Author: travurple

So “Grannie’s Heilan’ Hame Holiday Park” Campsite appeared to be everything advertised, an entertainment complex, which we didn’t frequent, so sorry no photos. Lots of static caravans, with a wide variety of cars parked outside them ranging from ones that didn’t look they’d make it back home to ones that obviously cost more than a couple of the static caravans.

The weather was not great, but we were lucky with a couple of sunny intervals, on Monday we walked along Embo beach, the campsite sits right on the beach.

On Tuesday we walked south to Dornoch again along the beach, stunning white sands, lots of beautiful sea shells and hardly another soul there. We did speak to a woman, who was also motor homing, and her husband was cycling from Lands End to John O’Groats, so she was walking the beach before meeting him, on day 19 of his adventure, not fast but he was out there doing it.

We left the beach via the Royal Dornoch golf club, “golf since 1606” a manicured course. A few spots of rain started, but we found a food shack, the local fish dishes smelt wonderful, but it was only coffee time, so one coffee and one hot chocolate. The only problem was they didn’t have any cake! Dornoch is a well serviced village, with a nice local high street. Then we headed back to the campsite via the woods, where we found the Dornoch Fairy village, tucked away just off the footpath (see photo), then on to the old railway line, which led straight back to the campsite, a fabulous walk. Just as we got back to the motorhome it started to rain again, our timing could not have been better!

5 weeks on the road today, having started out on 19 April.

Wednesday, a day on the move again, first stop, the post office in Dornoch, to post some stuff off. Then following google maps across country, along single track roads with passing places. All was going well with a good line of sight up the road, you could see cars coming and passed using the passing places, until a blind bend and a large truck not wanting to stop on the small bridge he was on his way over, so obviously he kept coming. So, Rog (thankfully Rog), had to reverse the motorhome back around the blind bend, luckily there was a driveway just around the bend, and the truck was able to get by and the need for new underwear was averted 

Stopped to make coffee, the joys of the motorhome, you carry your own coffee! We stopped just outside the village of Rosehall in a carpark in the forest. There was a community built log cabin, full of information about the local area and wildlife, it also had a book swap, so Nic picked up Joanna Lumley’s autobiography. 

Our next campsite is “The Shore” at Achmelvich, which is in the far north west of Scotland, only about 35 miles (as the crow gets blown) from Cape Wrath, the most north-westerly point of the mainland.

One more reversing manoeuvre as two cars were coming in the opposite direction, which was fine, arrived on site and it is basically a field with a loo block in a very small valley right near the sea. So you pick your own pitch, we managed to get a reasonably flat pitch, decided to park nose end facing the sea and into the wind, which was a good call, the wind had been building all day!

Thursday, there is a saying on the Isle of Man, “if you don’t like the weather, wait 5 minutes and there will be some different weather”, but we have never seen the weather change as quickly as it has done here, the wind is always there, but rain then sun then hail all in 5 minutes, or rain is lashing one side of the motorhome but sun streaming in through the other window. We managed to get out for a couple of short walks, the next bay is Achmelvich bay another stunning beach, so I’m running out of superlatives to describe beaches, all we can say is if you like beaches with nobody else on them (and you don’t mind weather) come to Scotland you will not be disappointed.

The other thing the site has is a Fish & Chip shop, when we say shop, it sells Fish & Chips, out of a door way on the side of the house, good fish & chips at that. 

Saturday, there was more showers with sunny intervals, we managed a walk/scramble up out of the valley, over the headland to a “hermitage castle”, a small rustic concrete cast building, which looked like it had been used recently, there was a pair of boots just inside the ‘door’ and what looked like bed.

We also spent a lot of time people watching from the motorhome, all the comings and goings on the site. Victoria Wood would have had a field day and written a sitcom about camping ala “Dinner Ladies”, what with the moving of motorhome, to four different locations on site before choosing one, then realising for their final chosen pitch, their electric cable is not long enough to reach a socket, so have to move the motorhome again, then trying to get it level (this is not a level site!), then remembering they should have filled with fresh water before pitching up so moving the motorhome again! (we’ve all done it).

