Haggis Day Three - Exploring Orkney

Orkney views


We had the day free to ourselves to explore what we could of the Orkneys (see the navy blue lines on the map above - that's where we got to). We had been given a bus pass for the day but we wanted to see a bit more than the bus routes would allow, so we got together with the other kiwis Scott and Hannah, and hired a car for the day.

We started out from the biggest mainland town, called Kirkwall, and after a good stop at the tourist information centre to collect as many brochures as we could, made our way along the southern coast to the next biggest town, Stromness. We drove the car through the narrow little streets there which felt really strange, like driving through the middle-ages or something, because the streets are so narrow.

First stop was Maes Howe – an ancient burial mound. The Orkneys are thought to have been attached to the mainland at one point, so there are a lot of Neolithic remnants about the landscape. Also, there is a strong Norwegian influence present, as the people tend to have both Celtic and Viking ancestors. Unfortunately we couldn’t enter Maes Howe as the tours were all booked, so we went to a smaller mound nearby instead, and this one was free! Unstan cairn was just down the road, so we went and checked it out. Hard to believe that people were walking these same footsteps some 3000 years ago!

Hamish, Scott, Hannah and I (all kiwis) at Unstan Cairn

Next stop was just up the road at the standing stones of Stenness. Everyone knows of Stonehenge, but these stones are way older – about 5000 years old. I can’t believe how old they are, its almost ridiculous to be standing next to these massive slabs of rock that some Neolithic person/people struggled to excavate, transport and then stand up, 5000 years ago. The interesting thing about these stones is the area they are in. They stand at the start of a narrow strip of land between 2 lochs – Stenness loch and Harray loch.

Mish at the stones of Stenness

Stenness Loch on the left, Harray Loch on the right.

The strip of land leads up to the Ring of Brodgar, another famous circle of standing stones. Further on from that is another circle of standing stones. The three circles positioned along the strip are then enclosed in the landscape by the hills which form a circle around the strip.

We were lucky enough to be there when a local ranger was taking a free tour of the stones, so we got to learn a lot about the stones and their discovery. They’re not sure exactly what the standing stones are for, but a couple of days before we arrived they had just found another part of the Neolithic landscape; a stone wall. They were excavating it just below where the stones of Stenness are on the little map above; to sort of block off the strip of circles from the rest of the landscape. As there were lots of burial sites found around the circles, the current theory is that these were some kind of processional entry from the world of the living into the world of the dead. Fascinating to be there when they had just discovered this new wall.

Hamish and the heather at the ring of Brodgar

From there we moved up to the western coast where the Neolithic village of Skara Brae is. Its 5000 years old and was discovered in the late 1800s when a storm moved some of the sand that was covering the village. This village is older than the pyramids! The houses there would have originally had roofs, but only the stone walls and passageways remain. Again, fairly crazy thought to be walking around someone’s house built 5000 years ago!

The houses have bed boxes, shelving, fireplaces and even cement-sealed boxes for preparing fish bait. The village is now right by the sea, but is thought to have originally been a bit further away from the coast.

After checking out Skara Brae and the bay its in (Skaill Bay), we had a look at Skaill house which is the family home of the discoverer of Skara Brae. Then we headed up to Marwick Head to see if we could find any puffins!! But alas, the puffins had packed up and moved on about a week before we arrived. We spoke to some French-Canadian bird-spotters on the cliffs who told us that there had been a film crew there last week filming them, but the birds had since moved on for the season. Oh well. Next time I see a documentary on puffins in the Orkneys, I’ll know just where they’re filming!

We decided to drive around the rest of the coastline on the way back to Kirkwall, and went past the town of Twatt on the way. The locals look terribly bored when they see tourists stopping and taking photos with the sign that says ‘Twatt’.

Scott the kiwi at the twatt sign

In Orkney, you also have to watch out for Otters.

And pick-pocketing grannies.

There was celtic dancing on at the local church centre that evening, which we had a quick look at but were too tired to participate in. All in all a fabulous day!

Haggis Day Two - Carbisdale to the Orkney Islands

After getting our stuff together and packing back on to the bus, we made our merry way north towards John O’ Groats and the ferry to the Orkneys. First stop was Wick, to get some groceries for the next few days. This also happens to be where some of Hamish’s family came from, before they moved to NZ.

