Tuesday 6 July to Thursday 8 July —
Rest Days in Dunfermline
Tuesday was a huge day,
so we’re buggered. The kids are enjoying
themselves, as are Karyn and I, and that’s the main thing. On Tuesday, Glyn and Caroline took us to Butterfly World,
where we touched snakes and tarantulas for the first time in our lives. Then,
we went back to my Mum and Dad’s where the kids were allowed to run amok in the
. I struggled with Dad’s wireless to
upload the previous blog, but realized it was the size of the photos that was
the problem, We finished off Tuesday 6th
at historic Forgandenny,
where Glyn and Caroline live, but it was too wet to go for walks (there’s a
change for Scotland!). So, Brother Phil came round and we lushed the
night away. Hang on—no I didn’t, I was
driving. Karyn indulged.
When we came back to Forgandenny
on the Wednesday, at least the weather allowed us to walk around the school
grounds. Glyn teaches at Strathallen School, an
exclusive fee-paying school in Perth-Kinross.
The school , and the grounds, are rich with history and
architecture. Sarah and Tasha were
excited to show their wee cousins around their own school, Forgandenny Primary. Well, The walk did us all good, but the kids
were more interested in taking out the Thomas train tracks we brought, and
taking over the living room.
Thursday was dominated by our anticipation to see Shrek 4. We weren’t disappointed . We all though it was fabulous—for big kids
and little kids. The 3d effects were pretty good—most natural, not convoluted. So, I’d recommend it.
As I write, Karyn is cooking tea on Thursday
night, Phil is about to arrive, and this house in Torryburn will sleep 5
lushing adults and 5 bouncy kids who are clearly not ready for sleep!. It’ll be a good night.
Friday 9 July - Play Day with the
Cousins
Phoebe, Callum and Brodie are loving the time with
their cousins, Sarah and Tasha. The fact
that they all play together so well helps us as we recover today from the
excesses of last night. Glyn, Phil and I
went back in time about 20 years and played cards till the wee small hours.
Yes, the harsh banter between the three brothers was thick and painful.
Well, Friday’s weather is
pretty miserable, so we head to Playplanet,
in Dalgety Bay.
Here, the four adults plan what we can see when we go to the caravan in
Shell Bay next week Some might say, we
haven’t done much that we couldn’t do in New Zealand. However, I don’t have my brothers in New Zealand, the kids don’t have Sarah and Tasha
in New Zealand,
so it’s the people we’re particularly enjoying at the moment. It’s certainly not the weather, although it
is warmer than NZ.
As I look back over
today, it’s been another lulu! Dad took
us all out to the Pitbauchlie
Hotel for a meal. Consider
chicken supreme stuffed with haggis, in a whisky sauce. It was heaven. Actually it wasn’t us “all” at the meal — Glyn
and Caroline sloped off to the George Hotel in Edinburgh for a romantic
getaway. Something about wedding
anniversary or something.
10 July - Camping in Shell Bay
Another marathon
day. What ever happened to
“holiday”? Actually, it’s
fantastic. We’re all getting the sleep
we need, and packing in the days. Today, we traveled to Liz and Norman’s caravan in Shell
Bay, in the East Neuk of Fife. It’s just 12 miles from St.
Andrews, “The Home of Golf.”
After shopping for supplies (including Vegemite—yes they have Vegemite
here), we traveled the 45 minutes from Dunfermline to Shell Bay. The road network has changed dramatically
since I were a lad (strange that), so we did get lost a couple of times. The rain didn’t help navigation matters.
I’m beginning to think we
have brought our crappy weather with us from NZ. Either that, or I’ve forgotten how much I
hate the sodding howling gales in this country.
It was in screaming, wet rain that we put up Glyn and Caroline’s
tent. I have this huge guilt that Glyn
and Caroline couldn’t fit into the caravan, but Glyn was determined to put up a
tent. So, I was determined to help
him. It got stressful at times, so I was
probably most helpful when I kept my big mouth shut. Caroline’s folks (Andrew and Rayna) and
family friend (Dorothy) arrived with Sarah and Tasha, so they pitched in.
The event was marred when
some black Labrador youngster found a target
in Brodie. This pup was as big as
Brodie, kept jumping up to him, and wouldn’t stop. The owner couldn’t catch him. None of our group could push this tenacious
thing away, and I was too far away.
Brodie was screaming in complete panic.
I ran and I was furious, and I felt my Red Mist come down. Thankfully, the owner caught the dog and
Brodie was not physically hurt. Not only
did I NOT drop-kick the pup, I even apologised to the owner for
shouting. I felt so helpless in not
being able to protect my son quick enough.
It took Brodie and I a long time to get over that one.
The tent was up, and I
sloped off to cook us all dinner — for 12 of us. It was a bugger of a
challenge, and I welcomed Glyn and Phil for pitching in, as they were more
familiar with the caravan’s cooking facilities (just one shelf on the oven, for
crying our loud!!!!!!!!!!)
Glad to watch Germany win
Third Place Play-off.
11 July - Anstruther
An easier day. It would have been even easier if it hadn’t
been for the wind. Gosh, it knocks the
hell out of you!! You don’t realise how
exhausting that wind is until you’re out of it.
So, we spent the afternoon out of it, in the Fisheries Museum at
Anstruther. Anstruther
is just 15 minutes drive from the Shell
Bay caravan site, and is deemed the
capital of Fife’s East Neuk. Certainly, when we were there, it was
hoaching with tourists. Good to see this
wee town getting the recognition it deserves.
Caroline stayed with the tent to ensure it didn’t blow away.
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