Hello, Inverness

August 16 - train to Inverness

After breakfast, we packed up and headed back to the train station, bound for Inverness. The girls' shoes got soaked yesterday on our visit to Dunnottar Castle, so we stopped off at Poundland, where we found reasonably decent shoes for £10 (Zoe) and £12 (Avery). We also went to Flying Tiger in search of carabiners to attach their wet shoes to their backpacks. I didn't find carabiners, but this little heart lock did the trick:

On the train

Classic British tabloid reader on the train!

Unicorn statue at Falcon Square

Leonardo Hotel, Inverness

Early in the morning, I had looked into a dolphin cruise. I had the option of booking online, but because I wasn't sure about timing, I thought it would be better to just go there. So, once we got settled in at our hotel, we took the bus back downtown. There was no public transit available to the cruise centre, so we set off on foot. It was a somewhat strange walk, through an industrial area, but sure enough, we saw signs for the boat cruise, so we kept going.

After about half an hour of walking, we reached our destination, only to discover that the cruises were cancelled for the rest of the day because of high winds. In my ignorance about such things, I hadn't looked at the website again, so this was a total surprise. Oh well, I thought, we'll get an Uber back to downtown and find something else to do. I opened the Uber app and put in a request, only to be told that no drivers were available. Okay, I told the girls: we will walk for 10 minutes and then stop and try again for an Uber. 

On the way, we saw some gorse, as well as broom, plants I had read about many a time but never seen.

This is the bridge at the end of the harbour -- beyond this is open sea, with apparently high winds. The wind didn't seem that bad where we were, but we didn't doubt that those in the know knew what they were talking about.

This beauty is called Butterfly Bush (Buddleja davidii)

These rowhouses fascinated me. Smack-dab in the middle of an industrial area near the harbour, they appeared to be occupied. I couldn't decide if they looked up- or down-market, as they seemed to be a little worse for the wear, but also had a certain level of charm and class.

Reader, you may have guessed that we didn't end up getting an Uber and did end up walking all the way back to Falcon Square. The girls were great sports about this, even though it was a long walk and a little annoying. By this time, it was about 5:00, so we stopped at M & S Food Hall and picked up food for supper -- buns, cheese, and deli meat, along with some fruit and veg. We rode the bus back to our hotel and enjoyed a little picnic.

The evening ended with a swim in the hotel pool, and a good night's sleep for all.

Tomorrow: Loch Ness!

Stonehaven and Dunnottar Castle in the rain

The view from our Aberdeen hotel room. We couldn't figure out how to get to the front of this building, as it seemed to be hemmed in by other buildings, so we are not sure what it is. Maybe a church (maybe decommissioned?).

We started the day with a trip to Primark, where I bought the girls lightweight rain jackets. They didn't have any in the big girls' department, so I had to buy a women's extra small for Avery. Lots of room to grow into it! We also bought two umbrellas. We had bought a plaid umbrella at a shop in Edinburgh, but it seemed to have "issues" so I didn't feel confident about it. The ones in Primark seemed a little sturdier, although they were plain blue and black -- no hints of Scotland.

We then walked to the train station and boarded the train for a 20 minute ride to Stonehaven. This is a small coastal town with beautiful stone buildings and a harbour.

From the Stonehaven train station, we walked down to the harbour, where the coastal path to Dunnottar Castle begins. The walk was downhill, past lots of beautiful stone houses with lovely gardens, and we found the coastal path with no trouble. However, only a few minutes after we started walking, it became extremely windy and rainy -- so bad that I decided we should take a taxi instead of walking. We found a coffee shop where we took shelter and I asked where to get a taxi. The young guy looked quite sorry for us as he said we would have to walk quite a distance to the taxi rank in the town square. Of course we were not thrilled to hear that, but we set off and after about 10 minutes, we reached the square, where we found one taxi. Whew! The driver was very nice and gave me his contact info in case we wanted a ride back after touring the castle.

Again, we had to go up and down a lot of steps to reach the castle. The girls counted, but I forget exactly how many -- maybe in the 70s.

