Scotland, May - June 2017 - SE Scotland. Edinburgh, Dundee, Falkirk Wheel and North Berwick.

We started and finished our trip to Scotland in this area. Apart from in Dundee we had good weather and were able to get out and about.

Edinburgh.

We stayed at the Caravan & Motorhome site and were able to get the bus into the city which is very compact so it's easy to get to most places on foot.

Our first visit was, of, course, to the Castle. The Esplanade (where the Military Tattoo is held each year) with Arthur's Seat in the background.

Great views across the city with Calton Hill in the distance.

The Royal Palace.

Princes Street.

East Princes Street Gardens in the city centre.

Calton Hill. Well worth the walk up the hill.

Edinburgh Botanic Gardens are lovely to stroll around.

Dundee.

We had drizzle all day but managed to visit a couple of places. The Verdant Works is a museum about the jute industry in Dundee and was fascinating. They had working machines and we had an excellent guide who showed us how they worked. Raw jute was brought in from Bangladesh and went through several processes before being woven into a range of materials including sacks, ropes, carpets, meat wrapping etc etc. The following photos show two of the processes.

The RRS (Royal Research Ship) Discovery was built in Dundee. and is now berthed there at Discovery Point. It's most famous for being the ship that took Captain Robert Scott and Earnest Shackleton on their first trip to the Antarctic. There's lots of interesting information in the Museum and then you get to explore the ship. The RRS Discovery was the last traditional wooden three-masted ship to be built in Britain. The purpose of The British National Antarctic Expedition was to carry out scientific research and Scott and his crew of 47 men spent 2 years in Antarctica doing that.

One of the museum displays.

The RRS Discovery.

Kevin at the wheel.

One of the crew rooms below deck.

Falkirk Wheel

The Falkirk Wheel is a rotating boat lift that was completed in 2002. It links the Forth & Clyde and Union canals which have a height difference of 35 metres, originally there was a flight of 11 locks between them. The wheel takes about 15 minutes to move a couple of boats from one canal to the other. It's amazing how quiet it is, however we were disappointed that there wasn't much information about how it was built - the website had much more!

North Berwick

Our final few days in Scotland, after 5 weeks of traveling, were spent at Yellowcraig Caravan and Motorhome site near North Berwick. One day we cycled into North Berwick, a picturesque town with a sandy beaches and a small harbour.

We spent most of one day exploring the National Museum of Flight, a fascinating museum and well worth the £10 entrance fee. It's based at an old airfield at East Fortune that was used during the first and second world wars. There are 3 huge hangers with military, commercial and Concorde aircraft plus smaller exhibitions. The highlight for me was seeing and being able to go on board Concorde.

Concorde.

The cockpit - not a lot of space!

A spitfire was amongst the planes in the Military hanger.

A couple of the civilian aircraft.

SE Scotland. Edinburgh, Dundee, Falkirk Wheel and North Berwick.

NE Scotland. Fort Augustus (Loch Ness),Culloden, Fort George, NE Coast.

North Coast. John O'Groats, Dunnet Bay and Durness.

Orkney Islands. One day coach tour.

NW Coast. Scourie, Handa Island, Inverewe Gardens and Gairloch.

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Warm enough for a braai after several days of rain.