Well I think we could not have chosen a more fitting, or more gob smackingly beautiful location to end our year in the north! We had the whole Mull of Kintyre ‘mist rolling in from the sea’ thing happening regularly, just to add to the prevalent old and mystical feel to this ancient country.
We began with a night in Aberdeen, flying from Leeds as it was barely more expensive than the train and alot quicker naturally. Plus it gave me a discount on a hotel and the car hire – bonus! 
We stayed right in the centre of town and so we spent a couple of hours hopping between pubs and chatting to some of the locals. Aberdeen is known as the ‘Granite City’ due to the predominance of the local stone used to build the majority of the city and surrounds. I imagine when the sun is high it would look quite stunning. Unfortunately it was dark when we arrived, and barely dawn when we left at just after 9am, so we didn’t get to see that. No matter. It is clearly a vibrant place, despite the predominantly grey colour 
of the city skape. And like everywhere in the UK, they do their Christmas Lights really well!
I think this old church turned goth/castle/pub was our favourite place of the night. Check out the secret passage behind the books 
Which in fact lead to the ladies loo…
Friday morning we carefully drove out of Aberdeen amidst a thick fog that varied in intensity depending on how high we were, but pretty much stayed with us all that day. Didn’t distract from the gorgeous country though. By midday we were skirting around the south of Inverness, intent 
on catching a glimpse of Nessy. As it happened we had been driving along side Loch Ness for who knows how long, without realising as the water was so completely obscured by the mist!
So here I am, getting about as close to the water as my built in thermostat would allow, sending Nessy a “Saw your ripples, thought we’d drop in” message via mental telepathy… I have no doubt as to the beauty of the area in the summer months. The lake was so tranquil and the country surrounding very lush. But I’m glad we came in winter, with the fog. Much more eerie and mystical (despite being bloody freezing!)
We hung around Loch Ness for about an hour, driving on some lovely windy roads, and through some cattle country apparently. At least I think they were cattle? Whatever they were they had a brilliant fur coat as you can see. (I could have done with one of those. Did I mention how cold it was? Whenever the thermometre in the car rose to 0.0° we cheered and sang ‘Heatwave’!) So we met back up with the main road and began heading seriously north to the serious
‘Highlands’. Here’s a shot of the fog sitting in a valley we’re about to drive into:
Then a few minutes later, we were in it…
Aaahhhh – scary or what?
Fortunately it didn’t stay like that the whole time, and I didn’t get beeped at once from impatient locals who obviously know the roads and are use to the conditions. Who said the Scots are impatient?
By about 4pm the sun was down and we were ready to call it a day. So we stopped for the night at The Eagle Hotel/B&B in a lovely seaside village called Dornoch. Very reasonably priced and gorgeous food. 
The homemade pate was simply divine Wasn’t long before we both started to fade though, as can be seen by the evidence! Well, Nessy hunting in the fog is a taxing business after all… Don’t worry, she got up for long enough to ditch the boots. So we had a good nights sleep in a toasty warm room, before breaking the ice off the car to start again the next morning.
Before leaving Dornoch about 9.30, we took a quick drive around the village 
and inadvertently ended up in the middle of the golf course – whoops! Not really a problem once we realised that the people wavng to us were not just being friendly, but wanted us to move the car so as we didn’t end up with a golf ball ornament @_@. I’m sure we would have caught on sooner had it not been for laughing so hard at these blokes playing golf! IN THE ICE!! It was -4.5°C!!! WHAT are these guys on??
Our aim for the day was to make it to John O’Groats, the absolute top of the
mainland – and we did. About 30 minutes out of Dornoch the fog cleared and so the driving was much easier. Still a bit ’slippy’ (as the locals would say) in the many little gullys, but the windy roads are well maintained. The most dangerous part is trying not to miss the glorious views while driving – I pulled over lots…
The Highlands are dotted (like a kid with chicken-pox) with castles and crags, most in ruins, but some lavishly refurbished. This is Mey Castle. Big and stunning. Most of these places close down for the winter so we didn’t get to see inside. Didn’t take away from seeing it though.
So we reached John O’Groats early afternoon after many ‘looky’ stops, had a cup of coffee and watched the barge going between the Islands clearly visible from the mainland. Then we skipped across to Thurso for a gander, before heading down the centre of the Highlands on the inland road. Meeting back up with the coast 
about 3pm, we were just in time to see the ‘mist rolling in from the sea’ – literally! There’s only about 3 minutes between these 2 photos.
