Kiwi Roaming

As we travelled between major spots on our road trip of “The North” we also visited smaller towns and sites along the way, this is a wrap of the highlights.

Stratford-upon-Avon – was our first stop on the way to Manchester. I know I’ve been here before but didn’t remember much so it was nice to visit again. Another extremely touristy town with coach loads of people walking around in tour groups.

The drive up was very very grey with rain so we stuck to the motorways. With multiple carparks right in town we stopped into a pay and display just 10 minutes walk from Shakespeare’s birthplace. Our stop coincided with a brief break in the rain so we got to walk around the main streets, take a few pics then grab some lunch in one of the many cute local cafe’s. A very short stop but nice to experience.

There were tour groups here at all the main sties, lots of Tudor looking buildings and a few monuments that were hard to get close to. We didn’t go inside anywhere just had lunch in a quirky old cafe. Shakespeares birthplace below top left.

Pontcysyllte Aqueduct – the longest working canal boat aqueduct in the UK is just on the outskirts of Wrexham Wales. It is part of the Llangollen Canal and is kinda crazy to experience, at 39m high it is also the highest working aqueduct. Built for narrow boats only at 3.7m wide it is just under 2m deep – so lots of water. We stopped and chatted with a fundraiser from the Canal and River trust so learned heaps about the whole canal system in the UK and the plight of the trust funding wise to maintain it all.

We took a walk along the tow path for a few km and enjoyed seeing other canal boats and lovely cute villages. There is also a pub right near the aqueduct which we popped into for our lunch. Being mid winter there was just us and a few locals in there so we had a good opportunity to chat with the barkeep and his assistant – apparently it’s crazy busy here in the summer months (too busy) and quiet as in the winter. They also told us lots about the challenges owner operator pubs are facing economically, what it’s like living in Wrexham and being young in the Welch countryside. A fun way to spend and afternoon next to an open fire with a few half pints of cider (for me).

Lockerbie Memorial – we were driving along in the Scottish countryside when Steve spotted sign to the Lockerbie Memorial. Co-located with the towns cemetery in a lovely forrest area with lots of walking tracks, it was a lovely place to stop to honour the 270 people who died in this horrific terrorist attack.

While it happened when we were young adults neither of us remembered many of the details so it was interesting to read the plaques and learn again what happened, who was on the flight and who was killed on the ground. A very sobering visit.

Pitlochry – Loving driving on the A and occasional B road Steve was keen to drive a more scenic route from Loch Lamond to Dundee so we headed north east to Pitlochry. A gorgeous picture postcard Victorian town which has so many tourist shops selling tartan tat we wondered how they survive. The other feature here is old old distilleries which are open for tours and tastings, not practical for us mid-journey sadly.

I wanted to go to the hydro electric power dam and see the fish ladder which is reportedly fascinating (and it was) but it was raining heavily when we arrived so instead we found a pub for lunch which was suitably dark inside, with stained glass panels between tables and a roaring fire. Lunch done, rain stopped so we headed to the dam.

It is very cool walking over a running dam, hearing the turbines and water rushing, feeling the vibrations. We saw one worker doing maintenance but know there were others there. This plant generates enough power for the village itself which is cool. The other feature is a Salmon fish ladder, which is enables over 4,000 migrating salmon to travel up river each year. What we couldn’t see is below the walls of each pool is a 1m gap for the fish to swim up to the next pool through.

St. Andrews – the home of golf is another gorgeous town on the way from Dundee to Edinburgh and beside the coast. We braved the wicked winds to check out the beach and the old golf course. You can see the money here without leaving the car, massive mansions, beautiful buildings and grand looking hotels. The beaches are beautiful and there are plenty of old buildings to explore on a day without the wild weather.

The iconic old club buildings are one of the first things you see entering from the north. I was surprised at how exposed and windy the golf course itself is, I was also surprised for such an exclusive club to see so much gorse around the course. Despite the wind there were some very determined people out playing!

The Kelpies – really close to Edinburgh in a park with a canal running through it and working loch’s are the Kelpies. Two giant horse heads made of steel. Each head is 30m high and as we drove to see them they just appear on the landscape in such an abrupt and unexpected way. We carried on to one of the carparks in this whole park area and joined the many weekend walkers, dog walkers and recreational fisher-people enjoying the area.

Up close they are so imposing, there are 3m high miniature versions so you can see the detail up close on a different scale. There is a visitor centre there and shop with loos, and as it was close to Christmas a place where people were getting their dogs photos with Santa going on too. It was freezing cold so we didn’t linger long but really enjoyed seeing this art work.

Two days after we visited the Kelpies had their winter coats installed, designed to protect the punters from icicles forming and falling, they cover them in Christmas inspired inflatable jackets apparently.

Falkirk Wheel – really close by on the same canal is the Falkirk Wheel. We almost didn’t go here as it was so cold but I am so pleased we did. This fascinating piece of engineering and machinery is crazy to watch, which is possible with a tourist canal boat you can buy a ticket for every hour to experience it. We arrived in time to watch this.

Basically the Falkirk Wheel is a means of transporting canal boats by connecting the 34m hight difference in the Union Canal. It is essentially a huge mechanical rotating boat lift with two cradles which fit both water for the boat to float in and the canal boats themselves, one at the top and the other at the bottom. It then rotates and the boats swap locations having travelled up or down accordingly. Seriously it’s fascinating to watch and the numbers associated with it – volume of water, weight carried, diameter of the arms etc – are mind boggling. Check it out.