A caravan holiday in Scotland, part 4

On our last full day we decided to go to the Scottish Maritime museum in nearby Irvine. 

It wasn't too far to drive, and we had a voucher for buy one get one free, so it was only £7.50 for the two of us. 

The museum was a lot more spread out then we realised, and the sat nav originally found a street in between the sites. Parking was easy though, and free.

Having found the main entrance, we paid and got a detailed explanation of where everything was and what to expect. We were only ten minutes before the tour for the tenement house, and Mv Kyles boat. So we had a quick look around before the tour. 

There was only the two of us on it as the museum was deserted. The man was friendly though and he lead us on about a 7 minute walk down to the tenement building. This was just two rooms that are kitted out like the living quarters of a ship worker and his family. It was nice to see and quite detailed, and the guide explained things. I enjoyed this, although I didn't feel it was possible to spend time reading the information, although the guide probably wouldn't have minded. 

Next we walked for about 10 minutes down to the boat, this was a lovely walk along the quay. It helped that it was a beautiful day, but as we went he told us more about the immediate area and boats. At the boat itself there was more to see with the crew quarters, hold, galley, captains quarters and cheat engineers quarters. We also saw the engine bay, although the original engine has been replaced with a diesel as they are planning to move the boat further up. Again the guide explained about the boat and the nearby MV Spartan, which we couldn't go on. 

After we walked back to the main museum building to finish looking around. This was mostly lots of engines, boats and similar displays. There were several videos, and interactive games. My favourite of which was the interactive yacht, which moves from side to side as you try to pilot it. 

Outside the main building there are also other displays of anchors, and boats, including a World War Two refuge boat. This was moored in the channel and if a plane, or boat capsized you could swim to it and await rescue. 

We went across the road to where the cafe, and SY Carola (being renovated) is, and enjoyed a tea and some cake outside the cafe. 

It was an enjoyable trip, although not what I expected. 

We drove back, stopping at Morrisons as we were thinking of having a barbecue, but we changed our minds and had crackers and cheese sat outside the caravan instead. It was nice, sunny but breezy. 

A caravan holiday in Scotland, part 3

The next day we visited nearby Glasgow, starting with the Kelvingrove museum which we visited a few years back. 

After following the sat navs instructions badly we eventually found it and parked up. It was a lovely sunny day.

The museum itself is massive and is spread over 3 floors, it has everything from stuffed animals to paintings and sculptures and is a great day out.

In the end we missed Glasgow entirely and spent the full afternoon at the museum. My favourite part was the live bee hive. They have a plastic tube coming from outside for them to come and go, and through the plastic you can see the working of the hive. It was quite fascinating. 

I also enjoyed the stuffed animals, something I hated as a child, but now I can appreciate being able to see the animals, even if they arn't alive. 

One of the museums own highlights is the Dali painting of Christ on the Cross. This was the second time we'd seen it, and we agreed it's a good painting but not our favourite Dali.

Halfway through the trip we took a pit stop at the outside cafe, a bit pricey at £3 for a few chips, but it was nice to enjoy the sun.

We were there about three and a half hours and decided to head back to avoid the traffic rather than see Glasgow. 

It's tiring relaxing.

On the night time we decided to go back into Kilmarnock to eat at the Wetherspoons. The food was lovely as were the staff. 

When we got back we stopped at the bar, and caught the end of the singer (better this time), and another quiz show. 

A caravan holiday in Scotland, part 2

We decided to have a lie in while the day warmed up. 

After a breakfast of tea, and chocolate brioche we went to have a look at the beach. It's advertised as a 15 minute walk, but I don't think it's quite that, although it's longer as you access it by going over a small railway bridge. From there was a great view. It was windy though so we decided to walk back, and have a drive into the village.

We ended up driving all the way down to Arbrossin as there's not much at Saltcoats. There we stopped at an Asda to get some shopping, there didn't look anywhere exciting to stop so we ended up back at the caravan. 

Here we decided to have something to eat at the boathouse restaurant, and get there 2 for £11 deal. Except after we'd picked something we were told they'd stopped serving food until 5, strange the offer is advertised between 12 and 5. Not much of an offer then. 

We got a bacon sandwich back at the caravan instead, and enjoyed sitting outside in the sunshine.

Next we drove to Kilmarnock to buy an electric heater. I enjoyed it, as it's a lovely little town with a nice range of shops, statues and cafes. A kind man also pointed out to us that you don't have to pay for parking after 5.

We decided to eat at a McDonald's, and came back to watch TV.

We went to the nighttime show at the clubhouse, which was billed as cabaret, but was actually a singer, who wasn't that great. This was followed by another music game show which was ok.

A caravan holiday to Scotland part 1

In June 2015 me and my husband went on a cravan to the west coat of Scotland through a Sun newspaper deal.

It was a long journey across from Northumberland, the weather was raining on and off, but the view as we crossed the pennines was great.

We stopped at Hexham to find a petrol station, and after a drive around I remembered the map on my iPad. Using that I located a garage, £50 for 40 liters of fuel later we continued on our way. 

The journey went well, especially when we hit Scotland. The M74 is an amazingly smooth 3 lane motorway with little traffic. The view continued to be amazing with sweeping hills, and wind turbines, which I like. 

After several little villages we arrived at the park. Checking in was nice and easy, the lady was friendly and gave us a map of how to get to our caravan as well as information on the entertainment, facilities and our entertainment passes.

The weather was still nice, and the caravan was red hot. The caravan itself is basic, but nice. There are two bedrooms, and the main one has an ensuite. 

I made the bed (you had to pay for bedding or bring your own, they just provide a quilt and pillows). We bought our own quilt to save messing around with quilt covers. We then had a cup of tea while looking at the information. We decided to have a bite to eat in the restaurant and then have a look at the show.

The restaurant stops serving at 8pm, and it was ten to so we both quickly decided to have ham, egg and chips. With a cider and a half it came to about £17.50, not bad value. The food itself was ok, although I was disappointed that the egg was hard and not runny. They had golf on in the restaurant but you couldn't hear it above the amusements in the other room. 

After we went into the show bar, but the kids thing was still on. It finishes at 9, we had a go in the amusements while we waited for 10 minutes. Then we had a drink and settled down for the show, except it was a game show instead of what was listed. It was entertaining enough though, and after they had a quiz which was pretty easy. 

After that we went back to the caravan, which was freezing. We put the fire on and watched TV, before going to bed. Again it was freezing, and I was pleased we had our thick quilt, it was that cold we put theres on top, and the two singles from the spare room. It was a good nights sleep though, nice and quiet.

49th Northumbrian Gathering Photos

This is my photo video of photos I took during the Saturday of the 49th Northumbrian Gathering. 

It was an event I really enjoyed, despite the weather 😀