Anchor Hotel Tarbert

... it would be really good to explore all the islands my boat, and so i set to finding something suitable. I found a site, for a tall ship based in Paihia that does day trips out from there. It looks an amazing experience and something ive always wanted to do! Thats on the 28th of November, so look out for the pics:) Im also planning on doing some kayaking up here, of course, make it feel like home a bit! Then, a ...

Some of the older historic sites - apparently prehistoric people put cups (or something) in the same place and caused marks in the rocks. Kind of funny that they always chose their meeting places way up on top of hills. Getting too much exercise today.<br><br>Also got to see another one of the canal locks.<br>

A rare stop at one of the "National Trust for Scotland" member locations, instead of just "Historic Scotland" locations.<br>After the driving, thought it would be good to stretch my legs and take a couple of the walks through the gardens. Mainly took the waterfall paths.<br>

... stuffed tomatoes, Russian sausage and loads of fruit and salads!<br><br>Behind the Russian Tavern is a 13 hole hillside golfcourse. Again we were met with kindness and civility, lending us kit to play a round, savouring the spectacular scenery and suprising the wild deer that graze the course. As an alternative, the next day we played the French game of Petanque on a pitch right by the boatyard. We hired the boules for a small sum from the village ...

I think I can safely say my itinerary is almost there! <br><br>My map basically says it all, but the plan is to head out to Auckland, NZ, on the 23rd of November. I'll take a day or so to get over the jet lag before heading north. I'll begin with Great Barrier Island, North Island, working my way down to Wellington and over to Christchurch, with plenty of stop overs in between of course! The plan from there is to head up the west coast via Doubtful Sound...Fox Glacier etc ...

I've seen some strange sights so far, but none so surprising as this one: Tarbert without the crowds of drunken sailors! I decided to give myself a chilled out day so stopped for lunch at the Light Bites cafe, which seemed crazily busy for a random Wednesday. Thought I couldn't leave Tarbert ...

... for security and customs were very strict. I almost had a panic attack when they were not letting me through due to the fact that I had no idea where I was staying upon arrival in Scotland. I am so sorry that my mother made all of the plans. Goodness gracious. I literally ran from these checkpoints through what has to be the largest airport terminal (5) that I have seen in my entire life. No lie, there were five levels of stores. And I ...

... and had experienced a lot of fairly serious weather en-route - quite some achievement. His delight in arriving was apparent to all who met him. We got quite friendly over the ensuing days and enjoyed his company. This was his first sailing in Greece, thus we were able to bore him incessantly with our experiences here. Nonetheless he seemed to take it all in good stead and now has a Greek Waters Pilot book full of useful notes based on our experiences ...

... 17:45. It was only a short row to shore and a 10 minute walk to the hotel and whilst they say food tastes better if one has had to work hard for it, it beggars the imagination to improve on what we had, given the minimal effort we had to put in. Julie had enormous hand-dived scallops with Stornoway black pudding and I had mussels in a coconut curry sauce for starters. Both of us were absolutely delighted with our choices. The second ...

Well this is it... what we have been waiting for. 4-5 yrs of study and ambition to travel around Europe and see all those amazing places. Getting as far as the Uk, and having to wait another 7 months has been torture, but I'm sure it's all worth it. The reason we hadn't gone straight to Europe was so we could earn british pounds for travelling. Let's face it you're not gonna get very far with the Aussie dollar. The Itinerary ...