Then working out if they can move the picnic bench from the other side of the site to in front of their pitch? Is someone already using it? Can they carry it ?

Hours of fun !

Saturday, we headed for a walk north along the coastal path, passing a couple of crofts, stood and watched 2 deer at fairly close quarters, then walked on to the remains of an old water mill at “Alltan na Bradhan”, sat and enjoyed our coffees, with not a soul in site. We headed back towards the campsite and saw the deer again further up the valley.

After lunch we headed up the southern headland at the campsite, a bit of a scramble over rocks and trying to avoid the boggy bits, but was well worth the climb, a stunning view along the coast and a bonus 4G phone signal (not one on the campsite).

Back at the motorhome, we managed to be very British, sitting outside with a drink, it was windy and cold, we were both wearing at least 4 layers, hat and gloves, but we were sitting outside!

Sunday, given the patchy weather, we walked the beach and local headlands again, managing to dodge the showers.

This week we are meeting friends who have rented a flat in the centre of Inverness, overlooking the river. So, Monday we had a very wet walk across town to collect a hire car, so we can drive around together (as the motorhome only has 2 belted seats).

Unfortunately, our friends got delayed on a train bus replacement, which meant we had time to do some shopping for us and them, before collecting them at the train station. Nic had another kitchen to play in at their flat, and given their delays, Nic cooked for us. 

Tuesday, we had a walk around inverness including a local art gallery. We booked a Loch Ness cruise, but received a phone call from the Cruise company a couple of hours before the schedule departure time, to let us know that their boat was broke! however we just moved the booking to Wednesday. We had beer and pizza at a Black Isle pub (the only other Black Isle pub was the one we went to in Fort William).

Wednesday morning, friends asked for some help sorting out some stuff online, then we went off for the Loch Ness cruise, a couple of hours down the loch as far as Urquhart castle. It was nice to see from the water as we had visited it last week, thankfully the weather was OK, a little windy but dry.

We had dinner at the River House, a fish restaurant next to the flat, which was fabulous. Rog was brave and had oysters! The fact that it displayed a notice to say fully booked confirmed it’s good reputation, and did not appear to stop people calling in to try and get a table.

Thursday, our friends wanted to visit Orkney, so they booked the tour from John O’Groats, and we were all up for a 5:30amstart for the 2.5-hour drive to John O’Groats. We didn’t join them of the Orkney tour, as we have booked to take the motorhome over later in the trip, (watch this space for the tales of that coming soon).

We drove along the north coast, through Thurso. Nic spotted a place on Google Maps called Puffin Cove, so after making a huge assumption that we might see Puffins we set off for Puffin Cove, a very small carpark/layby then a short , if steep, walk and we were not disappointed we saw lots of Puffins. They were going in and out of burrows, on what was a well used nesting site, some were taking off and fishing in the bay below.

Next we drove on as far as Strathy beach, which was lovely, with hardly anyone else around, blue sea, white sands, we could have been in the Caribbean.

Heading back east to John O’Groats, we stopped in Thurso for coffee. Then met our friends off the ferry, a quick bite to eat at the Village Inn, Keiss, then the 2.5hr drive back to Inverness, we were back to the Motorhome at 10:30pm, a long day.

Friday the Girls went to see Downton Abbey the Movie, the Boys, after Rog dropped the hire car off, decided to go back to the Black Isle pub, to sample some beer and whiskey, then we all finished the day off with a few more drinks back at the flat and a Thai take-away.

Saturday, our friends left for their respective new adventures in the morning, we stayed on with tickets to a tribute acts festival at the Ironworks in Inverness. On the bill was Abba, Oasis, the Beatles and Queen from 3pm until 10pm.  The doors didn’t open until about 3:20pm, then we were searched by security on the way in …. Scottish crowds must be good! and later they didn’t disappoint, there were some people having a VERY good time!

