Today Jen and I arrived at the bus with seconds to spare - seems to be the story of our lives this holiday. The GPS (Daniel) got us into Edinburgh safely but we really didn't allow enough time to park the car, find the Royal Mile and then run up the hill making a mad dash for the bus! We were the last ones onto the bus and as a result had to take the last two seats left. I ended up getting the middle seat in the back row and I thought of mum and dad as I was sitting up like Jackie! It was slightly squishy and as the guy next to me kept falling asleep and almost landing in my lap, I felt wonderfully relaxed! Jen shared the pain and had half a day in that special spot too. Apart from this the day was great. It was a twelve hour bus tour - it went as far as Inverness in the North, then down to Loch Ness (you'll see from one of the photos that we got a glimpse of Nessie), then down to Glen Coe, across the moors and back to Edinburgh. What beautiful countryside. We were a bit tired of all the blood and gore stories during the trip but the Scottish music the tour guide played was great. I was surprised at how big Loch Ness is. I've read the dimensions before but actually driving along its edge for so long put it all into perspective for me. Because the weather was so gorgeous, the guide said we were seeing the loch at its best. Apparently it hasn't been this hot for 8 years! It got to 29 at one stage which is nothing compared with Brisbane's temps, but it's the lack of windows on the bus or air con that made it quite uncomfortable at times! London is even hotter apparently. Hopefully it will have cooled down by the time we go back next Wednesday.
When we arrived back in Edinburgh at about 8pm, the Royal Mile was alive with buskers, bagpipe players and market stalls. It was buzzing and seemed like a lot of fun. I want to go back in the next couple of days to see Edinburgh castle and spend a bit more time exploring.
A little Westie I encountered in Peebles
This is where Jen and I were pampered the other day
View from pampering place
Peebles
Peebles
Beautiful roses in Perth
Loch Ness
See her? Bottom right hand corner? We called and called and I think this is one of her babies! Do you think I could sell this photo for hundreds of thousands of dollars?!
My feet in the loch
This is Jennie trying to make sure she didn't fall over on the rocks. No - it's not a yoga pose or Tai Chi. It's Jennie being extremely athletic!
Me and the tour guide. I felt quite dwarfed!
More photos of the highlands to come.
Ben Nevis in the distance - still has traces of snow on the peak despite the heat yesterday
Thanks Helen. beautiful scenery and the weather looks brilliant. sounds like they don't cater for hot weather at all on the buses or in some buildings. it is funny hearing the news here about a heat wave there, with top temps like 29 and 30! It's all relative I guess. Your photos are great. You must have been tired at the end of this tour day. Covered a lot of ground. John and I saw Mum today and she loved hearing the stories I told her from the blog. she didn't have the energy to look at it today after we got back from our outing. However she loved the postcards - we found one from London and one from Ireland. (Caught up in the newspapers !)Audrey noticed that there are obviously no cats up there and feels sorry for the people there who just have Westies. looking forward to the photos of the Highlands (though Audrey seriously doubts there will be cats there).Hope Jen's sleeping accessory has arrived and she's pushing out zeds (or maybe not!).
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Cathie
In case you're wondering about Oreb - I must have signed in on John's google account!
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