Newport-On-Tay, Dunkeld, Anstruther

Blair Atholl & Pitlochry

AND LAPTOP NOMADS ARE…SLOW

We have landed in the Blair Castle Caravan Park and have two hairy coos in a paddock at the front of the park. We have called them Angus and Robert.

The park is a bit like Mandalay in Busselton, well…except for the hairy coos, Shetland ponies and a huge castle. We went to the castle and a piper played the bagpipes…brought a tear to the eye (Lois). Then Sasha went inside the castle and had tears over all the antlers and deer heads lining the walls, antlers as chandeliers. Gross. Our gorgeous little conservationist! Ed didn’t cry….well, except when we checked our internet connection and it was almost non existent! So, sorry we have been quiet for a while!

We have been “oot an’ aboot” in Blair Atholl and it is just beautiful. The walk along the burn was divine and was only interrupted by the thunderous sound of two RAF Tornado Fighter Bombers flying over our heads. Ed thought it was brilliant, the girls almost wet their pants with the shock.

We visited the Shetland ponies at Blair Castle (big sturdy creatures they are!) but unfortunately you are not allowed to ride unless 12 years or over. So Sasha was ?.

Pitlochry (where Lois’ Gran and Grandad Tulloch lived) is a lovely place but bigger and more touristy than we remember. We are in the Pitlochry Festival Theatre at the moment. Free wifi, lovely view, great ambience…pretty average café lattes.. but you can’t win ‘em all. So laptop nomads are slow at the mo!

Yesterday we had a tour of Edradour, Scotland’s smallest whiskey distillery, where they still do everything by hand. Ed had a wee dram. Lois wimped out and had a whiskey crème.

Newport-On-Tay, Dunkeld, Anstruther

We ventured out with our hosts Beryl and Keith to a place called Loch of the Lowes – a visitor centre and wildlife reserve at Dunkeld, run by the Scottish Wildlife Trust. Beryl and Keith had been before and we had viewed by webcam an osprey mum and her grown chick, which was yet to take its maiden flight.

We arrived later, having had a detour and nice lunch at Beatrix Potter’s Garden (where the Dundee snail that had been hitching a ride on our hire car was relocated by Sash into the lovely garden – he mustn’t have believed his luck!)

We were inside the Discovery Centre when suddenly the osprey chick took flight a short distance (missed that…) but saw it on the monitor when it flew back to the nest.

We went into the birdwatching hut (sshhhh……) very serious folks wearing khaki and using telephoto lens and binoculars. We waited and waited…and finally, the chick took another flight – much longer this time, circling around and around (having trouble with the landing gear by the looks). Finally he stopped, but missed the nest entirely and ended up hanging upside down in the tree.

After quite a while he took off again, and after a long flight and a few missed attempts at landing he arrived safely back in his nest. Maiden voyage complete.

What a fantastic privilege to be there at that time and witness this. Just brilliant.

www.swt.org.uk/loch-of-lowes-visitor-centre/

And to top it off, we walked outside and there was a little Cavalier King Charles Spaniel…just like our Sophie dog, so as you can imagine the poor wee thing was set upon by us all! (Oh, and just that morning we had “spoken” to Sophie over Skype video).

This was followed by the Heritage walk at Dunkeld along the burn and seeing the waterfall. We saw Britain’s tallest tree. Simply beautiful, tall trees and foliage and rocks all green and mossy. Aaahhhhh.

And to complete a fabulous day, Ed cooked thai green chicken curry, Sasha’s favourite dish. Onya Dad!

Anstruther / St Andrews

The following day we went off in the hire car to explore Scotland’s Secret Bunker. Amazing – above ground it looks like a farmhouse, but underground is a huge facility built to withstand nuclear attack and was kept secret for many years. www.secretbunker.co.uk

We went off to lunch to the little coastal fishing village of Anstruther, where Lois’ grandfather and grandmother owned The Dreel Tavern decades ago. The new owners had heard of the Tullochs and the lady across the road at a new B&B knew Lois’ gran and had some great tales to tell.

It bucketed down with rain the entire day – this is supposed to be summer! Had a great evening out at an Indian restaurant in St Andrews.

Entry 15 July 2008