Wednesday, August 19, 2015
In the morning we take a taxi to the ferry terminal in Ballycastle and at 9:30am depart on a small passenger-only ferry that holds 12 people, although there are just 7 on it today.
After 1.5 hours of choppy seas and rain, my mom, her friend Ann, and I arrive to Campbeltown, Scotland.
The small passenger-only ferry we took from Ballycastle, Northern Ireland across to Campbeltown, Scotland.
We pick up our rental car, have a bite to eat at a café, and then are on the road driving north in the rain. The roads are very narrow with each lane barely wide enough for the vehicles that are supposed to stay on their own side of the road. There is a large truck coming toward us and it is across the middle line. We are absolutely going to hit. I move over to the left (as we are driving on the left side of the road in the UK) to avoid the collision and the left wheels of the car leave the pavement and have a rough ride on the side of the road.
We are past the large truck and I bring the car back onto the road. Something doesn’t feel right, like something is caught, or some issue. We pull over. We have a flat. The front left tire has lost air. I slowly drive with the emergency flashers on until we find a space large enough to move the car fully off the narrow road.
It is raining and I don’t really want to change a tire in this weather, but so be it. I open the trunk (boot) and move our luggage from there to the backseat. I raise the fabric and board of the bottom of the trunk to access the storage area beneath. There is no spare! I am in disbelief. How does this car not have a spare!?
In the place of where I expected to find a spare, there is an air pump that plugs into the 12-volt port inside the car. There is also a container of goo, which is meant for pumping into the tire so it can seal a small hole. I am thinking that the tire has just been knocked away from the rim of the wheel and in this case the goo would not be able to do anything. I am hopeful that this small air pump can do the job of reseating the tire to the rim and then fill the tire all the way up.
With the car running, so we don’t risk draining the battery, I watch the tire as air is being pumped in. It initially inflates some and then progresses no further. I figure that the tire must not be reseating to the rim on the groundside of the wheel because the weight of the car is affecting the shape. So I figure it is worth a try to slowly move the car while the pump is running so that the tire can rotate, moving the distorted shape of the tire out from the weight of the car and maybe it will reseat. While I hold the pump and cord off of the wet ground, my mom slowly backs the car up. No success.
But now with the tire rotated, I see that the issue is not the tire not seating on the rim. The issue is a massive hole in the sidewall of the tire that is large enough to put a finger through. There is no fixing this with an air pump and goo. Even if the goo miraculously were able to seal the hole so the tire would hold air, it would be incredibly unsafe and I’m not going to drive with it. At this point it is 2:30pm. Fortunately I have cell phone service.
The hole in the sidewall of the tire on our rental car.
At 6:00pm, after 3.5 hours of waiting, a tow truck arrives, the car is loaded onto the flatbed, and we are inside the warm cab on our way back in the direction from which we came.
All loaded up on the tow truck.
We arrive to the garage in Lochgilphead, where there are no tires in stock that will fit the car. But fortunately this was already determined before the tow truck arrived to pick us up. We are told that there are new tires on the way from Glasgow. And there are two new tires enroute, because the rear tire on the same side of the car had a large bulge in the sidewall that I was not excited to drive on and decided it was best to replace them both and not have to deal with another flat tire later.
At 6:30pm we are waiting for dinner in the restaurant of the hotel that is around the corner. At 9:20pm we are still waiting for the tires to arrive to Lochgilphead. I really hope that we can be back on the road tonight even though we still have a good distance of driving remaining. In case we won’t, I have checked with the hotel and they do have rooms available if the worst happens and we need to stay.
I leave the restaurant, returning to the garage, to find out if there is any news. Roger, the driver of the tow truck, has the old tires removed from the wheels and is waiting, ready to put on the new as soon as they arrive. Roger and I start talking and a short time later a Mercedes SUV pulls into the garage. The driver steps out, opens the back, and leaves us with two new tires.
