Kanga And Wombats Adventures

Sandra, our host in Portree was demure and shy. We hardly saw her! Breakfast was all set up for us, and we literally said hello when we arrived and goodbye when we left!

Snuggly warm bed, hot shower, great brekkie. Just felt a bit different not having a chat!

Having conquered the Trotternish Peninsula yesterday, we headed off to do likewise on the Waternish.

We’re pretty picky with castles these days, and the allure of seeing Bonnie Prince Charlie’s waistcoat and a lock of his hair (donated by Flora MacDonald’s granddaughter) didn’t entice us to tour Dunvegan Castle.

What we did stumble across, however, was the most beautiful ruins of St Mary’s Church just outside the Dunvegan village, an unexpected not-in-the-tourist-book find.

We wandered around on our own for about an hour, climbing the hill behind the church to reach the Standing Stone towering above. The sunshine accentuated the colours of the churchyard.

The church was just beautiful and it had such a special feeling about it. Poignant gravestones. Plants and trees growing where the altar or font would have been. It even had war graves.

The chancel of St Mary’s served as the crypt for many of the Clan MacCleod Chiefs.

A very elaborate monument in the churchyard was dedicated to Simon Fraser from the last Jacobite Uprising in 1745.

John found this headstone tucked away in a corner.

We began the drive south in search of the illusive 3rd ‘biggie’ of the ‘Big 3’ ticket items on Skye…Old Man of Storr, the Quiraing, now on to the magical Fairy Pools. We weren’t quite sure where to go until we sighted a string of cars and campervans traversing a hill in front of us.

Just follow the leader! We joined the pilgrimage and began the search.

The white gravelly path meandered beside a rapidly flowing stream. Waterfalls and pools were dotted along the way at regular intervals. We must have walked for about an hour (it said 40-minute round trip), and still the path went on. We asked a few people coming in the opposite direction what was ahead, but they had given up and turned around.

So, we’re not sure if we saw what was actually the Fairy Pools or not, but no matter, it was an entertaining hour or so….this lady got 10/10 for fortitude and this bloke got 10/10  for stupidity!

We made our way back to the main road via Sligachan Bridge.

Our destination for the night was Elgol, very isolated, and so gorgeous.

Our host Jonathon was a real character, and together with his wife Annetta, made our stay pretty cool. Unbeknown to us, their cottage slept 6 people, but we were their only guests, so we had the space to ourselves. It felt so luxurious having a whole house to spread out in. Just like being at home.

I think Jonathon must have been feeling the isolation too, as over the course of the evening he returned 3 times to have a chat. And yes, you guessed it, the Clearances were mentioned again!

A hearty cooked breakfast set us up nicely for the day. Saying fond farewells to our hosts, we set off past the ruins of Strome Castle towards Lochcarron township. The morning light provided some nice reflections.

We took a tiny detour into Plockton just for our aqua friend Mary, who stays there everytime she visits Scotland. It is, indeed very pretty, and also has the claim to fame as being the set for the 1990’s TV show Hamish Macbeth. But it is a nightmare to drive into from the main road…single lane and very narrow!

With ‘Speed Bonnie Boat’ blaring on Spotify, we crossed the magical Skye Bridge and headed north to our first stop of the day, the Old Man of Storr. Along with a few hundred friends!

Opting to take the ‘easy’ route up, we didn’t quite make the pinnacle viewing platform, but we still managed to get a gist of what the Old Man is all about.

Our aim today was to circumnavigate the Trotternish peninsula, the northernmost part of the isle. It was slow, single lane driving, allowing plenty of time to smell the roses and take in the amazing coastal scenery.

Definitely a highlight was the Quirang, a dramatic escarpment landscape of landslips and pinnacles.

But equally inspiring were other hidden gems, waterfalls tumbling into the sea, the ruins of Duntulm Castle and stranger than fiction, a fairy glen! Yep, in a valley down some twisting laneways just off the main road, was an enchanting natural landscape of conical hills, grass covered mounds. A bit like Hobbitown!

