Tag: Edinburgh

NC500 Day 1 – Itinerary

Hello, we are back! What a trip and experience and just everything unimaginable. I almost feel the need to apologise to the UK at this point for previously thinking it had nothing to offer. Who would have thought covid restrictions and airline and airport issues would bring us so much joy in pushing us to try something new!

This is blog one of the Scotland itinerary series. Much like the Italy itineraries I shared with you, I will be posting the itineraries for this mammoth trip day by day so you can get a real feel for what this involves. I will be editing my original itinerary and including the new and improved version for you below. These blogs try to give you the much needed information for your trip without too many of my feelings and thoughts on each experience. Should you be needing more of a push to try these itineraries, the links to each day’s blogs will be linked below. 

So let’s start shall we…

I had hoped we would dig into our pre-bought food supplies to have a breakfast of porridge on our very first day however having to be in the car at 5am did not warrant getting up at 4am for a more refined meal. I salute the previous buying of sausages rolls and fruit for the journey up from Essex the day before as we tucked into a much simpler breakfast. 

Having missed our opportunity to do Arthurs Seat in 2021, we drove to Edinburgh to complete our ticklist for the city. We planned to park in our trusty free parking spot in Kirkwood place, however despite arriving early we found this completely rammed. This may be due to it being a neighbourhood area and everyone still being in bed! However with quick googling skills I found a car park literally at the start of the walk for Arthurs Seat and also free on weekends. Highly recommended!

As mentioned in my Day One blog (link below) you will see that we stupidly took the wrong route. As a starting hike for this trip, we intended to keep it nice and simple and therefore wanted to take the blue route to the top of Arthur’s Seat. And yet you will not find any signposts for the different routes. The only advice I can give you is to take the grass route when everyone veers right. As you walk up the tarmacked path with the sloping hills of Arthurs seat on your right and the road on your left, you will climb a sloping hill that turns to the right. Above you on the left are some ruins with a mud path leading up to it should you like a quick look. Returning to the same path, this is where I found the path took a definite right hand turn and the shingle underfoot became larger and looser. This is where a sign would be posted for the blue/red routes. The blue route follows the pronounced grassy hill on the left and the red route is on the right. At our climbing time everyone was on the right and we sheep followed it unknowingly. We kept an eye on the grassy path as we climbed the rocky alternative and it was very clear from above which route would have been more favourable. By taking the blue/grassy route you make a slower, more gradual ascent up ol’ Arthur and definitely smoother. You will slowly curve your way up the grassy sides of the volcano before rejoining the red route for the last very short scramble. Whether you take the blue or red route, the last scramble is the same. There is no clear path to follow as it is literally a hands and feet climb across an expanse of jagged but small rocks. For ease I would return via the blue route, whether you used the red for the ascent or not. It is less busy and has better views of the top as you return to your car. 

Be aware once at the top there are no plateaus as such so put all your weight in your legs for those all important selfies and be prepared for the wind! This is a great little introduction to the hikes of Scotland.

Continue your day up the eastside of Scotland to the Cairngorms National Park. This is not a route to rush. We crossed the Queensferry Bridge which was just fabulous and please do take time when driving through Edinburgh to look at all the fantastic architecture. There are also beautiful tree-lined avenues just outside the city itself and I-spied a gorgeous park called South Inch Park that I could easily have spent an hour or so with a coffee.   

As you enter the Cairngorms the scenery dramatically changes and I feel it is a perfect start to your wilds of Scotland trip. The great thing is there are many many stopping points and they invite you to stop and drink it all in. I advise you to use as many of these as possible. During our time, there were lots of motorbike riders and sports car drivers on the snow roads and we wanted to be slow to take it all in. The laybys help you avoid the rushing for sure. 

Our aim was to drive through the National Park to Grantown on Spey for our hotel (link to review will be added below very soon) and stop at the Balmoral Estates for the walk to the Prince Albert Cairn. Unfortunately due to the Queen’s passing on 8th September the estates’ walks were closed. We did however check out the car park and found it much bigger than I initially understood it to be and it would be a shame if you miss this off of your itinerary. Therefore I have included the information for you below! Go for it! One day we will get there. 

Be very aware you are on the grounds of the royal house of Balmoral and flying a drone at the Cairn will be prohibited. 

I advise you to stay at Grantown on Spey as there are a lot of food options and it is the perfect starting point for Day 2 of my itinerary! We had some fabulous and much needed hot food to finish off the day. Recommendations coming soon. 

