After enjoying the North coast 500 last year, this year we opted to head to the part of the west coast that we didn't include in our NC 500 last year.
We set off for a hotel near Fort William at the end of Glen Coe. The weather wasn't exactly fine :/ but Glen Coe looks dramatic in any weather.
we stayed in a hotel in Onich which was right on the Loch Front, which in Labrador terms means it comes with a swimming pool. I was given strict instructions not to be WET DOG in the hotel room, so I had to patiently wait for the next morning to have an early morning swim. The evening meal was good, Dad didn't disappoint and had the steak, as is traditional when he is on holiday. This is excellent for me because I get the left overs for waiting patiently in the hotel room.
So there was no breakfast for us at the Hotel as we were up, out, and swimming long before breakfast time. A drive to Arasaig to charge the car before moving on to Malaig. Wait! you didn't think we were going to skip breakfast all-together did you ?
We were as prepared as boy scouts and breakfast was served under a watchful 'schmuzzle'
Once we and the car were fully recharged, we headed to Malaig where we saw some fab scenery, took some photo's, watched the ferries and boats come in to the harbor before heading back for a second night at Crainlarich. The second night included evening meal; mmm more steak for me, and full Scottish breakfast to which I enjoyed a tip bit of every non vegetable variety: Bacon, sausage, haggis and black pudding mmmm I love holiday breakfast!
The day we returned home was spectacular sunshine and 18 degrees, I guess that's just Scotland for you.
It’s holiday time again and this time we
were off on a big adventure to do the North Coast 500 in our new all electric
car.
The car can do around 60-80 miles before it
needs to stop and refuel, so in Husky terms that’s two huskies, a husky can run
about 50 miles a day. The car needs a special elecsniffity point to get a long
drink before it can set off again, she usually takes around 20 minutes to fill
up through an elephant’s trunk that attaches at the front. During this time I
can get out and roam around and sniff things until we are ready to move on,
kind of reminds me of a steam engine filling up at a water tower.
So our route was very carefully planned
from Elecsniffity point to elecsniffity point with some strategic overnight
stops.
Our first overnight stop and starting point
for our trip was Kingussie. We stayed the night in a Bed and Breakfast and in
the morning we found the bed and breakfast didn’t serve breakfast until 9am
and we wanted to hit the road by then. So we pitched up in a local park and had
a bacon and egg roll prepared by Dad using the camping stove and all the
kitchen utensils we had packed.
A nice local man ventured out to assist us, he
boiled a kettle of water in his house to make us tea and he gave us free coffee
to take on the road. Ah the kindness of strangers 😊
Onwards then to Dingwall and then on to
Ullapool where there is a very nice harbour and I was treated to a nice spot of
lunch.
Once we set off from Ullapool the trip
really got in to some stunning scenery as we headed up towards Scourie.
The weather was simply perfect, which is
not usual in Scotland specifically on the west coast which is more than partial
to a lot of rain. It was so hot that we had to have the cold wind machine on in
the car. This is a great feature, I can lie with my nose on the door handle and
the cold jet stream blows on to the end of my nose and whiskers, this is so
addictive. I panted and squeaked every time they turned the wind machine off until
they turned it on again. Sometimes I settled for the window being open but it’s
nowhere near as nice as the wind machine because then I can sleep with it
blowing on my nose.
The waters along the west coast were
crystal clear and dramatic hills all the way. Mum and Dad stopped for a picnic
and the plan was to sit outside and prepare a sandwich to eat. Unfortunately,
we hadn’t banked on the local resident horse flies, huge ones, we were
literally attacked every second we were out of the car. We drew straws and Mum
got the job of getting the stuff from the boot and then Dad was able to make
the sandwich and the picnic inside the car. At least the view was amazing.
After a long drive we arrived in Scourie.
Scourie is a small place with an idyllic beach cove. Mum and I couldn’t resist,
we ventured in to the icy cold water to paddle before turning in for the night
at the bed and breakfast. The poor electric car was quite hot by this point so
rather than charge up we let her rest overnight and cool off.
The bed and breakfast was called the four
winds and was very cosy. I was feeling a little bit embarrassed as I arrived
very wet with a strong odour le wet dog. In the morning when I very tenderly
tried to get up from the floor with aching muscles there was half the beach on
the floor beneath me and enough dog fur to create a spaniel. We had a lovely
cooked breakfast, of which I got two rashes of bacon, the lady that runs the B and
B is very dog friendly, no complaints.
So onward we went, charging at Scourie and
then up along the coast to Durness. Again, views were breath taking and you
weren’t able to take your eyes off the scenery for a second.
