Hi everyone,
I'm counting down the days until my technology problems are resolved but in the mean time here's a new post!
As of today I've been away from Orkney for a month. Since I've left there's a couple of people who I've missed like crazy - you know who you are - but I'm also really enjoying the chance to be back on the road, see new places and learn loads. If I can just figure out how to teleport my favourite people over here then it would be perfect! But on with the show...
The weather on Thursday morning didn't look too great so it was time to take a break from the garden and move to the office for my first attempt at telesales! Now luckily the people I was calling were all already French Locations clients or were seriously considering signing up - so no angry replies or people hanging up: success! Unfortunately a lot of them weren't actually home when I rang but the ones that were were very nice. By early afternoon it had brightened up so it was time to get back to the garden and it was a great chance to get the strimmer out! I do love as bit of strimming, you can just stick some music on, zone out and as long as you avoid the cable you're fine! Before I knew it it was way passed time to clock off so I finished up and went for dinner. I then spent the evening failing to find a home for after this week and watching a documentary on how difficult it is for Indian women to get by there even in these 'modern' times. Having spent some time there last year I already knew quite a bit about it but this documentary was much more in depth.
Friday followed a similar pattern to the day before. I started with phone calls and finished with strimming. In between the two I spent a little time re-waterproofing my jacket. Unfortunately I managed to forget the part where it said to wear a mask for the fumes. It wasn't a problem until I went back in for dinner and the place was still full of it leading to a rather loopy skype call thanks to the fumes - won't be doing that again.
Today has been day off no.2 for this week and I decided to spend it being a tourist. I walked the 2-3km down the coast to Paleospace L'odyssée. The nearby cliffs have given some amazing fossil specimens, especially from the Jurassic period, including over 30ft long pliosaurs (marine reptiles) and dinosaur remains. The museum entry ticket may have been the most expensive thing I've bought over here so far - 7,50€ - but to be fair I've only spent the equivelant of just under £20 since I've been here!
Fortunately I'd say the museum was definitely worth it; there were even English translations!
When I finally left I bumped into Peter and Jan - two of Anne's tenants - right outside. We went for a coffee and they invited me to a nearby market with them tomorrow.
Once we'd finished I went for a walk by the lake next to the museum but after almost having to defend a stray child from a rather thug-ish looking swan I called it a day and headed home to rest for more exploring tomorrow.
Stay tuned and I'll speak to you soon!
Saturday, 29 June 2013
Tourist time!
Wednesday, 26 June 2013
Born to be wild!
Hi everyone,
Posting's been a bit of a nuisance lately since my virtually brand new, shiny (but cheap) tablet specially bought to make online access easier while away insists on misbehaving the majority of the time. I've been getting almost to the point of attaching a big stick to one end and using it as a shovel instead, it would be just as useful there. However I am working on getting it sorted ASAP and after that there should be actual video posts, more photos and better blogging!
So, on with the post. As I had Saturday off I spent the morning sitting out on the lawn reading one of Paul Theroux's classics and relaxing in the Sun, exactly how a Saturday morning off work on the French coast should be spent (or you could replace the lawn with the beach, either way).
I decided to spend the afternoon in town since there was a big Harley Davidson meet going on all weekend! They were even offering people the chance to have a trip around town on the back of them! Unfortunately by the time I half managed to figure out how to ask about this and convince myself that my awful French wouldn't annoy the bikers too much they were almost finished for the day and by then it was really too late - maybe for the best though: if I'd made it onto one of those beautiful bikes I may have decided I wanted to keep it! One day!
Anyway after gazing at the bikes all lined up along the sea front for long enough to appear a bit suspicious/desperate I tore myself away with one final look before wandering up some side street. Fortunately it lead me to a nice little cafe where I successfully managed to get a drink without speaking a word of English - although my tea and bad accent probably gave me away. As I sat there contemplating life's mysteries there was suddenly an almighty noise from the top of the street! This was shortly followed by another, and another. Car horns. Was there a traffic accident? A lost cow in the road perhaps? Or ....a wedding party. That's right, apparently the way to celebrate getting married in this area, or maybe all of France, is to confuse the life out of all the non-locals by driving away from the church in single file blasting their horns while everyone hangs out of - or sits on the edge of - the windows and sunroofs and making as much extra noise as possible extracting cheers and clapping from the passers by
But, excitement over I wandered back down to the seafront and found - next to a giant permanent plant filled dinosaur - a real dinosaur (well someone dressed as one) wandering around meeting the kids. Alongside this big green dinosaur, providing the music was what looked a little like a band of morris dancers...three of them played brass instruments and the fourth played the banjo - an interesting combination but the music was actually pretty good so I hung around until they finished their set. However considering I spent most of the time sitting in plain sight, notebook in hand, they may have assumed I was a low key local journalist - lets hope they don't start browsing through the local publications looking for a review!
Now I had intended to stay for the Witch Doctor gig but with at least 2 more hours to wait I was already shattered and decided to call it a day instead. Considering how the wind and rain picked up just after I got back though, and the music started at least an hour late I think I probably made a good choice there.
Sunday morning was spent preparing vegetables and helping make dinner as Anne and Tom had friends visiting for lunch - Philip and Debbie with their daughter and Derek with his wife and two daughters.
The meal lasted at least 3 hours, with a few breaks for entertainment - two babies and a toddler do provide a fair bit of entertainment. Philip and Debbie said they would see about helping me find places to go further down the coast which was great of them. By 5.30pm however the kids were getting cranky so it was time for everyone to head home. However it was a great afternoon and I'm pretty sure the kids loved having new people to play with.
Unfortunately my evening was spent rowing with technology but what can you do, other than chuck it out of the window....
Monday morning was bright and sunny and even warmer than normal - a perfect time to paint the fence panels that we bought earlier in the week. This ended up taking the whole morning since it was trellised and there wasn't enough paint to waste any, but it was a good job for the morning. After a late lunch it was weeding time once again - they just grow so quickly! This time it was the perennial bed/jungle. I got rid of virtually everything except for some tansy and some poppies - a fresh start was definitely needed. Once I'd finished put a few layers of new compost on the bed although the chickens reclaimed the compost heap before I'd totally finished - oh well, clearly a signal to finish for the day.
Once again my evening was spent arguing with my computer but after a quick phone call from home I felt a lot calmer and settled and finished the night with a book and an early night.
Work yesterday began with watering all the plant pots - over 30 - and each needed at least a gallon since its been quite dry lately. However this was done with water very slowly drained down from a huge container of rain water, so I had to wait a while for the water to get through to the lower tank. In the mean time though out came the weed killer to make the drive and parking area look all pretty and once that was done it was food time. After food and a cuppa it was weeding O'clock again - this time it was in the garden of one of the rented cottages. The owner's been away for a little while so the garden was starting to get all overgrown. But after multiple nettle stings, and many trips to the compost heap the mission was over and so was another long, but satisfying day at work.
