively (and presumably expensively) updated ruin while I read my thriller out in the warm car in the carpark, thus saving £10.

Castle of Mey. Photo by Mary

Then it was off for a further short drive to the east to a far more famous location.

Sometimes there's a queue here to get the shot. Not so bad this day.

And then it was off back west to our bolt hole for the next two nights, the Farr Bay Inn, in the village of Betty Hill (Betty, not Benny!). Here, in the bar downstairs, we came across three mature north American females, two of whom were sea kayakers from British Columbia and the other of whom had been a very senior US Navy nurse who'd served in Vietnam and visited Australia on R&R in 1969. We all got along famously, as you'd imagine, and my day was made when I was asked to explain how we kayak fishers in Noosa deal with large tuna we'd hooked up to. Naturally, I had my kayak fishing movies with me.

And so to today. Out came the sun again. This was likely to be the last chance for us to enjoy a remote and sandy Scottish beach as tomorrow we head south to Inverness. There's a hole in the northern part of the rock wall surrounding our B&B, which was built 200 years ago as the residence for a Scottish vicar. The hole offers access to a path which leads through grass covered dunes for about 300m to the edge of north facing Farr Bay. This is where we strolled, mid morning, and found ourselves on a fine sandy beach, very pale yellow coloured, looking onto a beach about 500m wide. Small, just-surfable waves rolled in. The water was clear. No one else was present. A one minute movie resulted, but we spent two hours just hanging out on the beach, as we do at home. Watch out for the baby flounder.

Movie, one minute. Farr Bay.


We've just dined in fine company with fellow travelling guests of Farr Bay Inn: Lydia and Wolfgang, an Austrian couple from Graz, and a Scottish farming couple from just north of the border. We'll no doubt pick up the conversation again at breakfast before we all disperse in various directions. Tomorrow night we plan to be in Inverness.

Farr Bay Inn. Our room has the two windows visible on the first floor in this photo and it also has a sofa, as well as a bed and 200 year old window shutters, on the inside, in lieu of curtains.

Thanks for viewing

Mary and I welcome your email feedback and comment. Click here to email us.
Kev Long
Author iPad Traveller for iPad and Mac.


Our Instagram posts

The technical stuff:
Our main iPad is connecting to the Internet mainly through a cellular connection provided (prepaid, 3gb for three months for £16) by the UK "Three" network. On high ground and in town environments this connection has so far proven quite good but, as in Australia, some places lack good coverage so no or poor connection. There are quite a few WiFi options available too although not always advertised. Just ask if you're unsure if available. All except two of our accommodation reservations include free WiFi which is of course the preferred method of transferring large amounts of data but I have been posting these blogs and their images sometimes using only a cellular connection either from inside our accommodation or on the roadside.

Mary's iPhone is operating using an Australian SIM card (Optus prepaid) which is roaming while in the UK and gives us the ability to make phone calls (not cheap) and send and receive SMS. It also uses WiFi, can connect directly to the Internet through the local cellular system (expensive), and use a Personal Hot Spot provided by the iPad (essentially free as the iPad connection is prepaid).
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Tuesday, 7 June 2016

Long way from London

Written at Durness, evening of 6June16

Smoo Cave Hotel. Anyone else been there? It's the closest eatery and drinkery to our B&B here in Durness, which, if you take a look at a map of Britain, is about as far away from London by road as you can get without resorting to ferries or the Channel tunnel.

We left Gairloch, ~200km south, this morning around 09:30.

The route taken today.

Scenery was continuous and magnificent. And the weather, as you'll see from the images and movie, superb. In fact we even turned the aircon on in the car, once the outside temperature hit 24°C.

Some pictorial items of possible interest:

Four cars (including ours) and a bicycle in a roadside viewpoint: the traffic was negligible, being a Monday. It's a great pleasure to be away from the crowds.

This roadside slot gorge with waterfall and ferns, recommended by Robbie Taylor our host at Gairloch, is well worth a stop. Pictures can't do it justice so you'll just have to take our word for it.