The Scots love their oats. Orkney oatcakes! They’re good too, we just ate them plain but apparently you have them with cheese and pate and the like.

We went to visit land’s end, aka the most northerly point of mainland Scotland.

Me at Duncansby Head lighthouse - the most northern tip of Scotland!

Then we headed to our ferry, which is supposedly the most notorious crossing of the British Isles. The ferry leaves from Gill's Bay on mainland Scotland and gets in to St Margaret’s Hope on ‘mainland’ Orkney. Luckily for us (and Hamish’s stomach), we had a lovely still day and only a few people saw their lunch come back again.

Our big yellow bus on the ferry

Heather put in the grill of a car brings luck :)

Mish arrives in Orkney

For dinner we went to a local ‘chippie’ or fish n chip shop. Kenny loves to barter for a ‘discy’, so he managed to get a group special for some good ol’ fish n chips (with salt n vinegar of course). Then we all sat on the curb and ate our own wee parcel. The locals loved it, because as they drove past there were 30 people sitting on a curb outside the chippie eating their product.

We got lots of waves and toots, everyone was really friendly. Orcadian accents are also really lovely – quite soft and a bit easier to understand than the stronger Scottish accents.

After dinner we headed to a local pub for some live band music. It was really neat because the band played some celtic-style music, and some pop/rock sort of stuff. They also had a cello, violin, flute and mandolin. Once they figured out that we were a bunch of 30 Aussies, NZers and Canadians, they started playing great stuff like Crowded House and even the Bird Dance. It was nuts, but totally awesome. But it was a Sunday night so the pub closed early (fair nuff).

Haggis Adventures - Day One - Edinburgh to Carbisdale Castle

We met up with our tour group in Edinburgh and hopped on our big yellow bus, with tour guide Kenny. He was a bit of a character for sure! The first day was quite rainy, or ‘atmospheric’ as Kenny liked to call it. He reckons the Scottish love their rain, so its never miserable, just ‘atmospheric’ or ‘dramatic’ if its really raining seals and otters. Once we’d had a tour of Edinburgh by bus and seen the sights there, our first stop was the Forth bridge (bridge over the Firth of Forth, what a mouthful!). The original bridge dates from the 1800s and is apparently the architectural inspiration for the Eifel Tower.

After that we stopped for a wander at Hermitage, which despite ‘atmospheric’ conditions was actually a really lovely place. We saw the tallest trees in Scotland, and also Salmon leaping up waterfalls trying to get upstream. The Duke of Blair Athol also had a wee love nest there over the falls, where he could hide away in privacy without his wife ever knowing :S

Next stop was Culloden, where a massive battle took place in1746. Effectively, the Jacobite army (highland Scots) and their campaign for their King were completely defeated by the 'English' aka supporters of the 'Butcher' Duke of Cumberland.

Culloden battlefield

We continued right up through Inverness and to our hostel in a castle! We stayed the night at Carbisdale castle, which is thought to be haunted. On the bus we had been assigned duties for our group effort dinner that evening, and Hamish had been picked out of the frisbee (in place of a hat) as head chef. Everybody was happy about that because Kenny reckons Hamish is a good Scottish name. Plus he can actually cook. So we embarked on cooking this massive roast dinner for 30 people in a hostel kitchen. It was a bit of a mammoth effort, but by 10pm we were all eating yummy roast dinner. We ate ours on the castle walls. How awesome is that, eating your dinner on castle walls.

Carbisdale Castle

Weird dangly ceiling light thingees


The dinner team, with 'head chef'' mish (me = PA to head chef)

I didn’t come across any ghost activity, but there are some neat secret passages that Kenny showed us. One leads underneath the building and the adjacent river as an escape passage, and the other down to the cellar/dungeon thingee. The real kool thing is how you open them – you have to turn a statue in order to unlock the passageways!

The statues in the hall; the one that opens the secret passages is the furthest away in the middle line of statues!

Edinburgh - Military Tattoo!

We were lucky enough to arrive in Edinburgh during the Fringe Festival and the Tattoo, so we booked a tour with Haggis Adventures that included a trip around the highlands AND a ticket to the (sold-out) tattoo! So we decided to go for it.