Now for today's excitement - well to be honest it's just been a day of housework, computer admin and not a whole lot else really.
On that note I shall leave you all with some more pretty pictures!
See you next time!
Posting's been a bit of a nuisance lately since my virtually brand new, shiny (but cheap) tablet specially bought to make online access easier while away insists on misbehaving the majority of the time. I've been getting almost to the point of attaching a big stick to one end and using it as a shovel instead, it would be just as useful there. However I am working on getting it sorted ASAP and after that there should be actual video posts, more photos and better blogging!
So, on with the post. As I had Saturday off I spent the morning sitting out on the lawn reading one of Paul Theroux's classics and relaxing in the Sun, exactly how a Saturday morning off work on the French coast should be spent (or you could replace the lawn with the beach, either way).
I decided to spend the afternoon in town since there was a big Harley Davidson meet going on all weekend! They were even offering people the chance to have a trip around town on the back of them! Unfortunately by the time I half managed to figure out how to ask about this and convince myself that my awful French wouldn't annoy the bikers too much they were almost finished for the day and by then it was really too late - maybe for the best though: if I'd made it onto one of those beautiful bikes I may have decided I wanted to keep it! One day!
Anyway after gazing at the bikes all lined up along the sea front for long enough to appear a bit suspicious/desperate I tore myself away with one final look before wandering up some side street. Fortunately it lead me to a nice little cafe where I successfully managed to get a drink without speaking a word of English - although my tea and bad accent probably gave me away. As I sat there contemplating life's mysteries there was suddenly an almighty noise from the top of the street! This was shortly followed by another, and another. Car horns. Was there a traffic accident? A lost cow in the road perhaps? Or ....a wedding party. That's right, apparently the way to celebrate getting married in this area, or maybe all of France, is to confuse the life out of all the non-locals by driving away from the church in single file blasting their horns while everyone hangs out of - or sits on the edge of - the windows and sunroofs and making as much extra noise as possible extracting cheers and clapping from the passers by
But, excitement over I wandered back down to the seafront and found - next to a giant permanent plant filled dinosaur - a real dinosaur (well someone dressed as one) wandering around meeting the kids. Alongside this big green dinosaur, providing the music was what looked a little like a band of morris dancers...three of them played brass instruments and the fourth played the banjo - an interesting combination but the music was actually pretty good so I hung around until they finished their set. However considering I spent most of the time sitting in plain sight, notebook in hand, they may have assumed I was a low key local journalist - lets hope they don't start browsing through the local publications looking for a review!
Now I had intended to stay for the Witch Doctor gig but with at least 2 more hours to wait I was already shattered and decided to call it a day instead. Considering how the wind and rain picked up just after I got back though, and the music started at least an hour late I think I probably made a good choice there.
Sunday morning was spent preparing vegetables and helping make dinner as Anne and Tom had friends visiting for lunch - Philip and Debbie with their daughter and Derek with his wife and two daughters.
The meal lasted at least 3 hours, with a few breaks for entertainment - two babies and a toddler do provide a fair bit of entertainment. Philip and Debbie said they would see about helping me find places to go further down the coast which was great of them. By 5.30pm however the kids were getting cranky so it was time for everyone to head home. However it was a great afternoon and I'm pretty sure the kids loved having new people to play with.
Unfortunately my evening was spent rowing with technology but what can you do, other than chuck it out of the window....
Monday morning was bright and sunny and even warmer than normal - a perfect time to paint the fence panels that we bought earlier in the week. This ended up taking the whole morning since it was trellised and there wasn't enough paint to waste any, but it was a good job for the morning. After a late lunch it was weeding time once again - they just grow so quickly! This time it was the perennial bed/jungle. I got rid of virtually everything except for some tansy and some poppies - a fresh start was definitely needed. Once I'd finished put a few layers of new compost on the bed although the chickens reclaimed the compost heap before I'd totally finished - oh well, clearly a signal to finish for the day.
Once again my evening was spent arguing with my computer but after a quick phone call from home I felt a lot calmer and settled and finished the night with a book and an early night.
Work yesterday began with watering all the plant pots - over 30 - and each needed at least a gallon since its been quite dry lately. However this was done with water very slowly drained down from a huge container of rain water, so I had to wait a while for the water to get through to the lower tank. In the mean time though out came the weed killer to make the drive and parking area look all pretty and once that was done it was food time. After food and a cuppa it was weeding O'clock again - this time it was in the garden of one of the rented cottages. The owner's been away for a little while so the garden was starting to get all overgrown. But after multiple nettle stings, and many trips to the compost heap the mission was over and so was another long, but satisfying day at work.
Now for today's excitement - well to be honest it's just been a day of housework, computer admin and not a whole lot else really.
On that note I shall leave you all with some more pretty pictures!
See you next time!
The 'real life' dinosaur
If anyone recognises this unusual quartet let me know!
Home sweet home
My bedroom view, complete with fish!
Saturday, 22 June 2013
Oh I do like to be beside the seaside!
Hi everyone,
I shall warn you now this looks like it could be another long one so I apologise in advance, although I'm sure you're all actually loving my super long posts and can't wait for this next one....or not, but I'd better get on with it anyway.
So I've been here almost a week now - and I don't think it's going too badly.
Wednesday turned out to be my first day off, which is luckily cause I forgot to turn my alarm on to wake me up early anyway! At this project I work four full days a week and get three days off.
In the morning I walked down to the village on my own. It wasn't too difficult to find my way down and the path goes through a lovey little woodland area before winding between some gorgeous houses. When good old Queen Vic came to visit the area the English style of houses came across with her. The Parisians who visit the area decided the liked the design and built all their local summer houses in that style, so now there are all these old Anglo-Norman houses scattered around the area. Some have thatched roofs, some look more like mini fairy tale castles with their towers and turrets, however most are creamy white with dark wooden panels and steep sloping roofs. Now normally I'm not a big architecture nut but the way things are going you may all have to prepare for my immenant ramblings about the lovely buildings.
Anyway I wandered around the village all morning trying not to get too lost then went and bought a few things from the market before heading back up the road. I would have stuck around longer but there was a heavy storm forecast and I didn't want to get stuck in it, especially because the walk back up the road is so steep (the joys of being on the clifftop) and the path through the woods was slippery enough as it was.
After a nice light lunch - salad - I spent the afternoon getting some work done around the apartment, including laundry. The upside of only having a few changes of clothes for on the road is that you have less to carry; unfortunately it means more laundry days, made more annoying by the fact that as I wash so few items at a time, hand washing is the only real option.