I was stunned at how fast it moves. The photo could never do this scene justice. The blanket of cloud was so thick, and so pristinely white with the sun giving it all a last blast before he went down for the day. Yeah – that was the breathtaking part (apart from the cold of course…)
The village just down the bottom of that hill was Helmsdale, and looked like a perfect stop for our last night in Scotland. We were wondering around the couple of streets in Helmsdale, checking out the prices of accomodation, when we were approached by a woman selling raffle tickets. As she didn’t know us by sight, we were obviously not locals, and upon hearing our accent Arlene took it upon herself to ensure we had all we needed for a memorable stay. Within half an hour we had arranged a room at a lovely 
B&B ran by her friend just up the road, were enrolled in the pool comp at an incredibly friendly pub, and we had a free feed of sandwiches and nibblies to boot! We performed abysmally in the pool comp, but somehow or other still managed to win a prize? Or was that from the raffle? Anyway, we have a lovely handmade thermal bag from Helsmdale, and supported the Lifeboat by participating. As per usual, all batteries had well expired so I have no pics of these lovely people who made our night just wonderful. But if any of you Helmsdale-ites are reading this, a big G’Day to Maggie, Arlene, Margaret, Andy, Philip, Dara, Fergus, and quite a few others who I can’t remember their names. I did get a picture of the B&B the next morning though. It use to be the Vestry attached to an old church across the road, and yes, it was haunted. Gothling will tell you ALL about it! As the fog had cleared that night, it was our best chance to see the Aurora Borealis, and it was indeed a beautiful star filled night sky, but no flickering coloured lights I’m afraid. Ah well – just have to go to Norway won’t I!
We had most of the next day to get back to Aberdeen for our 6pm flight back to Leeds, so we made the most of the scenic route going through 16th 
century sea ports like Portsoy, Banf and Pennan. Can I say, once again, how stunning it is when the sun shines on a field covered in the thickest frost?
We also detoured a couple of times to the occasional castle – as you do. 
Cannot recall the name of this one, and actually the castle itself was quite an ugly thing painted in a strange dull pink, but the surrounds were very interesting. Gothling is standing by the little wheel house next to the FROZEN pond! It’s so much easier to skip stones on ice…
This was the first of three – um – not sure what the correct name would be – stone things, leading to the main entrance. They certainly predated the main building by a long way so were no doubt part of the original castle, the rest of which has long decayed. Look really old hu? (That’s the stone thing – not ME!) I’m guessing at 11th century. (That’s the stone thing – not ME!)
So we arrived at Aberdeen airport with enough time for a quick bite before the 45 minute flight back to Leeds. Our last adventure completed succcessfully. We might not have seen the northern lights, but we did see (and feel) the northern wonders. Tis a truly magnificent part of the world. I just hope I don’t make a certain ginger topped library manager too homesick when she reads this. I’ll just have to track her down and drag her back if she suddenly disappears…
It was SOO fantastic to have her with us, if only for a few weeks. We didn’t get to do all that we wanted, but then, we were never bored either and I only hope she enoyed sharing our experience as much as we enjoyed the opportunity to share it with her. It did Gothling the world of good having someone from home, and her own age, to cut loose with. The British were NEVER in doubt as to who they were when they were around!!
childrens entertinment, this is no easy performance! So – when the cast and crew of the upcoming Leeds City College production of A Christmas Carol were told they need to perform something for their fund raiser, Harry Black emerged once again – from his Sack… and the crowd loved it. Performances were preceeded by a fantasy fashion parade, hence Gothling’s exotic make-up. You’ll have to wait for Susan Stormcloud to post a picture of the full get up. If anyone wants to give it a try, you’ll find Harry Black and his freinds in Andy Griffiths book ‘The Cat on the Mat is Flat’. I’d personally love to have a go at ‘Buck the Duck and his Ice Cream Truck’ – but I don’t think I trust myself…
I grew up on Lake MacQuarie I’ve never experienced autumn colours and the effect it has on the landscape, or city scape for that matter. As much as it heralds the coming of short grey days, and stiff 
breezes that would cut the what-a-names completely off that poor little brass monkey, it is nonetheless very pretty. Doesn’t last that long though. Within a few days of takings these pictures, the leaves were all off and the city is now covered in the skeleton trees that greeted us in January, barely rising above the thick carpet of leaves now on the ground. Gives you something to kick while walking along…
Parts of the country side were surprisingly dry, but this only added to the magnificent colours. Autumn is the favourite season for many Brits, and I can understand why. If the sky is clear and the air crisp, the array of reds, oranges and browns would inspire the most entrenched city dweller to wonder 
at the beauty of nature. The Elan Valley has a series of dams running through it, with lovely old walls and spillways built in the late 19th century. As it was a clear calm day, the waters were reflecting the scenery around them in perfect mirror images. The sort of stuff 2000 piece jigsaws are made of! So while I was driving along marvelling at all the panorama, Susan Stormcloud was snoozing & Gothling was learning her lines for A Christmas Carol. 
