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ese protected coastal beaches we didn t but loved the otter crossing signs for lunch we headed to the cafe at ardbeg distillery we are fans of islay whisky and the distilleries were the main reason we chose to spend a day there all of the distilleries on islay are lovely but the main 3 ardbeg lagavulin and laphroaig are rather close together on the eastern coastline all 3 therefor have a similar look white with large black block style lettering this was to help ships differentiate them as they are easily readable from the sea yes you can smell the whisky as you walk around and yes it smells delicious although we would have enjoyed touring all the distilleries we settled on laphroaig when you buy a bottle of it you are given a code register it online and voila you now own 1 square foot of peat across from the distillery if you visit you are given one dram of whisky as your rent along with a flag of your nationality and the gps coordinates to your plot we of course had registered months and months ago so were were excited to collect or rent and plant our flags they even have walls of wellies for you to use to walk out into the field the barley floor we got to taste pretty much every step of the process it was quite fascinating actually the only snag we hit that day was needing petrol for fergus what we hadn t realized is that most of the petrol stations on islay close at 5pm we spent a bit of time searching for the last remaining station open until 7 before we decided upon a spot to park for the night we ended up on the beach in bruichladdaich just before some rain showers settled in though we did manage some pictures and shell collecting as well our nearest neighbors were far enough away that we felt we had decent privacy across the road from us in the other direction was a field full of of course more sheep and cows while walking along the beach we saw plenty of hoof prints and sheep poop so we knew they wandered over at least once in a while in fact they were all in the road the next morning as we drive through the pre dawn dark to the ferry islay we barely knew ye we ll be back share this share share on facebook opens in new window facebook share on pinterest opens in new window pinterest like loading posted in uncategorized leave a comment scotland part 3 september 16 2018 by woolymama as much as we didn t want to leave orkney we were excited for what we d encounter on our drive down through the highlands to kennacraig where we d camp for the night before catching the ferry to islay for the first half of the day we had fairly clear weather and took every opportunity to pull over and take pictures or explore a bit check out that castle right on the cliff overlooking the sea i m fairly certain it is dunrobin castle but we didn t have time to stop and tour next time cow we had been expecting to see far more of these longhorn beauties all over the highlands but no such luck we spotted this guy and his three buddies and perhaps one or two others from the road but that was it for the entire trip i asked andrew the lovely gentleman from big tree who drove us to the train station in perth about the lack of them but he had no answer he did suggest we come back for the highland games because we d see plenty then next time loch ness we both actually squealed when it came into view fortunately the lay by we pulled into had a stairway down to the rocky beach below so we took a few moments to stand on the shoreline and take some photos and steal a rock or two and dip our fingers into the water we stopped at drumnadrochit to see the exhibit and gift shops expecting the cheesiest display of monster lore possible however we were happily surprised by a very well done history of the loch itself as well as its geology and marine composition and life the possibility of a monster was discussed with a skeptic s eye but open to the possibility we were also surprised to learn that the loch does not actually contain much in the way of fish life it s not as diverse an underwater community as one might imagine urquhart castle overlooking loch ness we did not pay the admission fee to tour it as it was absolutely crawling with tour buses full of people but we stopped for a few photos from the hill above further along down the road we decided to find a good lay by to pull over and have some sandwiches and tea while waiting for the water to boil we looked around and could see an old graveyard a short walk from where we were just outside of invermoriston so after eating we ventured down and had a pleasant walk through a picturesque little graveyard full of mainly military graves kim and i both very much enjoy old graveyards for not only the beautiful stonework and peace therein but the rich history you can discover about an area just beyond the graveyard we stepped in to use a public restroom and discovered a short walking rail to a waterfall it was a complete fluke but we took advantage of the opportunity and hiked about three minutes to the edge of a rather scary drop overlooking a raging torrent of water sadly my pictures do it no justice continuing on we met with rain and fog for most of the duration of our drive we passed by glen coe and ben nevis they would have been short diversions from the road we were on but decided it wasn t worth stopping as the rain was rather heavy and the fog made visibility rather low the upshot is that as we got closer to kennacraig and the rain began to move out we were rewarded with some spectacular views in continuing with our theme of happening by chance into some amazing sites we pulled over in a large off road parking area to double check google maps and realized we were parked next to this lovely little church which oh hey check it out is full of medieval graves we could have spent far more time than the fifteen minutes we gave ourselves we will definitely be back to this spot also i m beginning to think it was less us landing by luck in amazing places and more that it s impossible to not land in amazing places in scotland this lovely spot is in kilmartin we approached the ferry at kennacraig just as the sun was starting to set and had assumed we d find plenty around the area however the ferry was rather isolated and it didn t seem there was much closeby we ended up taking a road leading to skipness and found a spot to camp for the night near the arran ferry right on the water this was our first time wild camping it felt a bit crazy being from the us to just pick a random spot off the road to spend the night but there were a few other campervans randomly dotted along the same beach area so we picked a flat spot and parked as you might guess being not far from the arran ferry that island across the water from us is the isle of arran there were lots of seagulls storks and pheasants about to keep us entertained as it got dark we had picked up some small meat pies at a morrison s along the way and ate those with some good scottish whisky to wash it down while watching the birds and the sunset another magical day in the books share this share share on facebook opens in new window facebook share on pinterest opens in new window pinterest like loading posted in uncategorized leave a comment scotland part two september 15 2018 by woolymama after leaving reluctantly leaving kirkwall we drove out to do some more sight seeing on the island before hitting the standing stones along the way we got the knack of driving down narrow one