Once I'd finished the housework I made a simple dinner - pesto pasta with pine nuts and Parmesan (yay for alliteration) - then spent the rest of my evening working on my French.
Thursday was spent entirely in the garden. I got a lot of weeding done in the herb garden and fruit plot trying to get rid of all the bindweed and the extra mint. I also pruned the currant bushes before netting them against the birds and sprayed the roses against Mildew. It might not sound like it but those jobs took all day to get done and by the end of the day I was too tired to do much other than start working out my next project.
Yesterday I spent some more time working on the French Locations' facebook then cleaned out and tidied Anne's potting shed.
After lunch her and I went out to Pont-l'Eveque, a larger town a few miles inland. Here the buildings have a similar look but are a lot older- some date back to nearer the middle ages! Once we'd picked up a few things, including waterproof spray for my ex-waterproof jacket, we drove across to Dives-sur-mer to have a look around *insert building comment here*. Interestingly, on the outside of the church here people had carved pictures of their ships in the hope that their journeys would be blessed. We picked a few other things there before heading home again.
I made myself a quick pasta with tomato sauce dinner before going back out. I had read that Witch Doctor was playing in the village for free so off I went to see them. Unfortunately I had actually misread the poster and actually weren't playing until today...oops. So after a bit of aimless wandering I traipsed back up the hill. On the way back though I turned onto a smaller path to the cliff and watched the sun set over the ocean on the longest day of the year and as I sat there a small red deer bounded silently across the field into the nearby trees.
On that note I'll round up and give you some pretty pictures
See you next time!
I shall warn you now this looks like it could be another long one so I apologise in advance, although I'm sure you're all actually loving my super long posts and can't wait for this next one....or not, but I'd better get on with it anyway.
So I've been here almost a week now - and I don't think it's going too badly.
Wednesday turned out to be my first day off, which is luckily cause I forgot to turn my alarm on to wake me up early anyway! At this project I work four full days a week and get three days off.
In the morning I walked down to the village on my own. It wasn't too difficult to find my way down and the path goes through a lovey little woodland area before winding between some gorgeous houses. When good old Queen Vic came to visit the area the English style of houses came across with her. The Parisians who visit the area decided the liked the design and built all their local summer houses in that style, so now there are all these old Anglo-Norman houses scattered around the area. Some have thatched roofs, some look more like mini fairy tale castles with their towers and turrets, however most are creamy white with dark wooden panels and steep sloping roofs. Now normally I'm not a big architecture nut but the way things are going you may all have to prepare for my immenant ramblings about the lovely buildings.
Anyway I wandered around the village all morning trying not to get too lost then went and bought a few things from the market before heading back up the road. I would have stuck around longer but there was a heavy storm forecast and I didn't want to get stuck in it, especially because the walk back up the road is so steep (the joys of being on the clifftop) and the path through the woods was slippery enough as it was.
After a nice light lunch - salad - I spent the afternoon getting some work done around the apartment, including laundry. The upside of only having a few changes of clothes for on the road is that you have less to carry; unfortunately it means more laundry days, made more annoying by the fact that as I wash so few items at a time, hand washing is the only real option.
Once I'd finished the housework I made a simple dinner - pesto pasta with pine nuts and Parmesan (yay for alliteration) - then spent the rest of my evening working on my French.
Thursday was spent entirely in the garden. I got a lot of weeding done in the herb garden and fruit plot trying to get rid of all the bindweed and the extra mint. I also pruned the currant bushes before netting them against the birds and sprayed the roses against Mildew. It might not sound like it but those jobs took all day to get done and by the end of the day I was too tired to do much other than start working out my next project.
Yesterday I spent some more time working on the French Locations' facebook then cleaned out and tidied Anne's potting shed.
After lunch her and I went out to Pont-l'Eveque, a larger town a few miles inland. Here the buildings have a similar look but are a lot older- some date back to nearer the middle ages! Once we'd picked up a few things, including waterproof spray for my ex-waterproof jacket, we drove across to Dives-sur-mer to have a look around *insert building comment here*. Interestingly, on the outside of the church here people had carved pictures of their ships in the hope that their journeys would be blessed. We picked a few other things there before heading home again.
I made myself a quick pasta with tomato sauce dinner before going back out. I had read that Witch Doctor was playing in the village for free so off I went to see them. Unfortunately I had actually misread the poster and actually weren't playing until today...oops. So after a bit of aimless wandering I traipsed back up the hill. On the way back though I turned onto a smaller path to the cliff and watched the sun set over the ocean on the longest day of the year and as I sat there a small red deer bounded silently across the field into the nearby trees.
On that note I'll round up and give you some pretty pictures
See you next time!
One of the lovely buildings I've been going on about
A nice, old local couple
An example of the ships carved on the church wall
The summer solstice sunset
Tuesday, 18 June 2013
On the road again
Hi everyone!
Well, I made it to my first helpX project finally - albeit a day late.
I left Courtney's around 9.30 in the morning fully intent on making it to Auberville on the North coast of France the same evening; however the hitching didn't go to well. First Courtney and I had to negotiate our way to a suitable spot around Grimsby which took near enough an hour. Luckily it wasn't too long before I found a lift in a minibus with a guy and his two kids who where going near Peterbrough. They didn't really speak to me - they were too busy talking business in the front - plus, as they were turning off before Peterbrough services the place they dropped me was an awful hitching spot. But they helped me on my way so I can't complain too much.
After a bit of a wait by the road side a truck pulled up a little way ahead who could take me to a service station about an hour and a half from Calais and Dover. We chatted most of the way down and it turns out he - Paul - is originally from Durham - the same place my mum's from and near more of my family! Paul dropped me off at a big service station and i managed to find a lift before I'd even finished my cheapy service station meal! So it was still going relatively well at this point.....
My next lift was from a truck driver called Barry. He said he would drop me half an hour further down the road as he needed to swap trailer but then he was continuing to Dover so if I was still on the road he would pick me back up. Another bad drop off spot meant I couldn't find a lift so Barry picked me back up. Unfortunately he drove straight past the turn off for the tunnel then dropped me at yet another really inconvenient spot with no real way to get back en route to the tunnel meaning that the ferry from Dover was my only option.
The problems with using the ferry are that you have to be there at the right time to get across (not easy when hitchhiking), it's also rather expensive - I have travelled through the tunnel twice for free but the ferry costs £30!! Despite the passengers being on time the boat was then late. now by this point it was 6.30pm, I had hoped to already be well into France by now and I was getting pretty frustrated, plus I actually felt a little sad knowing how long it might be until I see the people I am closest too. Luckily though though I had some helpful, positive text messages plus a coach load of navy lads to pick my spirits back up.
