Day 30: Singapore, Part 1

The next day was Sunday and we had booked two tours - a Singapore City Tour in the morning, and a tour of Sentosa Island in the late afternoon and evening.

I find I have taken so many photos that I am going to spread them out over several posts.

Taking a tour has both positive points and drawbacks. The biggest positive was that we were picked up from our hotel and driven around in an air-conditioned bus. Given the heat and humidity, this was a lot less exhausting than walking combined with public transport, even though the distances weren't very far. Also, of course, a tour can fit a lot into a small space of time, compared to having to get from one place to another using public transport (even though the transport in Singapore seems to be very good and cheap). And then, there is a knowledgeable commentary.

The drawback was being hurried on everywhere. I found it stressful knowing that in each place, I couldn't get fully absorbed in the sights and sounds, because we had to be constantly aware of the time that we had to meet again to get back on the bus. We were told that if we were late, the bus would go on without us, and we would need to get a taxi to meet the bus at the next stop-off point. One family did put this to the test, and we found that in fact the bus would wait five minutes, but after that we went without them (and yes, they did manage to catch up in a taxi).

We were collected from the front of our hotel and taken to a central meeting point, where we all transferred to different buses for our different tours. The first stop for our tour was Little India:



where we explored an arcade with a wonderfully colourful range of shops:









The silk shop proprietor was a tailor, but also offered fabric by the yard. I considered going back later in our stay when I would have time to think about what I wanted to buy, but I never quite made it. The tour was just too rushed for leisurely buying. (I have cupboards full of fabric - I don't suppose I really need any more!)

A nearby apartment building decorated with laundry, Singapore style:



We drove past the Raffles hotel building, where it costs $6000 a night to stay in the top floor (Singapore dollars, which are similar in value to New Zealand dollars - it's a little less in US dollars, say about $4500).



Our next stop was near the waterfront, close to where Sir Stamford Raffles landed and established the modern city of Singapore - or should I say the colonial city of Singapore. Prior to that, there were inhabitants of course - it was a small fishing village.

There was a hockey game goind on at the "Padang". Behind the players is the City Hall, and the flying saucer like building is the Court House, according to my map. I felt very hot just watching the teams run around the field.



The concert hall roof is shaped like a "durian" - a fruit with a repulsive odour and a heavenly taste. The building is as iconic as the Sydney Opera House.



Quite a few locals were carrying umbrellas. I assume this was for shade from the sun rather than shelter from the rain - we were told it was approaching the monsoon season, but there was no rain during our stay.

Day 28 & 29: Manchester to Singapore

This is where time started to get confusing, because we left Manchester at around ten in the morning on a 13 hour flight, and arrived in Singapore around six the following morning. From New Zealand to Manchester it was a very long day followed by a very long night. and in the other direction we had a short day and a short night.

We didn't have a window seat - we were in the middle of the cabin - so I spent the time writing up my diary, reading and watching videos. And eventually after it got dark, tried to catch some sleep. By the time it seemed to be late enough though, it was already getting well towards morning on Singapore time, and around 3 a.m. Singapore time the cabin lights went back on and breakfast started to come round.

When we arrived in Singapore we found the Singapore airlines desk for our stopover package, where we were to wait for the free shuttle bus to our hotel. Eventually our hotel was called, and we loaded our luggage, boarded the bus, and did a tour of several hotels before arriving at ours.

After settling in, we discussed which tours we wanted to book. Eventually we booked a couple of tours for the next day, and headed out to look for a bank to change some traveller's cheques. Being Saturday most of the banks had closed. But we found a money changer whose rates didn't look too bad, and then we went exploring.

While looking for a bank, we found an indoor bazaar. Most of the stalls were selling cheap tacky nick-nakcs, but some were selling fruit and other food items. We bought drinks which were basically fruit whizzed up with ice and water.



The banner promotes "speak good English"



We ended up at a six storey shopping mall devoted entirely to consumer electronics. P was looking for a particular gadget for his computer (an interface card I think, I don't talk much geek talk). He didn't find it, but was given suggestions for other shops to try.

There was some sort of computer game tournament going on on the ground floor:



These children were playing on a large electronic game mat. The game changed often, but the rules each time seemed to involve jumping on moving targets to score points



On one of the levels there was a store which seemed to be a music studio. The children were being presented with certificates and were then posing for photos for their proud parents:



After we explored the mall and bought lunch, we continued as far as the riverfront:



before heading back to the hotel. We were tired and didn't want to go too far for dinner. There was a big restaurant complex over the road, so we looked all around and found one where the prices seemed only moderately expensive instead of outrageous. And then headed back to the hotel to bed.