Music started with a guy singing Motown classics to a backing track (i.e. Karaoke style), he was good, after a 45 min break he was followed by the Oasis tribute, which was OK, but we were more Blur fans in the Britpop days.  Another 45 mins break then Abba were on, they were very good, obviously doing all the well known tunes. The Beatles were cancelled and Queen were not going to be on stage until 9pm. As we’d been there since 3pm (with no seating), and next month we are going to see Queen & Adam Lambert at the O2, we decided to head home early. 

Sunday, we packed up the motorhome for another move, drove north from inverness and visited some of Rog’s family who moved to the highlands a few years ago, had tea/coffee and cake. Then drove on to our next site “Grannie’s Heilan’ Hame Holiday Park”, not our usual type of site, this one has hundreds of static homes and an “entertainment” complex. But it is right on the beach.

Monday, was a wet day, however we did manage a short walk around Pitlochry in the afternoon without getting wet!

Tuesday, we left Pitlochry, heading for Fort William, but we decided to drive the longer route via Perth and Glen Coe, which is such a stunning road to drive, with remote mountain views, that we cannot capture on camera. Our camp site was at Glen Nevis, just past the Ben Nevis visitors centre, where everyone starts the Ben Nevis climb. The campsite is another one that you do not need to ‘check in’, as they email you a pitch number, so you just turn up and drive straight to your pitch.

The weather forecast for the next few days was not great, and definitely not good for an enjoyable attempt at Ben Nevis (50mph gusts and up to 5cm of snow on the summit), so Rog decided it was not going to happen, however the weather did not appear to stop lots of people setting off. 

The weather also put paid to a fair weather walk out from Corrour train station, UK’s most remote station, it is 17 miles of gravel track to the nearest public road, or 25 miles back to Fort William via a very boggy path including fords to cross, so given recent weather and the forecast this was not going to happen on this visit – call Rog a fair weather walker, but if it’s not going to be enjoyable why do it!

So, Wednesday, we walked the couple of miles in to Fort William, had a little wander through the high street, then got the train from Fort William to Mallaig, you can do the Jacobite Stream train at the bargain price of £52 per person, or like us you can pay £11 each for the normal Scotrail train which does exactly the same journey, and you get to see the stream train at either end. The route has been voted one of the most scenic rail journeys in the world, which also includes crossing the Glenfinnan viaduct, used in the Harry Potter films.

We went to the Bakehouse in Mallaig and shared a stunning Sausage roll, chocolate Brownie and cinnamon roll, had a drink in the West Highland Hotel, for old time sake, we stayed there last time we were in Mallaig.

We then got the train back to Fort William, had good beer and great pizza at the Black Isle Bar, before going to the cinema to see the new Marvel film “Dr Strange and the Multiverse of Madness”.

Thursday was a very wet day, we didn’t leave the campsite, but you could still see the beginning for the Ben Nevis path with hardy souls heading up!

Friday, another wet morning, but it did brighten up in the afternoon, so we headed out for a circular walk from the campsite, which does a lower part of the Ben Nevis path. We spoke to a group of walkers coming down, who had not summited, because the weather was so bad and they had not enjoyed their day, so we probably made the right call.

Saturday, we packed up and headed off to Inverness, driving the length of the “Great Glen” stopping at Urquhart Castle on the banks of Loch Ness, another entrance fee covered by our Manx Heritage passes. No sign of Nessie.

Pitched up at the campsite on the outskirts of Inverness, next to the Caledonian Canal, and walked in to the City Centre. Nic was on the hunt for some good sourdough bread, which we found!

Sunday, started as a lovely sunny day, sitting outside the motorhome in the sun was really warm. So, we decided to cycle down the Caledonian Canal to the sea lock, the sun was still out, but a bitter wind had kicked up, so headed back to the campsite cycling beside the river. Also managed a walk in the opposite direction up the Canal, before the rain started.