When we finally got on the ferry the next mission was to find a lift...Unfortunately everyone was either on a coach, going the wrong way or had a full car! I had three options - A) try and hitch from Calais anyway and probably get stuck on the road. B) take the lift offered by the navy lads but end up going the wrong way and be stuck with the 'banter' that would come from being the only lass. C) a family from Dunkerque offered me a bed for the night and a kick start on the rest of my trip. I chose option C. I went with Delphyne, her mother, her daughter Maelle, and Maelle's English boyfriend Johnathan to Dunkerque - it was in the wrong direction but better than nothing.
Maelle took Johnathan and I to a BBQ party with some of her friends. It wasn't a bad night although I was so tired and people were talking pretty fast so I couldn't pick up much of the conversation but it seemed to be pretty similar to British teenage drinking conversation! Around 1am we made it back to the house and I crashed out straight away
It's in a beautiful little fortified area of the town and the apartment equally as nice - very quirky, warm and artsy.
In the morning I went down to the bakery that the family owned and got a couple of apple pastries then after getting organised Delpyhne drove me to a nearby petrol station then asked the attendant to help me find a lift. Thankfully I managed to get a lift withing a couple of minutes from a Czech Truck driver to a truck stop 5 minutes outside of Calais, although in hindsight I do wish I'd gotten the lift with the lads who were heading all the way to Calais after a week in Holland because then I might not have had to wait so long for the next lift! It took almost an hour to get the get ride - thank you John Baptiste!! He was heading as far as Boulogne for a business meeting and was happy to drive me to a convenient new hitching location on the opposite side of town, although I did have to explain the best I could, in French, why I couldn't try and find a lift on the autoroute (motorway/highway)....it's not exactly legal. But it was a good opportunity for me to practice my french and for him to practice his English.
Once 'deposited' I quickly found another lift from Fred - an ex-traveller, mature student in art, and was on his way back from playing in a sucessful football match in Boulogne. After a scenic drive through the small coastal towns, avoiding the autoroute, he dropped me off in Berck and after a little bit of walking and a little bit of waiting I found a lift a few miles down the road to outside Rue and a spot that I would supposedly easily find a lift from....
So almost an hour later I found a lift another ten miles along the road from a guy who clearly could but wouldn't speak English, or slow down his French and didn't seem to appreciate my butchering his language. But he was perfectly fine other than that and it was a lift to a more convenient location - a road toll. Technically you're not supposed to hitch from those either but the gendarmes are more lenient with that one.
After twenty minutes standing at my new spot I got the perfect final lift from a French apple producer named Edouard who had a love for all things Scottish and the fact I normally live there was good enough to get me a lift all the way to the project gate in Auberville - about half an hour's drive from his actual destination! How brilliant is that?! I was so grateful considering how slow the hitching had been over the two days. We listened to some decent music from his CD collection with included a Pipes & Drums CD, The Corries and folk music from the Yukon from his travelling days. Edouard also included a few harmonica solos since he had it in the car with him.
We stopped at Le Havre to watch some of the old Armada ships coming through the harbour. They hadn't been through in four years and might not pass through again. They had travelled from all over the world for the event and used to do it every two years before it became too expensive - which is a shame because it's an impressive sight!
Anyway I finally arrived in Auberville on Sunday evening - a day late and totally shattered. After saying goodbye to Edouard Anne and Tom welcomed me to La Cour de la Grange and my home for the next two weeks. So I am now the proud resident of a lovely little apartment - it's cute, cosy and definitely has the farm cottage feel to it. It's got a couple of open fire places, a view of the pond on one side and a view of the Jurassic coast on the other.
Anyway, after a very early night we kicked off Monday morning with some delicious chive-y scrambled eggs with freshly made bread - my first proper meal since Courtney's, excluding the service station burger and chips after Paul dropped me off.
The rest of the morning was spent replanting cuttings of various plants and shelling prawns - not as easy as it looks! After lunch - soup and more yummy bread - I had a proper tour of the gardens then weeded the front path and after that helped with some rearranging on the patios. This was followed by a trip to the market for food supplies for my days off and any other extra food. Anne told the shopkeepers that they had to speak to me in French because I wanted to learn but once again I realised quite how rusty my French is!
So after all that and another tasty meal - fish pie and veg - I had almost a two hour long skype chat to back home (although I've only been in France a few days I've been away from Orkney for two weeks already) then had an early night - all this gardening really takes it out of you!
Today was spent working on editing Anne and Tom's business' facebook page. They run an online company called French Locations which deals with mid/long-term home rentals across France.
As well as working on that I've been weeding out the vegetable plot. Everything that wasn't specifically planted had to go, except for the poppies since they look nice, and the comfrey because the bees love it. Before clocking off I walked the dogs around the gardens. Tara, Ziggy and Solo are all varying degrees of Collie (although I swear Solo's half bear considering the size of him), soft as muck and full of energy.
So this evening has been spent watching some bad British movie and writing this out so I knew what to type thereby limiting internet time. On that note I'd better go - if you made it all the way to the end I salute you! Unfortunately there are no pictures today because I'm not using my own computer to write this (it's busy sulking since I didn't use it for a couple of days) but you shall have some very soon!
See you all next time!
Well, I made it to my first helpX project finally - albeit a day late.
I left Courtney's around 9.30 in the morning fully intent on making it to Auberville on the North coast of France the same evening; however the hitching didn't go to well. First Courtney and I had to negotiate our way to a suitable spot around Grimsby which took near enough an hour. Luckily it wasn't too long before I found a lift in a minibus with a guy and his two kids who where going near Peterbrough. They didn't really speak to me - they were too busy talking business in the front - plus, as they were turning off before Peterbrough services the place they dropped me was an awful hitching spot. But they helped me on my way so I can't complain too much.
After a bit of a wait by the road side a truck pulled up a little way ahead who could take me to a service station about an hour and a half from Calais and Dover. We chatted most of the way down and it turns out he - Paul - is originally from Durham - the same place my mum's from and near more of my family! Paul dropped me off at a big service station and i managed to find a lift before I'd even finished my cheapy service station meal! So it was still going relatively well at this point.....
My next lift was from a truck driver called Barry. He said he would drop me half an hour further down the road as he needed to swap trailer but then he was continuing to Dover so if I was still on the road he would pick me back up. Another bad drop off spot meant I couldn't find a lift so Barry picked me back up. Unfortunately he drove straight past the turn off for the tunnel then dropped me at yet another really inconvenient spot with no real way to get back en route to the tunnel meaning that the ferry from Dover was my only option.
