Inchmarlo Holiday Homes Banchory

Okay, I know I've been boring. I'm sorry! Basically I've been trying to get used to the bits and pieces of university before embarking on significant journeys. Can't blame me for that :P There have been the odd trips to random castles etc but I have no interest in random small town castles, lived in the Isle of Man for WAY too long to be interested in them! Hoping for a trip down ...

... almost, my wonderful father is still covering the plane tickets but that's not me being a spoilt brat, that's me taking advantage of one of his few decent job benefits. Standby tickets for the win. *thumbs up*

But of course, why bother going to the other side of the world and just stay in one place? I have more vacation time than there is volunteering time, so I shall do an unfortunately speeded up tour of the south-east Australian ...

A month in and no activity? What's going on, Sarah?

WELL.

Moved in OK, Freshers week was a blast, but I just haven't quite gotten to the exploring part yet. Made a trip down to the beach, a few around town.. And it's actually quite nice here. It's cold yes, but it's a fairly quiet city. Not too big but not too isolated.

However uni [the evil *******s] have decided to give ...

... all taken care of the adventuring will begin. I'm starting to think Ill hop over to Dublin for a day or two before I start traveling south because I am dying to taste their Guinness! Ill write as soon as I know, but I think Ill be lounging around Scotland for two weeks while I get my ducks in a line. Obviously there isn't much to log yet but i promise it will get interesting soon!!!!

Tomorrow I'm catching the a 2pm flight out to Heathrow, a couple of hours of transit and off to Istanbul...arriving just after 11pm. There's no public transport other than taxis and its probably gonna be expensive to Sultanahmet where I'm staying. But the flight's cheap so can't complain really. 

For the past few days I've been packing and repacking, readjusting my inventory each time, trying to strike a balance between travelling light and having the ...

I made it back to Stonehaven today. Amazingly, the sun was out in full force, a complete contrast from yesterday. I walked along the North Sea for a bit, enjoying a Cornish pasty, and then made the roughly three-mile hike up to Dunnottar Castle, also overlooking the sea. The hike was amazing, but largely uneventful. The photos say more than I could hope to.

I leave for the U.S. tomorrow morning around 8:30 a.m ...

Heather and I should have known better. We left the house at 1:30 to catch the train to Stonehaven. It was overcast, but not yet raining, and in our haste we each forgot to grab an umbrella. By the time we arrived in Stonehaven it was raining pretty steadily. The walk from the train station to the city center only lasted about fifteen minutes, but by the end of it, my clothes were soaked ...

... example of a vice business operating inside what used to be a cathedral. It's really unusual.

I returned to the house, and Heather and Hannah (Heather's friend) explained to me that a typical Scottish Saturday involves going to the pub and socializing, watching sports, etc. We went to a pub and spent the afternoon doing The Times crossword puzzle. Not ...

... who's used to the driver being in the left front, cars look like they're being driven by babies, for example, or pets, or if the seat is empty, by no one at all.
Over the coming days, I'll explore some Aberdeen some more, then make my way to Inverness and Stonegate. I had hoped to make a trip up to Skara Brae in Orkney, but under the circumstances and with the limited amount of time I have here, I decided not to push it. Alas, perhaps another trip.

... didn't suit either. We resolved to try and put some of that right so we fed, watered and had him stay over on the Friday night before we set off on Saturday to have a look around. He really wasn't bothered what we did, he was so down about everything that was happening to him so, having explored Drum Castle last weekend, we decided to visit another, this time it was Crathes Castle, just 15 miles from our house. Back in 1323 when King Robert the Bruce was being so generous giving ...