Night view from our hotel window:



(I never did get to writing up my diary for Singapore, and I find some of the details that I was convinced I would remember are now a bit vague. Oh well...)

Day 27, Part 2: The Lake District

We set off from Penrith after breakfast and packing to explore the Lake District. First, we headed towards Keswick which is on Derwent Water, but we took a side road before we got there so that we could visit the Castlerigg Stone Circle.



It may not be as large or as spectacular as Stonehenge, but its setting is magnificent, and it has the advantage of being free to visit! The photo shows just a small portion of the stones, but if you click the link above and scroll down you will see a view from the air which shows the entire circle.

We continued through Keswick and along the shores of Derwent Water towards Borrowdale. According to the Rough Guide, "it is difficult to overstate the beauty of Borrowdale" - well, that is a statement that is just begging to set one up for disappointment, so I decided to dismiss it as hype. It may be true or it may not, but it was difficult to be sure. We had the usual English problem of narrow roads with nowhere to stop when we spotted a fine view - none of the wide verges that you usually find in New Zealand. When we did find a car park, it was clearly intended for walkers. The car parks, even though out in the country, were all "pay and display" with minimum periods as long as three hours. And there locations were generally away from the view. Not very helpful since we just had the one day, and wanted to stop for five or ten minutes in a large number of different locations, rather than stopping in one location and taking a long walk.

As we climbed up out of Borrowdale, past the Information Centre at Seatoller (another pay and display car park, though we risked stopping long enough for the toilets without paying), we did find a slightly wider spot in the road where we stopped beside an attractive wooded stream.



And then we climbed up (in the car, that is) to the top of the spectacular Honister Pass where we found a group of tourists in hard hats ready to explore the historic slate mines. We looked around here but didn't join the underground tour. This was the one place in Britain where we felt that the hills we saw made up in steepness and drama what they lacked in height - the road down the other side had a grade of 25%.







On the other side of the pass, we continued past Buttermere and Crummock Water:



I'm not sure whether the wall is supporting the tree, or vice versa:



and then back to Keswick over the Whinlatter Pass where there was another visitor centre. That's where I spotted this sculpture:



Again, we didn't stay long (another pay and display car park). As the road descended towards Keswick we had panoramic views of Bassenthwaite Lake. We ate a late lunch in a roadside picnic spot jut past Keswick (yes, we finally found one!) and headed south past Thirlmere, Grasmere and Rydal Water to the best-known of the lakes, Windermere.

The attractions in this area include various museums and cottages devoted to Wordsworth and Beatrix Potter. And in Keswick, we also passed up the Cumberland pencil museum, though I have found memories of my Lakeland coloured pencils from childhood.

Instead, we contented ourselves with enjoying the outdoor beauty of the area, though at Windermere it is rather crowded with tourists. There are two settlements, Windermere a little back from the lake, and Bowness-on-Windermere which is where all the boat cruises etc leave from. It was busy enough when we were there, and must be overwhelmingly crowded at the height of summer. The swans were incredibly tame and obviously used to being fed. They made a good attempt at eating P's camera.



The gulls are not quite the same species as in New Zealand. Can any UK readers name these for me?



Finally it was time to head past the south end of Windermere and east to the M6, and hence along a tangle of motorways to our hotel at Manchester. The hotel was rather dilapidated - for instance the "down" button for the lift wasn't working on our floor, we had to summon it with the "up" button and then choose down when we entered! Still, we had a good reduction on the room rate by booking at the last minute. We ate in the hotel dining room - cheapish and basic with plenty of fries, but there was free wi-fi, so we caught up with messages from the family. And then it was time to spend a couple of hours repacking our suitcases. Airline security in the UK means that only one carry-on bag is permitted. In New Zealand and Singapore, I could take my handbag and camera in addition to my cabin bag. In Manchester they had to be packed in the cabin bag, hence spare clothes had to go in my main suitcase, and as for all the brochures I had collected, thinking I may collage a journal with them, I ended up leaving a large number behind.

