Northchurch/East Scotland

Well, it's been 3 months already with my job placement. Since I work 7 days a week with a 3 hour break during the afternoons, my employer highly encourages time off after 3 months. It's a full on job, and isolating, so I welcomed the holiday.
I did take 4 days off in mid-December for my cousin Margo's memorial. My aunt emailed an obituary for me to read since I was the only Canadian family member there. And I turned out to be the only family member there. I was hoping Margo's nephew would come, so I could meet another relative from my grandmother's side... but he didn't show up.
I was glad for Pat and Sarah's company and hospitality. They were close to Margo, like family, and were good friends. I stayed at their place in Scarborough. Sarah and I got on great. We're about the same age and connect well. Shame she had to work, but I only had 2 days there anyway so it was fine. I spent the other day walking in town checking out the shops, market and the beachfront.
I spent my Christmas with my client, her family and some of her friends. It was really nice. I truly felt like a part of the family. We even had a trip out to Goring, a place that won a village of the year award. However, when we visited, the river was flooding the land's edge. People were placing sandbags to create a barrier for the flood... maybe not the best time of year to see it.
I spent a lot of my break time walking or riding the bike along the canal in Northchurch. Also going up to Ashridge Forest. Just up the hill, it was a large wooded area with trails and open fields. Lots of people visit there. It was a little sanctuary for me. Great to get in some nature time... and find solitude.
I also went on a little trip to the zoo with my client's family. We saw Woburn Safari Park. It really was like a safari, you stayed in your vehicle and drove around the parkland to see the different "enclosures." I use the term loosely because the grazing animals were free to roam around. The predators were through a double gate that led to separate enclosures for them. It was really neat. Though, some people had damage to their vehicles when entering the monkey area. Signs warned people of that possibility... they have ripped off windshield wipers.
From tigers, wolves, bears and lions to ostrich, rhinos, elephant, oryx, camels, bison, zebras, etc. to monkeys, tortoise, snakes, penguins and sea lions. This place had all kinds from the animal kingdom. Pretty neat place. The smaller and aquatic creatures were in a section of the park where you could walk. A chance to stretch the legs and watch some shows. Neat place.
Now, my past 10 days have been fantastic.
I met up with Ashley, one of the girls from my caregiver training course. We decided to go up to Scotland together on a camping trip. Right, camping in Scotland in March... yes I know... it's cold. But we had a plan. We rented a campervan from a company called Spaceships near Heathrow. The owner modified the vans to suit camping requirements. It was amazing! It had a fridge, DVD player, 2 burner stove, dual battery system, blankets, pillows, storage space, cookware, glasses, utensils, plates, bowls, fuel for the stove and more. I was really happy with it.
We planned to wildcamp with it in order to balance our budget for the trip.
After stocking up on food at the grocery store, we left London and headed north to Selkirk before cutting across to Melrose in Scotland. It was pretty late by the time we got there... and dark. We drove up to Scott's View and pulled over at a nice spot near there so we could see the viewpoint in the morning.
And it was lovely the next day! There was a little bit of fog covering the hills and over the river. Very nice.
After breakfast, we headed into town and visited Melrose Abbey. A beautiful ruined monastery dating back to 1136, with a Gothic appearance and built in a St. John's cross shape. Many statuary and decorations of plants, dragons, gargoyles and saints. Even had a lead container that supposedly held the embalmed heart of Robert the Bruce (one of Scotland's kings whom lead the wars of Scottish Independence against England). An engraved stone was now placed above the ground to mark the burial site of his heart.
The abbey sure was grand!

I could walk up one of the steep, narrow spiral steps to the roof and see the gargoyles and bell up close. The view over the grounds showed many tombstone's all around the ruin. Many Scottish Kings and nobles were buried on the abbey's grounds.
From there, we left the Scottish Borders to head to Edinburgh. Once heading north, we started to see sprinkling of snow here and there. It was very pretty, especially with the old arched stone bridges over the rivers. So nice.