The problems with using the ferry are that you have to be there at the right time to get across (not easy when hitchhiking), it's also rather expensive - I have travelled through the tunnel twice for free but the ferry costs £30!! Despite the passengers being on time the boat was then late. now by this point it was 6.30pm, I had hoped to already be well into France by now and I was getting pretty frustrated, plus I actually felt a little sad knowing how long it might be until I see the people I am closest too. Luckily though though I had some helpful, positive text messages plus a coach load of navy lads to pick my spirits back up.
When we finally got on the ferry the next mission was to find a lift...Unfortunately everyone was either on a coach, going the wrong way or had a full car! I had three options - A) try and hitch from Calais anyway and probably get stuck on the road. B) take the lift offered by the navy lads but end up going the wrong way and be stuck with the 'banter' that would come from being the only lass. C) a family from Dunkerque offered me a bed for the night and a kick start on the rest of my trip. I chose option C. I went with Delphyne, her mother, her daughter Maelle, and Maelle's English boyfriend Johnathan to Dunkerque - it was in the wrong direction but better than nothing.
Maelle took Johnathan and I to a BBQ party with some of her friends. It wasn't a bad night although I was so tired and people were talking pretty fast so I couldn't pick up much of the conversation but it seemed to be pretty similar to British teenage drinking conversation! Around 1am we made it back to the house and I crashed out straight away
It's in a beautiful little fortified area of the town and the apartment equally as nice - very quirky, warm and artsy.
In the morning I went down to the bakery that the family owned and got a couple of apple pastries then after getting organised Delpyhne drove me to a nearby petrol station then asked the attendant to help me find a lift. Thankfully I managed to get a lift withing a couple of minutes from a Czech Truck driver to a truck stop 5 minutes outside of Calais, although in hindsight I do wish I'd gotten the lift with the lads who were heading all the way to Calais after a week in Holland because then I might not have had to wait so long for the next lift! It took almost an hour to get the get ride - thank you John Baptiste!! He was heading as far as Boulogne for a business meeting and was happy to drive me to a convenient new hitching location on the opposite side of town, although I did have to explain the best I could, in French, why I couldn't try and find a lift on the autoroute (motorway/highway)....it's not exactly legal. But it was a good opportunity for me to practice my french and for him to practice his English.
Once 'deposited' I quickly found another lift from Fred - an ex-traveller, mature student in art, and was on his way back from playing in a sucessful football match in Boulogne. After a scenic drive through the small coastal towns, avoiding the autoroute, he dropped me off in Berck and after a little bit of walking and a little bit of waiting I found a lift a few miles down the road to outside Rue and a spot that I would supposedly easily find a lift from....
So almost an hour later I found a lift another ten miles along the road from a guy who clearly could but wouldn't speak English, or slow down his French and didn't seem to appreciate my butchering his language. But he was perfectly fine other than that and it was a lift to a more convenient location - a road toll. Technically you're not supposed to hitch from those either but the gendarmes are more lenient with that one.
After twenty minutes standing at my new spot I got the perfect final lift from a French apple producer named Edouard who had a love for all things Scottish and the fact I normally live there was good enough to get me a lift all the way to the project gate in Auberville - about half an hour's drive from his actual destination! How brilliant is that?! I was so grateful considering how slow the hitching had been over the two days. We listened to some decent music from his CD collection with included a Pipes & Drums CD, The Corries and folk music from the Yukon from his travelling days. Edouard also included a few harmonica solos since he had it in the car with him.
We stopped at Le Havre to watch some of the old Armada ships coming through the harbour. They hadn't been through in four years and might not pass through again. They had travelled from all over the world for the event and used to do it every two years before it became too expensive - which is a shame because it's an impressive sight!
Anyway I finally arrived in Auberville on Sunday evening - a day late and totally shattered. After saying goodbye to Edouard Anne and Tom welcomed me to La Cour de la Grange and my home for the next two weeks. So I am now the proud resident of a lovely little apartment - it's cute, cosy and definitely has the farm cottage feel to it. It's got a couple of open fire places, a view of the pond on one side and a view of the Jurassic coast on the other.
Anyway, after a very early night we kicked off Monday morning with some delicious chive-y scrambled eggs with freshly made bread - my first proper meal since Courtney's, excluding the service station burger and chips after Paul dropped me off.
The rest of the morning was spent replanting cuttings of various plants and shelling prawns - not as easy as it looks! After lunch - soup and more yummy bread - I had a proper tour of the gardens then weeded the front path and after that helped with some rearranging on the patios. This was followed by a trip to the market for food supplies for my days off and any other extra food. Anne told the shopkeepers that they had to speak to me in French because I wanted to learn but once again I realised quite how rusty my French is!
So after all that and another tasty meal - fish pie and veg - I had almost a two hour long skype chat to back home (although I've only been in France a few days I've been away from Orkney for two weeks already) then had an early night - all this gardening really takes it out of you!
Today was spent working on editing Anne and Tom's business' facebook page. They run an online company called French Locations which deals with mid/long-term home rentals across France.
As well as working on that I've been weeding out the vegetable plot. Everything that wasn't specifically planted had to go, except for the poppies since they look nice, and the comfrey because the bees love it. Before clocking off I walked the dogs around the gardens. Tara, Ziggy and Solo are all varying degrees of Collie (although I swear Solo's half bear considering the size of him), soft as muck and full of energy.
So this evening has been spent watching some bad British movie and writing this out so I knew what to type thereby limiting internet time. On that note I'd better go - if you made it all the way to the end I salute you! Unfortunately there are no pictures today because I'm not using my own computer to write this (it's busy sulking since I didn't use it for a couple of days) but you shall have some very soon!
See you all next time!
Friday, 14 June 2013
Hanging out t'up North!
Hi everyone,
No video once again but this cough just keeps getting worse - I will get one to you all ASAP though!
Wednesday started off quite slowly despite being woken relatively early by the Sun shining through the curtains - at around 4am! After that it was off to Ashington, about twenty-thirty minutes drive from my grandparents house. The mission - exchange currency, acquire extra cough and hayfever relief and find a Wonder Web type substance to fix my lovely flamboyant, yet fine trousers after the hem started to come away. After a bit of sleuthing we finally found the last item - the Wonder Web - and were able to move on to the next mission: depositing books and cucumber at my aunty's house. Once my Granddad and my missions were complete it was back too Rothbury.
After spending some time catching up with things online off I wandered to the pub to see the family's favourite local barman before I left. What was supposed to be a couple of quick drinks then home for tea turned into over 3 hours in the pub mingling with the locals, being made to try out new cocktails and leaving later than planned feeling mildly tipsy - a good way to end my time in Northumberland though!