I made them get out of the car when we came across this though (it was only 6° so it took some encouraging). A ruin of a small settlement with a couple of buildings and lots of rocks and slate. There was a sign stating that it was an excavation and research site. Have to give the original dwellers credit. Firstly how they built these houses with no mortar, and secondly how they lived in what appears to have been a very harsh country side. Makes you feel all soft and spoilt by comparison. So we have a couple of little bits of Welsh slate to bring home as well.
We finally made it to Conwy (local pronunciation is Conwee) by late afternoon, found a reasonable room, ate a lovely pub meal, and were all asleep by 8.30! Amazing how a late night fuelled by Welsh ghost stories can take it out of you…
enclosed feel. It was built by Edward I (Longshanks), along with a series of other forts along the welsh coast. After a lovely nights slumber we hit the castle proper. There are very few roofs left of the original structure so it has a rather spooky abandoned feel, but we were soon trotting up and down the numerous turrets (trying to warm up largely). 
Some of those narrow spiral stone stairs are nothing short of treacherous! I don’t know how people would have lived with them going up and down all day without breaking a neck or two. But then, maybe they did? These days there are usually hand rails to help us shaky knee people keep their balance, but there only bare walls back in the day. Gothling seemed to scamper up and down with ease, while Susan and I were much more sedate… 
We soon dealt with this show of exhuberance though!
So it was closer to 4 hours by the time we were hunting for our accommodation for the night at the ‘Queens Head Hotel’. Was all good though as our main reason for visiting Monmouth, a certain young Partridge by the name of Rob, had just finished torturing some young rugby players out in the cold and rain, and was ready for a beer or three! We had a lovely couple of hours learning some local knowledge about Aussies working in Wales (we promised we wouldn’t divulge too much…) and getting a feel for the place. Our rooms at the Queens Head were lovely. Low ceilings and I think I’ve been on oceans with less movement in the floors, but very clean, warm and comfy. Plus the owner gave us a bit of a deal and beakfast was yummy! Next morning we had a bit of a stroll around Monmouth before heading north. We were’n't really sure where at this stage, just knew we wanted to get towards Snowdonia and eventually to Conway. While passing through the village of Wigmore, we saw a sign pointing towards a castle. As it was time for a stretch anyway,
we pulled over and went for a stroll. Initially we thought our efforts might be to no avail as the entry to the church yard and castle (at the end of a gorgeous little lane) were closed off with construction site tape. But a helpful (and rather attractive) local soon came to the rescue and pointed to where we could approach via another gate. Apparently it’s a bit less than safe around the ruins of the 
castle these days. Well – it is nearly 1000 years old! But you can get some pics from the perimeters. St James church at Wigmore is also from the 11th century, and you can certainly tell where the ‘new’ bits were added - in the 1300’s!
So we arrived in Rhayader mid afternoon, and soon found a lovely little pub with rooms in a cottage (converted and haunted barn actually!) out the back for a very reasonable price. Within a few short hours we had done a brief pub crawl, including one that dated back to the 15th century, met some entertaining locals and ‘bonded’ with the publican. Allen fed us his own home cooked curry, invited us to make ourselves at home in his kitchen/living room, gave Susan smokes when she ran out, and made sure we were comfortable and had drinks in front of the fire. All the while chatting with locals, changing kegs and generally being frantic. As we would, we also spent some time out the back court yard where the locals, much to Allens chagrin, were determined we would NOT get a wink of sleep thanks to all the lovely ghost stories!! Apparently, an unhappy man did away with himself in the cottage, when it was still a barn, in about 1787, and obviously hasn’t found his way out as yet… Now I’ve had some ‘hair standing up’ moments before, and don’t think I’m too much of a wus generally, but there were DEFINITELY footsteps in the wee small hours that DID NOT belong to any one of the breathing variety! And I’m SURE there was a whispery shadow pass across the main area in the pub when just Allen were chatting by the fire. He smiled knowingly. “She visits sometimes he said” SO – if you want an entertaining and somewhat ‘creepy’ night in Wales, visit the Cornhill Hotel in Rhayader. You won’t be disappointed!
As often happens at Sarah’s, Gothling ended up giving a mini-concert of some of her songs (before the wine began to interfere with the lyrics). But she also turned teacher for a while, sharing some tricks with Sarah. 
It really is the perfect venue for a modern art gallery. It’s not all huge spaces though. There’s also quite a few small rooms, originally the offices of the warehouse I would assume, housing various themed collections from Picasso to Pollack to Warhol, bracketed by some amazing and curios pieces of artwork from the lesser known. The collections starts in 1900 with ‘Fauvism’ and ends with pieces from as recent as last year. We were both particularly taken with a multi media piece about an anime character who had been ’shelved’. She tells her story of rejection by the ‘corporation’ in numerous video clips and caricatures. An interesting take on Gothlings favourite genre. 
