Last day in Scotland

Wednesday was our last full day in Scotland. There were still so many things we would have liked to do in Edinburgh, but they will have to wait until the next trip. We needed a day to sort ourselves out after our Highland travels and have a bit of a laze as well. Anna and I walked down to Waitrose to get a few provisions for the day and to get goodies for a picnic for the train tomorrow as we have been told the train food is pretty dire and expensive. Grocery shopping in another country is still a huge novelty for the girls, wish it was that exciting at home! Anne from next door came for lunch. She has been very kind to us and we will miss her too. She really is incredible for her age, she will be 91 soon.

After lunch we did the one last thing on our Edinburgh must-do list. We climbed to the top of Arthur’s Seat, the highest volcano in Edinburgh, and a beautiful green area in the middle of the city. It was a typically misty Scottish day so the views weren’t as good as we had hoped, but it was still a great climb and we could pick out all the places we had been in Edinburgh. It was also a chance for a couple of quick caches, although there wasn’t one at the summit. The kids had fun running back down Arthur’s Seat.

After some time at home to pack our bags, it was off to Mike and Maggie Frew’s house. Maggie cooked us a delicious meal (yet another wonderful Scottish cook!) and it was followed by a magic show from Bill. It was a great chance for us to see some of the tricks that aren’t portable enough to bring to NZ. He did a great trick with a guillotine – chopping fruit up and then Anna was brave enough to put her arm through the guillotine. Her wrist was unscathed when the guillotine went through but the carrot below was cut clean in half.
Another fun trick was like a cluedo game – Matt was the policeman and Anna, myself and Maggie were the suspects. Magically Matt worked out who the murderer was (it was Anna!).

It is now Thursday morning and we are on the train to London. It was very sad saying goodbye to Jo at the train station. It has been a wonderful two weeks with her and she has spoilt us rotten. We are already looking forward to seeing her again in NZ in 2014 and now have very special memories of our time at Braid Manor.

We are very excited about London though. Anna and I had problems getting to sleep last night. We are also very excited about seeing Andy on Friday morning. We had an email from Sydney and he is now on the flight to Singapore. If all his flights are on time, he should be with us for breakfast on Friday morning.