We felt pretty lucky to have had fine weather today, with great visibility even as far as the Hebrides.

We found our digs and headed off to find dinner in Portree. Pretty darned cute!

We had a great night’s sleep at Michele’s cottage at Kinlochbervie. She had such a great personal story to tell. Born in Scotland, she moved south to Sussex to work, get married, have kids. Her partner died, the kids grew up and left, so she returned to find her roots.

It seems it’s hard to infiltrate this community even if you’re Scottish…..Brexit, Covid, ……hadn’t helped with the task of finding workers to renovate her cottage. Being a single woman running her own show aroused suspicion, it seems!

Because of its isolation,  Michele had waited weeks, months to get electrical, plumbing, virtually any sort of building work done. Workmen had to travel from Inverness, 95 miles, and 2 1/2 hours travel time away!

The upshot of all this is Michele is pulling up stumps and calling it quits, buying a camper van, and fulfilling a lifetime yearning to travel. Good luck to her!

We found her little cottage warm and cosy, the shower hot, and breakfast a treat.

But before we left this little corner of scenic majesty, we drove a little further up the very narrow local road to Oldshoremore, where we’d heard the beaches were pretty cool. And they were.

Nestled snugly in a little valley, access to the beach was via the cemetery! It was a blustery morning, as you can see by the grass being blown horizontally.

We left Kinlochbervie reluctantly and headed south to our first stop at Kylesku.

Months ago, I’d booked us on a boat trip from Kylesku up Loch Glencoul to Eas a’Chual Aluinn, Britain’s highest waterfall.

But, the joys of travel dictate you have to take the highs with the lows…we arrived at Kylesku to find the boat trip was cancelled due to high winds on the loch. Not a soul around, just the words ‘Friday, cancelled’ written up on the Harbour info sign! I couldn’t help but be disappointed. This was going to be a highlight of our trip!

Absolutely nothing could be done hanging around, so we ploughed on south. The wind blew a gale, and the rain got heavier.

Then, around the next corner was Ardvreck Castle.

Originally built in the late 15th century,  Ardvreck Castle was scene to much bloody mayhem, murder and skulduggery between the MacLeod and MacKenzie clans. But it was certainly serene and peaceful today. While the rain had a breather, we scurried over to the loch shoreline to take a look. Nearby were the ruins of Calda House, built in 1726 by Kenneth MacKenzie for his wife Frances, who did not care for the austerity of Ardvreck Castle!

Then, one of the highs of travelling happened, when, on needing a loo stop, we came upon this out of the blue.

Silverbridge, across the Black Water, was built in the early 1800’s originally to aid in the transport of livestock bound for the south. If you didn’t need the toilet stop, you wouldn’t have known it was even there! What a little beauty.

I mentioned ‘the clearances’ a few posts ago, and to do it justice, it needs proper explaining in it’s own right.

In the aftermath of the Jacobite rebellions, the government banned the wearing of kilts and playing of bagpipes. The Highlands were put under military control. The ties of kinship and loyalty that once formed the relationship between Laird and clansmen disintegrated into merely an economic relationship of landlord and tennant. The lairds were tempted by the easy profits to be made from sheep farming, and so started mass evictions of the peasants, called the Highland Clearances, that saw the relocation of many crofters to cities or forced them to emigrate to America, Australia and New Zealand.

Although the Clearances took place over 200 years ago, they remain an emotive subject even today. Pretty much every host we have stayed with have mentioned the Clearances in some context. Obviously still very raw for some.

For example, driving through Ullapool, we read that the harbour served as an emigration point during the Clearances, with thousands of Scots seeing as their last memory of home, the pretty township fade into the distance as they sailed away to a new life across the world.

Our destination for the night was a little settlement outside Lochcarron called Ardaneaskan. Our hosts suggested we eat dinner before we came out to their house as it was a single track through forest and tricky to navigate in the dark.

