North Berwick

 

This morning the other vans slowly departed. We van people had been asked not to deposit too much rubbish in the bins. A woman from the large van across the way does just that. Look at that woman. We know Marge, disgusting. You can say that again. Why isn't she wearing a bra, letting it all hang like that. Rude, Marge, stop.

We walked down to see the kelpies before we left, sitting in the window of the cafe opposite mesmerised whilst drinking our hot drinks. These thirty-metre-high sculptures took eight years to design and build and sixteen weeks to erect on site.  But we had to leave them as we needed to travel further east, by-passing Edinburgh and heading to the coast. This would be the last area of Scotland we would visit before crossing the border back into England. As nice as it is further south, we are already missing the north of Scotland. The mountains, the lochs, the views, the quiet.

Fuel and food required we stopped at a Tesco around Mussleburgh. Then journeyed to Dunbar to see the bridge to nowhere. High tide was around two o' clock, if we arrived too late, it would become the bridge to somewhere.

 Photographs taken we walked a little way along the coast through the golf course. Down on the beach we photographed the interesting rock formations of red sandstone and limestone paving.

Despite heavy rain all morning the afternoon was warm, almost t-shirt weather. Our car park ticket sold on to a man for a pound (well paying £2.50 for a days ticket and only using 1 hours worth we thought it still had a bit of life in it, the purchaser was delighted as he only had £1.80 on him!) we then drove back towards North Berwick. A hard right turn along the coastal route astonished us. What a fabulous view. There stood Tantallon Castle with Bass Rock in the background. Eyes on the road please. O.K. Marge. We stopped at the castle only to be firmly told by a dour Scotsman that it would be closing in five minutes.

Could John step inside the grounds for a minute to take a photograph? Right laddie, times up.

Our stop for tonight was planned to be at the rugby football club in North Berwick. Leaving Marge there we walked the five minutes to the town.

What a lovely place. Situated on the south shore of the Firth of Forth with views to Bass Rock we found it both pretty and charming. However, we weren't happy about our overnight stop and after some googling, we are now with four other vans at the far end of the seafront. The weather is so mild a couple from Ayrshire were sat out drinking wine when we arrived. Talking to them with just our fleeces on and no coat was a miracle. Where were we? A place where our waterproofs were redundant. We never thought we'd enjoy such weather here in Scotland before we left. The people in the van behind us have their table and chairs set up outside. Incredible. 

Tonight, some careful planning to ensure we see as much as possible before crossing the border. We know there is so much still to see.

Falkirk

 

The little woodland area we'd stayed in with two other vans last night seemed a little cheerier this morning. Although still wet in the light of a new day it was a pretty little spot. A light drizzle didn't put us off walking up through the trees over a bronzed leaf carpet to the Bracklinn Falls.

Under the trees a red squirrel emerged from the undergrowth, scurrying away at the sound of our voices and the vibration from our feet.

Caught in the spiked Gorse, spider webs covered in fine moisture were a reminder of childhood. At the falls the bridge was closed as it was deemed unsafe, but we were able to climb down near the rocks and see and feel the power of the falls.

 

Their tumbling waters jumping the pudding rock as it shot by.  We had read online that local people were not happy about the amount of rubbish left up in the main car park. We weren't happy about the rubbish around the falls. A glass bottle, drinks can, bag of wrappers and cans neatly tied and partially hidden behind a rock, a purple gift bag and even a baby's nappy. Oh, and numerous dog poo bags hung in trees. What's that all about? Please, are you people for real? Take your rubbish home with you! 

Back at Marge we packed up quickly to allow more visitors to park and drove into Callander where we enquired at the tourist office about showering at the sports centre. Directions received we drove the short distance where for £2.50 each we had as much hot water as we pleased at our disposal.

As we left Callander we saw a campervan named Bonkin' Boris. You might want to think twice about parking up overnight next to him Marge. 

Smelling a little sweeter, and clothes washed we drove to the nearby Falkirk wheel to empty our toilet at the disposal point, then on to The Helix home of the Kelpies. This was our second visit on this trip to these amazing sculptures. Of all the sights we have seen over the last few weeks these horses were Angela's favourite and she was excited about seeing them lit up when darkness fell.

Wow, wow, wow. Lit in blue and a pink almost purple for baby loss awareness week, they were stunning.

Five pounds for vans to stay overnight here is money well spent. Tomorrow before we leave, we will go and see The Kelpies again. They are so brilliant you just can't help looking at them.