Monday, we packed our coffees and headed out, from the Orchard House campsite, to walk part of the River Ayr walk. Which was made slightly trickier as part of it was closed due to a landslip. However, we did manage to walk to the Failford Gorge. Luckily, we had checked to see if the local pub was open, and because it was a Monday it was closed, no consideration given to the fact it was bank holiday Monday. This is now the third pub in Scotland we have tried to frequent that has been closed.

Also, Amazon prime came through and delivered the new water filler cap!

Tuesday morning, we packed up and left Orchard House campsite, heading back into Ayr then up the coast, via an Aldi. To an open pub! Lunch at the Boarding House in Howwood (no typo it does have two ‘W’s in the middle of Howwood – which is a bit weird).

We then drove over the Erskine bridge up the side of loch Lomond, had a very close shave with a very large lorry on a sharp bend of a very small road, before arriving at our next campsite in Killin. Maragowan campsite is a Caravan and Motorhome Club site, on the bank of the Lochay river, very near Loch Tay. Got a nice pitch for the motorhome in a quiet corner of the site. 

Wednesday, we walked along the side of Loch Tay, via the ruins of Finlarig Castle then the old railway line back in to Killin and the Dochart Falls.

Thursday, as Rog is doing the Parish Walk in about 6 weeks, he decided he should do a “training” walk, a quiet road up and down Boreland Valley, or was Rog avoiding the Laundry that Nic was doing?!

Then we did head out for a walk after lunch near the loch and around Killin.

Decided to try put out the sun canopy out for the first time, partly to give some space to dry towels in the drizzly weather! The canopy came out OK, then we looked at the weather forecast for the next couple of days and, after a few hours, decided to take it down again – possible high winds.

Friday, we both walked the Boreland Valley route that Rog had discovered, before heading out for lunch at the Falls of Dochart inn, a ‘few’ drinks and lovely meal, Rog had Venison burger and Nic had hot smoked salmon sandwich, from their own smoke house. We bought more smoked salmon supplies to take away as it was so good. In conversation with the shop staff, it became apparent that everyone is struggling to recruit and keep staff, making running a business a challenge, maybe this explains all the other closed pubs we have encountered.

Saturday, be broke camp again and headed to Pitlochry, up the side of Loch Tay, google maps were convinced that the road was closed, but after talking to a local in Kenmore at a coffee stop, they confirmed the road had been closed, “for patching”, but had to be reopened because of the polling day 2 days before, and they were not convinced whether or not it would be closed again the following Monday! Thankfully it was open that day allowing us to avoid what would have been either, very small roads or a long detour. Unfortunately on the road which should have been closed we passed an accident (a car & a tree), which had only just happened, thankfully there were already a lot of people involved, and the best thing we could do was keep driving and not block the road for the approaching emergency services, who passed us a couple of minutes further up the road. 

Once we got to Pitlochry, we located our pitch, it was booked online, we had an email with a pitch number, so turned up and parked on the pitch, not having spoken to anyone at the site. Easy! We then went for a walk in to Pitlochry village, after visiting various outdoor clothing shops and handing over a credit card a few times, we took our purchases (a jacket, two pair of trousers and two fleeces) back to the motorhome., via the Pitochry dam and fish ladder.

Sunday, we headed out reasonably early (for us) as the weather forecast later in the day had been a bit gloomy. We walked to Faskally forest and Dunmore loch, a good walk on a mix of woodland uneven paths and some which has been designed for better access. Visited the Dam visitors centre on the way back to the site, to read about the construction of Hydroelectric plants around Scotland, mainly in the 1950’s. Renewable energy – a very current topic. The forecasted gloomy weather never arrived.

On Monday, we walked around St Mary’s Isle, not actually an Isle but a wooded peninsula on the edge of Kirkcudbright. A lovely 4 mile walk with views of the wider bay.