A lot of this day is dedicated to driving. The first slog of driving is uneventful but you make up for this with the stop and start nature of the second half. It is definitely a great introduction to what lies ahead!

NC500 Day 1- Edinburgh and the Cairngorms.
Highlight one of the NC500 – A royal goodbye

NC500 Day 1- Edinburgh and the Cairngorms.

Miles: 368. Wildlife: nil but a city pigeon. Camper Vans: 9. Steps: 8767.

Technically, TECHNICALLY, we are yet to reach the NC500 route, but this trip revolves around it. So buckle up because this is day one!

I’ll start with last night as I left you with the beginning of our journey on yesterday’s blog. (Link below.) We drove from Essex to Thirsk, York. Upon our arrival into this small, charming town we were witnesses to the most glorious sunset. We had booked into a Wetherspoons hotel, something Mr W and I have never done. The joy being that for our first night we had a budget busting dinner of a mixed grill, BBQ chicken melt and a nice cold beer and cider. Can’t go wrong really can you?

On returning to the room via the labyrinthine hallways and exceptionally creaky, sloped floors we couldn’t help but laugh. I looked out of the sash window, gotta love a sash window, at the cobbled town square below and felt the familiar zing of escapism flood my body.

Bed was calling.

This morning we woke up at 4:25am and creaked about our room getting clothes on and our bags ready to leave. With fruit and pastries in the car we didn’t have to fuss over making breakfast and was glad to just get on the road. As we navigated the hallways of the hotel I felt like I was sneaking about and couldn’t stop the giggling in my head. We were in the car by 4:53am, with the thermometer reading 2° and set off for Edinburgh.

We were on the road for at least 90 minutes before any hint of the sunrise appeared. The roads were pitch black and very quiet. The journey was uneventful, although we went through a toll tunnel, the Tyne tunnel, which wasn’t signposted and now have to pay £1.90 before midnight or face a fine so look out for that. Live and learn. We made a few stops along the way so I could try and hobble my back pain away and the morning wind was absolutely bitter. Upon our arrival into Edinburgh we found that our usual, trusty, free parking area was completely full. I quickly managed to find an alternative and am absolutely stunned at the gem I found. Should you ever visit Edinburgh on a weekend head to the Broad Pavement car park. At the time of writing this blog, it is free on weekends and is right next to Holyroodhouse Park. It is perfect for walking to the Royal Mile or, like us, climbing Arthur’s Seat. 

Now, here’s where the day became tricky. My back pain has been bad. And it’s becoming harder to deal with. So Mr W has been wondering if I can even do these big hikes. Now I am a stubborn woman 90% of the time, but when the pain is this bad, I crumble. These past two weeks I have tried everything to ease off this torment and nothing yet has worked. So on arrival at our first stop today we made a promise that if I could not do it, we would leave. I hated the thought of not completing one of our plans but as Mr W put it, if I made it worse by forcing it then the whole trip was in jeopardy. 

With this in mind, we wrapped up against the Scottish wind and started our way up the extinct volcano. I had previously looked online for route advice and found that the blue route was the easiest and would take 1-2 hours. I gave us 3 hours so we could stop and take pictures without feeling the need to rush. 

The route started as a gentle incline wjth a level pathway which soon enough turned into a winding shingle slope. With medium size rocks littered about it wasn’t too strenuous. As the incline grew steeper more rocks and shingle covered the pathway. After a while the path gave birth to huge steps of rock which Mr W had to help me climb. It was only on inspection at the very top of this section that we realised that somehow we had managed to turn away from the blue route and take the much harder, steeper, rockier red route to the summit. Oh yes, we are the kind of people that need signposts every 100 metres or we will just follow the crowds. And most of the crowd we followed were runners who had clearly done this a few times before. I laugh now, internally, but at the time all I kept saying was ‘Jesus’ and ‘What the f**k’ and ‘Who on earth can climb that step, not me, I’m a midget!’. 

With Mr W’s guidance, a hell of a lot of guidance might I add, we reached the top. We did it! I did it! My crappy back let me do it! The very last portion of the ‘walk’ had me in a scramble using my hands to pull my body up the rocky path with fears of slipping down the hill. There wasn’t an absolute pathway up so everyone was eyeing up the best route for them and we all looked like ants making our way into our nest. The view from the top was of pure sunlight and the image of Edinburgh was blurred by the tears in my eyes courtesy of the bitingly frigid wind. But I could have been looking at a gravel pit for all it mattered, we made it to the top and I felt like I was on cloud nine. 250 metres up, up, up. 