Acceptable pub grub at the Lochcarron Hotel was sourced before making our way to Rona’s Place, right slap bang on the shore of Loch Carron. Our host Roy had built a very unique viewing platform in the back garden. We were tempted to set up there with a bevvy or two, but it was windy, wild, and freezing!

Bed and a hot shower seemed like a better alternative!

We tentatively peeked out the windows this morning, as Hurricane Agnes had made her presence felt last night and we half expected to find the weather had deteriorated further.

But whilst it was dull and cold, it wasn’t raining and the wind had dropped.

Overnight, 2 cruise ships had arrived in Kirkwall, swelling the population by another 5000. We were told 400 cruise ships had visited the Orkneys this summer, great for the economy!

Before making the drive to Stromness to catch the ferry back to the mainland, we had unfinished business at St Magnus Cathedral.

Completely dominating the town, the cathedral is constructed from distinctive red sandstone and dates from the early 12th century. Earl Rognvald Brusason commissioned the cathedral in 1137 in the name of his martyred uncle, Magnus Erlendsson, who was murdered on Egilsay in 1117. Why was he murdered? Political and family differences, apparently. Magnus’ remains were originally buried at Bursay, where we were yesterday, but were moved to the cathedral and entombed in a pillar.

The cathedral had muted lighting, with soaring vaulted ceilings forming a protective canopy over the congregation. Simple, plain, and understated. Very Nordic!

We took a quick look around Stromness before we departed right on time, thankful the ferry service hadn’t been a victim of the nasty weather. In fact, it was relatively smooth sailing. The Old Man of Hoy stood stoically in his place as we passed.

Once on the mainland again, I was sure I could still see the Old Man……

The 80 miles of winding single lane road from Thurso to Durness is pretty darned impressive. It changes from desolate moorland, sandy white beaches flanked by the greenest hills, to wide expanses of lochs, with the ever-present Assynt mountains as a backdrop. It seems amazing that this one and only road across the top of Scotland is little more than a sheep track in some places, but it really just serves to add charm to the drive and forces you to slow down and give way to oncoming traffic.

The final stretch between Durness and our accommodation for the night at Kinlochverbie was really imposing.

Dominated by Foinaven and Arkle mountains, the landscape is very rocky and bare. In fact, it is the oldest rock in the UK. A geologist’s dream.

Kinlochbervie is about 5 miles off the main road and, as such, could easily be overlooked. We were given the idea to stay here from Christine and Doug, and I can certainly see why. It is really magnificent.

We’d booked dinner at the Old School House several months ago and were so glad we did. It’s the only place to eat within miles and is fully booked every night. We sat smugly eating our meal while a parade of people came through the door with hopeful faces only to be turned away.

To be honest, the meal was average, but we weren’t complaining, given the nearest alternative was a30 minute drive away!

Knowing we were going to spend a lot of time outdoors today, we were pretty chuffed waking up to brilliant blue skies and sunshine. Totally not expecting that!

Kirkwall harbour looked beautiful in the morning light. While Stromness and St Margaret’s Hope hosts the ferries from the mainland, Kirkwall services 12 of the outer Orkney islands. It’s pretty busy!

We had 3 objectives today:

1. See the interior of St Magnus’ Cathedral

2. Find the signpost to a certain village, and

3. Visit a few Neolithic sites

The Cathedral looked a lot bigger in daylight, the birds giving the steeple a bit of curry! We lingered outside a wee bit too long, as by the time we had circumnavigated the exterior and reached the front door, the Cathedral was closing for a funeral.

So it was unlucky for us, but I guess even more unlucky for the bloke in the box. St Magnus will have to wait.

Across the road from the Cathedral, the Earl’s and Bishop’s Palaces lay in partial ruin. Extravagant structures for men with dubious motives!

We started our road trip for the day, intent on finding the signposted name for an Orkney village that took our fancy. Our friends Christine and Doug were on the same mission only a few months ago and had no luck…competitive Jude was determined to succeed!

With a bit of Googling and some atlas sleuthing, we found what we were looking for!

