Week in Review: Week 30
This week was our last week in Scotland and the last week of our housesit near Ayr. The weather wasn’t the best this week, but we still managed to make it out and about to see our last sights in Scotland. We’ve had a wonderful time in Scotland, and it is hard to say goodbye!
Highlight of the week
Sharleen: Housesitting. We’ve done 5 house sits now, and each time it is a highlight for us! We really enjoy the people we meet, and the awesome animals we look after. At this house sit we’ve looked after three adorable dogs (one is a cute puppy too which is a plus!), 4 hens, and 3 cats. It’s been such a fun break from our busy travels, and we really had a chance to relax and unwind. We will miss these cuties for sure!
Darrell: Trump Turnberry Golf Course. I’m a huge golf fan, which is not a surprise to anyone who knows me. So being in Scotland and seeing some of the most historic courses in the world has been awesome! This week we went to Trump Turnberry and walked to the Turnberry Lighthouse. It was a little surreal to be walking along the course and seeing the amazing facilities. There is so much history here, as it has hosted 4 Open Champions and golfing here would be a dream come true for me! I’ll just be adding this course to my growing list of Scotland courses to golf when I return…after we have jobs again.
Least favourite part of the week
Sharleen: Inconsiderate tourists. We’ve encountered inconsiderate tourists a few times on our trip, and every once in a while it really bugs me! This week we visited Culzean Castle. It is a beautiful castle south of Ayr. It is one of the largest castles we have seen on our trip, and it had gorgeous greens and gardens. The castle is closed for the season, so we knew we couldn’t go inside when we visited. But it was worth the visit just to see the outside!
We had our drone with us but before we left the parking lot we did a quick Google search and found out that drones were not allowed on the property unless you have special permissions. We’ve run into that a few times at various places, so it wasn’t a big deal and we just left our drone in the car. However, after walking around the castle we heard a drone near the castle entrance. Who knows, maybe they had permission, but it is unlikely. It is frustrating because drones are already quite hard to fly, and the rules are just going to get harder and stricter if people violate them. I’m sure that within 5 years it will be nearly impossible to fly drones anywhere interesting. Having people fly them in places that they don’t have permission to fly in, or in zones that are restricted, are just going to make the rules and laws come into place faster. It’s really too bad because drones offer many awesome alternative perspectives to many beautiful sites.
Darrell: Colder weather. This last week definitely brought colder, winter weather. We still haven’t had snow yet, but each morning we’ve woken up to thick frost. The air is crisp, and we can no longer walk around without jackets. Most of the time we need to wear toques (or hats because toque could not be Canadian) on our walks with the dogs. In general we like the cooler, milder weather - something around 12 degrees is perfect for us! But the temperatures have been staying around 3, and we can tell winter is just around the corner. At least we are heading a bit further south now, so the weather should be a bit milder going into next few months.
Favourite city/town/village visited
Sharleen and Darrell: Ayr. Even though this was our favourite town last week, it was the only town we visited again this week! We didn’t make it into town often, but Ayr has everything we needed for a very comfortable stay. This week we needed to send a parcel home (full of our free whisky glasses), print some papers, and run a few other errands. Something as simple as printing papers can be so challenging when on the road! But Ayr had a library and they were so helpful in providing everything we needed. It was nice to stay near a place that is pedestrian friendly and had everything we needed to complete our errands. We also quite loved Café Monza, a café on the main street. We have visited 3 times during our stay here, and their coffee was delicious!
Favourite meal of the week
Sharleen and Darrell: Indian food from Priya. There was this great Indian takeout restaurant just a few minutes from where we were house sitting. One of the nights this week we ordered some take out and it was super tasty! It’s really nice to mix it up and throw in some spicy food every once in a while. The Indian food in the UK has been fantastic, and I’m sure it will continue to be great as we make our way through England.
It’s now goodbye Scotland, hello England! Well, hello again. We made a quick 3-day stop in England as we made our way up to Scotland two months ago, but now we will be in England for a month and a half. We are starting our travels in the Lake District for a few days. We’ve heard it is absolutely gorgeous there, so we hope to have some nice weather so we can get out and explore the area! From there we are spending a few days near Cambridge. We are looking forward to seeing some beautiful towns and having a proper English Tea.