We spent a few moments looking out over the city, pointing out Calton Hill and Edinburgh Castle before feeling the need to move on. The whole walk from the car door and back again took us 2 hours and 11 minutes. Pretty good eh?

On our walk down, a man asked us to take a picture of him and his partner, as Mr W clicked away, he told us in broken English, I think he was Scandinavian, that he had just proposed and that she had said yes. How amazing is that? Being a part of someone’s story like that! I became my usual shrill self with excitement and Mr W congratulated them. What a moment!

We made it back to the car with lots of time spare and wolfed down a lunch of tinned spaghetti and something sweet. The next visit was up in the air due to the Queen’s passing last week. We were due to park on the Balmoral Estate and do a short walk up to Prince Albert’s Cairn. With the car park potentially too busy with well-wishers it was a case of driving by and seeing what was happening. I can happily say we managed to get a space really easily and even though the walk to the Cairn was closed, along with the rest of the estate, we spent some time paying our respects at the gates and looking over the flowers. I am really glad we got the opportunity to stop, being away from London and home for the funeral feels very strange and this went a long way for me to feel like we did something in our own way. The swaths of roses, lilies and sunflowers against the stone walls glittered with raindrops and looked like an ornate carpet. Such a simple way to show care and love and yet transcendent in its admiration and attention. 

Making a promise that we would return one day to complete our walk, we wandered back to the car commenting on how we would be arriving earlier than planned at our hotel. Winner!

And then… our sat nav started playing silly buggers. We found one of the roads on our route through the Cairngorms National Park had been closed and requested a re-route. This was done and admiring the beauty of the Cairngorms passed the time easily enough. That is until we realised we had been down this particular road before and not too long after we found ourselves back at the Balmoral car park. No matter what we did to the demon robot it could not find its way around the closed road and without a signal on my phone, we felt at a complete loss. 

After driving for maybe 5 minutes, I was able to negotiate with my phone and picked up a route that worked. The hour journey took double that and Mr W and I could not help but dump our bags with glee once reaching our hotel room. 

Tomorrow we will laugh, forgive the sat nav and move on. But tonight, we are nursing our shattered bodies, tired brains and thanking the local ‘The Wee Puffin’ restaurant for the most delicious takeaway food… that we ate wearing our pants… in silence.

Highlight one of the NC500 – A royal goodbye
NC500 Day 1 – Itinerary
Tears of travel anxiety

Donuts

Today I’m struggling with my mental health. I was going to leave it at that and allow you, the reader, to decipher it quite simply. I’d chosen to take a break from writing today.

I’m all for that. Unfortunately there are times when my enormous fear of letting myself down storms to the front of my mind and declares war with rationality. Write. You’ll feel better. Write. You’ll only be disappointed that you didn’t. 

Write. 

I’ve been thinking of Scotland. In 2021 we took a few days out of our busy autumn schedule and travelled up to Edinburgh. I’ll put my hands up now and say the sole reason was to go to Edinburgh zoo to see the Giant Pandas. And it did not disappoint! I, in fact, spent the better part of 30 minutes sitting and staring at Yang Guang, their male panda. I may also have cried. It was a special, special moment for me. It was just Mr W and I for the viewing. The zoo is situated on the side of a large hill and the Giant Pandas are right at the top of this hill. Go figure! We quickly decided to slog all the way up the hill first, making no stops, so we could see the panda without interruptions. And who doesn’t love to get the crap bit out the way first. Walk up the hill. Enjoy the slow, winding walk back at your own pace. Roast dinner, veg first! It’s the rule!

Floating on cloud nine, I eventually had to leave the panda and seeing a donut cart, decided on a treat. Hot, sugary donuts! Mmm! You know the type you get at a fair or by the seaside and you can barely hold the paper bag because they’re so hot, but your stomach can’t wait, so you bite into the molten doughiness and find instant bliss and regret. Yeah, those kind. 

So, while I’m waiting in the queue for my 10am donuts, there is a lady in front of me who asks the server whether she can buy just a single donut. The server says “no, they come in batches of 4 only.” The lady says, “oh, okay, there’s no way I want that many.” I internally gasped and reminded myself to include Mr W on my donut haul. She walked away and I felt sad for the lady who was leaving donutless. I quickly get my bounty, and as I turn to leave, I see her with her family. I made a quick decision and approached her. “ Would you like one I ask?” She gives me the once over with her crazy detector and says “No, that’s okay.” “Honestly it’s okay”, I reply, “go for it”. And she does, I say “Enjoy” and walk away. Mr W is sitting on a wall, watching me, he asks what I’m doing and when I tell him, he laughs. My reason for sharing, it’s nice to be nice. 