This castle is perched on a cliff overlooking the sea. I must admit, it would have been nicer to explore if the sun had been shining, but even in the rain, it was spectacular.

The steps leading to the castle

As we were leaving the castle grounds, we met a family who had walked from the down along the coastal path, so I stopped to chat with them. They were all enthusiastic about their walk and persuaded us to give it a whirl. The rain was much lighter now and even let up at times, and the view was breath-taking.

Scottish thistles are subtly different from the ones we have here. They look prettier, but maybe it's psychological, a result of knowing they are the country's national symbol?

Interestingly, despite the wind and rain, we saw quite a lot of people out in boats -- sailboats, kayaks, and other small craft. 

Part of a healthy Scottish meal! Irn Bru and a shortbread variety pack.

We each had a sip of Irn Bru and decided that was enough.

We also had sandwiches, delicious UK carrots, and fruit for dinner, and then after eating went out for a walk. I was hoping to walk down to the beach, but I let the girls lead, and we just ended up exploring the streets near the hotel, finishing up at the park we went to yesterday.

The other thing we had to try -- a deep fried Mars Bar. Avery and I agreed that it was NOT delicious, but Zoe thought it was OK.

Our step total for today was quite impressive, especially the "flights climbed" section!

Tasmania - a little tour of the northwest

Marcus and Millie had to register their newly purchased car, which meant they had to go to one of the nearby towns, so we decided to combine this rather mundane errand with a little tour of the northwest section of Tasmania. 

After breakfast, we started out for Queenstown, about 110 km from home base. 

On the way we stopped to walk up to Horsetail Falls. This was a short walk on a man-made walkway, so even though the ground was still quite wet, it was pleasant walking. The distance was not long, but because it was a pretty steady climb, by the time we reached the top, we had a wonderful view.

Back in the car, we headed to Queenstown, where Marcus visited the vehicle registry while Millie and I wandered around the town, admiring the beautiful old (sometimes rather decrepit) buildings. It is an old copper mining town, with quite an interesting history and picturesque architecture.

Our next destination was Strahan (pronounced Strawn), more or less on the coast. We had been told that if you stand on its shore, looking out on the ocean, there is nothing until Argentina (because it is south of Africa). Well, we should have looked more carefully at the map because this is not quite true. From the town of Strahan, you can't even see the open ocean, as it is on an inlet. You would have to drive about 20 km, and then take a boat to the tip of the peninsula, and then there would be nothing until Argentina. We contented ourselves with the inlet. 

We decided that if we couldn't look out to Argentina, at least we could walk to Hogarth Falls. The trailhead is located at a lovely picnic ground, so we ate lunch and then started on the walk. The trail was a little wet, but manageable, so we enjoyed walking through rainforest, including groves of tree ferns.

Marcus also spotted this tiny skink running across the path. Unfortunately, after about 20 minutes of walking, the path suddenly became a little river, and since some of us were not shod in appropriate footwear, we decided to turn back.  We had another walk planned just a short drive farther, so we decided to get back in the car and continue our journey.

Next stop, Montezuma Falls. This time, everyone wore proper hiking shoes, and that was a good thing, as the trail was quite wet and muddy in places. It was about 8 kim there and back, and very beautiful.

There is a suspension bridge at the base of the falls. Crossing this is not for the faint of heart! (And not for the fat of body either -- it is very narrow.)

After this walk, we continued north towards Burnie, which is on the north coast of the island. Along the way, we spied this echidna on the roadside, so we stopped to say hello.

We arrived at Burnie at the right time to enjoy a delicious seafood dinner, after which we headed over to the penguin viewing centre. Here a group of volunteers give a presentation and then guide viewers to watch the penguins come up on the shore to feed their babies.

The penguin centre

If you look closely, you can see several penguins making their way over the rocks.

And here are some of the penguin chicks snuggled into their burrows.

 We had to use red flashlights when looking at the penguins, so we wouldn't startle them.

All in all, this was an incredible sight. The tenacity of the parents in making their way over the rocks was truly remarkable, and the penguin chicks were so adorable as they waited to be fed. 

By the end of this event, it was very late, so we went on to our hotel and crashed.