Our second stop of the day was the Edinburgh Butterfly and Insect World. Really colourful butterflies, snakes, lizards, fish, scorpions and Tarantulas. Ashley and I both got to hold the Tarantula while she was out. Their abdomen is really soft from their fine hairs.
Next, we parked in the city centre near Edinburgh castle where we made a pit stop to have a quick visit with my friends John and Sinclair (whom I met up with at Glen Etive while camping). It sure was nice to catch up over coffee.
Then, we drove to Pitlorchy where we took a narrow road heading to Foss, and camped out near a river. Looked like a hydro plant was nearby using the river for hydro power. We could hear it faintly where we stayed, but only if we were outside.
It sure was comfortable in that campervan! I didn't have trouble sleeping at all. Only trouble I encountered was getting Ashley out of bed. She loved to sleep in. Ha!
Once we were awake, fed and finished enjoying the river, we drove up to Inverness. Passing the borders of the Cairngorms National park along the way was lovely with the snow on the hills.
We visited the other Loch Ness Monster exhibit I hadn't seen, which was Nessieland. It was more mythical as opposed to scientific and more targeted towards children I think. I have to admit, the Nessie models were pretty cool. And the documentary of locals having eye-witnessed accounts of the Nessie sightings was entertaining.
We popped over to Urquhart Castle and ate lunch before the long drive north to Thurso.
En route, we passed Dunrobin Castle. It had a falconry and a garden overlooking the ocean. Unfortunately it was closed when we went by. So, I took a couple pictures of the estate building since it looked so neat. Maybe another time I could visit. Sutherland was a nice county.
We got close to Thurso and about 5 miles before the town we took a side road to Castletown where we camped out at Dunnet Forest. Again, it was dark so any exploring would have to wait till morning.
We made some pasta for dinner, and it took longer than it should had with all the wind. Very stormy. Even a bit of hail and wet snow. Luckily the snow didn't stick, but it was freezing! We had a short rock wall barrier at the parking lot that we tried to use as a wind breaker. It helped, but took us a while to boil the water and cook the noodles. It sure was delicious once we ate. We really needed a warm dinner!
I woke fairly early the following day. Too early for Ashley, so I snuck out of the van and went for a pleasant walk through  Dunnet forest. Yes, it was cold, but I had my thermals on under all my layers and was very comfortable. A couple people were walking their dogs along the various trails. A small woodland, but the birds seemed happy.
By the time I got back to the van, Ashley was up and after filling our bellies, we went to the beach at Dunnet Bay. Again, very windy and cold. Ashley had a short looky-loo and waited for me back in the van while I walked along the beach a little. Then we went up to the viewpoint at Dunnet Head. It's the most northerly point of the mainland of Britain. Caithness is a stunning county with all the coastal cliffs and beaches. And the viewpoint revealed a few mini lochs amongst the hills. On a clear day, you would be able to see the three islands, Stroma, Hoy and even the Orkney mainland, but the clouds were too misty for us to see across the water.
There was a light house and WWII fortifications up there. Soldiers used for the area for a lookout and station for the Royal Air Force. Had we been there at the right time of year (such as spring and summer), puffins nest along the cliff side. As it was, there were none. I did however see some Gannets. Large white birds with yellow faces and black tipped wings.
While driving to our next destination, we couldn't help but make pit stops to take photos of the beautiful coastal scenery and stone housed homesteads.
We drove to John o' Groats. A small fisherman village with a tourist shop and eatery. The North Sea was crashing waves along the breakwater something fierce! Poor little fishing boat at port was not going anywhere!
Duncansby Head was our next stop. It is the most north-eastern tip of the British mainland and is famous for the rock pinnacles rising out of the sea, known as the Duncansby Stacks.
There is a small light house there, and walking the path that goes beyond it is where the delights are seen. Fascinating layers of the sedimentary rock cliffs and a deep cleft (named Geo of Sclaites) carved out in the cliff. I'm sure birds would frequent here, but given the extremely windy winter day and the crashing of the waves through the cleft, they did not hang around. And rightly so. It was a force not to be reckoned with. I have to say, one thing I love is the ocean. Nature is truly amazing and beautiful, even in it's violence.