lane paths that allowed two way traffic there are lay bys to pull off into and everyone waves as they pass it s very civilized we found a quaint spot on the coast in birsay overlooking a smaller island and these amazing cliffs again sheep and cows are all over the island you could get real sick of seeing them if you re that kind of person hint we re not we had our lunch pb j sandwiches and tea sitting in fergus with the door open to a field of wild hares running about we saw yet more sheep soon enough it was time to find the stones before it got too dark the ring of brodgar our first stop is a circle of standing stones older than stonehenge as luck would have it there were very few people around and we had the site mostly to ourselves unlike stonehenge and skara brae you are permitted to walk among the stones it s no surprise of course that there is heather everywhere i enjoyed the variation in hues but had a hard time capturing it just right i cannot wait to try and create a yarn colorway based on it another thing about the heather there is now a company making jewelry from its stems basically the wood is compressed under massive pressure until it become gem like the company is fittingly called heathergems and yes i bought a necklace kim is sporting the cowl i made her using jmf marlowe i called it whiskey and water even though that s not what the original pattern was called if you want that one it s here i m not really sure i could have asked for better lighting from the ring of brodgar we headed out to the stones of stennes there were fewer stones here and in a smaller circle but they were no less impressive even more than stonehenge if i daresay plus sheep there were 3 rams grazing down the grass among the stones they weren t interested in my attempts to befriend them but they weren t aggressive or unfriendly guys either there were also gulls and other birds flying around and we heard some crazy sounds coming from over by the water turns out we werent hearing birds see that rock there no you don t it s a seal he had friends splashing around as well but i wasn t quick enough to catch them still talk about right pace right time just a wee bit of a seal head sticking above the surface this was not a day we wanted to end there was so so much more of orkney to see but we were out of time we found a caravan park on the water next to the ferry and took a walk along the shore as the sun set we agreed we ll have to go back and spend at least a week just for orkney and its surrounding isles we also happened upon a pasture full of cows that i may or may not have spent a good while petting if you re us customs i most certainly did not touch them watching the hamnavoe return to port we waited up to see what the sky situation would look like for viewing aurora activity but sadly there was quite a bit of cloud cover i will say right here that orkney was my best day ever truly i would move there in a heartbeat snow or not i absolutely plan to return i mean i still need to see the northern lights or dancing mirries and of course puffins and hopefully before too long orkney is magic and i sincerely hope not too many people discover it share this share share on facebook opens in new window facebook share on pinterest opens in new window pinterest like loading posted in uncategorized leave a comment scotland part one september 14 2018 by woolymama okay you all know how insufferable i am about travel especially overseas travel now having returned from a week in scotland you re going to have to indulge me for awhile as i inevitably cannot talk about anything else all the lovely people we met and chatted with the staggering beauty everywhere you look the history the sheep for those of you who don t follow me on fb you re always welcome to but beware i m a wee bit more political there you ll need some background there s also more pictures there from my phone that aren t here my friend kim and i rented a campervan from big tree campervans out of bankfoot in perth and drove it through the cairngorms to thurso on the northern coast where we caught the ferry to orkney after orkney we drive down through the highlands past loch ness and down to kennacraig where we caught yet another ferry to the island of islay uopn leaving islay we drove back across the mainland to bankfoot where we caught a train to edinburgh for our last few days it was magical the van was absolutely perfect and i cannot speak highly enough of the folks who run the business simon hazel and andrew were some of the loveliest people we ve ever met and i want to be their friend forever plus there was a cat named crunchy and a dog named bob i mean what more could you ask for we named the van fergus it was just what we needed for two of us a bed heat a sink and a stovetop with plenty of storage space and though driving on the left correct p side of the road was weird at first it quickly became easy when we reached thurso the first night we quickly found the ferry so we d know where to go first thing in the morning after that we headed out to find a spot to park for the night and came across murkle caravan park overlooking a field full of sheep they really are everywhere you cannot throw a stone in scotland without hitting one we ate our dinner overlooking the field of sheep which in turn overlooked the sea yes i asked they were texcel sheep and i made friends with one by giving it a few salty crisps although we were hoping to see the northern lights we sadly missed out we did however see the milky way more clearly and densely than either of us ever had before the ferry to orkney the mv hamnavoe was gorgeous and absolute luxury compared to the plane we had so recently taken we both tried to stay awake for the scenery but the gentle rocking put us both to sleep for most of the trip since they were not allowing anyone on the outside decks i couldn t have taken pictures anyway as for orkney itself i m not sure i ve ever been this deeply in love with a place before i ll only get through part of it in this post because i have far too many pictures again sheep and cows everywhere actually we were so disappointed to see so very few highland longhorns that we took to calling the rest of them basic cows our first destination on island was skara brae the 5 000 year old neolithic settlement on the coast along the way we stopped for pictures and hoped to find the small village of twatt we ended up driving through it a bunch of times but never found the sign oh well opportunity for shenanigans missed we did see quite a lot of shetland ponies and were offered one if only he d have fit in my carry on the path leading out to the village site is like my dream of where i ll take my daily walks with my dogs one day walking stick or crook in hand wrapped in a hand knitted shawl of wool from my flock the unearthed settlement is incredible it was found by the property owner after a particularly nasty storm had exposed some of the top layers and was subsequently excavated over many years the dwelling were dug out and supported by stone with earthen roofs they very much reminded us of hobbit homes and were very intelligently laid out it s remarkable given that this site is older than stonehenge believe it or not the climate is actually quite mild here thanks to the gulf stream there are even palm trees if i had to pick a prehistoric site to live this would be it abundant sea life wild hares all over pheasants and water fowl plenty of land for grazing livestock a climate ...