Roger installs the tires onto the wheels, the wheels back onto the car, and I thank him immensely for waiting these hours out as well, as he could have just gone home and said we wouldn’t be on the road until tomorrow. I head down the road, park outside the hotel, and go inside to tell my mom and Ann that we are ready to go! We are on the road again heading north at 10:20pm, nearly eight hours delayed.
Roger mounting a new tire onto the wheel.
In my excitement of continuing on our way, I forgot to fuel up in Lochgilphead as had been my plan, because we won’t have enough fuel for the rest of the drive tonight. Once I realized it, I was pretty upset with myself because it is late and there is no guarantee that there are going to be gas stations open. In the next major town of Oban, all three gas stations are closed, even the one that advertises being open until midnight is already closed down before midnight.
This station was connected to a large chain store and I could see the lights on inside so I walked over to the building. As I could see through the window in the door that there were still employees in the store, likely stocking merchandise, I pounded on the door for several minutes until two of them came. They didn’t want to open the door so we talked through it. Although it still was not midnight, they were unwilling to reopen the gas station. They said there was a gas station still open that was outside of town in the direction we were heading.
After fueling up and buying some snacks shortly after midnight, we continue north, arriving to our booked bed and breakfast in Fort William at 1:00am. The narrow, steep, winding roads were not fun to drive in the dark, but the tense drive is over. Fortunately our host was kind and left the front door unlocked with a note indicating our room number. Well, today was an adventure.
This post covers Wednesday, August 19 to Monday, September 7, 2015 (3 weeks).
Loch Ness
The next morning we are up and eating breakfast at 7:00am, following an undesirably short amount of sleep. From Fort William we drive north and reach Fort Augustus in time for a boat cruise on Loch Ness starting at 10:00am. The boat was a RIB (Rigid Inflatable Boat), which is the same as what is called a Zodiak. I had booked it and my mom and Ann didn’t know what type of boat it would be, which was good because both said they wouldn’t have agreed to this type of boat if they had known, but they both ended up enjoying the trip.
And we’re off, and accepting that we are on a RIB.
Discovering Loch Ness by boat.
Wild goats on the shore.
Remains of Urqhaurt Castle.
Remains of two old boats near the shore.
Remains from a bridge that previously crossed here.
Loch Ness with darkening skies.
Tongue
The next day, we continue north from Loch Ness. Since Fort William, we have been following my cycling route from May in the reverse direction, with much of the roads north of Loch Ness being the very roads I had cycled. It is really great to be able to see it again and from a different perspective. I had no idea how steep some of the hills were that I had cycled up. Now that we are going down them, there are signs indicating the grade that weren’t visible from the other direction. There are some hills of 13% grade that I cycled up and I never would have imagined they were that steep!
Same view I had in the rain in May during my cycling.
We reach the town of Tongue in the Highlands, where my mom’s dad’s side of the family originates from and where I connected with cousins in May.
View of Ben Loyal in the evening from where we stayed.
During our time in Tongue, we have the great pleasure of spending time with our cousins Michael and his wife Isobel, Carol and her husband Robert, and Margie who is Carols’ mom.
My 3rd great grandparents left Tongue in 1849. All their siblings remained. My 2nd great grandfather was born in Tongue and was eight years old when the family left. Some of my cousins in the U.S. did some genealogy research more than 20 years ago but were not able to make a connection with relatives still in Scotland. One of them actually made a trip to Scotland and visited Tongue. After acquiring the work that was previously done, I moved forward and in May discovered our cousins still living here.
My mom is the same generation away from our common ancestors as Michael and Carol and she is 4th cousins in relation to them. Michael and Carol are first cousins to each other. Margie is the same generation as my grandpa, being 3rd cousins. It has been 166 years since my ancestors left until now in 2015 that the U.S. side of the family has reconnected with the family still here.
One day for lunch we meet Frances and Margaret, both whom I met in May. Margaret’s aunt Nana came and later in the week we go to her house for tea in a house heated by a peat fire.