We only found one sign, and believe you me, we came into Twatt from multiple directions! Twatt is, in fact, no more than a couple of houses and a church. We suspect all evidence of its name had been obliterated by the locals who were sick and tired of silly tourists invading their ‘village’ for silly photographs. But someone must have realised the commercial potential, as later in the day we found some cool beanies. At £24 each, we figured we’d be Twatts to buy them!

We felt victorious!

Cathedral 0   Twatt 1

Swinging up to the north coast, the view was awesome. We stopped to take some pics of Eynhallow Sound between Mainland and Rousay where the rip on the water was creating surf, and before I knew it, these gorgeous black cows ran, yes ran, over to say hello. A bit like Smokey when she knows treats are on offer!

We hightailed it out of there before the farmer noticed his herd had stampeded!

Around the next corner, we reached a significant moment on our holiday….the northernmost point of our trip!

We stumbled upon the village of Birsay on the west coast which has the impressive ruins of the Earl’s Palace. Built in the 1600’s by Robert Stewart Earl of Orkney and an illegitimate son of James V, he was a nasty, cruel man. His palace, although crumbling, dominates the tiny hamlet. It felt very peaceful there.

But it was time to tackle the big ticket items!

The heart of Neolithic Orkney is UNESC0 listed and consists of 4 impressive archological sites. Skara Brae, Maeshowe, the Standing Stones of Stenness and the Ring of Brodgar. A 5th site, the Ness of Brodgar is currently being excavated and is revealing it’s equal significance.

Booking is essential to visit the first two of these sites, so we were under a strict timetable.

Skara Brae is northern Europe’s best preserved neolithic village, predating Stonehenge. Hidden for 5000 years, it was only revealed in 1850 after a massive storm eroded the sand and grass above the beach, exposing the structures underneath.

As you can only see the village from a viewing platform, they’ve recreated one of the ‘huts’ that has now been re-covered with grass. Stone furniture, even stone beds!

Adjacent to the neolithic sight is Skaill House, built in 1620 and home of the Laird who discovered Scara Brae in 1850. It is a weird mix of decor, with 1950’s furniture and fixtures intermingling with 4 poster beds.

The Ring of Brodgar is a wide circle of standing stones, with only 21 of the original 60 stones still standing among the heather.

Literally within spitting distance is the Standing Stones of Stenness, the solitude of the site enjoyed only by us and a few snowy white sheep.

Our final stop for the day was Maeshowe, a stoneage tomb built of enormous sandstone blocks. So delicate is this site, that it can only be accessed by taking a guided tour. We left the visitors centre on a shuttle bus and travelled a few kms down the road. Maeshowe stands forlorn in a paddock full of grazing cows, virtually a grass covered dome.

By this time, it was 4pm and getting very cold and windy. I marvelled at the gentleman in the kilt and his fortitude!

To access the inside of the tomb, you have to crawl through a passageway about 5m long. Once inside (sorry, no pics allowed), it is actually quite a small space and potentially claustrophobic.

Our guide showed us some Viking graffiti, visibly only by torchlight. For a few weeks around the winter solstice, the setting sun shafts up the entrance passageway and strikes the back wall of the tomb in creepy alignment. Incredible to think they had that kind of mathematical knowledge over 5000 years ago.

Cathedral 0 Twatt 1 Neolithic Sites 4

Facing our 6th day of eating out, tonight we opted for cheese, pate and some fresh veg. Not a chip in sight!

After the excitement of this morning and all the Marjoribanks revelations, I needed a quiet day.

But we had to be at Scrabster (such a great name), by 12.15 to catch the ferry to Stromness on the Orkneys. Google told us it would take 3 hours. And guess what? It did!

Along the way, there wasn’t time for many stops, but we checked out Dunrobin Castle before heading across the apron from the east to the north coast at the most northern part of Scotland. Desolate and windswept, it was littered with abandoned stone buildings, remnants of the ‘clearances’ (more later), with more than a few wind farms concentrated like windmill forests above us.