Roadside stop on the approach to Ullapool. Breathtaking.

Spot the two red deer bucks in this shot. Sharp-eyed Mary saw them beside the road as we were driving.

The mosaic covered front of the pottery in Ullapool.

And a small portion of its garden, out front.

The ruins of Ardvrek Castle, just beside the road and on the edge of a loch which contained salmon, brown trout and Arctic char.

Finally, a one minute movie made of footage shot while driving. The roads were generally excellent today, with only one or two ultra-narrow sections.



We're here for two nights before heading a short distance east for our next two-night sojourn. This weather surely can't continue, but we'd like it to.

Thanks for viewing

Mary and I welcome your email feedback and comment. Click here to email us.
Kev Long
Author iPad Traveller for iPad and Mac.


Our Instagram posts

The technical stuff:
Our main iPad is connecting to the Internet mainly through a cellular connection provided (prepaid, 3gb for three months for £16) by the UK "Three" network. On high ground and in town environments this connection has so far proven quite good but, as in Australia, some places lack good coverage so no or poor connection. There are quite a few WiFi options available too although not always advertised. Just ask if you're unsure if available. All except two of our accommodation reservations include free WiFi which is of course the preferred method of transferring large amounts of data but I have been posting these blogs and their images sometimes using only a cellular connection either from inside our accommodation or on the roadside.

Mary's iPhone is operating using an Australian SIM card (Optus prepaid) which is roaming while in the UK and gives us the ability to make phone calls (not cheap) and send and receive SMS. It also uses WiFi, can connect directly to the Internet through the local cellular system (expensive), and use a Personal Hot Spot provided by the iPad (essentially free as the iPad connection is prepaid).
Location:A838,Lairg,United Kingdom
1 comment:

Monday, 6 June 2016

Getting to Gairloch

Written Sunday 05June16 at Gairloch, Wester Ross, Scotland

Yesterday we packed up at our cottage in Portree, Isle of Skye and headed norther. After this brief paragraph I'll dwell no more on Skye but we retain lots of tales untold and lots of images unshown. We got to most corners of the island and thrashed it to a foam, as Mary is fond of saying. The weather for six of the seven days we stayed was exceptionally good for any time of year, as the locals kept telling us. So we consider ourselves very lucky.

And the weather luck continues. Saturday was a gloriously sunny day as we crossed the Skye bridge and turned left for Plockton, the "Jewel of the Highlands", according to the welcome sign at the village entrance.

One of several by Mary. As Bob Carson recently reminded us, Plockton was made world famous by the BBC Scotland TV series "Hamish Macbeth". It's a tiny town at the junction of two single lane roads and on the edge of Loch Carron.

Thanks, Google Maps.

Brief stop only, as we had a long row to hoe that day. We are intent on following a route called the North Coast 500 and had made several accommodation reservations to fit the plan.

The blue line represents the route of the NC500. The section we were to tackle on Saturday is enclosed in the dashed ellipse. The arrows indicate direction of travel around the circuit.

Our research warned us that much of the route, while on hard surfaced roads, was only one car wide. But frequent Passing Places are provided and must be used if two cars contest the space simultaneously. We'd become used to this system on Skye, where most of the secondary roads are of this ilk. The research conclusions proved accurate, as did, incidentally, our iPad navigation system which correctly forecast low average speeds. So we set aside all day to travel from Skye, in the bottom left corner of the above map, to Gairloch, the location of our booked B&B accommodation just inside the northern edge of the dashed ellipse.

The weather was brilliant, it was a Saturday, with a continuing favourable forecast. So what did the Scots do? They headed off for an impromptu day or weekend away, in their cars, motorbikes and bicycles, including to places like Applecross, one of the key waypoints in the day's journey.

And one of the most challenging sections came early on: the passage through the Applecross Pass, the only route to the south and east from the tiny but attractive village of Applecross. If you're curious as to its location and terrain it's known to Google.