On Thursday morning after finally getting my trousers fixed it was time to leave. I got dropped off by my Granddad on the M1 near Chester-lee Street around 10.30am and got a lift straight away from a guy heading down towards Manchester. I never caught the guy's name but he works driving trade plate vans and we sat discussing travel and all sorts of other things including his daughters job as a mortician...good times! It was a pretty good trip down, unfortunately he overshot the services I was aiming for so I cut simply cut across to my next destination - Grimsby. Instead of getting dropped off near Pontefract I ended up in Blythe services.
Now it's times like these when you realise how much travel time you spend in service stations as a hitchhiker. Although luckily I've only had one incident where I've spent more than a couple of hours trying to get a lift out of a service station and that was near the beginning of last year where a friend and I spent six hours trying to get from somewhere in the North of France in the middle of the night - that friend has not hitchhiked since that weekend!
Blythe services are, as expected, just like most other service stations along the motorway and so I thought it would be rather easy to get a lift. I sat outside the main door, thumb out, and and a few people apologised and said they were going the wrong way somebody pointed out that I should be on the other side of the road to get a little way back up North before heading East. The same person showed me where the walkover was and sent me on my way. Unfortunately no one on this side of the road seemed interested in helping at all. About half an hour later however I heard a voice from behind me "Come on then, if you're wanting a lift". It was the guy from the other side of the road! He'd decided to come and check if I'd managed to get a lift and decided that since he had an extra hour before he needed to be back at work he would give me a lift!!
Now I'm pretty sure it takes longer than an hour to get from Blythe to Grimsby and back but regardless it was the best offer I'd had all day. My new friend, Jeff, and I suffered through weather that would be more fitting in the film The Wizard of Oz, other people on the road incapable of driving, and trying to find our way around Grimsby sans Sat Nav but eventually we succeeded! I got to Grimsby just before 3pm to meet Courtney (who basically shares a personality with Rhona).
The rest of the day was spent meeting three other sets of Courtney's family before getting back to hers for dinner and chilling out.
Today we decided to go exploring. Courtney only moved back to Grimsby a couple of weeks ago so it was a tiny bit like the partially-sighted leading the blind but we went down to the sea front at Cleethorpes, got Doughnuts, hung out at the arcade, wandered around the shops and had an awesome afternoon!
No video once again but this cough just keeps getting worse - I will get one to you all ASAP though!
Wednesday started off quite slowly despite being woken relatively early by the Sun shining through the curtains - at around 4am! After that it was off to Ashington, about twenty-thirty minutes drive from my grandparents house. The mission - exchange currency, acquire extra cough and hayfever relief and find a Wonder Web type substance to fix my lovely flamboyant, yet fine trousers after the hem started to come away. After a bit of sleuthing we finally found the last item - the Wonder Web - and were able to move on to the next mission: depositing books and cucumber at my aunty's house. Once my Granddad and my missions were complete it was back too Rothbury.
After spending some time catching up with things online off I wandered to the pub to see the family's favourite local barman before I left. What was supposed to be a couple of quick drinks then home for tea turned into over 3 hours in the pub mingling with the locals, being made to try out new cocktails and leaving later than planned feeling mildly tipsy - a good way to end my time in Northumberland though!
On Thursday morning after finally getting my trousers fixed it was time to leave. I got dropped off by my Granddad on the M1 near Chester-lee Street around 10.30am and got a lift straight away from a guy heading down towards Manchester. I never caught the guy's name but he works driving trade plate vans and we sat discussing travel and all sorts of other things including his daughters job as a mortician...good times! It was a pretty good trip down, unfortunately he overshot the services I was aiming for so I cut simply cut across to my next destination - Grimsby. Instead of getting dropped off near Pontefract I ended up in Blythe services.
Now it's times like these when you realise how much travel time you spend in service stations as a hitchhiker. Although luckily I've only had one incident where I've spent more than a couple of hours trying to get a lift out of a service station and that was near the beginning of last year where a friend and I spent six hours trying to get from somewhere in the North of France in the middle of the night - that friend has not hitchhiked since that weekend!
Blythe services are, as expected, just like most other service stations along the motorway and so I thought it would be rather easy to get a lift. I sat outside the main door, thumb out, and and a few people apologised and said they were going the wrong way somebody pointed out that I should be on the other side of the road to get a little way back up North before heading East. The same person showed me where the walkover was and sent me on my way. Unfortunately no one on this side of the road seemed interested in helping at all. About half an hour later however I heard a voice from behind me "Come on then, if you're wanting a lift". It was the guy from the other side of the road! He'd decided to come and check if I'd managed to get a lift and decided that since he had an extra hour before he needed to be back at work he would give me a lift!!
Now I'm pretty sure it takes longer than an hour to get from Blythe to Grimsby and back but regardless it was the best offer I'd had all day. My new friend, Jeff, and I suffered through weather that would be more fitting in the film The Wizard of Oz, other people on the road incapable of driving, and trying to find our way around Grimsby sans Sat Nav but eventually we succeeded! I got to Grimsby just before 3pm to meet Courtney (who basically shares a personality with Rhona).
The rest of the day was spent meeting three other sets of Courtney's family before getting back to hers for dinner and chilling out.
Today we decided to go exploring. Courtney only moved back to Grimsby a couple of weeks ago so it was a tiny bit like the partially-sighted leading the blind but we went down to the sea front at Cleethorpes, got Doughnuts, hung out at the arcade, wandered around the shops and had an awesome afternoon!
We might be going out in a little bit so I'll round up today's post with
a few photos as usual and next time I speak to you all I should be in
France - see you there!
Cleethorpes Pier
Demonstrating my gypsy ways
Courtney at Ross Castle on the Seafront
Tuesday, 11 June 2013
Eden festival 2013
Hi again everyone!
Now I had planned on doing a video blog today but I'm coughing and spluttering once again so unfortunately I'm going to have to save it for later - sorry guys!
Following the great day we had on Wednesday and the food coma that came with it we had a pretty chilled out day on Thursday before heading out to Pizzeria Il Fiume in Dumfries for dinner - yet another wonderful meal, and I think with a little bit of help, Rhona may have found herself a job at said restaurant!
Friday was pretty chilled out too overall until late afternoon where Rhona and I got our stuff together and made our way over to Eden Festival (thanks once again to Rhona's mum - Audrey- for driving)! We quickly got the tent set up - which took a matter of seconds as we took Rhona's pop up tent - then, after helping our new tent neighbour with her slightly more complicated home for the weekend, we went on down to the main festival area. To be perfectly honest I can't remember much of who was playing where and when simply because I didn't take a note of it at the time and there was so much going on you couldn't keep track of it all! However it was a very enjoyable evening with amazing music and I also met up with some other old friends - some of whom I definitely didn't expect to see.Had a good time dancing away with these friends and some brand new ones before finishing the night at the relatively early time of half one in the morning.