We travelled around the central highlands during the day and then came back in the evening for the tattoo which was at Edinburgh castle. Our tour guide Ped was pretty neat and told us all about the history of Edinburgh, Scotland and all sorts of interesting extras. Funnily enough, the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh is Dunedin. Apparently Dunedin was abbreviated to 'Edin' and then they added 'burgh' as the Scottish equivalent of the English borough. Our NZ Dunedin was actually planned/modelled on Edinburgh! Edinburgh is also interesting because its a really ancient settlement (from like the 12th century). So there is the 'old town' of reeeally old buildings, and then the 'new town' which is just a few hundred years old (mostly Georgian architecture). The most interesting tale about Edinburgh is how it got its nickname 'Auld Reeky'. Basically, because it stank. Back in the day, folks used to throw the contents of their chamber pots straight out their windows and onto the street (yelling beforehand to warn people below). Hence the sewage used to run down the streets and stink out the place. This is also apparently why the Princes Gardens underneath the castle are so lush and green - they've had centuries of build up of the finest Scottish fertiliser!

The Edinburgh castle above the Princes Gardens

First stop of the day was to meet Hamish the Hairy Coo. He's a 15 year old Highland Bull and he's fairly friendly. 'Course I thought it was completely hillarious to see Hamish meet Hamish.

Apparently the most handsome Scotsman ever is named Hamish

Hamish meets his better half

Ped then took us through Doune (where the first pistols were made, that fired the first shots of the US civil war), and then on to Bannockburn (where Robert the Bruce led the scots to victory against the English - remember the very last scene of Braveheart??). We headed from there up to Callander (aka gateway to the Highlands) and were then officially in the Scottish Highlands. The heather is in flower this time of year, so it was really neat to see the countryside and hills coloured all purple. Also there are lots of foxgloves around, which are also pinky/purple.


We stopped in a little town called Killin for lunch, and ate steak pies at the falls of Dochart. Great pies, amazing views. The water in Scotland is a dark brown colour, almost like tea. This is because of the high peat/soil content in the water. There aren't many trees about the place, so there is lots of soil erosion going on (ok so bad example in the photo below because there are plenty of trees, but just wait till you see later photos where the land is completely tree-free!).

Hamish and the peaty water of Dochart Falls

In the afternoon we stopped in at the Glen Turret whisky distillery, which is a single malt whisky as opposed to the blended kind. Needless to say there was some taste testing, and we learnt all about whisky's legs. Never knew whisky had legs. Apparently the reason why the whisky in Scotland is so good is because of the water used in the process - peaty water. Whisky is pretty much just made from barley, yeast and water, so the water used in the process is actually really important. That and the wood used for the barrels which its aged in. Famous Grouse gets its slight hint of vanilla and chocolate flavour from the wood of the barrels, a citrus flavour from the way in which the Barley is crushed, and a smoky flavour from the peat in the water used. So there you go!

Mish and the Famous Grouse at Glen Turret

We also went to Loch Tay, which is the 2nd biggest loch in Scotland. Its really beautiful. Glassy still and reflecting the hills above it. Then we headed back to Edinburgh for dinner before the tattoo at 9pm. We were both really excited about it!

Sitting in the stands in front of the castle before the tattoo started

Well, it was everything we expected and more. There were bands from all over the place, and even the Wellington marching girls to represent NZ at the event. I have to say, our NZ girls did us proud and were absolutely amazing. My favourite group was the Norwegian Royal Guard, but the Scottish Marines were fabulous too. Did any of you see it on TV? It was so awesome to be there in person. The castle was all lit up with different lights and even projected pictures throughout the show. Awesome!!

Our NZ marching girls

The music was really moving and I confess even brought a wee tear to my eyes! Very impressive bands.

Amsterdam - London - Edinburgh

This is platform 9 ¾ at King's Cross Station in London!! That's not a random trolley either, its like half a trolley that's parked up against the wall so it looks like its half way through to the Hogwarts Express platform :)

We got in to London late last night, our flight was delayed and so we missed our transfer bus but managed to get another one ok (I say you get what you pay for with cheap flights hehe, tho there were some fairly grumpy passengers!). We did the underground (three times in fact) and managed to get into a deep and philosophical argument with an Englishman on the tube about the custom of buying drink rounds. He claims NZers are 'the tightest buggers of all'. I guess if Hamish and I are anything to go by, that could possibly be true!