But of course, in typically Partland/Jones style, we left earlier than we needed to, so arrived well ahead of schedule. It gave us time to explore Thurso.

Thurso boasts being the birthplace of Sir William Alexander Smith, the founder of the Boy’s Brigade (think Presbyterian scouts). It’s a very pretty little town with a profusion of colour in the gardens around the church, despite it being Autumn. In the pic above, John is standing outside what was the town’s drinking well.

We had time for a quick lunch at the harbour tearooms, possibly the worst burgers we’ve ever tasted, but the sign in the ladies loo made me smile.

Boarding the ferry to Stromness was an easy affair, much less stressful than our last car ferry trip to Kangaroo Island. Not a full load, so not packed in like sardines. Mind you, the cables attaching the chairs to the floor in the lounge area was a tad off-putting!

As the Isle of Hoy appeared, we braved the blowy conditions to capture a glimpse of this iconic beauty. The ship’s captain took us pretty close!

Stromness village appeared and we were quickly offloaded and on our way. Rolling green hills and lots of farms were dotted everywhere, just as I’d imagined.

Our first stop was the Churchill Barriers, named after the great man who ordered that they be built. After a German U-boat sank HMS Royal Oak in 1939, Sir Winston had causeways of concrete blocks erected across the channels on the eastern side of Scapa Flow, linking Mainland to the islands of Lamb Holm, Glimpse Holms, Burra and South Ronaldsay. The Churchill Barriers, flanked by rusting wrecks of block ships, now support the main road from Kirkwall to Burwick.

Up the hill on Lamb Holm, sits the Italian Chapel, all that remains of a POW camp that housed the Italian soldiers who worked on the Churchill Barriers. They built the chapel in their spare time from wood and metal scraps. It’s quite extraordinary.

After finding our Airbnb for the next 2 nights, we explored Kirkwall, grabbed some dinner and headed home.

Sadly we had to move on from Glasgow this morning, but we made time to have a quick look at the Cathedral Precinct and a wee peek at Glasgow University.

The Cathedral wasn’t open at this early hour, but the university was, with the old traditional lecture theatres crammed full of fresh-faced students as the new academic year begins.

Our destination tonight is Cannich, a little town about 40 kms west of Loch Ness. We wanted to avoid the busier roads if we could, so left Glasgow heading out along the mighty River Clyde towards  Helensburgh. The weather was pretty wild and wooly!

The very narrow and very picturesque road hugged the shores of Loch Long. We passed a naval facility which was heavily fortified and guarded with absolutely nowhere to stop and photograph, and we later found out why. It was RNAD Coulport, short for Royal Naval Armaments Depot, and is the storage and loading facility for nuclear warheads for the UK’s Trident program. Explained the heavy police presence!

Maybe they’re working on some Australian submarines!

We briefly joined the main road at Arrochar, home of the world famous Loch Fyne Oyster Bar. It was very busy serving customers from various vintage car clubs….not surprising as even being a Monday, it is a public holiday celebrating ‘Autumn’ in Glasgow today!

We grabbed a very acceptable shrimp and rose marie sauce baguette and headed outside in the windy weather to enjoy. It was a great feed!

The gentle climb up Glen Croe was damp, the mountains shrouded in mist, but upon reaching the viewpoint at the Rest and Be Thankful lookout, the wind blew in some better weather.

A little further along, we reached Inverary, a very Georgian black and white town built by the Duke of Argyll in the 18th Century when he revamped his 15th Century castle nearby.

Too cheap to pay the entrance fee, we cheated and took a snap from the gate.

Leaving the hum of the A83 behind us, we peeled off to the quietness of a smaller road, following Loch Awe to the ruins of Kilchurn Castle. Very picturesque, it sits in the middle of a paddock of grazing sheep.

Time was ticking away, so we picked up the pace a bit (which was good because it started raining quite convincingly).