Tuesday, was busy with culture, we went to the Kirkcudbright Galleries, which included a temporary exhibition of the Viking Galloway Hoard, discovered locally in 2014, and a permanent exhibition of local artists (as Kirkcudbright, has been known as the artists town since the early 1900s)

We then visited the Stewartry Museum, which included taxidermy of local animals, after lots of local Victorians donated vast collections of stuffed animals from around the world, including an elephant, the trustees decided to focus on local animals, and gave their elephant to the national museum. There was also the engine from the very first car in the area in 1896.

Then on to Broughton House, the house itself was closed on the day we visited, however the garden was open, a small formal garden with Japanese influences, as the artist owner E A Hornell had visited Japan.

Next was the Toll Booth art centre, originally used for the tax collection and the local prison, now a museum on the history of the building with art exhibitions.

Back to the motorhome, then for a walk in Barhill Woods, just behind the campsite, we heard a woodpecker, but didn’t see it, but did see a Red Squirrel feeding, near a hide, it spend about 10mins feeding on a feeder which had been filled, despite the fact that the hide was still closed due to covid restricitions!

Wednesday, we packed up ready to move campsites again, Nic went on an art walking tour of Kirkcudbright led by Fiona. A super way to cement the knowledge gained the previous day about the history and artists of Kirkcudbright, and to learn more and be entertained in the process. £11 well spent.

Then we headed for Glen Trool campsite on the edge of the Galloway Forest Park, after a provisions stop in Newton Stewart. The area is a dark sky park. We were blessed with a clear sky and the stars were amazing, Rog got out of bed at 2am to see them, Nic didn’t bother!

Thursday, we cycled for the first time on this trip, Nic borrowed her Mum’s electric bike, so was enjoying that until we got to a hilly gravel road, and fell off whilst going up hill – what a talent! No injuries to either Nic or the Bike.

Friday we walked back into the forest park, then followed the Southern upland path, a fabulous walk of nearly 13km. we were planning lunch at a pub, but it was closed, but thankfully it was only 5mins back to the Motorhome, via “The Kindness Path” which was decorated with painted stones.

Saturday, on the move again, this time to Orchard House Campsite near Ayr, after a stunning bumpy drive through the southern uplands, we called on route at the Robert Burns museum and cottage in Alloway. Burns is another one of those writers (like Shakespeare) we could not have given you more than a couple Burns quotes before going to the museum, but as you see/hear all the quotes, you know you know them… for Auld Lang Syne, Tam O’ Shanter, Wee Timorous Beatie etc..

Arrived at the Orchard house campsite, which is a Caravan and Motorhome Club Certified Location (CL) which can only have 5 pitches and this one does not allow Children, quiet with a distant sea view to the Isle of Arran.

We discovered that somewhere on route we had lost the water filler cap!, so ordered a new one with Amazon prime, which should arrive at the campsite tomorrow (Monday).

Caught up with good friends on the Isle of Man, via slightly dodgy wifi connection!

Sunday, a quiet day on site, a short walk down to the River Ayr, and watched the site owner fix the blocked drains, thankfully he is a water engineer and put all the drainage in himself, so knew what he was doing with his rods!

For regular readers, we have an Ryanair update, following the £17 delayed flight to Zagreb, Ryanair have paid the compensation of €400 each ! Hooray!

So after Roger tested negative for Covid, we quickly finished packing, did some shopping, booked a campsite, and headed to the Northwest to Wyreside Campsite & Fisheries. A nice site mainly focused on the fishing.

We picked this campsite as it is near The Fleece Inn near Dolphinholme, a lovely pub we have used in the past, as we were meeting a good friend for lunch who was driving south down the M6, and The Fleece Inn is about 10mins off the motorway.  Lunch didn’t disappoint, Rog had a steak & ale pie, a proper pie – one that has a pastry bottom!. Nic had a fish plater, lots of fish!

