Scotland... another paradise on earth

Another good trip then... Not easy to get there bro... First, 6 hours in a car to get to Paris, then 1 hour on a bus to go to a remote airport, 1 hour and a half in the plane to Glasgow, 1 hour on the train to get downtown, 5 more hours on a train, then another hour on a ferry... no worries, it was well worth the time spent to travel! The scenery itself on the train was absolutely gorgeous! It reminded much of NZ, rain forest very luxurious, then inlets of water very much like the Marlborough Sounds...



It was so good to spend some time with Mike and Georgie and to my greatest surprise, I was hosted in a castle and treated like a real princess!! I'm not kidding, this castle was built in the nineteenth century and it was really cool to live there for a week. A nice bedroom all for myself, with a bunch of food in case I was hungry... the real treat!

For diner, they cooked me some haggis, neepps and tatties... the brown stuff is made of some sheep meat, something like the inside of its tummy. The orange one is a mix of sweet potatoes, potatoes I think and another root. To tell the truth, the haggis tastes better that it looks... it was OK but I did not have a second service...
I enjoyed the French crepes I made a little bit more and so did my friends... yummy!



We had a great time together, went hiking to Kilmory, a nice beach, with lots of red deers around. It was pretty amazing to see so many in the wild as they are very few in France. The weather was quite up and down, one moment the sun was out and it was really hot then the second after, it was raining... Scotland is very much like NZ again, four seasons in one day! It was good to be doing some exercise again, enjoy the fresh and pure air, the green of the mountains, the peace and serenity of Mother Nature...




Then, I had an amazing experience with the Manx Shearwater. It is a sea bird who comes to Scotland to nest. They travel all the way from Brazil and there are more than 100,000 pairs living in Hallival, a moutain located 1 hour and a half walking from Kinloch Castle. We left around 11pm as it must be dark for the birds to come back to their burrows. Funnily enough, it was almost the longest day (the 20th of June) so it was never getting really dark. We waited in the hut then kept on walking up hill, listening to the shearwater calling each other in the dark, feeling them flying just above our heads!

As Mike is an expert and a shearwater lover, he knows all about them and it was fantastic to have the privelege of being with him, seing him catch them, ring them. He also offered me to hold one... well, hum, I thought it would be nice but at the same time, I was a little bit afraid of not knowing how to do it... then, we had a good laugh as Mike wanted to take a picture of me holding the bird and he could not as the camera was under my jacket and meanwhile, the shearwater was getting nervous and began to bite me... oups! He got me three times at least and I was screaming as well as laughing!!! Unforgettable experience!!!




We came back with the moon rising, then the sun. Crazy bro, it never got dark and went from sunset to sunrise! 4am in the morning, we were back to the castle and happy to go to bed after walking downhill in the damp and wet mountains! But what a great and unique experience! So few people can do that, I felt really blessed and lucky! I also love these moments spent doing something original while everybody is sleeping. It's like making the most of what life can offer us!


Another day, I went walking till the other end of the island to Harris where the former owner of the castle built a mausolee for his grave, his wife's and dad's. It was a really pleasant walk, lots of animals to be seen: red deers of course, goats, ponies, oyster catchers, seagulls. Nobody there except me. The ponies were quite friendly and came towards me to get a cuddle... funny, I am never really chilled out with wild animals, always wondering what they want, if they're gonna attack me... a pussy really!!! Cutting through hills to avoid following the laces of the road, I frightened a few deers. I really love them, they are so graceful!
One of them was a little bit weird looking though...






The night before I left, it was somebody's 30th birthday and there was a karaoke party! It was good fun! We got trapped as not many people wrote their names to sing and we all had to go and sing! Georgie sang 'always' from Bonjovi, she was awesome, a real rock star! Then it was my turn with "I'm so excited" and Mike was trapped as I put his name so he had to sing "Summer nights" from Grease with Georgie and their duet was absolutely fantastic! Apart from the fact that I could not understand many of what the scottish lady leading the show said, I had a good time!


I left on a beautiful sunny day and enjoyed the first part of the scenery in the train as it was already night time during my inbound trip. So beautiful... I was a little bit sad to come back to civilization and in the grey raining city of Glasgow but I was happy at the same time as I had lunch with a good friend of mine, John whom I had travelled with 2 years ago in the South Island of NZ... good old times...I really love to see again my friends whom I shared with some special moments of my life!

I am now back to France, and after 2 days spent in Paris looking after my goddaughter, the adorable Jeanne, I will spend a week with my cousin who has a house by the shore in Les Landes near Hossegor. Then, an interview for a job in Barcelona early july... keep in touch mates...!