My last blog was, from memory, a few days after I arrived in London. What I found amusing about the rest of my time in London was the fact that I hung out with a few people who happen to live in quite close proximity to me back home, but I hadn't seen for ages. Funny that it happened in London of all places. (maybe not because there is a joke that there are more Australians in London than in Canberra.)
Anyway, I continued to enjoy all that this amazing city has to offer. I tried to figure out why it was so alluring for me. I mean the weather is mostly miserable and don't get me started on the exchange rate... Chris and Susanne continued to tolerate my presence in the house, which I am thankful for.
I decided to check out the famous Notting Hill Carniva whilel in London. The basis of the carnival is to celebrate the heritage of many of the West African and Carribean people who came to the UK in the slave trade. Jamaican, Ghanese, Trinidadian, the list goes on... The setup was a whole series of massive blaring soundsystems (with some phenomenal dancing in front of them) and truck floats with a myriad of different musical talents being showed off, spread all across the suburb of Notting Hill. It was a sensory treat! I also caught up with Eddie, who at the mention of my trip to Scotland replied "Can I come too?"
A few days later I decided to head west to catch up with the Norrie-Stanton's - a family Dave and I met and unintentionally stalked throughout the whole of Laos. They lived in a tiny village called Lower Wraxall (Pop. 500) about 15 mins drive from Bath. I spent the days out there kayaking the Avon with Richard, going snap happy in Bath, visiting Avebury stone circle and being called "smelly"by 7 year old Marnie. Out here was typical English countryside - beautiful. Funnily enough, the first parallel I drew was to Postman Pat. Still not exactly sure why. While in Lower Wraxall I was further convinced to make the trip to Scotland. A day later the bus was booked to Edinburgh.
The Norrie's House - the former Lower Wraxall Lolly Shop
Eddie and I braved the tube strike to get to Victoria station much too early for our 9 hour bus to Edinburgh. Edinburgh greeted us with blue sky - "are we really in Scotland?" I quickly made a mental note to add Edinburgh to my favourite European cities (which is by no means a short list). Eddie and I spent the following morning exploring Edinburgh castle and the afternoon climbing Arthur's Seat, a decent sized hill that gives a splendid view of the city.
Some Edinburgh shots:
We left earlier than we wanted to (but knew we would be back at the end of our Scottish adventure) for Inverness to meet Nina. We decided we would walk to the famous Loch Ness naively ignoring the fact that it was 13 miles from Inverness and 23 miles long... Walking soon changed to hitch hiking and eventually we were picked up by an Indian guy who ran a takeaway store in a little town on Loch Ness - we later bough a local delicacy there, Deep Fried Mars Bar. Our day at Loch Ness was mostly spent sitting in the ruins of the magnificent Urquhart Castle, which is perched on the edge of the Loch.
On Sunday Nina headed back to Dundee as she only had the weekend off, while Eddie and I began our hitch hiking endeavours. Our first trip was 60 miles through the western highlands in order to get to Ullapool - the town that the ferry departs to the Outer Hebrides from. Our sign had the addition of the promise of chocolate - though we ate most of it. The first guy was a guy with red hair named Minge. This is an example of Eddie's conversation with Minge:What's your name?
Eddie. What's yours?
Minge...
Sorry, what?
Minge...
Ok....
Minge also thought we were weird for not believing and ghosts. As a result he drove us to the middle of nowhere and started telling us about some river ghost. After being intially a bit wary, we realised he had good intentions and happily dropped us back in his town of Garve to continue our trip. The next woman was a Shellfish catcher who had the worst laugh I've ever heard and kept calling Eddie a nervous passenger - probably because he was cringing at her laugh.
Eventually we got to Ullapool after another lift with a guy who's Rotweiler tried to attack every car that passed from the back of the station wagon - he especially liked trucks. We were told Ullapool hosted a music festival every year - which we found hard to believe when we arrived. Nothing happens in Ullapool.
After a 3 hour ferry ride to Stornaway on the Isle of Lewis we were greeted by what the Outer Hebrides are famous for, wind. Cold, cold wind. We found a hostel pretty quickly and planned our next day's adventure. Sitting on the local bus as it wound its way across the island made me realise where we were. The middle of nowhere. Not only that, outside the little towns, I did not see a tree the whole time we were on the Outer Hebrides. We visited the Callanish Standing Stones and a Blackhouse village - where we walked out to the cliffs and honestly felt as if we were on the edge of the world. The wind was unbelievable, and of course, cold. This photo is an attempt to convey the "edge of the world" like feeling Eddie and I had.
The following day we caught a bus to the Isle of Harris, south of Lewis. We found a hostel, called the guy who told me the code and to let myself in. It was completely deserted.
"Doesn't this remind you of that movie 'Hostel'"
"Yeah it does..."
"hmmmmm"
While on Harris we visited the picturesque beaches on the West Coast. I took my boardies and towel with full intention of braving the cold, even if just for a story. I quickly changed my mind. It really was just too windy and too damn cold. With the onset of rain we hitched back to town with an old couple. The following day we caught the ferry to Uig on the Isle of Skye and jumped on a bus to Portree - the biggest town on the Isle of Skye with a population of about 6000. While on the Isle of Skye we visited Dunvegan Castle, did a few walks and took in the breathtaking scenery.
Through Facebook we discovered Haz and Con would be heading up to Edinburgh (and I later discovered Cale was already there). Eddie and I decided to attempt to hitch the 400 miles back to Edinburgh - East coast to west. After about 90 minutes we got a lift all the way to Inverness with a nice old guy. Then we waited 3 hours in the FREEZING cold in Inverness for a lift. We must have copped about 40 thumbs up and at least 10 rude fingers. Some guy thought he was being extra generous taking us about 1 mile to a less convenient place - we were thankful nonetheless. Just as we were about to give up, Umar, an 18 year old who started mechanical engineering at 16, picked us up and told us he was heading to Glasgow. YES PLEASE! Apparently Umar "hadn't done enough in his life"so he decided to take a break from uni to work as a rep for a company earning a meagre 1500 quid a week. I spent the trip trying to decrypt the heavy Scottish accent. I estimate my understanding to be between 20-30% of what he said. I got by, albeit with a few awkward moments.
From Glasgow we caught a 40 minute bus to Edinburgh and spent the next few days hanging with the other boys in a great city. Copious amounts of Jenga was played and we got to 30 levels- I have photo evidence. Eventually it was time for Eddie and I to bring our two week stint in Scotland to a close as the other boys were just starting theirs. I headed back to London and Eddie to visit family in Sligo, Ireland.
The last few days have been a mini family reunion on the Pidcock side as Julia, Chris and I are all in London. I spent all day yesterday in Portobello markets with Julz attempting to give advice on items of clothing. Georgia, if you are reading this, you would have been in heaven in all the vintage shops. I even found a few items I would have liked if I wasn't on a budget and didn't have to carry for another three months.
As I write this I am beginning my mental preparation for the next continent in my trip- South America. My excitement is quickly growing as I leave Heathrow airport in 5 days. As much as I know I will miss London, I know that I will be back here again before I know it. Bring on RIO!