Enjoyed a couple of walks around the fishing lakes, but didn’t do much else, just got use to using the motorhome again.

On Friday, continuing our slow trip north, we moved to the Marina Campsite in Maryport, via a coffee stop at Sizergh Castle in the Lake District. Sizergh Castle is a Tudor mansion house with parts dating back to the 1500s, now managed by the National Trust (so free access with our Manx National Heritage passes) and still the home of the “Hornyold-Strickland” family. Notably, Catherine Parr lived there for a time following the death of Henry VIII.

The café was really busy, surely Catherine Parr didn’t have to queue for coffee!

Fish n’ chips in Maryport for dinner, the quietist and slowest chippy we have ever been in, but to redeem it the fish n’ chips were good.

The Campsite was good, however it was very windy. Walked to the lighthouse at end of the harbour to watch the sun go down.

Saturday, decided to booked our next camp site, pin in the map again and we are going to Silver Craigs campsite in Kirkcudbright. Pronounced ‘Kur-KOO-bree’, as a dyslexic Rog loves to hate the English language!

Sunday we drove for 2 hrs and 97 miles to get from Maryport to Kirkcudbright, which is 23 miles as the crow flies across the Solway Firth. Silver Craigs is a community run site, situated in an elevated position above the town, but really close, so we had a walk around the town.

You may have noticed that we did not publish a blog last week… Sorry!

We were back in Pocklington to catch up with family, and to help out whilst a parent was scheduled to have surgery, but unfortunately Covid put a stop to that. As a result we did not do a lot which was “blog worthy”, however we always appeared to be busy, watching some local rugby involving Roger’s nephew, out for a few family meals/coffees, which is always nice, and some local walks.

We managed a trip to the new cinema in York, when we say new not sure how long it has been there, we have not been before and there were still signs up saying “new cinema”, but everyone knows, after they put up signs like that they never take them down again !

We saw the new Magical Beasts film, part of the Harry Potter spin off. Which was good.

We repacked the Motorhome ready for our next adventure, planning to head north/west next week. 

On Thursday Rog tested positive for Covid, so has been self-isolating in the motorhome parked on the drive. Luckily he has had no significant symptoms, only your average “cold’, so has cleaned and repacked the motorhome top to bottom, and developed the travel plans for the rest of the year.

Sorry, no photos on this blog. 

Having arrived in Zagreb late on Sunday night…. Thanks Ryanair, so on Monday after breakfast in the Hostel (£5- ish, which was OK), we set off walking, trying to cover parts of the city we had not managed to do on our day trip to Zagreb, a few years ago. We headed towards the river, past the University. The river appeared very benign and low, however there was a huge flood plain and flood defences, so we assume at times the river can be wild and furious. 

We walked back to the old town for a late lunch at the Kaptolska Klet, a posh hotel opposite the cathedral, it was “Restaurant week” in Zagreb this week, so lots of restaurants were doing cheap set menus, the Kaptolska Klet was doing a very nice 3 course + a glass of wine for HRK 125 (about £13) – we like Restaurant week!

Tuesday, lots more walking including up the hill to St Marks Church (see pic) but obviously something official was happening – lots of police and posh cars, so we couldn’t get close to the church. Our coffee stop today gave us the opportunity to try Knedla, a type of dumpling, which comes in a savoury and sweet version, both of us were happy bunnies!

We then found the botanical gardens to look round, at a very reasonable HKN 10 (£1.10). Beautifully tended and laid out. Lots of spring flowers were out, and there were terrapins in the pond. Nic wanted to come back in a month to see the Iris bed, which has the potential to be spectacular in a few weeks time.

After an evening of watching the world go by, at a street café in Zagreb centre, it was back to the hostel to settle in for the night, it is worth mentioning that every evening the hostel hosted entertainment in the bar, tonight was quiz night, in Croatian, the place was crowded and smoky (as it was every evening!– smoking indoors is still a thing here!), and our room overlooked the bar area’s glass roof, so it was quite noisy until about 11ish when everything would go quiet.

