Susie's Report No 24

 

We crossed back over the border into England and went to see the Lindisfarne Castle/ Priory, the only way to get there is via a causeway, so you have to have the tides right for entry/exit of the Holy Island.  This castle was owned for along time by the family who owned "Country Life Magazine" and this was just their “weekender."  Stunning…….

We arrive at our C.L. Site and we are greeted by the owner Sam, she’s about 40 ish and we are chatting away and she says I’ve NEVER “SEEN" AUSTRALIAN'S BEFORE, and I, trying not to laugh , asked her WELL !!! How do we look!!!!!! Not like Aliens I hope, she said I meant to say “MET," lovely girl but obviously has led a quiet life on the farm.

Onto the Yorkshire Dales and back onto the winding roads again, we are on a road where Caravans are prohibited & HGV’S are recommended to use other routes, the signs are all "stay in LOW GEAR" which we stay in most of the climb, so you can imagine what it was like for H.H. ( our little workhorse powered on ). The view progressing up was fabulous, there was signs everywhere saying " Bends DEAD Ahead “ and giving figures of how many times the road has been blocked with vehicles struggling to get around these bends, coming down the other side was a piece of cake.

Moving along, and after many more C.L.sites we arrive at GEDDINGTON  which is the ancestral village of Terry’s 4 x times Great Grandfather Samuel Lee, died 1708, very pretty village.

We unbelievably found a spot to park H.H. right near the Church,“The Mary Magdalene” we thought we would wander the graveyard.

A really beautiful and interesting Church. All the Lee’s were christened and/or married here. 

 In the mean time I was taking a photo of the Geddington Visitors Church Guide, when this man comes running up to me saying "DON’T TAKE IT, IT’S ALL WRONG/IT’S NOT RIGHT", I thought my god !!!!! Who am I going to offend this time !!!!! Turns out he is the Church Tour Guide and is extremely passionate about the correctness of the this board I was reading, he’s saying the configurations are incorrect and so is most of the information, he disagrees with just about all of it, I then INHALED DEEPLY after realising I was not going to be ostracised or locked up, and he then proceeded to enlighten me for twenty minutes. Igot the low down on the church for the last 500 YEARS!!!!!!!! Which King, Queen & whoever passed through this particular door and who stood on this floor, he barely paused for breath and then Terry came along, and he started all over again, hopefully he didn’t see the glazed look in my eyes, OH BOY!!!!! Thanks be to GOD that he had a tour starting soon and had to go “Hallelujah”!!!!!!!!. 

  

 His tour ended up to be about 30 GOGO MOBILES or Messerschmidt’s - what an incredible sight, watching these tiny 3 wheelers roll into the village, all different colours, there were hard and soft tops  (sporty version) 1 & 2 seaters - just fascinating.  They all parked by the Queen Eleanor’s Cross monument for the talk, then slowly moved off out of town. We said our many thanks and bolted back to H.H. - then he found US!!! As H.H. sticks out like a sore thumb, he gave us his business card and happily we all left, he loved a captive audience.

 

Good to see the Lee’s have left their mark here in Geddington!

 

  

 Next couple of days we went to see “Minley Manor” in Hampshire - this is where my Paternal Grandparents met & worked.  It is up for sale for a measley 5,000,000 pounds, it has changed hands many times and it currently owned by the Military.  So of course we arrive and there is a guard at the gates, we give him a HUGE sob story = ( Australians, come along way, Ancestral visit- blah blah blah !!!!!!!) No go!!! .

 

 

We cannot come in and even take a photo without permission, he suggests we drive down to Headquarters - same sob story - not interested - there just happened to be nobody around with any Authority (all in meetings) HAH!!!.  It was very dissapointing,  the Manor and grounds are deserted  and in need of some T.L.C.Its slowly decaying.   My imagination took over and I could picture this area in its hay-day’s a working manor.  Originally it had 2,500 acres which ofcourse has been sold off over the years.  I guess we could of looked a bit suspect, we could have been old age terrorists, one never knows, it’s better to be safe H.H. could have been an armoured vehicle equipped with all sorts of things!!!! We left.