We stopped many
times to take photographs and stretch our legs.
At Durness we stopped at an
elecsiffity point for the car to have a drink. We met with bikers who were also
resting their motorbikes. Our electric car is a very quiet and sleek machine but the
bikes were quite the opposite. Dad went out to talk to the bikers and I stayed
in the car with the window open. The motorbikes were quite rude, so I’m glad I
didn’t get out. They growled at me! So, I growled back. I think since I had the
height advantage that is why they backed off.
From Durness to Thurso was the next stint,
this is along the top of Scotland and the scenery is very different. At first
some stunning hills and amazing coast but then the nearer to Thurso we got it
all went flat, where once there were no farm animals or perhaps a few sheep
there was now cattle and crop fields.
We had a holiday cottage booked along here
for two nights which was well placed as after two nights sleeping on the floor
of a one room bed and breakfast I was ecstatic to see I could roam around the
house and had a lovely grassy garden to run around in.
From this base, the next morning we went
along to Dunnet Head which is the farthest sticky out bit of the mainland UK. I
think Mum and Dad got more out of the trip than me as I couldn’t see over the
wall and there wasn’t anything interesting to sniff.
From here we headed along
to John O'Groats.John O’Groats was not
what we expected, it's the town at the furthest top corner and furthest away
point of the UK. It’s very very small and the town is not right on the cliff edge, instead there is a car park there with
tourist shops and cafes and some signs letting you know where you are. It was ok for a quick look around and I got my
photo taken, which is all anyone was doing there.
We then went to replenish
food supplies at Tesco in Wick and to charge up the car.
Whilst we were charging and having a cup of
tea and a sandwich a seagull decided to sit on the bonnet of the car and watch
every mouthful we took. He was very bold and not scared at all, even though Dad
shouted at him and even got out to shoo him off, but nope, he sat it out until
the sandwich was all gone.
A very relaxing evening back at the
cottage, we watched a world cup football match, played fetch in the garden and
lit a fire in the chimenea outside at dusk.
It was a very peaceful setting surrounded by sheep just across the wall all the way round the garden.
So the next part of the journey was really
all about getting back to the start. We needed to get back to Kingussie for our
final overnight stay. On the whole we did pretty well, we stopped at an
Elecsniffity point in Helmsdale, a slight wrong turn here but the sniff-nav in
the car recalculated and we found the point really easily. The next stop was
then at Tain and then the next place should have been Tomatin….I said should
have been, the co-pilot, aka Mum, managed to give duff instructions, which for
most road trippers is not a big deal, but when your car is running out and the
next elecsniffity point is beyond the range remaining and you also don’t have
enough to be able to turn back, it got a little bit heated in the car. Cutting
it fine we managed to roll in to Aviemore, I’m glad we did as this was a nice
spot to have dinner in the blazing sunshine and the super scenery. However, if
we had stopped at Tomatin we would have been able to explore a distillery. Ah
well, we did pretty good on the whole.
All in all, an amazing road trip!
4 out of 4 paws with a waggy tail and I
would do it again, but you really need the weather.
Booked a wee holiday to Tyndrum just outside of Glen Coe and took along our new (2015) Nissan Leaf.
We have had the leaf for about a month and as a pupsk I love the quietness and smoothness of the drive. There are many more stopping places for charging which gives me an opportunity to snooze or charge my paws on a wee walk around.
So the holiday plan was 2 nights in Tyndrum, drive there the first day, stay overnight and the following day venture in to Glen Coe for walkies and then the next day home again.
So,it started out ok....
First stopping point was Stirling for a charge.
Continuing on towards the next stopping point which is the last charge point before the over night stop.
The self catering lodge was perfect for a short stay, everything you could need. The steps were quite steep to carry all the luggage up but our host gave us a hand.
There were also free range chickens roaming in the grounds which was quite off putting whenever I popped out for a pee.
So the next day , despite the slightly snowy weather we headed for Glen Coe and we got all the way to the first charging point at the snow sport centre only to find it was out of order 😔
We called for assistance but they couldn't fix it, so instead we turned back for a charge at the Green Welly in Tyndrum then headed out the other way towards Aberfeldy.
We stopped for a cup of tea, scrambled egg roll and a steak roll at a cafe in Killin.
A quick charge and then on to Aberfeldy. Me and mum walked the Briks and got all the way to the top this time.(We walked this a few years ago but turned back part way). Meanwhile, Dad went to charge the car for the way back.
By this time the snow was falling heavier and during the night came down very heavy.
So, another unexpected day we had to stay in Tyndrum😁
Over the time we were there we found many good walks and the car performed superbly there and back.