Wednesday, the weather was not quite as good, so we went to the Museum of Illusions, an interesting interactive museum based on optical illusions and puzzles.  Interesting Nic could not ‘see’ some of the optical illusions (i.e. “Count the number of black dots” – Nic “what black dots?”)

Headed to Restaurant Frida, for another Restaurant Week special, which was stunning.

We had three courses. Rog had a Curried Carrot Soup, followed by Shrimp Risotto, then Chocolate Mousse. Nic had an aubergine dish to start stuffed with cream cheese and pesto, then grilled with melted cheese – delicious, followed by pasta with a creamy pancetta sauce- also delicious. Nic’s pud brought envy from Rog (this is unusual in itself!), it was a Lava cake with ice cream, better known as chocolate fondant, with that gooey chocolate centre – Rog was lucky that Nic was willing to share! We also had a couple of glasses of Croatian white wine with our meal, interesting that everywhere served their wine in 10cl measures. Once again the price for the meal was HRK 125, but we did have to pay for the wine.

After an hour or so of packing at the hostel, it was out for a last few drinks, including a tasting tray of beer, and a shared Pizza, before heading back for bed.

Thursday, woken by lots of rain in the night, still falling as we got ready to leave. After a last hostel breakfast, where the lovely waitress remembered my daily order for English Breakfast Tea without me asking for it. Once packed with half an hour to kill Nic continued to read the wallpaper in the bedroom, this was made up of sheets of New York times articles. There was a really interesting article about someone tracing and photographing her half siblings, who were all from the same sperm donor. This meant walking round the room looking for the next page to follow the story! Time to leave and it was still raining, but this was OK as we had a taxi booked back to the airport, they even picked us up right outside the hostel, which they normally don’t do due the tram tracks. 

Zagreb Airport, what a difference from Manchester, we spent about 3 mins in the security queue rather than the 1hr 15 mins in Manchester! Ryanair flight was on time so back to Manchester on time, and thankful we did not have any bags checked in, so we had a little time to kill before our train back to York, the to bus to Pock, through the snow!

Spent Friday, repacking the motorhome for the next adventure, Scotland after Easter. 

So we checked out of our AirBnB first thing Monday morning, and headed for York train station, thanks for the lift Dad.

A Trans Pennine Express via Manchester to visit friends and family in the northwest.

Lots of food, drink and good times catching up! Had a few walks in Cheshire, Chester and Widnes.

After a lift to Manchester airport, security was not as bad as we feared, about 1 1/4 hrs to get through. But then the delays started with our Ryanair flight to Zagreb.. a late arrival of the incoming plane, then there appeared to be nobody at the airport to deal with the plane stairs or the luggage, so in the end we arrived in Zagreb 3 hrs & 39minutes late. Ryanair even emailed me to confirm the delay ! The only plus should be Euro800 compensation for a £34 flight !!!

Due to the delay, we got a taxi to the hostel rather than the bus, a luxury. And yes you did read that correctly a hostel ! We do have a double ensuite room for £30 a night and it’s better than some hotels we have stayed in.

Monday morning in Fuerteventura we woke to heavy rain, but Monday was a day of travel, so no real problem. Drop the hire car off, Ryanair flight back to Manchester, then a train to York. All ran smoothly but it did take all day!

Then we checked back into the AirBnB we used over Christmas, it was nice to be back in Pock.

Spent the week catching up with everyone, and deal with unpacking from our Canary Island trip, but also preparing for our next trip …. See the next couple of weeks blogs for details. Also you may notice that we are blogging from Rog’s phone, rather than our laptop, as we are packing light.

After much frustration on the laptop, with the website, Rog managed to get semi final tickets for Rugby World Cup in France, in October 2023!!

Also watched lots of Rugby this weekend, the last games of the Six Nations and the local team.