We attend St Andrew’s Church, where our ancestors and cousins have attended for more than 300 years. I accepted the task of ringing the bell before the service.
We arranged a time to meet with the minister of St. Andrew’s Church and saw the small crypt. There are the remains of one Mackay Chieftain and they are in a small wooden box.
The crypt of St. Andrew’s Church.
The stairs going from the crypt back up into the church.
One afternoon we go on a scenic drive around the area.
A view of Loch Eriboll.
A photo opportunity in Mackay Country.
We visit the family home where our ancestors were living beginning in the 1840s. The owner, John, was not around but had given me permission to visit and let ourselves on to the property.
The family home where our ancestors lived beginning in the 1840s.
The family home, land, and our rental car.
I hike up on the hill above the house where an old cart path is still evident. The cart path was the route to and from a location where peat was cut from the land. The path formed by thousands of trips by our ancestors with a cart is now overgrown with low vegetation. It is amazing to me that in this way the efforts of their daily life can still be seen.
The low area starting in the foreground, that looks like a ditch, is an old path from a cart that brought peat down from the hills.
Ben Loyal
I am very happy to have the time to hike Ben Loyal.
I start the hike at 10:30am with the route starting through a farm and then eventually reaching boggy terrain without a defined path.
The approach to Ben Loyal starts by crossing through farmland.
There is nice vegetation of heather and flowers, which is a nice change in scenery from other hikes I have done.
The flora at the base of Ben Loyal.
Part way through the journey I catch up to two other hill walkers.
Looking back on the farmland already passed through.
Looking down from part way up the mountain, the Kyle of Tongue on the left in the distance.
An unexpected friend I meet along the way.
Rising up into the clouds, the clouds looking a lot less joyful now.
At 1:30pm I reach what initially appears to be the top while it is lightly raining and cloudy. The clouds are initially blocking the view across to the true summit.
Through the fog with the Kyle of Tongue in the distance.
From here I can look down and see Carn Fada, the site of the 1433 Battle of Druim na coub, where I had hiked to in May. I can also see the Kyle of Tongue and all the surrounding area.
Looking down the steep side to Carn Fada below.
Looking across to the true high point that is Ben Loyal. Let’s go!
I reach the true summit just after 2:00pm.
The summit marker.
The clouds blanketing the curves of the mountains.
Minutes later the wind has pushed the clouds away, for a moment at least.
Just before 2:30pm I am heading back down.
Heading back down out of the clouds.
As I am heading down the mountain, there is a heavy rain that lasts approximately 45 minutes. With there not being a trail on most of the steep, grassy slope, I have to simply choose my own route that traverses at a reasonable steepness and keeps me out of the boggy areas. At one point I am not successful in this and my right leg goes in up to my calf. My shoe is soaked. Once I am lower down the mountain, I do not intersect with the trail and cannot locate it, which is frustrating. I simply head toward what is visibly the correct direction.
Just before 5:00pm I am back at the car, where I am attacked by midgies. These little flying insects are smaller than mosquitoes, bite, and can show up in groups like a cloud. Without having taken insect repellant on the hike, I am actually fortunate to not have been attacked by them before now. They must have been waiting for me!
The cattle back in the farmland that waited, watching to make sure I safely returned.
Two Expensive Days of Travel
After a week in Tongue we depart. On our way south we make a stop at Dunrobin Castle.
Dunrobin Castle seen from the gardens below.
The gardens of Dunrobin Castle.
There is a falconry display in the castle gardens. The Hawk is 2.5 pounds, can carry a 10 pound rabbit, is fully grown in 6 weeks, and at 12 weeks is fully independent. The Eagle Owl weights 5 pounds and can lift a small deer. Its specialty is being silent to rabbits, which it accomplishes with special feathers that break up the sound of its flight. The Greenland Falcon weights the same as the Hawk at 2.5 pounds but is smaller with shorter legs and eats three times the amount of the Eagle Owl. It can fly at 200 mph (322 km/h) and inflict 80 pounds of impact into a seagull.