Thought something was up when mum was off work today. So, early on we ventured out to the park to experience the snowy wonderland.
Having slept off the exertion of early morning snow frisbee, mum spent time marvelling the slip sliding cars trying to make their way up and over the bridge in Lasswade.
A few gave up and parked up , a few turned round only to get stuck on the incline in the other direction. Community spirit kicked in as residence of lasswade took shifts at pushing stranded cars over the bridge and on their way.
Another surprise outing to the park around lunchtime and you would have thought that would be enough for one day....but seemingly not.....having not been in the garden all day when I popped my head out after dinner it was virgin snow and really deep!! Mum came out to play for a while and it was good fun,
As many of you know,from time to time we take a holiday to cottages around Scotland and I always take the time to review them.
This time we came to Whitchester Lodge in the Scottish borders near the town of Duns. As I'm a dog I always review dog friendly features and have a paw rating system out of four paws.
This cottage had facilities in spades! Really sweet cottage with lovely furnishings, it has an excellently enclosed garden of a good size, perfect for a throw and fetch session. It has a large and warm boot room to come in to and dog washing facilities outside in the greenhouse.
Backing straight on to the end of the garden is a huge paddock, perfect for frisbee and at the bottom is a wee river/stream which I might have ventured in to had it not been the depth of winter.
It's a perfect picnic spot in the summer I would think.
Walkies galore around the area with part of the southern upland way just across the road and along that way some interesting ruins to investigate and sniff round.
Inside the house it had hard wood and tiled floors but not slippy under paws which is good. I have encountered that before in holiday cottages where I walk around like it's a skating rink, but non of that here.
Im a fussy dog when it comes to going on holiday, I don't like being isolated from the pack. Andrea (the owner) emailed to say I could rest and sleep in the living room as long as the furniture was adequately covered with blankets etc which was absolutely fab.
A great log burner in the living room was soo cosy in the evenings and just what you need when you get back from a long walk. Dog dishes are provided as well as poo pick up bags (very important).
I loved being able to wander out the door anytime and not need a lead on, I felt I was wild and it was super!!
In the guest book, previous visitors documented ghostly goings on, but nothing had my fur tingling and I slept like a hibernating bear.
Xmas tree was up and beautifully decorated when we arrived and cake provided as well, couldn't ask for more!
4/4 paws.
Back to the v..e..t today for another look at the eye. The eye drops they sent me home with haven't really worked on account of the instructions. Have you ever seen a dog trying to put in eye drops...mighty difficult without thumbs :)
So having read the instructions and having no luck on my own the parents stepped in to assist. Now for those that know me the term wuus is used often as I'm a big spooks, so the final result was eye drops in the eye 15% ,eye drops on the carpet 85%. So given the carpet mites are now fully protected against bacteria and slowly creating a super colony under my paws, we had a wee trip back to the v..e..t.. for an eye ointment.
No clear diagnosis yet but the working theory is conjunctivitis or an allergy...perhaps to the super bugs in the carpet lol.
So 1 week of sticking gel in my eye and then it's a sedation and a look from the surgeon. Hopefully it wont come to that.
In other news mum got flu for her birthday which wasnt nice because I haven't been able to sit on her seat of the couch for days.
Also her Xmas village is complete, it will soon be time for my stocking to go up, but there's a wee holiday away before then.
Before I wrote this blog I realised that the last time I posted was also an ailment, I guess that's just a sign of age these days.
So about 2 weeks ago I had a swollen eye and after leaving it for a few days to see if it would heal., it hasn't. A small seed was found near my eye last Wednesday ,so again thought I would leave it and see if that had been the cause ,but today still no change.
A wee trip to the Vet, somewhat more traumatic than I would have liked; the other dogs are all crazy, barking and it sounds like torture is going on in the next examination room.
I was pulled around,squashed in to a corner and liquid poured in my eye, blue lights shined in it and all sorts. Not pleasant!
Also the liquid schtuff turned my eye yellow.
Long story short they don't know what it is but after my 'weigh in' they did confirm I was fat! What a cheek, just went in for eye drops!
So I have returned home with medicine to take and eye drops to have put in twice a day and parents who are on a diet mission....
Little do they know I'm only going to take medicine if they feed me ham, so the diet isn't going to go as they plan.
I have to go back mid week to see how it's getting on, the eye that is...not the diet.
Other than that had a nice walk and a spot of lunch. Just resting now on our new couches. They arrived on Thursday and they are very comfy, although mum has already covered my seat in protective wares..ho humm, at least it's warm with those on, and no one else wants to sit on my seat :)
