Scotland

Today had so many different elements I couldn’t settle on what to name it.

We awoke at 6.50am to a beautiful, cloudless morning. Breakfast, pack up and off with a deadline of 11am to attend the Sterling meeting.
As it happened, there were two points of interest to briefly visit on our way, and very close to Sterling which lies north east of Glasgow and North West of Edinburgh which was our final destination for today.

We drove in the direction of Sterling and called in first to see an impressive sculpture by the name of The Kelpies. The Kelpies are not sheep dogs but rather horses - in Scottish mythology they were a beast that possessed the power of 100 normal horses. However, the horses’ heads here standing over 30m tall are based on real life Clydesdale horses which were transformative in the history of this part of Scotland’s landscape and industry in bygone days.
After a short look around The Kelpies, we headed off about 15 minutes down the road to The Falkirk Wheel which is a particularly impressive piece of Scottish engineering.
This amazing device was invented to replace about 11 locks in the canal system to allow long river boats to move between the significant difference in height of the canals in this part of Scotland. Nothing happens quickly here, but it all happens with great precision.

Of course, the first activation of the Falkirk Wheel doesn’t happen until 10am, so we watched this first transfer of boats and then quickly headed off to Sterling Ecclesia, arriving at 10.45am.
We received a warm welcome and were pleased to meet some of Wendy and Trevor Maher’s children and grandchildren. (Many would remember Wendy and the late Bro. Trevor from Rathmines days.) Loriene had been in contact with Wendy who has remarried, and sadly for us David and Wendy were ‘down south’ visiting David’s family so we didn’t get to see them.
However, it was lovely to share a ‘Meal A Day’ lunch with the members after the meeting and to become acquainted with many other members of this lovely meeting in addition to the Mahers.
For those who are keen followers of the Royal family and the recent coronation, you may note that Wendy and Trevor’s grandson Luke (who was chairman for the meeting today) featured prominently in one aspect of the coronation - see the accompanying photos.

While sitting at lunch with Shaun Maher, he was able to give me some tips on the most scenic drive to Edinburgh via St. Andrews which we duly entered into Waze. We bid a fond farewell to our new friends and arrived in St. Andrews with the weather still being picture perfect. I was able to get to play a little golf on the Old Course (again see photos and video for proof for the doubting Thomases out there).
After putting out on the 18th hole, we briefly visited the vast beach area and then developed car troubles on starting up.
Multiple orange warning lights came on and the engine was running roughly. Although none of the lights indicated low oil levels, the dipstick wasn’t registering any oil at all 😳. It took 3 visits to service stations before a litre of oil could be purchased and thankfully the rough running and warning lights all disappeared once having provided the little Fiat with this magic elixir.

We then continued on our circuitous coastal route towards Edinburgh (including diverting off to view the Forth bridges from below before crossing over) and the scenery was worth the extra travel time.
We finally made it into Edinburgh and to our accommodation right on 7pm and as I am typing this last sentence, the ‘wonder woman’ is placing another beautifully prepared meal on the table!Read more