One of our friends in flight during the falconry display.
After the falconry display we see the inside of Dunrobin Castle that has rooms set up as they were previously.
Photo Gallery – Dunrobin Castle
From Dunrobin Castle we head south to Inverness, where I will be parting ways with my mom and her friend Ann. After reviewing the details of the remainder of their trip, I head on my way south. I drive for five hours, arriving to a hotel for the night in Campbeltown at 11:00pm, the latest time for check in.
The next morning I wake up at 5:30am. There has been a change in plans. I was supposed to take the passenger-only ferry back to Northern Ireland this morning. But yesterday while we were at Dunrobin Castle, I received an email from the ferry company explaining that the sailing was being canceled due to weather and I would be able to take the ferry the following day (tomorrow). Well, I have a flight tomorrow that leaves from Belfast and won’t make it if I take the ferry tomorrow. So while at Dunrobin Castle, I had to figure out options to make that flight, or a less expensive option compared to missing the flight.
At 6:30am I am departing Campbeltown by bus.
View of the Kildalloig Bay from Campbeltown before my early morning bus ride.
At 10:40am I arrive to Glasgow and at 11:15am am on another bus heading east. At 12:12pm I arrive to the airport in Edinburgh. Coincidentally my mom and Ann are taking a bus from Inverness to Edinburgh today. Sadly, for returning the rental car there was no other option but to return it to Campbeltown as the company has no other location.
My flight leaves at 2:15pm. I booked this just the day before, barely 24 hours ahead. Flights booked last minute cost a lot, this one being five times what it would normally cost, and a lot more than the planned ferry!
I arrive to Belfast at 3:10pm, take a train, and then walk two miles to Heather and Graham’s home in Lisburn.
The next morning Graham drives me to the airport and my flight departs at 12:45pm. This flight I only booked three days ago, so another pricey flight. At 1:50pm I arrive to Aberdeen, Scotland. Yep, the country I just left yesterday.
I had left my suitcases in Northern Ireland because my plan was to be back there. Then my plans changed. Since my suitcases were still there, I had to go get them. Since I made a last minute decision to go to Aberdeen, that flight was expensive. Then because of the ferry cancellation, that was another flight that was expensive. So, I was in Northern Ireland for less than 24 hours, effectively only to pick up my suitcases, and spent $488 (£ 325) to do it. Ouch! Last minute changes in plans can be very expensive. The past two days will most likely be the most expensive of the year for the effective distance traveled to the next destination.
Westhill
Nancy picks me up from the airport in Aberdeen. Nancy is a cousin of my mom’s generation, so they are 4th cousins, and she is 1st cousins with Michael and Carol in Tongue. We drive to Westhill where her family lives. Westhill is in the council area of Aberdeenshire, about a 25 minute drive west of Aberdeen.
I meet her husband David and their children Sam and Claire who came for dinner that night. Sam and Claire are my generation, we being 5th cousins, and we are close in age, they each being just a few years younger.
I stay with Nancy and David for three nights. Nancy has done a lot of work on the family history and we spend time sharing information, comparing notes, and collaborating to some new realizations.
Glenrothes
From Aberdeen I take the train south to Markinch where I am picked up by Allan. We head back to his home in Glenrothes, which is in the council area of Fife, and approximately halfway between Perth and Edinburgh. Allan is also a cousin of my mom’s generation, and 1st cousins in relation to Michael, Carol, and Nancy.
I stay with Allan and his wife Sandra for three nights and during that time Allan takes me to some sites that were very interesting.
We visit an underground bunker that is ‘Scotland’s best kept secret.’ The bunker is two stories and the entry starts in an ordinary looking farmhouse and then goes down a long, downward sloped tunnel, which makes two perpendicular turns right before the bunker’s steel doors. The turns in the tunnel are by design intended to reduce the force of a blast coming down the tunnel.