Still, in the end we gave up trying to fit everything in one suitcase each, and took the extra small day pack I had packed inside my case and filled it up as well. I had my fingers crossed that we wouldn't be charged extra for overweight baggage. (I wonder if Americans ever experience this problem - I gather American airlines allow two bags per passenger, in the rest of the world it is one and a maximum of 20 kg, unless of course you are wealthy enough to pay four times as much and travel business class).

Day 27, Part 1: Penrith

It's late, so I'm splitting my account of our last day in England into two parts. Tonight, I am posting a few photos that I took first thing in the morning. I got up early and went for a stroll around Penrith, which is a conservation area.

This is the Gloucester Arms where we had dinner the night before:



The front of the bar is ornately carved. It is apparently made from the timber of the bed that Richard III slept in.

A view down one of the small lanes:



I was rather taken with this shop. It reads "James and John Graham est 1793. Family Grocers. Agricultural seed cake and manure merchants. Italian warehousemen tea and provision merchants." Quite a combination!



And of course, I had to get a shot of this small shopping precinct named "Poets Walk". Penrith was the home town of Wordsworth's parents, and he attended school in the town for a couple of years, so I suspect he is the poet alluded to here.

Travel Stories, But Not Mine...

A few years back my daughter was teaching English in New Caledonia for seven months. The school where she was teaching arranged her work visa. Unfortunately it expired on her last day of work. Which wasn't very helpful, since the next flight out of the country was two days later.

It took several months of French bureaucracy to get it extended by a few days. In the meantime, we joked about it: "What's the worst they could do? Send you out of the country on the next available flight!"

Well, apparently that's not the worst that can happen if you find yourself with an expired visa. Not in the United States, anyway. This story recently hit the newspapers here (although in a very minor way, compared to the All Blacks not making even the semi-finals of the Rugby World Cup).

Apparently Rick was trying to leave the US for Canada, where he had a job lined up, thinking his visa expired the next day. He had made a mistake, it had actually expired 6 days earlier. He asked a border security officer where he could catch the bus over the border, and was promptly arrested and held without charge on antiterrorism laws.

I gather he is now back in New Zealand, having had to pay around $3000 US for an air ticket (they come very expensive if you have to buy one at short notice). What happened to the job in Canada, I don't know.

Everyone, be really, really careful with your visa dates. But doesn't it all seem a bit heavy-handed for someone who was on his
way out of the country, anyway?

(Yes, I will continue with my travel diary, in a day or two. It's coming to an end and I feel the urge to drag it out a bit).

A Poetic Interlude

Ayrshire and Dumfrieshire is Robert Burns territory (Yes, that's ungrammatical - I suppose it should be are Robert Burn's territory).

There is a Robert Burns trail which tourists can follow (and which we didn't). New Cumnock is not enterprising enough to be on it, however the village is located "at the confluence of the Nith and the Afton" - the Afton being the river about which Burns wrote "Flow gently, Sweet Afton".

It is (or was) as I said, a coal mining village, until the mines shut down in the late 1900s. My greatgrandmother married a coal miner, but they came to New Zealand to get away from that, and he worked as a carter, until in the late 1800s, in a depression, he took a job in an underground gold mine and blew himself up. But that's another story. Many of my greatgrandmother's relatives (she came from a large family) continued working as coal miners for several generations.

In 1950 there was a disaster at the Knockshinnoch colliery in New Cumnock. The mine shafts lay close to the surface, under a peaty bog. The ceiling collapsed and a large volume of water rushed into the pits, killing a number of miners and trapping many underground for several days until they could be rescued. I am told that the men sang to pass the time, and the villagers on top could hear the strains of "The Old Rugged Cross" and "Flow Gently Sweet Afton" coming up from underground. And though, after the disaster, some brought their sons up from the pit and swore they would never work as miners again, they still have those songs sung at their funerals.

Flow gently, sweet Afton, disturb not their dreams.

Afton Water

Flow gently, sweet Afton, amang thy green braes
Flow gently, I'll sing thee a song in thy praise
My Mary's asleep by the murmuring stream,
Flow gently, sweet Afton, disturb not her dream.
Thous stock-dove whose echo resounds through the glen,
Ye wild whistling blackbirds in yon thorny den,
Thou green-crested lapwing, thy screaming forbear:
I charge you disturb not my slumbering fair.

How lofty, sweet Afton, thy neighbouring hills,
Far mark'd with the courses of clear-winding rills,
There daily I wander as noon rises high,
My flocks and my Mary's sweet cot in my eye.

