Scotland

At last we managed – we finally made it all the way to Scotland!

After vain attempts for several years has brought us to both Iceland and Wales, 2016 became the year in which the summer tour finally brought us to Scotland.

To make the most of the trip, we chose to split up again. This time Linnea and Peter took off first, and made a nice trip to Amsterdam, where we spent a couple of days before we sailed to England from Hoek Van Holland.

Well it actually ended up with an extra day, but that was only because of the minor detail that we brought the wrong passport. It just had to happen …

It is one of those experiences that are terrifying in the situation, but subsequently becomes one of the fun stories. And as we always have said; “we don’t define the stories, it’s the stories that defines us!”

After exchanging passports, with a little help from our friends- in this situation DHL – we arrived to England with a single day delay. We managed to act totally cool, relaxed and rational when we realized our mistake. But, the panic was to show its ugly face when the Dutch police asked if I had documentation for legally traveling alone with my minor child. She could have been kidnaped.

Lucky for us, the police just chose to ask Linnea if she was voluntarily joining the tour – wich she overall meant was the case. Even though she had mostly been voluntarily taken to Amsterdam, and NOT so much to Scotland due to the prospect of bad weather.

Our trip through England to Scotland became a stunning beautiful trip through the Yorkshiredale and Lake District. We, as usual, chose the smallest roads and got an amazing trip out of it.

In Edinburgh we pitched the camp before we picked up the rest of the family at the airport. And together we spent some great days in charming Edinburgh before we headed out north on the old military roads to Glen More and the Scottish highlands.

We had deliberately chosen to limit this trip, so we had more time to spend each place. Of course, it also meant that we chose a lot from. Our plan was to do the area south of Inverness. Northern Scotland and Orkney must have their own trip later. They really must have..!

From Glen More we drove along Loch Ness to Skye where we had our second major stop. At Skye we camped approximately in the middle of the island, not far from Edinbane. For a very good reason Skye is haunted by tourists in the summer. So you have to be out early if you need a place in a campsite. We chose a campsite so we could just let our camp stay while we drove / hiked / visited castles and distilleries.

Skye has a brutal nature. That’s what makes the island so beautiful, and why there happens to be so many tourists.

When we arrived, the manager on campsite told us that there was a warning of gusty winds, so we should secure the tent probably. When a local from Skye says it’s gonna be windy, you better listen – it has to be real gusty before they even think anyone should be notified!

We had two days in storm, where our equipment again stood for the big test, and there was not a lot of tents left in the square when the wind first leaked again. But our equipment is great quality so we enjoyed ourselves in the tents while the elements raged. In that weather whiskey actually does makes sense , so we visited the Tallisker distillery to get a little boost.

Our third stop was Glen Coe at Ben Nevis. Beautiful, beautiful nature where we hiked, rode horses, played golf and ate haggis before the trip went on to Loch Lomond and The Trossach National Park. That part of Scotland (just north of Glasgow) could and should actually have its very own visit – there is so fairytale like beautiful! This place also goes directly to the list of places we have to return to.

While we are working us through our dreams from the bucket list, we at the same time fill up the alternative bucket list of places we have to revisit. Conclusion is that we will never managed to be satisfied and say; “We made it! We have now been all the places we wanted!”.

On our return to Denmark we was divided once again. We drove to Edinburgh from where the rest af the family flew home. I spent the last  few days following Hadian’s Wall to NewCastle, where I took the ferry back to Amsterdam and the circle was completed.