There are such deeds in the world that have become a bit of a phenomenon. The ‘Pay it Forward’ movement is really quite special. It’s popular in coffee shops in particular. When paying for your tall skinny decaf latte you add a couple of pounds to the bill and the next person gets their drink free. With the reminder to pay it forward. I’d like to think that the zoo donut lady paid it forward at some point in time, but also don’t like to think of telling someone to do it. I didn’t do it because it was on my mind to do something that day, it was a spontaneous thought, and that meant something to me too. And one less donut.

It’s often when we are thanked for something we’ve done, an unconscious act of ‘nice’ that we realise its power. I have a 12 year old niece who I haven’t seen a lot recently. Covid, life, geography. She’s always been quiet, loves to read like me and is going through a tough time at school. Only recently was I told this. A few weeks ago, she popped up on my personal Instagram feed as ‘someone you may know’. I hit the follow button and sent a message asking how she was. It felt rude not to, to be honest. I wouldn’t add anyone to my online ‘social’ circle unless I actually planned to have a conversation with them. It’s one of the biggest reasons I delete people. If we don’t talk, what’s the point? We had the briefest of all chats and that was that. Fast forward to last week and my niece’s mum gives me a call. We’re chatting away, catching up after a long absence of calls since Christmas and she stops to thank me for messaging my niece. I’m taken back to be honest. It was just a hello and how are you. However it turns out things have been difficult recently, she’s been withdrawn at home and school and very quiet. The night after we spoke, she was very chatty and smiley and her mum felt more relaxed than she had been in months. Not knowing this, I said that it really was nothing, I just wanted to say hello. And I was told that it had made all the difference in the world. That my niece felt seen and not forgotten. I won’t lie, that hit me in the heart with a different kind of ouch. I know what it feels like to feel alone, I’m not alone, but my anxiety makes me feel isolated. I know the joys of someone reaching out because they want to. Not because they’re fulfilling a duty or checking up on you. Sometimes it’s the unconscious acts that make the biggest impacts.

In the autumn of 2013, Mr W’s sister, my now sister-in-law, had a major car crash. She was taken to Whitechapel hospital in London. Working in London at the time meant I could travel easily from work, meet MR W on the station platform and see her for a few hours. At this point we’d only met a handful of times and I still felt like the new kid on the block. One particular evening Mr W had to travel for work, so I went alone. Unannounced. I took magazines, sweets, food and my dry sense of humour. All the things I would want in that situation. I only stayed an hour or so. My sister in law is a loved lady and had other visitors arrive after me. I went home and thought nothing of it. It’s what you do. Fast forward to our engagement, there’s talk of me becoming an official family member and how I had fit into the family from the start. I had made quite an impact on my sister in law. Dumbfounded, I asked why. Back then, and even today 9 years later, my sister in law would talk about my solo visit to the hospital and what it meant to her. She said it showed I cared,not just for Mr W but for his family. I shrug it off. It’s what you do. Someone you love, someone you care about, someone who needs you. You are there. It. Is. What. You. Do. 

I think about these moments and others when I’m sad, upset and anxious. It makes me feel better. It puts me in my place. It grounds me. I don’t know why. I don’t do anything to be seen or heard. I do it because it costs nothing to be nice, well maybe the price of a donut, but it literally doesn’t have to cost a thing. Whether the lady paid if forward. Whether I got told about my niece. And even if I was told of my sister in law’s gratitude. It makes no difference to whether I, we, everyone should be a little nicer. The reward should be secondary. It’s a selfless act. I’m no saint. No one is. But just because we’re not saints, doesn’t mean we’re automatically sinners. Maybe we can be floating in the middle. Being nice. Eating naughty donuts. And sending a hello out into the world. 

You never know who might need it. 

Auto-travel-mode. Planning the NC500.

A quick one today giving an update on the NC500 in a little under 5 months. Time is flying!

So, I spent the better part of 2 weeks in January mapping out our trip. We’ll be doing the trip anti-clockwise, which means joining the circuit in Inverness. There are a few reasons we chose to do it this way. 