How pleasant thy banks and green valleys below,
Where wild in the woodlands the primroses blow;
There oft as mild ev'ning weeps over the lea,
The sweet-scented birk shades my Mary and me.

Thy crystal stream, Afton, how lovely it glides,
And winds by the cot where my Mary resides;
How wanton thy waters her snowy feet lave,
As, gathering sweet flowerets, she stems thy clear wave.

Flow gently, sweet Afton, amang thy green braes;
Flow gently, sweet river, the theme of my lays;
My Mary's asleep by thy murmuring stream.
Flow gently, sweet Afton, disturb not her dream.

Day 26: Leaving Scotland

The two villages I wanted to visit on our way out of Scotland are not in the tourist books. They are the villages of New Cumnock in Ayrshire, and Kirkconnel in the neighbouring county of Dumfriesshire but only a few minutes away. My father's maternal grandmother came from this area and I have done a lot of research on her family.

I arranged to meet up with a distant cousin V who has helped me with much of the research in the early afternoon. Before leaving Cherrybank we caught up with our internet, made a booking for a hotel in Manchester (cheap last-minute hotel rooms - there are quite a few sites for these) and tried to check in for our Singapore flights online. The Singapore airlines website was down for maintenance for several hours! (Why it would take so long I don't know, since all the coding can be done off line and then uploaded in a few minutes, surely?)

Eventually just before we left the site came online again and we were able to check in and print out our boarding passes on Robert's printer via flash drive. Theoretically, you can choose your own seats. However since the airline pre-allocates all the seats, there are only a few unbooked seats available for changing to, so we were unable to get our preferred seats.

We set off and made a quick trip past Stirling (a last look at the castle), through Glasgow on the M8 and south as far as Kilmarnock on the M77. At that point we left the motorway. The quickest route south from Scotland would be the M74 motorway through Lanarkshire to Gretna, but that was further east than the villages I wanted to see. Instead we took the A76 which is the main route from Kilmarnock to Dumfries. The road goes straight through the middle of both villages.

I had arranged to meet V at the police station in New Cumnock where she said there was parking. We stopped to ask directions at a local shop (newspapers, confectionary etc), and were told it was just up the road but that it wasn't the police station any more, in fact it had closed.

It seems that the whole of New Cumnock has closed. When we had met V, we looked for toilets, and found that it the library was closed on Wednesday afternoons and the community centre was also closed. We went to look at the cemetery where my greatgreatgrandmother's gravestone was, however it seems to have gone. There are quite a few broken gravestones that have been stacked up along a terrace - with the inscriptions facing inwards! - so they can't be read.

The boarded-up Crown Hotel - a cousin of my grandmother's is recorded as working here in the 1881 census.



Window in the apparently disused church:



New Cumnock was a mining village and when the mines closed sometime mid to late 1900s there was very little work left in the area.

This must also be true of Kirkconnel, but the village seems to be much better kept and with more life to it.



The houses are much as they were in the 1800's, renovated but not really altered:



There is a heritage centre which has had a lot of lottery funding. We went in there and when V mentioned the name we were researching, another "customer" piped up "her mother was a --- " pointing to her companion. P pulled out the laptop with my genealogy files and we were able to locate where she fit the family tree and identify that she was a fourth cousin, previously unkown to me.

We headed on up to the graveyard at the church and hurried round photographing all the gravestones of that name.



I was in for a surprise. I spotted another gravestone, with the maiden surname of my greatgreatgrandmother. When I studied it after we got back to New Zealand, and figured out the rather worn inscription, I realised that buried there were her brother, parents, and grandparents - the names of the latter being previously unknown to me. This was a great find as they do not appear in church records, and lived too early for other records to be of help. Why they were buried there and not in the neighbouring parish where they farmed, I have no idea.

We then drove down the A76 which travels through Nithsdale, the valley of the Nith River, to Dumfries - though we took the ring road round Dumfries and east to Gretna. The view is of lowland Dumfriesshire, looking out to the Solway Firth and England, from the A75.



Gretna is a separate settlement from Gretna Green, it was a planned town at the time of World War II as it was the base for a huge munitions factory. We pulled off the main road and went into Gretna, because road signs pointed to "local services" including toilets. The "services" weren't of any service as they were locked up - apparently because of vandalism.