The bunker was originally built as part of Britain’s early warning radar chain. As radar became more powerful, this location became redundant and was closed for those purposes in the late 1950s. The construction started in 1951 and took two years. The hole dug was 125 feet (38 meters) deep. The concrete is 15 feet (4.6 meters) at the thickest locations with tungsten bars of 1 inch (2.5 cm) diameter every 6 inches (15 cm). Builders had to sign an official secrets act and were also never told what the building was for. Delivery trucks would be stopped away from the site and driven to and from the bunker location only by official workers.
In 1958, the Civil Defence Corps moved in and staffed it as a regional seat of government until 1968. Following that period, the bunker was set up to become Scotland’s government headquarters in the event of a nuclear war. It was prepared to house 300 personnel and there were two other protected headquarter sites to spread the government to multiple locations. However, eventually only this one remained and was in service until 1993. The farmhouse that is the beginning of the entrance was put up for sale like any other house, and it included the bunker that was not advertised.
The next day we go to Dundee and see two old ships.
Construction of the ship Unicorn began in February 1822 at the Royal Dockyard at Chatham and was completed in two years, using 1,000 oak trees. The ship was launched on March 30, 1824, having a length of 152 feet (46.3 meters). Although it had been built as a 46 gun frigate, it did not enter the service of the Royal Navy, but was roofed over and did not receive masts and rigging. It was used as a powder hulk, which was basically a floating warehouse for gunpowder that was moved as needed to simplify the transfer of gunpowder to warships, and being away from land, reduced the possible damage from an explosion. The Unicorn had many uses in its life after its time as a powder hulk: training ship, drill ship, in WW I as headquarters for a Senior Naval Officer, in WW II took the surrender of a U-boat, which is thought to be the only time a submarine has surrendered to a wooden ship. Today it serves as a museum.
We also saw the ship Discovery, which was built for a 1901-1904 expedition to Antarctica. It was built to be able to store provisions for forty men for a period of more than two years and is 172 feet (52 meters) in length. It was equipped with a steam engine that was only intended for use when the wind failed, to maneuver through pack ice, or in an emergency when the ship might need to reverse away from danger. With the steam engine capable of consuming six tons of coal per day, coal was the most precious commodity. The coal storage bunkers could hold 350 tons and another 40 tons was stored on deck. The cost of the steam engine was 23% of the total cost to build the ship.
On its first voyage to Antarctica, Earnest Henry Shackleton was the third officer under Captain Robert Falcon Scott. For achievements during a second expedition of 1907-1909, Shackleton was knighted. Shackleton led a 1914-1917 expedition with the ship Endurance during which it encountered disaster when the ship became trapped in pack ice. Shackleton became famous for a 720 nautical mile voyage in a lifeboat with five others to reach South Georgia to obtain rescue for the rest of his crew.
The main mast and rigging of the Discovery.
Officers quarters on the Discovery, with ‘Shackleton’ above the door to his room.
Photo Gallery – Unicorn and Discovery
Glasgow and Edinburgh
The next morning, Allan takes me to the Markinch Train Station and at 10:30am I am on a train heading south.
I spend one night in Glasgow and see Wendy, who I had met back in May. She is still climbing the munros and only has a handful left to reach the goal of 70.
I meet up with my mom and her friend Ann in Edinburgh for their last night of their four-week trip. Since we parted in Inverness, they have spent a week in Edinburgh where they met our cousin Fiona who I had met in May. They also spent part of a day with John and Sandra from the Clan Mackay Society. After their time in Edinburgh, they spent a few days with Mairi’s parents in Lochmaben.
I go to the airport with them for their departing flight home and they take back with them my suitcases. For the remainder of my travels I will be traveling with a carry-on size backpack.
From the airport I head west by bus to Linlithgow to see John and Sandra at their home. I end up in Glasgow for the night.
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
Wendy takes me to airport and at 8:40am my flight departs on time, which is good because someone else has just landed and is waiting where this flight will arrive.
This day to be continued.
And we are going to have some new countries for you in the next post!