  • When we spent two days in Edinburgh last year, it rained the entire day we were in the city centre. This meant our plan to climb Arthur’s seat was cancelled. We both don’t mind a bit of rain, but it had brought along a thick mist which meant we wouldn’t have a view of anything but from the top! Ironically, it was the only thing we both card most about on the actual day. So we plan to stop in Edinburgh really early on our way up to the Cairngorms and finally head up this major tourist hotspot. 
  • We’ve been given a lovely two night stay and have chosen the Lake District to do this in. It also means we’ll be staying in a lovely hotel for our 4th wedding anniversary and as we have really crunched the budget for this trip accommodation wise, it means on our anniversary we can really relax and unwind in complete and utter comfort!
  • Both of the above reasons, don’t rely too much on starting in Inverness and ending in the Lake District, however when you look at how the scenery changes from the East to West coast of the Scottish Highlands you will see how much more mountainous and rugged it gets. For us, we decided we wanted to start slowly with the sloping coastal roads of Inverness, Wick and John O’Groats before heading up and over and then down the dramatic landscape of the West. 

Where my research has taken the trip is down through Ullapool and then onto the Isle of Skye, which in itself looks absolutely phenomenal! I predict that we’ll be heading back to Scotland within a few short years because of how much there is to see and do! We managed to collate our research early on and had three word documents on what we wanted to see and do. 

Planning this all out, meant laying it all out in a kind of mapped loop, the amount of stops was unbelievable and it became apparent very quickly that our 16 day trip would not be long enough. So we made the hard decisions on what to take out and it has left us with another two week trip for sure in the future. 

Something you ought to know about how I travel. Once I’m there I don’t know when to stop. I go into auto-travel-mode. My body is tired. My mind is wired. And I should stop. But the thing is I am my freest when I travel. Seeing, doing, exploring. I was probably a bird in my former life. Never stopping. Always moving. In my nest, I’m still and calm. And then I’m in flight. Soaring and not letting my tired wings rule my heart. 

In the beginning process of planning this trip, Mr W, shared his concerns of us jamming too much in and wondering if we may have to ‘delete’ stuff as we go along. The concerns over the roads and how long it takes to get from point A to B are real! The roads are winding, often single-laned and there are cattle to barter with for space. The plan itself accounts for almost 30/40% more time on the road between locations to allow for this. And as we have said all along, this trip’s main aim is to drive the NC500. To be a part of that growing crowd that experiences Scotlands now not so hidden gem. Not what we see and do. That’s not to say that we won’t be seeing and doing a lot of stuff, because boy will we! 

I remember the trip Mr W and I took to New York, his first, my fourth. It was monumental before we even arrived in the city due to the fact it is, and was, my favourite place in the entire world. I was hoping to show him everything that was so great about the city and see him coming away from it loving it as much as me. I’m not saying it was a dealbreaker in our relationship, but a small part of me was so nervous that my boyfriend wouldn’t want to return and I would have a giant NY shaped hole in my heart. Turns out I left NY as his fiancee and with him loving the city too! Win, win. During a walk on the highline, Mr W asked me what the plans for the rest of the day were, and when told he remarked there was no way we could manage it all with the amount of hours left in our day. I remember stopping, sitting, looking down at W17th Street and crying. He didn’t understand me. I want to keep going. I want to see everything. I don’t want to stop. And my now fiance was unhappy with how I did things. Crushed! 

It’s only now I realise how much I do cram into these trips. And how hard it must be for someone who loves me to keep going for my sake but feel exhausted at the same time. Their inner voice is screaming for them to stop, while mine is screaming keep going! I think my voice is just so scared that another chance may not come up. Who knows what tomorrow may bring. It’s the fear of not going back. Not having another chance. Missing something. Having unfinished business.

We’ve done a lot of travelling since that life changing trip to New York and we have grown as a couple and our travel habits have vastly changed. This is enormously down to the 2020/2021 lockdowns and how we now view city breaks vs hiking trips. I know one day we will get back to the city breaks and stomping those pavements but for now the mountain roads are calling!

The more I see online and each little researching moment I have throws more and more at this trip, and most of it doesn’t stick due to timing but then some does. The days will be early, which is so out of my comfort zone and there will also be a lot of trust placed in me, eep, but I’m sure we’ll love every minute. Mr W will still have his concerns, as will I, but together we’ll be fine. We compliment each other with our differences. That’s what I hear anyway!

**Update, we continue to try out the canned foods for our roadside dinners, Mr W tried the spaghetti rings and sausages, said it wasn’t too bad. I wasn’t sold. I had the chicken curry which was more fiery than I thought it would be. Both of us were pleasantly surprised. The quest continues!**

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