The biggest and most modern-looking building is the registry office - I guess this serves the romantic couples who still want to get married in the blacksmith's shop at nearby Gretna Green



We went on, but fortunately shortly came to a big outlet shopping centre which was open till six and had good clean toilets. It was about ten to six so we didn't do any shopping but did note that there was a huge Cadbury chocolate seconds shop. Unfortunately it was clear our bags were going to be overweight already so we didn't buy anything.

We crossed the border to England, reached the M6 around Carlisle and continued another 15 miles or so to Penrith where we stopped to look for accommodation.

Penrith is an attractive red sandstone town and is a conservation area. I took this photo of the castle from the car on the way into the town:



It's not part of the Lakes District but is a good base for continuing to the Lakes District. We found that it was the opposite of Aberdeen - busy in the weekend (and no doubt all summer) but quieter in the week, so when we located the main street into town that had a row of b&b's we were spoilt for choice - nearly all had "vacancy" signs up, and I checked half a dozen before choosing. In fact they all seemed fairly similar for facilities and prices.

We asked for recommendations for where to eat, and walked into the centre of town (if it's a town - it was only a couple of blocks away) where we eventually chose to eat at the Gloucester Arms,a historic hotel, part of which dates back to 1477. Supposedly Richard III slept here when he was Duke of Gloucester. P had taken his camera and got some good photos, I had left mine as I thought it was too dark. After dinner we walked up to the castle and P took some very nice photos of the castle by moonlight, while I was left regretting not taking my camera (although his does better than mine in low light, I think).

The next day - we explore the Lake District and arrive in Manchester

Day 25: Perth and Fifeshire

Not only is our trip over, but the writing of my trip diary is fast approaching, and what will I do then? Never mind, I still have quite a few photos that wouldn't fit in any post so far, that I still want to entertain/bore you with! (Many of them are close ups).

We had a good sleep in after our late night. Robert and Maggie had one other guest couple in their lovely b &b, Cherrybank Guest House, and we had arranged that we would breakfast at about nine, after their paying guests were dealt with, so that they could join us over breakfast and have a good chat. Yes, I have broken my rule about naming names on my blog. That's because I think our hosts deserve a bit of free advertising. Cherrybank seemed from the website to be very little more expensive than any of the other b & b's we stayed at, and the basic facilities were similar, but there were just so many little extra touches that made it special. Extra useful bits and pieces in the bathroom like tampons and disposable razors (we didn't need them, but I could imagine some people finding them very useful if caught out). And at breakfast, we were offered a menu instead of being asked whether or not we wanted a cooked breakfast. The buffet not only had the usual range of cereals, yoghurt, milk, jam and butter for our toast, but a wonderful selection of fresh fruit such as strawberries, raspberries, melon and pineapple to have with our cereal.

We enjoyed our chat and then thought about what we would do for the day. The original plan had been to visit Dundee on our way from Aberdeen to Perth. My grandmother, who died not quite two years ago, a month short of her 104th birthday, was born there. However we had passed Dundee in the dark the night before, and we decided not to head back.

Instead, we first drove through Perth and a mile or two north to Scone Palace (pronounced "Scoon"), the home of the Earl of Mansfield.



The usual "no photographs inside" rule applied. The brochures suggest that Scone has the atmosphere of a friendly family home - well, it was very much grander than any family home I have been in! However there were a lot of family portraits, both old paintings and more modern photographs, which did give it a personal touch.

We visited the gift shop to look for items to take back to the family at home. I was surprised that there was none of the usual shortbread, fudge etc. But the mystery was solved when I asked about toilets. "In the basement through the food shop" I was told. Not one, but two gift shops! Well, you have to get money out of the tourists somehow!

Scone is the ancient crowning place of Scottish kings. It has extensive grounds with some very friendly peacocks strolling around:



This one wanted my lunch:



After leaving the palace we headed off towards the East Neuk of Fife. I'm not sure what "Neuk" means - perhaps "coast" as it is a stretch of coastline with a number of picturesque fishing villages. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately for the atmosphere of the area) there are no motorways or major roads, only local roads, and though the route is more or less direct there are enough little kinks in the route to make navigating tricky - and enough villages on the way to slow us down.

We got as far as the coast, just, at the village of Elie:







but after a photo stop, we had to turn and head back, to be on time for a family dinner. (Actually, we were fifteen minutes or so late. Maggie told us "the dog has your dinner" - a good thing they have no dog!)