Through Fort William, the site of the 1969 Jones family car break down disaster… our newly acquired second-hand 4 cylinder vauxhall station wagon carrying 6 people must have found the trip from London to the highlands tough going as it blew a head gaskett when we reached this point (and so did my dad)! We all had to return to London by train, overnight sitting up. As a then 11-year-old, it’s an experience forever etched in my memory! Particularly how angry adults can be sometimes!

At Invergarry, we stopped at the Bridge of Oich, built after the 1849 floods breached the Caledonian Canal, destroying the original stone bridge.  This super dooper new model was built in suspension style to avoid the problem ever happening again. Considering it’s approaching its 175th birthday, they did a pretty good job!

Urquhart Castle, on the banks of Loch Ness looked very pretty in the afternoon sun. No sign of Nessie!

Light was fading fast, but we had one more stop to make. I had my heart set on seeing Dog Falls and Glen Affric, but unfortunately, by the time we reached the carpark, there just wasn’t time to complete the 90-minute loop. Next time!

Our accommodation for the night was the Tomich Hotel, about 4kms out of Cannich village. OMG! It was beautiful on the outside and full of character on the inside, as if time was standing still!

Our hosts, Peter and his Thai wife Pik, and their 9 month old baby Abigail ran the whole show between them. Luckily, there were only 4 guests for the night, and that included us!

The dinner menu wasn’t very extensive, shall we say, but the Thai menu items were delicious! We sat in the bar with the other couple for quite a while (and there’s another story), chatting over a few beers before heading wearily to bed.

Now, normally, I would have ended this post here, but an early morning walk the following day revealed some great information I just have to share!

I walked up the little one and only street of Tomich and couldn’t quite believe how postcard picture perfect it seemed to be. Very neat little houses and gardens, even ornate Victorian street lamps.

Then I stumbled upon this roadside fountain cum monument!

With this inscription…

It seems Sir Dudley Coutts Marjoribanks Bart built the village of Tomich, and as the local Laird, took a keen interest in the village and its people. His good lady wife, Isabel Lady Tweedmouth, it said, was ‘mother to the people’.

I was so excited! Wait till I tell Grahame!!

I turned to walk back to the Hotel for breakfast, passing a local packing up her car. We exchanged greetings, but I was so excited I had to share the news with her that I had just found evidence my brother- in-law’s ancestor had built this village!

Well, her happy demeanour instantly changed! She then proceeded to tell me not to believe what the inscription said at all. She said that, in fact, Lord Dudley and Lady Isabel were certainly not the benefactors they were made out to be. Apparently, their house and estate (now in ruin and the site of a holiday park) looked over the original village about 1km up the road. Not wanting to have a view of the riff raff, they decided to build a new village for the peasants down the road out of their sight!

What a revelation! But what a moral dilemma! How could I tell Grahame his ancestor had been a cad?

Retracing my steps to the Hotel, I relayed my story to Peter. He roared with laughter and said “Let me tell you, the Jacobites are alive and well around here…still!”

Happily, he put me right.

Sir Dudley was, in fact, a very busy man. As well as being a Member of Parliament (for the liberals but we’ll forgive him), he also made his money from starting MEUX & Co Beer brewing, Coutts banking, and built the village of Tomich with everything to make it self-sustainable, even down to having its own Mill (stream still visible today). By building the village, the villagers now had proper rooves over their heads and decent housing. He also experimented with dog breeding and is attributed with being the first to breed the Golden Retriever. Peter said notes on the breeding program were found, and all were in Sir Dudley’s own handwriting. He specifically wanted to breed a calm dog for his children rather than a hunting dog, which was the norm in those parts at the time!

Phew, information overload!

Weirdly, before I reached the monument fountain things this morning, I’d passed another memorial.

With this inscription…

No mention of the name Marjoribanks, so I hadn’t put two and two together.

So Grahame, I reckon you should be mighty proud of Sir Dudley. It seems to me he did a lot of good stuff.

I can see the resemblance. Can you?

