Doug & Jodie

 

Day 1 – 23^rd of Dec 

On the 22^nd of December, we had to pick up our rental car, as the “Thrifty” rental shop was closed on the 23^rd. After a short panic, based on the time difference between the free street parking and paid for parking, we parked the car just around the corner from the apartment. 

 

We got underway at 6am on the morning of the 23^rd. We tried to use the dodgy instructions from Google Maps, which got us a little lost. Well, it was either the dodgy maps or London’s dodgy streets. We eventually managed to get onto the M25 (the ring road around London). As we got up to speed, the car gave a huge jolt, and an error appeared on the dash board saying “Gearbox Fault”. We stopped the car and called AA. They arrived fairly promptly, but couldn’t really help. A simple man, with simple tools… have you looked under the hood of a modern car ??? To cut a VERY long story short, he couldn’t fix it, but tried to help by leading us to numerous closed thrifty branches. We got on the road and limped all the way to Heathrow. The people there gave us a smaller car, but it was brand new… how new ? It had 5 miles on the odometer. We EVENTUALLY got on the road, 5 hours later than we had set out. 

 

Headed toward York, which was supposed to be our first stop, before driving to our lastminute.com bargain ! Due to the time we had lost, we drove through York, to get an idea of what we wanted to see, and promised to visit on the way back. 

 

We drove to Aldwark Manor, which was the cheapest deal on lastminute.com. Oh my gosh ! It was amazing !!! An old English Manor, with it’s own golf course, fountain at the front and multiple fireplaces and lounges. 

 

We took our bags to our room, and relaxed until just before dinner. We headed downstairs to sit near the fire in one of the lounges, to sample some of the local drops ! 

 

Dinner was fantastic, in an elevated restaurant, which by daylight, looked over the golf course. 

 

Day 2 – 24^th of Dec 

We left the Manor early in the morning, not really knowing how long it would take to get to Dornoch. (Since the driving instructions were inaccurate). We drove past Glasgow, and headed toward Inverness (near the home of Nessy!) On the way, winding through the hills of Scotland, we past numerous Scotch distilleries, situated on loop road along the main roads. After driving for around 6 hours, we got to Dornoch. A quaint town, with a small population but steeped in tradition. 

 

We took our bags to our room and proceeded to get ready for dinner. Dinner was included in the price of the package, and was fit for a king (& queen). After dinner, we sat around the fireplace in one of the lounges and sipped red wine. At 11pm, we headed across the road, to the site of a 6^th century cathedral for carols. The cathedral was amazing, with stained glass windows and a very comfy feel. The carols ran for just over an hour to ring in Christmas. 

 

Day 3 – 25^th of Dec 

It’s hard to believe that we woke up in the Castle, in Northern Scotland when we look back on the year we’ve had. We woke up and opened Christmas presents, which was great. We then called the family in Australia, to wish them a merry Christmas. 

 

We got up and had breakfast (still full from the night before… and saving ourselves for the Christmas feast, that awaited us for lunch). We then spent some time walking around the town. We headed down to the beach/golf course. Along the way we saw frost on just about everything. We took some interesting photos, before seeing a bus full of tourists fish-tail and nearly lose control. We kept walking and saw the frosted golf course, and saw a camp site near the beach, which appeared to be flooded. Upon closer inspection, the pond/lake/flooding was frozen over. We climbed onto the edge of the ice and played like a couple of children, trying to get the ice to break. We headed down to the beach, which was amazing (again), the view of long grass along the beach, epitomised my idea of Scotland. 

 

We headed back through the golf course grounds, and on to the Castle for lunch. The lunch, like the dinner, was huge and absolutely delicious. 

 

 

 

Day 4 – 26^th of Dec 

We woke up and had breakfast (which wasn’t much as we could barely fit anything in after such big meals) and packed our bag. We said goodbye to the cat “Charles” and left the castle, bound for York. We drove passed the Glenmorangie distillery, and stopped to take a look. It was closed, but is was good to see where great scotch is made. We travelled down the length of Loch Ness ad stopped for some photos of Urqhart Castle ruins. We spent the rest of the day driving, as the scenic route took us way out of our way. We travelled down Loch Ness and through Fort William, all of which is really pretty. We got to York and stayed in a dodgy Novotel Hotel. For the money we paid, I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. When travelling it’s a good idea to use Lastminute to find places to stay. 

 

Day 5 – 27^th of Dec 

We woke up left for our self guided tour of York. We walked through the city (town) centre, looking at all the old buildings. We went into the York Minster which is absolutely amazing. There is so much to mention about it, it’s probably better that your search for the information yourselves. We had a great time, looking at the huge glass windows and stone work. We walked down the road to the start of the Wall. We got onto the wall by climbing an enclosed staircase, which also leads to the worlds smallest prison cell. Soon it was time to leave, and we began our ridiculously long journey home. It was meant to take around 3 hours, but ended up taking 6 hours. The traffic on the M1 was crazy. We had the handbrake up more times than I can remember (or want to). Wet weather, combined with road works (yes, over Christmas !) made it feel like we were driving back from the Sunshine Coast on a Sunday afternoon. 

 

Overall, it was a fantastic holiday and I can’t wait to go again.