Continuing along the little path, we came to the Thirle Door (which is an arch carved at the cliff base) and the Duncansby Stacks. I could only imagine how nice it would be to be up there on a sunny calm day enjoying a picnic. The rock architecture was marvelous.
After heading back south along the coast, we made a quick stop at the Ackergill Tower. It looked to intriguing from the road to pass up and the driveway itself was inviting me. The twisted arms of the trees alongside the driveway coiled over the drive like something out of Sleepy Hollow. It was eerie and fantastic.
After that, just past Wick, we stopped to explore the Whaligoe steps.
The 330 some odd steps were made of stone dating to the late 1700's but fairly well maintained by locals.  The volunteer caretaker told us there used to be 365, one for every day of the year, but over time, erosion had worn about 30 of them away.
We took care descending the zigzag staircase against the stone cliff wall. Once at the bottom of the haven, we could see the ruins of the harbour. A narrow grassy area called the Bink had the remains of an old salt storage area the fisherman used for curing the fish. There was also a round pit that was used as a barking kettle to heat tar to coat fishing nets and floats for waterproofing.
It is said the name came due to a whale that had washed up in the harbour. The crashing waves forced the whale to be beaten against the cliffs and then washed into the harbour, where the local fisherman then harvested for food.
A Neist (small steps onto the lower rocky shelf) was made as well to help the boats moor more easily. There aren't many harbours on the north east coast, so it was frequently used in the earlier years. But by the 1960's they stopped using the harbour.
We drove to Dunbeath and stayed at Inver Caravan Park. The owners were a lovely couple who invited us into their house for the paperwork and offered us a cup of tea to get the chill off. They also had a friendly cat that would chat to you and demand some love. Very cute fella.
Ashley hopped into the shower while I made dinner. Well, I tried to. It was so windy, I spent 45 mins trying to get my water to boil. A nice woman in her caravan saw me struggling, and asked if I'd like to use her stove inside to make my dinner. I was so grateful! I was starving! I just love how friendly people are here in Scotland. She was planning on going to the Orkney Islands, but with the storm, the ferry's weren't running. Her and her husband were staying at the campsite hoping in a couple days it would ease up enough to get there for vacation. They were from Europe and she was a painter. She made cards and post cards with her talent and was more than happy to show me.
The next morning, we passed through Inverness again at took the Great Glen route to Fort William. We shopped around in town for bit and had some lunch.
Then we continued to Glencoe. My favourite place! And it was just stunning to see all the hills with the lightly dusted snow caps. I really wanted to go on a little hike, but Ashley wasn't into it. So, I suggested maybe I'll go for about an hour, and she could take the van and pop into the town and look around. She didn't like being out in the cold and preferred to be in the van or inside somewhere. Poor girl, guess she thought the trip might be a bit warmer. But when your on a budget and camping, it's cold in the north in winter. The wind didn't help much, but it's Scotland.

So, that's what we did. She went into town, and I decided to follow a trail that took me up across from the 3 sisters. Similar location to some filming spots for the last Harry Potter films. Ah, it was gorgeous. Just love it.
Once she picked me up, we headed to Glen Etive and drove to the end at Gualachulain to our wild campsite. The same place I've stayed before and met John and Sinclair. Some of the little waterfalls were iced over and had icicles hanging. Also saw a heard of Red Deer, which we both were happy photographing.
We watched one of our DVDs to enjoy our evening.
Since I wake up before Ashley, I went for a little stroll along the shore and up by a creek. Birds were singing away. Even heard an owl during the night which was nice.
After breakfast, we went to Callander to look at the tourist shop and have a stretch. I bought myself a tartan scarf for a souvenir... plus it would keep me warm. A highland cow was by the parking lot fence giving himself a good scratch on the barbed wire. With all that long hair, it coated the barbs and twined around them, so he didn't get any cuts. Friendly bull too. He liked to be petted. Filthy though. Our hands were caked in dirt after, ha ha.