We had an enjoyable dinner with Robert and Maggie, Robert's brother and mother, and took photos for the family album.

Next day - we disccover some more family members - two centuries old - and we leave Scotland.

Day 24: Inverness to ??

I have joined myself up to NaBloPoMo - (inter)National Blog Posting Month - so I have committed myself to posting once a day for the month of November. That will give me the push I need to complete my trip diary, and then I may join in the fun at Ceridwen's read.write.poem group.

Our plan from Inverness was to head south as far as Aberdeen. Scotland on this side has low rolling farm country, giving us a choice of routes. The coastal route is longer and didn't appear to hug the coast very tightly. We decided to take a somewhat zigzag route, heading firstly south across the Monadhliath Mountains, then east along the valley of the River Spey, and then southeast to Aberdeen.

The mountains are not very mountainous. An easy climb took us to the Slochd summit at around 1300 - 1400 feet - just a baby foot hill by New Zealand standards (some of our top orienteering courses climb that much, and the fit young men complete the courses, on foot, in an hour or so). An equally easy descent took us down to the Spey valley.

A "Heather Heritage Centre" was marked on the map so we stopped to have a look. It was essentially a garden and gift shop with attached restaurant. There was some sort of audio visual show on heather, but there was a charge for this, so we gave it a miss. There was an attractive wild garden area with bird and squirrel feeders, and I caught a very brief glimpse of a red squirrel. The red squirrels are the native squirrels of Britain but they have been largely overwhelmed by the introduced American grey squirrels which are larger and more aggressive.







Shortly afterwards we approached the river more closely. The mountains on the other side of the river are the Cairngorms - this area is part of the Cairngorm National Park.



The Spey valley is the site of many whisky distilleries. Specialist tours of Scotland are often promoted - you can do a "castle tour" or a "whisky tour". I can't quite see the attraction of visiting every distillery in the valley - you would have to be a real enthusiast - but the same goes for castles. We thought that since we had visited the smallest distillery, it would be interesting to visit a large one, so we headed to the Glenfiddich distillery which is at Dufftown. (I keep thinking of the Simpsons - "Duff beer for me, Duff beer for you"). We chose Glenfiddich because the guidebook said that it's tour was free - some have a charge attached.





Nearby is Balvenie castle. We stopped long enough to take photos but it was clearly ruined enough to be open to the elements, and it was raining. We seemed to be playing tag with the rain all day, as first we would leave it behind and then it would catch up with us again.



A little off the side road towards Aberdeen was the Archaeolink Prehistory Park - we took a few photos from the carpark.





Again, it was raining, and it was getting on in the afternoon, so we didn't go in but continued to Aberdeen.

Aberdeen is a city, and so the main roads in are dual carriageway. This means that they aren't lined with B & Bs as in the smaller towns, and it wasn't immediately obvious where we should look. (It was too late to go to the information centre, being just after five). With the help of the "Rough Guide" and an accommodation brochure, we figured out where to go, and found a street with quite a few of them - all showing "no vacancy" signs until we came to two almost adjacent with vacancies. So I went to check them both out while P waited in the car, the first looked OK but not great, I said I would check with my husband, looked at the other on the way back to the car and found another couple had just arrived and taken the space. And as I headed back to the car, the first landlady came out and said "the room's gone" (presumably to a phone booking). So - we drove along the street until we were out of town, past more "no vacancy" signs. Then turned back into town, and drove around - and around - nothing to be found. It was dark, and it was raining steadily. We had stopped playing tag with the rain, it had well and truly caught up with us. In the accommodation brochure Holiday Inn was listed as having over 200 rooms with prices from £25 per person. so I suggested we try there. It was on the north side of the city. When we got there we found they had nothing but executive suites at over £200 for the night. The helpful receptionist rang a few other places for us with similar results - either full, or very expensive. Apparently Aberdeen is the oil capital of Europe, and gets very full during the week (it was a Monday night).

No doubt there was a room free somewhere in the area, but I had no idea how to find it quickly. We tried out towards the airport, and then we tried the south side of the city past the harbour. And went as far as Stonehaven, about ten miles south, where we located a phone box.

That's where we rang my cousins R and M in Perth, and said "we have a bit of a problem". Fortunately R and M, who run a b&b themselves, were not fully booked that night, and said we would be welcome. So it was onto the motorway and another hour and a half's drive south to Perth, where we arrived almost a day earlier than expected, at eleven at night.