Unfortunately this is where the festival takes a slightly unhappy turn at which point I want to say that the behind the scenes teams did a great job once again this year and a big thank you to the paramedics at Eden this year. Now although I have got asthma it is in a very mild form and normally only triggered by a lot of running around etc and have never had an actual asthma attack; however in the very early hours of Saturday morning I woke up shivering, and have a great deal of difficulty in breathing. After trying to calm it I decided the only option was to plod off to the medical tent where the woman in charge instantly went to wake the paramedics. After two hours of sitting in the ambulance, getting oxygen and salbutamol through the gas mask and running a couple of other tests the paramedics - who were absolutely brilliant despite the early morning wake up - relented and agreed that a hospital trip wasn't necessary (I insisted that I did not want to go, especially on my birthday) and I was able to leave. Success!
After a few more hours sleep and with a couple of extra blankets I was right as rain again and was able to enjoy the rest of the day at the festival in the Sun. Rhona and I also stopped by the paramedics and dropped off a couple of cupcakes, i.e. birthday cake, and thanked them once again.
Happily, the rest of the festival went by with no more problems, plenty more good music, yummy food, and lots of fun memories. On a musical note (hahaha) if you're looking for something new to listen to try: The John Langan Band, Mr B. The Gentleman Rhymer or Slamboree.
By Sunday late afternoon the festival was starting to quieten down so we decided to call it a day. After having already packed up all the kit in the morning it was assumed that the final stage of packing the tent away would be a two minute job then we could head up the road for our lift back to Rhona's - wrong! For anyone that has ever owned a pop-up tent you will understand the hardship of trying to fit the silly thing back into it's bag. The tent just refuses to do what you want it to do, it's fights back, it's a battle of strength and wits, and eventually we gave up and sought help. Upon looking around we spotted to helpful looking police officers walking passed. Since We couldn't see anyone else who could help we decided it didn't hurt to ask and so I sent Rhona to bring over our two new knights in fluorescent armour. Unfortunately, one was pretty hopeless and 'supervised' while myself and the second officer wrestled with the tent. While this was going on the younger of the paramedics from Saturday morning noticed us and wandered over - apparently taking down a pop-up tent is a good spectator's sport. Luckily, he was more use than the supervising police officer and managed to help us finish gettign the tent bagged up. 1-0 to us!
Now fully packed up we piled into the car and arrived, sleep deprived yet high spirited, back at Rhona's and after dinner both promptly fell asleep.
The following day, i.e. Monday, was almost equally as chilled out as the weekend. After hanging out in Dumfries for a couple of hours I said my goodbyes to Rhona with promises of detailed blog posts, long emails and plenty of photos. My Granddad picked me up and off we went to the next destination - Northumberland!
Today has been a bit of a visiting day - visiting the ladies at the Over 60's club my Nanna goes to, visiting Rothbury's Queen's Head and it's lovely staff - i.e. Alan, and after that my grandparents and I went to visit my Aunty as well! Not bad for a day's work.
On that note I commend you all for reading all the way to the end of this post- it is a long one. In return, here are some nice pictures from the festival.
Until next time!
Now I had planned on doing a video blog today but I'm coughing and spluttering once again so unfortunately I'm going to have to save it for later - sorry guys!
Following the great day we had on Wednesday and the food coma that came with it we had a pretty chilled out day on Thursday before heading out to Pizzeria Il Fiume in Dumfries for dinner - yet another wonderful meal, and I think with a little bit of help, Rhona may have found herself a job at said restaurant!
Friday was pretty chilled out too overall until late afternoon where Rhona and I got our stuff together and made our way over to Eden Festival (thanks once again to Rhona's mum - Audrey- for driving)! We quickly got the tent set up - which took a matter of seconds as we took Rhona's pop up tent - then, after helping our new tent neighbour with her slightly more complicated home for the weekend, we went on down to the main festival area. To be perfectly honest I can't remember much of who was playing where and when simply because I didn't take a note of it at the time and there was so much going on you couldn't keep track of it all! However it was a very enjoyable evening with amazing music and I also met up with some other old friends - some of whom I definitely didn't expect to see.Had a good time dancing away with these friends and some brand new ones before finishing the night at the relatively early time of half one in the morning.
Unfortunately this is where the festival takes a slightly unhappy turn at which point I want to say that the behind the scenes teams did a great job once again this year and a big thank you to the paramedics at Eden this year. Now although I have got asthma it is in a very mild form and normally only triggered by a lot of running around etc and have never had an actual asthma attack; however in the very early hours of Saturday morning I woke up shivering, and have a great deal of difficulty in breathing. After trying to calm it I decided the only option was to plod off to the medical tent where the woman in charge instantly went to wake the paramedics. After two hours of sitting in the ambulance, getting oxygen and salbutamol through the gas mask and running a couple of other tests the paramedics - who were absolutely brilliant despite the early morning wake up - relented and agreed that a hospital trip wasn't necessary (I insisted that I did not want to go, especially on my birthday) and I was able to leave. Success!
After a few more hours sleep and with a couple of extra blankets I was right as rain again and was able to enjoy the rest of the day at the festival in the Sun. Rhona and I also stopped by the paramedics and dropped off a couple of cupcakes, i.e. birthday cake, and thanked them once again.
Happily, the rest of the festival went by with no more problems, plenty more good music, yummy food, and lots of fun memories. On a musical note (hahaha) if you're looking for something new to listen to try: The John Langan Band, Mr B. The Gentleman Rhymer or Slamboree.
By Sunday late afternoon the festival was starting to quieten down so we decided to call it a day. After having already packed up all the kit in the morning it was assumed that the final stage of packing the tent away would be a two minute job then we could head up the road for our lift back to Rhona's - wrong! For anyone that has ever owned a pop-up tent you will understand the hardship of trying to fit the silly thing back into it's bag. The tent just refuses to do what you want it to do, it's fights back, it's a battle of strength and wits, and eventually we gave up and sought help. Upon looking around we spotted to helpful looking police officers walking passed. Since We couldn't see anyone else who could help we decided it didn't hurt to ask and so I sent Rhona to bring over our two new knights in fluorescent armour. Unfortunately, one was pretty hopeless and 'supervised' while myself and the second officer wrestled with the tent. While this was going on the younger of the paramedics from Saturday morning noticed us and wandered over - apparently taking down a pop-up tent is a good spectator's sport. Luckily, he was more use than the supervising police officer and managed to help us finish gettign the tent bagged up. 1-0 to us!