So, next day we thought we would have a look at the TOP GEAR (TV) site, Gambon cnr etc, maybe take a photo of H.H. on the track.  AGAIN !!!! We have been rebuffed by security (same old) HAVE YOU GOT PERMISSION, answer NO??? We tried the lost Australian angle, plus we’ve come along way, could we PLEASE have a look, another sob story, answer NO!!! This guy has no compassion !  We knew we couldn’t but it was worth a try, this site is run by The Civil Aviation Authority.  There was a plane parked on a disused runway and Terry asked him what it was (to make small talk/conversation) and he said - I don’t know I’m not into planes  (boring fart!!!) so dejected/rejected we left. 

Lots more C.L/sites with lots of Harvesting smells of Barley and Wheat and of course Horse Poo.

 

 

 

    

 

 Then onto CANTERBURY again to do a shop, I love the 1 pound shop ,lots of interesting goodies and then onto a Caravan Site to do a last BIG wash. 

   

 Then off to our LAST C.L. site then onto the ferry Tuesday 29th, exactly 6 months since we left the U.K. into France for some much needed cheap wine & rum, then into Belgium & into GERMANY, Yeah !!! A new country to absorb ourselves into and hopefully some safe bike riding, can’t wait, and also back into the AIRES again.  The British Isles is beautiful and scenic, the weather has been brilliant, much to everyone’s shock, everyone goes mad when the sun is shinning, they get their chairs out and roast themselves, its good to see, and very interesting..  

This snail trail shows where we have been.

Talk to you all soon, Love Susie,Terry = H.H. x x x 

Susie's Report No 23

 

 Hi to all from Bonnie Scotland,

After pottering along on some scenic skinny roads, we arrived at the Bonnie Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond at a Caravan site at LUSS,  Terry’s in at reception, and to his amazement he is told that our International Camping Card is not valid. It has been used and approved on countless occasions, SHE, behind the desk, didn’t like the fact that our card is hand written, ( a bit antiquated, but thats how they do it at N.R.M.A. at the Central Coast office - Sydney) SHE, behind the desk, decided that the Landlord would not approve!!  -  after a polite exchange of words and ME saying this is very UN-SCOTTISH - HER Leprechaun of a husband all 5ft of him asked ME to leave the office, and I nicely said back to him NO!!!!!!!! He shrunk back behind the desk. We had already pre-paid for 2 days, so we had to wait for a refund. We left and ended up at another site on the other side of the loch called MILAROCCHY BAY, they could not understand the fuss and either could the Customer relations fellow that rang us back, we had to sort this out for further usage. All O.K. Those other DILLS missed out on 40 pounds, I’m sure the landlord would be happy about that!!!!

Where we ended up was right next to Loch Lomond and very pretty.

 

Next stop was TROSSACHS NATIONAL PARK at LOCH KATRINE, we paid 10 pound for a 24hr pass plus an ovenite stay in the car park, we cycled about 20 miles in total, too many steep climbs, easy going down, realy tough coming back up.

 Beautiful scenery through patches of sunlight. That night the local goats set off the restaurant perimeter alarms 3 TIMES !!!!! It would finally reset itself after 20 minutes and finally we could get back to sleep. I was talking to an employee next day and he said they can’t even grow any flowers/shrubs in pots as the goats eat everything but the grass,however they were very cute. 

 The Alarm culprits.

Next site at OBAN, campsite in a Victorian Walled Garden, big wooden gates closed you in at night, we cycled on what pathways we could, too dangerous on the road (they have a National Cycle route but it’s often broken and you have to use the road).  You would think with all this cycling we would be Trim,Taught, and Terrific but alas NO as we enjoy our drinks and home cooked food. We can’t even call our drinks Sundowner’s as it doesn’t get dark till 10.45pm and its lite again at 3.45am, my Qantas eyeshades come in very handy.