This would have to be my favourite though, ‘30 pieces of silver’ by Cornelia Parker. She took hundreds, maybe thousands, of pieces of silver, including cutllery, plates, teapots and even musical instruments, had a steam roller go over the lot, then suspended them by about six inches, all in circular formations by transparent wire, five across and six down. 
As per usual the photo won’t do it justice, but I can tell you the effect, especially s they’re in their own room, is quite stunning.
A market town about 20 min on the train from Leeds. The first night was free (cool!) and we were joined by Kelly & her mum Jean. Well actually they invited us! And you’ll never guess who showed up for an impromptu gig? Recognise that face? We got to bop along on the hill (was rather muddy down in the ‘pit’) to one of the 
biggest bands of the century – for FREE!! How cool was that?
A pair of gorgeous wild ducks took up residence in the Quarry House courtyard (smokers area) in early Spring, and soon after we were blessed with 5 little ducklings. We’ve watched their progress from little waddlers to proud flyers, and all donated to the ‘duck food fund’. But now they seem to have headed off to warmer lands until till next March. I wonder if the same pair will come back?
Viking museum and ridy sort of thing with actors and moving mannequins and voice overs. Excellent for the younger ones, and quite good for bigguns. The medievil buildings and cobbled streets are realy charming, although I imagine they weren’t so much a few hundred years ago. Here’s a picture of Matt, our IT guy/pack horse, carting all the paraphernalia back to the car at the end of the day. I think the best part was meeting a heap more people from various areas and locations of the DWP. More new friends!
I also did a trek a couple of weeks ago through a huge woodland around the old saxon village of Tong. There were some quite high hills so had some glorious views. The walk goes throuh another village calle Fulneck, founded by the descendants of the Unity of Brethren Sect who fled the Czech lands in the early 1700’s. You can certainly see the influence of other areas in their architecture, but I’m afraid my batteries had died by then 
We just received the our birthday cards today – what a joy! Thank you all SO much. It was nearly as good as a ’surprise’ morning tea 
Dawn and us, but Sarah had been invited to another party near where Dawn lives, so, we ALL went to the other party and met some more people and had a blast! I even met a bloke from Newcastle who not only knew where Mackay was, but had spent some time there just last year, soon after the flood – go figure! He really likes us as well and reckons Mackay is one of the best spots he’s stayed in while touring for quite a while. Great to hear a good report about your home town. So I don’t know if you can be nominated for the ‘golden bucket’ award by proxy, but I can
promise you, Gothling made a good effort before we finally headed home about 3.30am. Next morning we were treated to a resounding chorus of ‘happy birthday’ via Skype from Kath, Julia and Graham (I’m sure the windows were rattling!) just to give the headache that added boost…
Karen & I made contact via ‘genes reunited’, and found that if you up go our family tree five generations, across to a sibling, then back down another four generations, (we were more prolific breeders over our way apparently) we’re cousins! About seven times removed, but cousins just the same. Karen & her husband Dan live in Thirsk, about 50 minutes drive from Leeds. They invited us up to share a meal, and were joined by Karen’s dad Dennis who came down from Sunderland. Dennis was a fountain of interesting information about some curios skeletons lurking (to add to the many rattling bones in my family…) in various closets. After a superb meal we all strolled into Thirsk for a couple at the local where gothling & I were staying the night. Dennis has offered to give us a more detailed tour of the areas of Newcastle where our family once lived, (15 of them in a small 3 bedroom terrace!). Hoping to take him up on that in the next couple of weeks. 
Not the cheapest of accomodation… Like all castles Bamburgh has a long and interesting history. More recently it played a significant part in the northern defenses during WWII, and much of the military equipment is still on hand. There is currently an archeological project on the grounds and tenderly making its way under some of the buildings, finding all sorts of interesting things and rewriting some of the known history of the 
area. Should have been an archeologist – wonder if they need a librarian? Nah – too cold in winter. The wind was howling around the Keep while we were in there, sparking our imaginations to long haired maidens and armoured Knights. Sigh… Fortunately the wind wasn’t cold though, so we experienced a lovely northern sea side day. 
long. But what we saw was very impressive and we walked in the steps of Kings, Queens and broom wielding movie stars ( I could have done with my swish looking straw broom here Mr G!)
So this is where I want to live – ok – maybe not in Alnwick, as pretty as it is. But I do want this house, in Eungella! Then Kath can call me a Hippee and MEAN IT!! D 