John and I want to praise the efficient, professional, and empathetic AFFORD CAR RENTAL COMPANY at Stoke on Trent! Shannon and Dave couldn’t have been more obliging, kind and positive. No hard sell for extra insurance, no nonsense instructions on car care and above all, they were reasonably priced…they could have taken advantage of our situation and charged us anything…. and would have paid….we were desperate!

Stunningly, within 30 minutes of arriving, we took possession of our bright red Sportage and were winging our way north on the M6 to Glasgow.

But, I’m getting ahead of myself! Back story coming up.

In 2 weeks’ time, we’ll be starting our canal barge adventure from Stoke on Trent, so it seemed logical to hire/ return a car from there. We caught the 8.15am train from Euston to Stoke via Nuneaton and Milton Keynes with Avanti.

That would give us plenty of time to get to the car hire office at our 12 noon ‘out of hours special opening just for you at extra cost’ negotiated appointment time. We were so well organised, we arrived at said office by 11am. Choosing the comfort of the customer waiting area, we did just that, waited, and waited. 12 noon ticked by. No show.

Now, given our communication with this company the previous day, I guess we weren’t overly surprised this had happened. Just hugely distressed and disappointed! And to be honest, a little concerned about our next booking with them after the canal trip!

Called George at Europcar. He said he’d call back. He didn’t. Called Omar at Europcar. He said he’d get George to call back. He didn’t.

So we called AFFORD CAR RENTALS and voila!

Say no more!

The drive to Glasgow was all motorway, fast, wet and a bit scary. But we arrived safely, were welcomed warmly by Thomas our Airbnb host, into his gorgeous home, and freshened up for our long-awaited rendezvous.

We had arranged to meet up with Ashley and Ben, friends Katie and Chris had made when they’d lived in London. Ashley and Ben spent last Christmas in Australia, and we’d had a wonderful time then getting to know them, so it was great to catch up and see how they were settling into their new Glaswegian lifestyle.

As it turns out, pretty darned good! Much more affordable rent means they can live, eat and play without watching the pennies as much.

Having originally met as students in Glasgow, Ben is now a Professor at the Uni, and Ashley has successfully negotiated remote working with her Workforce Company in London. Being from the USA and Canada respectively, their lifestyle now consists of frequent trips home to see family, work/ friend catch-up trips to London, weekends experiencing the highlands on their doorstep and an ever evolving multicultural and vibrant living environment. Oh, and golf! Three times a week!

What’s not to like??

We ate sumptuously at the very popular Madras Cafe and then scurried up in the pouring rain to The Hootenanny Pub where we were treated to some great beer and great music.

It was so good to see them looking so very happy and optimistic about the future.

Heading north was a great move guys!

Good morning London! Blue skies and 18°!

St Pancras looked beautiful inside and out as we passed by today.

We were in search of a nice sunny spot for a morning coffee and knew the Regent Canal was close by. A new development called the Coal Drop Yards popped into view and we settled down to enjoy our brew.

Imagine our horror when John opened up his emails to find one from Europcar saying our rental booking for car pick-up tomorrow was cancelled because the office was closed!

Now this is not the start of this saga! We have spent many hours on the phone and through emails with this company over the past months trying to sort a way of hiring a car on the Sabbath when all offices are apparently closed. We thought we’d come to an agreement with them to open the office specially for us in exchange for an extra £80 in the collection plate!

After about an hour on the phone getting nowhere, we finally got through to Zach. God bless you Zach, for returning our call and reassuring us the office would be open tomorrow at Stoke and that the email sent to us must have been an error. Phew!

So, happily onto our mission today, which was to reunite, after 40 years, with a branch of the Hockley family and my 2nd cousins Pam, Michael and Janice.

We caught the train to Crawley, about an hour south of London where Pam lives.

As is quite usual for me, a backstory is now necessary!

Pam, Michael, Janice and myself are all great grandchildren of Emily Hockley.

Emily had one son, Earnest, who was killed in WW1, and three daughters, Ettie, Dolly and Edie.