We are back on the coast again at a C.L. site (farm) overlooking the Ocean. God we love it!!!!!! It’s so good to feel sand between your toes again, its a little nippy though, wetsuits are the beach attire. I’m sitting outside H.H. watching some sail boats/yachts thinking  - I’m  so glad its them not us - been there done that.  It was pouring with rain on our journey here.

Waterfalls everywhere, the terrain is so hilly it was gushing from every crevice - and so many heavy trucks on the road. We stopped off on the way at the historic town of FORT WILLIAM for some supplies.

Beachfront apartment on the West Coast of Scotland

The scenery here was spectacular.

 

Next day we head off for the ISLE OF SKYE - onto a car ferry & 30 mins later here we are, great trip across. Our first stop was at SLIGACHAN campsite.

The weather in Scotland changes dramatically, its truly beautiful. Next day we follow the coast road and naturally they are all built for Morris Minors.

We find a lay by on a cliff top, put the kettle on for a cup of tea (cause we could) and a Scottish shortbread and watched the ever changing landscape and the undulating ocean below.  

The sun is shinning, the view spectacular.

I must tell you there are more things on the road than just scary trucks, there are now SHEEP & DEER !!!!!!!!!!

They just wander about on the verges/middle of the road  - no wonder I have developed Cold Sores, I haven’t had one in years, maybe, I should wear the Qantas shades sitting in the passenger seat ( remember we are left hand drive = left hand side of the road.

Moving back down the coast again we end up at the EILEAN DONAN CASTLE. It was great to see the real thing other than a post card. There was a young fellow busking at the entrance in full kilt etc. playing his Bag Pipes (fantastic). LOCH DUICH stunning. Terry worked on a Singapore Airlines commercial here back in 1985 (he thinks!)

 

 That night we stayed close by and the nights entertainment was a FREE RANGE CHOOK, confronting two innocent backpackers on his turf!!! This girl was frightened and was backed up against a fence, with horror on her face challenged by a chook ( mind you she could of been a prize winning layer ). We sat in H.H. and watched this !!!! Till, Terry being gallant, called a truce with 2 slices of bread, the free range willingly gave up and chose the food presented, ate and wandered off into the distance, happy! The girls then reluctantly put up their minuscule tent, all was quiet.

 

Thanks to reading “Diana Gabaldon” books, fiction with some fact and also our limited history lessons, we went to the CULLODEN BATTLEFIELDS.  Just looking at the lay of the land and the vegetation which they are trying to turn it back to its natural state, it obviously was a very fierce battle in 1746.  

The vegetation alone is very boggy, so wet, full of thistles,and scratchy shrubs, and other bitey things, the Highlanders were slaughtered, they are still finding bits of amunition, musket balls, metal bits, buttons off coats etc.They were tough times.

We have covered a lot of ground in Scotland and its beautiful, the Lochs are unbelievable, we couldn’t stop at Loch Ness as there were lots of Buses and tourist cars everywhere, just too hard, we’ll try next time.

Loch Duich from our campsite.

  We drove into EDINBURGH for a look see, this also will have to be next time around, we are slowly working our way south again. 

I had my first drive of H.H. today on a disused runway,(Top Gear and Sig…., eat your heart out!), excellent, but everything was on the wrong side, went to change gear with left hand but needed right, funny feeling, don’t think I’m ready to tackle the main roads yet, as I don’t think the general driving public would be ready for me, YIKES. !!!!!

 

Also went to the local markets and then onto The Scottish National Museum of Flight.

 

This is situated on an airfield used in WW1 and WW2, very impressive. amongst others their Military & Civil Aviation hangers were great, also the “Concorde” hangar to which you could go onboard.

 

 

 it cruised at Mach 2, very claustrophobic inside. Terry had to duck right down to enter, very narrow aisles & seating, the cockpit was mind boggling with hundreds of dials and looking very confined, unbelievable.

They called it sleek sophistication, I called it, tiny & cramped, a great day out & about with a bit of history thrown in.

Terry thought he had spotted a cheap helicopter, but thought the spare parts might be a problem!

 

Anyway, will be crossing back over the border next couple of days and will write then.

Love to all,  Susie,Terry = H.H.   x x x