Peggy officially hit the road on Thursday, 8 June and has barely stopped since. We figured that we might keep a log of each week ending Sunday for ourselves and hopefully for your enjoyment too!
Our first port of call on Day 1 was Cambridge. Every bit as charming as you would assume with the cobble stone streets, incredible architecture (King’s College for starters) and frantic students huddled in coffee shops. We explored for a few hours before continuing on to a small town by the name of Batley, near Leeds.
We visited this small town as Jess’ great grandmother was born at Purlwell School and her great great grandfather just so happened to also be the headmaster in the late 1880’s for roughly 20 years. It was really incredible to see the school in person, knowing the rich family history.
By the time we were finished at the school it was already late afternoon and we wanted to get as north as possible. To find camping spots, we are using about 4 different apps that Jack has downloaded (let us know if you want specific info) all of which haven’t led us astray – be it wild camping or in a caravan park. Through this, we found Kendal Cricket Club allowed campers to park overnight for a measly £3 (albeit no facilities once the club closed, but hey).
Turns out the town was as quintessentially English as it gets; stone bridges, canals, and public toilets predating Australia’s settlement.
Day 2 started with an early morning walk and explore of Kendal. Much puppy patting happened which obviously made us very happy, but we made a hasty departure because our end goal for the day was to reach Scotland.
We detoured through the Lake District which turned out to be the best decision ever – the rolling green hills and leafy canopies over the roads were exactly how you would imagine. TripAdvisor (which we search before arriving at a new destination) said one of the top things to do in the Lake District was to climb Catbells, so we did. The ascent was steep and rocky, but oh so bloody worth it.
After surviving the 420 metre elevation and 945,642 odd steps, we made it back to Peggy and onward to Scotland. We decided to stay at Red Deer Caravan Park just outside of Glasgow, which set us back about £25 (worth it for a shower).
We caught the train into the city for dinner and a well earned pint and it actually reminded us a lot of Sydney, but with slightly less gang violence. It was a Friday night so everywhere was bursting at the seams and we were absolutely buggered from our huge day so we headed back to Peggy for an early-ish night (Note: sunset is about 10pm here during the summer).
Day 3 started slowly with a few calls to family (Happy Birthday Dad!) before heading out. We drove east to St Andrews so Jack could geek out for the golf, the grass “quality” and join the other wankers also buying St Andrews caps.
On our way, we chanced upon Scotland Deer Centre so obviously stopped in. It was sort of an Oakdale Farm / petting zoo kinda deal but with deer instead of kangaroos – needless to say Jess was stoked.
After leaving St Andrews, we drove through the Highlands for about 5 hours to reach Loch Ness. En-route, we stopped in at Dalwhinnie’s distillery (which happens to be the highest and coldest scotch distillery in Scotland) and grabbed ourselves a bottle of 15yo single malt scotch to warm the soul and blow the budget.
We finally got to Loch Ness around 7pm and thanks to the curvature of the earth, were welcomed with a further 3 hours of daylight and incredible views. The apps that Jack downloaded came up trumps with an absolute waterfront spot just off the motorway all to ourselves for the night (no showers or toilets but completely free! Yay!)
We encountered a shady character first thing on Day 4 (a Frenchman who had “walked miles, found a cigarette on the road and needed a light” – sure we can help). After this, we got everything packed up and said goodbye to our jackpot spot. Final destination for today was John O’Groats – the most north east town on mainland Scotland.
The highway took us through some small towns, one being Golspie. We stopped for a loo break and ended up meandering through the forest on the “Big Burn” walking trail; think waterfalls, fern lined paths and wooden bridges.
After our walk we drove about a mile to Dundrobin Castle but didn’t venture inside because tickets were £11 per person – we like castles but not that much (also on a budget). We ended up wandering through the grounds instead which was just fine for us.
Back on the road, we arrived at John O’Groats around 2pm and got prime posi overlooking the coast at the one and only caravan park (£18 for the night with showers and toilets).
Stayed tuned for Week Two! Tìoraidh x
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