We only ended up staying at our hostel for a few hours because we had to get up and leave early to catch the train to Edinburgh, which left from King's Cross Station. That's where I'm sitting at the moment, free wifi yay! Also there's a neat map that shows us where we are. We're in York at the moment, going past a bunch of lovely wheat fields. Train takes 4.5hrs to get to Edinburgh.

Amsterdam 2.0

Good Lord. Amsterdam. I reckon its all the kinds of crazy you'd expect, yet remarkably its still a functioning city, where people still go about their day to day business like there's nothing unusual about the place.

So here's a map of where we've been in the Netherlands. I think its a pretty good effort! Unfortunately we weren't here in spring to see the tulips fields in flower, but we still managed to see a fair bit in the few days we had spare :) And although we're super tired, its been an absolute blast!

We showed up at Anne Frank's house early this morning to avoid the massive queues, which turned out to be a massive time-saver - the queue was snaking around the block by the time we got out. It was pretty strange to see "the bookcase", but the most sobering thing for me was seeing the life-sized photos of the only surviving member of the secret annex (Anne's father Otto Frank) when he returned back to the annex after the war. Plus there were some really eye-opening quotes about how those types of discrimination/slaughter are still occuring.

After a fairly sobering visit to Anne Franks' House, we continued on with checking out the rest of Amsterdam's city centre. Here's Mish at the Hard Rock Cafe Amsterdam!

The "I amsterdam" letters at Museumplein (where the Van Gogh museum is).

They were big cuddly letters!

M for Mish

We also visited the Heineken brewery but its closed to visitors at the moment for restoration. But that's ok because we had Heineken with our pancakes the other night and we reckon it tastes just like the stuff that's bottled in NZ anyway :)

Coffee shops near the red light district. This is the TAMEST photo I could find to take. There are a lot of... sex shops. Every first shop you see sells some kind of cannabis, and then every second shop sells food....

This is what the red light district looks like. Basically rows of glass-windowed cubicles which the ladies sit in. (I didn't take any photos of the area lol, I was too shy and I it's frowned upon anyway, so I pinched this closed-curtain version off the net). The curtains are opened once business hours begin. The weirdest part of the district I reckon is Oude Kerk, where there is a row of these windows RIGHT next to a church!!!

Anyways, it sure was an interesting day! We're both shattered now so had a nana nap and now packing for the flight back to London tomorrow!

Love to all,
xxx R

Amsterdam - Part I

Arrived in Amsterdam! It sure is a busy sort of place. We have checked into our hostel for 2 nights, with bonus excellent canal view because they mixed up our reservation and so we had to be put in a different room!

Me on the windowsill of our room here - when we arrived there was even someone playing lovely piano across the canal. Gorgeous.

So there's pretty much one reason why most people come to Amsterdam. That's not the reason we came here. But its kind of inevitable that you come into contact with all kinds of weird stuff. For example when checking in to the hostel, the staff offering drug paraphenalia and tips on use before you have even put your bags down. Also we are in a perfectly respectable and lovely neighbourhood, just a 5 minute walk from the central city and train station, but just one door over and all down the street there are ladies in their red-lit windows. For conservative ol' me, this is a very strange place.

But, its also a really beautiful! We decided to have a wee look around today, and then see the sights tomorrow. We started off wandering around

Lovely canals

Cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese!!

Madame Tussaude's House of Wax; JLo and Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow in the background

Tried on the clogs for size


This one's a bit big

Hamish in his orange souvenir

We tried a savoury pancake for dinner this time; chorizo, olives, oregano and cheese. It was delicious, better than pizza!

We had also heard that the canal cruises here in Amsterdam were worthwhile, so we hopped on one. We learnt all sorts of interesting stuff - like;

- An average of one car per week is accidentally driven off the road into the canals, even with the railing
- There was a housing shortage in Amsterdam so that's why lots of people have house boats
- Most of the canals are only 3m deep
- There is a tunnel under the harbour canal that connects the north and south sides of the city
- The Houses along the canal are so thin/skinny in width because the owners were charged more to build wide houses
- Lots of houses have crane-type hooks on their gables in order to hoist furniture up to the top floors through the window
-Heineken owns one of the swankiest hotels here

More to come tomorrow! We're going to see Anne Frank's house, and hopefully the Van Gogh museum, as well as as many landmarks around the city as we can get to! xxx