28th July- We left the Lakes District via Hadrian's wall - designed by the Romans to keep the unruly Scots out of England… so we decided to head for Scotland and meet these people first hand :0 We drove through the most picturesque scenery we have seen in the whole of Britain, absolutely stunning - so unbelievably green and rugged… something you would see in an Epic movie, think Braveheart. We arrived at our campsite In Fort William at the base of Ben Nevis (highest mountain in the UK) which looked a bit like Everest base camp. Everyone hiding in their tents for shelter, every guide rope mounted for stability and only full length wet weather clothing appropriate. Camping and Britain = bad idea!!

29th July - We decided to thaw out a bit and headed for the Isle of Skye - we arrived by car ferry and took a drive around this little island on the west coast of Scotland. We visited the Dunvegan Castle which is the residence of the McLeod clan… We took a detour to see the Fur seals before departing via car ferry again for a beautiful drive around the Lock area back to camp.

30th July - We left Ben Nevis for Inverness. It was a beautiful drive with the road following alongside the lochs. We discovered the ruined castle of Urquart before attempting to spot Nessie in Loch Ness. We visited the Loch Ness museum which basically told us that almost all of the spottings were false and it's up to us whether we believe it or not. It was that same feeling when you find that Father Christmas does not exist. We then headed to Inverness, what a beautiful town; after finding a B & B (enough camping in the wet!) close to the action we headed for a walk exploring River Ness and some little Islands. We then enjoyed some pizza and wine before heading to the Inverness Tattoo. Despite the tattoo not quite being the Edinburgh tattoo, being mainly made up of armed forces reserves, it was great especially the off-road bike demonstrations.

31st July - Today was a great day for enjoying a few Scottish delicacies namely shortbread and whiskey. We visited the onsite shop of Walkers short bread and may have bought a little too much. We followed this with a great little tour of the Glenfiddich distillery where the Father had a dream to build his own distillery 100 years ago which he built with the help of his 8 sons and daughters. The original buildings are still used today and it is still run by his descendants. We finished the tour off with a few wee drams. We then had a pit stop in Aberdeen on our way to the historical capital of Edinburgh

1st Aug - Our day to explore Edinburgh. We walked through the castle gardens before arriving up a huge hill to Edinburgh castle- overlooking the entire town. We had a tour of the castle and looked at the old dungeons. We then walked down the Royal Mile (this used to be encompassed within the great walls of the palace) which was buzzing with street performers who had arrived for the upcoming Fringe festival. Enough kilts than you can poke a stick at. We then visited Holyroodhouse - the current royal residence. It was also where Mary - Queen of Scots used to live. We saw her bedchamber and where her secretary was murdered by her husband. Why watch TV when there is more excitement listening to the stories of past royalty. Poor Mary was eventually murdered by her jealous cousin Queen Victoria who thought Mary wanted to take the crown of England…