Now fully packed up we piled into the car and arrived, sleep deprived yet high spirited, back at Rhona's and after dinner both promptly fell asleep.
The following day, i.e. Monday, was almost equally as chilled out as the weekend. After hanging out in Dumfries for a couple of hours I said my goodbyes to Rhona with promises of detailed blog posts, long emails and plenty of photos. My Granddad picked me up and off we went to the next destination - Northumberland!
Today has been a bit of a visiting day - visiting the ladies at the Over 60's club my Nanna goes to, visiting Rothbury's Queen's Head and it's lovely staff - i.e. Alan, and after that my grandparents and I went to visit my Aunty as well! Not bad for a day's work.
On that note I commend you all for reading all the way to the end of this post- it is a long one. In return, here are some nice pictures from the festival.
Until next time!
In the collage left to right, top to bottom: Mr Motivator, audience, Pyro Celtica, Pyro Celtica, willow structure, Mr. B. the Gentleman Rhymer, dragon, the Vishnu Lounge, Rhona and I saying goodbye
Thursday, 6 June 2013
Exams and Birthday Merriment!
Hi everyone,
well now I'm on the road I'll be posting a little more often - lucky you!
Ok, so I'm not quite on the road at the moment, I'm currently still chilling out at my friend Rhona's house which is where I managed to magic myself to on Saturday.
Between then and Tuesday there's been plenty of time enjoying the Sun, walking the 3 dogs, and catching up with everyone and studying of course
Since Saturday I managed to get plenty more studying in before my exam on tuesday. As it was my first one in a couple of years I was slightly dreading having to sit it but actually the time flew by, I didn't leave any questions blank, didn't fall asleep (as I did in my high school physics exam) think I may have even passed! I also have a great chat with a fellow Open University and fellow traveller who seemed to prove that studying and travelling can work well together! This was followed by a couple of hours helping at the charity shop Rhona volunteers at then a quick visit to my old workplace - the Tam O'Shanter, arguably the best pub in Dumfriesshire
Yesterday was Rhona's birthday so after a pretty slow start to the day we enjoyed the afternoon in the Sun, and in the evening we had an amazing dinner cooked by Audrey - Rhona's mum. cheese and salsa nachos to start, vegetarian/non-vegetarian lasagne (depending on preference) with chips and peas followed by the most amazing ice-cream filled profiteroles with sweet toffee sauce. YUM!!! This was followed singing happy birthday, taking photos with David Tennant (only the cardboard version unfortunately since the real one was busy) and a bonfire. Pretty awesome day overall.
well now I'm on the road I'll be posting a little more often - lucky you!
Ok, so I'm not quite on the road at the moment, I'm currently still chilling out at my friend Rhona's house which is where I managed to magic myself to on Saturday.
Between then and Tuesday there's been plenty of time enjoying the Sun, walking the 3 dogs, and catching up with everyone and studying of course
Since Saturday I managed to get plenty more studying in before my exam on tuesday. As it was my first one in a couple of years I was slightly dreading having to sit it but actually the time flew by, I didn't leave any questions blank, didn't fall asleep (as I did in my high school physics exam) think I may have even passed! I also have a great chat with a fellow Open University and fellow traveller who seemed to prove that studying and travelling can work well together! This was followed by a couple of hours helping at the charity shop Rhona volunteers at then a quick visit to my old workplace - the Tam O'Shanter, arguably the best pub in Dumfriesshire
Yesterday was Rhona's birthday so after a pretty slow start to the day we enjoyed the afternoon in the Sun, and in the evening we had an amazing dinner cooked by Audrey - Rhona's mum. cheese and salsa nachos to start, vegetarian/non-vegetarian lasagne (depending on preference) with chips and peas followed by the most amazing ice-cream filled profiteroles with sweet toffee sauce. YUM!!! This was followed singing happy birthday, taking photos with David Tennant (only the cardboard version unfortunately since the real one was busy) and a bonfire. Pretty awesome day overall.
The Doctor and his new companion
Rhona's 19th Birthday!
Firestarters!
Walking through the fire
Monday, 3 June 2013
Back to mainland
Hi everyone, I was meant to post this before but technology wouldn't allow it.
On Saturday after the last of the goodbyes I got the midday boat from Orkney to mainland. Determined to find a lift before I even got to mainland out came the hitching 'SOUTH' sign and two offers later I was bound for Lockerbie with a lovely couple who'd been on holiday on Orkney for a couple of weeks.
Normally for this trip I would go straight down past through the Cairngormes and past Perth but it made a great change to go via Fort William and past Glen Coe and Loch Lomond. The route takes a little longer but the views are incredible! Beautiful lochs, old pine forests and towering mountains topped with snow despite it being the start of June. I did take some photos but typically I realised that I didn't have the right cable with me to get them from computer to tablet so you'll just have to take my word for it.
I got dropped off outside Lockerbie around 9 in the evening and after saying goodbye went in search of the next lift. luckily there were two guys standing outside their truck and car having just swapped who was driving the truck and the car driver was able to drop me right at the top of my friend Rhona's driveway - how awesome is that?!
So after about 9 hours on the road I made it to Dumfriesshire to be drowned in hugs and gossip - not a bad end to the day!
Yesterday was then spent out in the Sun alternating between playing ball or dog walking and studying because after all I do still have an exam TOMORROW. And on that note I'd better get back to the textbooks.
Next post to follow soon.
On Saturday after the last of the goodbyes I got the midday boat from Orkney to mainland. Determined to find a lift before I even got to mainland out came the hitching 'SOUTH' sign and two offers later I was bound for Lockerbie with a lovely couple who'd been on holiday on Orkney for a couple of weeks.
Normally for this trip I would go straight down past through the Cairngormes and past Perth but it made a great change to go via Fort William and past Glen Coe and Loch Lomond. The route takes a little longer but the views are incredible! Beautiful lochs, old pine forests and towering mountains topped with snow despite it being the start of June. I did take some photos but typically I realised that I didn't have the right cable with me to get them from computer to tablet so you'll just have to take my word for it.
I got dropped off outside Lockerbie around 9 in the evening and after saying goodbye went in search of the next lift. luckily there were two guys standing outside their truck and car having just swapped who was driving the truck and the car driver was able to drop me right at the top of my friend Rhona's driveway - how awesome is that?!
So after about 9 hours on the road I made it to Dumfriesshire to be drowned in hugs and gossip - not a bad end to the day!
Yesterday was then spent out in the Sun alternating between playing ball or dog walking and studying because after all I do still have an exam TOMORROW. And on that note I'd better get back to the textbooks.
Next post to follow soon.
The ferry from Orkney
Around Glen Coe
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)