Here, on the way up this impressive, twisty incline, we encountered some of the cyclists, including one towing a small trailer and two people, one male, one female, presumably very compatible, on a tandem. Bicycle lovers will like this movie. Bicycle haters might get high blood pressure watching it. Movie (one minute only) shot with GoPro blue-tacked onto dashboard.


We descended into Applecross, stopped at the very busy Inn and had our customary soup and bread lunch, outdoors, while gazing across the loch.

Here I am, trying, unsuccessfully, to log on to the Inn's WiFi, which was totally overloaded. Why the South Africa flag? No table numbers, so national flags were used as identifiers.

Movie: driving through Applecross, after lunch.
A video posted by Mary & Kev Long (@noosatravellers) on

Looking back at Applecross (low tide) from the other side of the loch, later.

On we went, toward Shieldaig, with the route mostly the same condition as before, width for one car only. Shieldaig was unexpectedly picturesque, and definitely a nice stopover place with several eating and accommodation options. When doing my time and space calculations for this route I concluded that we had to remove Shieldaig as a stopover this day otherwise we'd never get around in the time available.

Shieldaig's small harbour is dominated by this attractive island.


Here we encountered one of those "if only I'd been close enough with a camera" moments. We were just nibbling our ice creams on the waterfront when I noticed some unusual activity on a pontoon on the edge of the loch. A bride in wedding gown, hand in hand with a man presumably the groom, was standing on the edge of the pontoon. I called Mary's attention to the scene and we both stood agog as the couple clearly went through the "1, 2, 3, JUMP" process before plunging into the loch, fully dressed. We thought that this must be some weird Scottish tradition but a quick Google search showed that this seems to be more widespread. "Maybe next time", said Mary.

And on we went, arriving at our two-night halt location, Gairloch, at about 3:45pm. The weather remained unseasonably and impossibly good, according to the Scots we encountered. This is a lovely location and a tiny village, strung out along the sheltered seafront.

Mary walking down to the local pub for a drink and dinner, Saturday evening. Remember, the sun doesn't set until 10pm-ish.

Seems they were expecting us!

Sitting on the sunny porch of the pub I suddenly realized that there was some solar artistry in the froth of my drink.

Anyway, it's now Sunday evening, the sun is bright and the air warm. We've spent the day by breakfasting handsomely (Muldoanich B&B), chatting with hosts and fellow travellers, taking a boat trip on the loch searching unsuccessfully for cetaceans and basking sharks, and taking a barefoot walk on the sandy beach where four oyster catchers were busily taking advantage of the low tide. The water temperature is 11°C, and it is as clear as the sea at Noosa is normally. Off to another eatery tonight, overlooking the loch. Then heading norther again, tomorrow, to near Cape Wrath.

News from home and comments always appreciated. Just email by clicking the link below.

Thanks for viewing

Mary and I welcome your email feedback and comment. Click here to email us.
Kev Long
Author iPad Traveller for iPad and Mac.


Our Instagram posts

The technical stuff:
Our main iPad is connecting to the Internet mainly through a cellular connection provided (prepaid, 3gb for three months for £16) by the UK "Three" network. On high ground and in town environments this connection has so far proven quite good but, as in Australia, some places lack good coverage so no or poor connection. There are quite a few WiFi options available too although not always advertised. Just ask if you're unsure if available. All except two of our accommodation reservations include free WiFi which is of course the preferred method of transferring large amounts of data but I have been posting these blogs and their images sometimes using only a cellular connection either from inside our accommodation or on the roadside.

Mary's iPhone is operating using an Australian SIM card (Optus prepaid) which is roaming while in the UK and gives us the ability to make phone calls (not cheap) and send and receive SMS. It also uses WiFi, can connect directly to the Internet through the local cellular system (expensive), and use a Personal Hot Spot provided by the iPad (essentially free as the iPad connection is prepaid).
Location:Gairloch,United Kingdom
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