Ettie was my grandmother, Edie was grandmother to Pam, Michael and Janice, and Dolly was grandmother to Terry, who surprised everyone by walking through the door with his wife Annie. They’d driven from Paris to be there!

I have a lot to thank Terry for. He’d put me back in contact with Pam after 40 years. Back in 1973 when I was living in England, I’d meet up quite often with Pam for lunch.

I was 15, Pam was 22 and worked in a bank at Croyden. I idolised and marvelled at how sophisticated she was, trying to copy everything she wore. I thought we were so cool, munching away on our Wimpy burgers (think 1970’s Maccas) then having a ciggie and cuppa!

Pam had generously agreed to host a family reunion with her siblings and extended family. What a spread!

We talked non-stop all afternoon, poring over photos, birth, death and marriage certificates and catching up on 40 lost years. It was wonderful, the years gradually melting away, once we’d acclimatised to the grey hair and wrinkles!

We reluctantly left at 5.30pm and said our farewells…assuming another reunioin was probably pretty unlikely, but at least knowing we now have that connection re-established and can work on that. It was hard saying goodbye when we’d only just said hello!

Back in London, we were in search of somewhere close by with some outdoor ambience, so headed up to Angel and Amwell St, where Katie and Chris lived when we visited them in 2019.

Happily settled at their local, the George and Monkey, enjoying a scrummy pizza, we reminisced about the fun times we shared with them back then and sitting there, we felt very close to them both.

I suffered the ultimate shame going through security at Sydney airport.

My backpack was rerouted down the conveyer belt for naughty people and searched for contraband. The offending item? My teeny weeny jar of vegemite! How un-Australian! And how stupid of me to have put it there in the first place, rather than in my checked baggage.

But I digress.

We’ve had a few years to think about and plan this trip, and following a few recent health issues, we decided to treat ourselves to some upgraded tickets. Originally thinking PE might be cool, we consulted those who really know, my friend Christine and…the aqua aerobics crew (who between them have flown on every airline to just about every place in the world)….and subsequently were put in contact with a travel mob from South Australia. Daina did a superb sales pitch and before we knew it, we were booked on Business Class Return! Flat beds all the way! Whoa! Sorry kids, we’re spending your inheritance!

Now, I will TRY and not go on about it, but indulge me! This opportunity was not dissimilar to kids on their first trip to Disneyland! Being solid cattle class customers in the past, this was going to be fun!

Putting ‘Business’ into your trip suddenly makes you important and privileged. Priority checking in, priority custom and immigration queues, priority boarding, priority baggage pick-up……..

No more taking camel pics, browsing designer clothing and duty free shops on stop-overs. Oh no, it’s straight to the Business Lounge where you can have anything to eat or drink that your heart desires. Just in case you hadn’t eaten or drunk enough on the plane. Options also include using the spa and massage facilities, taking a shower or just having another sleep on another flat bed.

And imagine my delight when visiting the ladies facilities to find the face washers rolled and tucked in the style of my towels at home, a trick I haven’t been able to perfect at all. The lovely lady attendant patiently showed me how it was done. I’m sure she thought I was crazy!

Am I going on about it too much???

We thought Malaysia Air did a pretty good job on the first leg to Kuala Lumpur, but Oman Air ratcheted it up a couple of notches with even more space, superb food and wines served with white table service and newer planes. Staff on both airlines were great, and rest assured, they kept my champagne class filled.

It was an absolute indulgence and we loved every minute of it!

John captured some great shots of London as we approached Heathrow.

We were absolutely gobsmacked to be 2nd and 3rd off the plane, straight through immigration via automatic passport reader gates to arrive at the luggage carousel just as our bags popped through the exit hole. 15 minutes tops!

Hightailed it to Kings Cross on the Picadilly Line, dumped our bags at the hotel, and set off for Westminster. London was buzzing and chock full of beautiful young things and dressed to the nines theatre goers, out on the town on a Friday night.

It’s been an amazing 48 hours.

But can’t finish this blog without one more shot from our plane seats.