Scotland ... here we come

It's time to leave Murton [near Newcastle in the North of England] and to take a quick five day tour around Scotland. I said to Mary "let's leave at 10:30". So we hit the road at 11:35, not bad considering.

Driving through Newcastle is not the easiest thing to do, there are many ways to go - I wanted on the A1 to follow the coast, our Sat Nav wanted to go another way - the quickest. Ignoring "her", we found our way onto the A1 for a beautiful drive up the coast past Banburgh and Lindisfarne especially.

We stopped at Berwick, near the Scottish border for lunch. Mary had "Coronation Chicken" sandwiches- they looked good. Berwick is a pretty town, the old part protected by an ancient wall with lots of bridges and a picturesque port.

I wasn't looking forward to driving around Edingburgh - lots of traffic.There were queues on the ring road and the Forth Road Bridge. However, once we crossed the bridge and headed up the coast we had the best road for our trip so far - even got to drive under a rainbow!

Very surprised at the cost of staying in the little coastal village of Portlethem - which we only booked yesterday. A king size room with ensuite, our dinner and breakfast, two large beers [Lia Fail], two top chef single malts [Garioch & Bunnahabhain], two top shelf Gins, all for £104 [you know] ...

We played a game of darts - Australia Versus France - with the Scotts as umpires. Of course Australia won - it was great fun, much laughing and a reason for another drink or two.

Tomorrow we travel to Skye through the Scottish Highlands.Read more