We continued on to Stirling. After looking at the castle, Ashley and I both decided to visit the National Wallace Monument instead.
The walk up to the tower was nice. Had a lovely view of Stirling, especially up on the tower itself. A narrow winding staircase led up to a nice platform that went all the way around so you could get a 360 degree view.
On the way up, there were numerous floors with historical displays. Level 1 was the Hall of Arms. Lord Wallace's broadsword was displayed in a glass case. The story of William Wallace was charted throughout the floor as well. Describing his belief in freedom and peace, uniting the Scottish clans against King Edward I of England, his victory against the King in 1297 at Stirling Bridge over the River Forth and about his betrayal, capture and execution.
Next level was the Hall of Heroes. Stained glass widows and marble busts depicted medieval warriors.
The third level talked about the construction of the monument. And lastly was the crown, or the viewing platform. One could see the Stirling Bridge where Wallace had won his famous victory battle from up there.
When we headed out, a costumed man was telling the story of the Battle of Stirling Bridge. After his story, he was more than happy to take photos with the tourists and give us a sword to play with. That was very entertaining. I love the accent too. I know it's not on most people's list of attractive accents, but it's on mine :) I thank Sean Connery and Liam Nissan for that.
We strolled around the town a little bit before heading to north England's Lake District.
It was a scenic drive. The Lake District was full of mountains, lakes, trees, farms and small towns. We found a campsite on a farm in the northern part in Troutbeck. I believe it was called Gill Head Farm. A family working farm. When we arrived, the owners were working with their sheep. Seems some were lambing.
We could smell the farm, but wasn't bothersome. It was nice to have full facilities anyway. We slept well regardless of where we stayed. All bundled up with our blankets.
In the morning, we had sunshine that made the drive to see Ullswater, Windermere, Crook and Kendal a nice drive. We did get a little stuck however. My fault. We were driving along a lakeside that was so picturesque, I had to get out and enjoy it and take a photo. There wasn't a pull over spot, so I went off the shoulder of the road and parked 3/4 on the grass. Well, turned out that tall grass was sprouting on thick mud. The tires kept spinning when we tried to move on. I had to get out and push while Ashley drove. Sure got our left back end muddy, ha!
Before dropping the campervan off in London, we made a quick stop in Warwick to see the castle. We didn't have a lot of time, but we managed a good look.
Originally built in 1068 by William the Conqueror, it had been rebuilt with stone in the 12th century with extra work over the years. We went in and walked along the wall, visiting the multiple towers with the nice views. A falconer was working with an eagle. He was very large and came quite close to us. Really neat.
Then we went inside and saw the armoury, hall, room chambers and servant working rooms like textiles and laundry. Lots of people dressed up reenacting. Outside on the grounds were areas to learn archery, but we had to push on to get the van back in time. Lots of extra attractions like the Merlin Tower and dungeons to visit... but all at extra charges.
After dropping the van off and Ashley and I saying out goodbyes, I caught the metro to my friend Simon's place in London. We met online. I was feeling pretty isolated with my job and only having 3 hours a day to have personal time, so I went onto the couchsurfing website and a dating site to try to meet people interested in my area for coffee or walks. Just someone to socialize with. That's how we met. We skyped often and became great mates.
He had a nice flat that was so comfortable and warm after camping up north. It was great. We spent 3 days together. He took me to a Borough Market with all it's fantastic food, walked along the Thames and visited a modern art gallery (of which 5 people were rolling around on the floor and spooning to music. 2 clothed woman, and 3 completely naked men. Was a bit of a shocker! Lol, though I didn't mind, he he), went to one of his frequent pubs in London, walked around Greenwich, one of his favourite areas of London, had a night out in the pubs in his neighbourhood and watched a couple movies. A great way to end my vacation.
I'm now back in Northchurch with my same client as before getting settled back into my routine. Won't be too long before I have to leave the UK though. My working holiday visa expires on July 4th. But there's still time to plan more adventures before I have to leave!