Ellie and Me – T5 travels
Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2016 8:51 am
Further up ….. to Culzean Castle
I woke to another stunning sunrise, but just couldn't persuade myself to get up and take photos. Dozed off again, to wake at 07.30 to overcast skies – grey and much colder, but got up and walked Ellie along the beach again.
After packing up, I drove off northwards, stopping for a short walk to see the Kirkmadrine Stones. In a glass-fronted porch at the west end of Kirkmadrine Church is a collection of the oldest known Christian monuments in Scotland (outside Whithorn). The earliest of these stones is a pillar dating from the 400s or 500s.
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/s ... inestones/
Heading even further North, along the A77, through Stranraer, Ballantrae and then on to Girvan, I began to feel a small tremor/wobble through the steering wheel, but put it down to the poor quality of the road surface.
At a viewpoint just south of Lendalfoot, I stopped to take photos of Ailsa Craig. This volcanic island, know for the quarrying of blue hone granite for making curling stones, lies 9 miles offshore, and is known as 'Paddy's milestone', being half way between Glasgow and Belfast.
Continuing on, we stopped in Girvan and had a bracing walk along the prom. Then a wander into the town itself. Whilst the seafront area is very nice, the town centre is a little run-down and I was disappointed not to be able to find a wet-fish shop.
Wandering around unknown towns can sometimes reveal hidden delights, such as the Knockcushan Gardens. This small, walled garden forms part of what was once the old Town House. It has a small aviary and a beautiful mosaic. I imagine that this is the perfect place to go to at lunchtime for some peace and quiet.
I moved the van from the free parking on the prom into the car park at the harbour (also free), popped the top up and made lunch (soup and sarnie). It's great to be able to just pull over and within a few minutes have the kettle on the go for a cup of something hot
I discovered that I could get Internet access using my 'limpet' – huzzah!
The only down-side here was the cost of using the public lavatories – 30p!!
Ow!, thirty pee
To have a wee -
That really did
Astonish me.
Onwards again, we headed off to Culzean Castle Club Site (The Camping & Caravanning Club (C&CC)).
http://www.campingandcaravanningclub.co ... zeancastle
(The wheel-wobble was getting worse – it kicked in at about 40 mph and I was starting to become a little concerned about it.)
The Culzean Castle campsite is just lovely. It's IN the grounds of the castle (not very well signposted from the road - basically, you have to follow the signs to the entrance to the castle grounds and keep an eye out for the small signs showing the way to the site.)
Most pitches are fairly level with hardstanding and the facilities are great and extremely clean: showers, toilets, washing up area, a children’s play area, laundry facilities, an outdoor drying area and recycling bins (including one for waste food – a first in all of the sites I've visited). Many of the 90 pitches have hook-ups. There are also designated dog walks.
The lady who showed me where to pitch decided against Pitch 1, telling me that, “There's not a very good view from this one”, and instead allocated me Pitch 7, which had a spectacular view out across a recently ploughed field across the Firth of Clyde to the Isle of Arran. Just gorgeous.
Pre-warned by the site information, I knew that there wouldn't be any mobile/Internet signal here, but by hanging my 'make-your-own Wi-Fi hotspot' device up in a tree, I got signal and contacted my Brilliant Brother to discuss the wheel-wobble. We both came to the same conclusion – it would be prudent to get it checked out the next morning.
Supper: Softened shallot (can you see a pattern emerging here?), cumin, coriander (glad I took herbs and spices with me), smoked garlic, water, udon noddles, then cooled it slightly and added tinned tuna.
Lesson learned: Use any Internet connection as much as possible when you get it.
Seen: Black Grouse, Eider Duck, Rock Pipit.
Culzean Castle.
Up early (again) to bright sunshine (again). Before 07.30, Ellie and I were walking down a lovely forested path towards the castle. There was nobody in the entrance booth, nor did there appear to be a charge for walkers to enter the castle grounds.
Half an hour or so later, we came to Home Farm.
Along another footpath, and the castle came into view.
It was far too early for the first tour of the interior of the castle (and I doubt that Ellie would have been allowed in!), so we wandered around the grounds and then went down to the beach below the castle.
The mid-19th Century Gas House provided coal gas, then acetylene until 1947, when electric power was installed. It now houses an exhibition on early gas production.
Whilst we were walking on the beach, I noticed sea-glass in amongst the stones and seaweed. Within 10 minutes, I'd collected all of these different colours (Ellie wasn't any help at all, she was far more interested in sniffing out 'dead things', especially in the clumps of weed. Thank the gods that she didn't actually roll in anything horrid!):
I woke to another stunning sunrise, but just couldn't persuade myself to get up and take photos. Dozed off again, to wake at 07.30 to overcast skies – grey and much colder, but got up and walked Ellie along the beach again.
After packing up, I drove off northwards, stopping for a short walk to see the Kirkmadrine Stones. In a glass-fronted porch at the west end of Kirkmadrine Church is a collection of the oldest known Christian monuments in Scotland (outside Whithorn). The earliest of these stones is a pillar dating from the 400s or 500s.
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/s ... inestones/
Heading even further North, along the A77, through Stranraer, Ballantrae and then on to Girvan, I began to feel a small tremor/wobble through the steering wheel, but put it down to the poor quality of the road surface.
At a viewpoint just south of Lendalfoot, I stopped to take photos of Ailsa Craig. This volcanic island, know for the quarrying of blue hone granite for making curling stones, lies 9 miles offshore, and is known as 'Paddy's milestone', being half way between Glasgow and Belfast.
Continuing on, we stopped in Girvan and had a bracing walk along the prom. Then a wander into the town itself. Whilst the seafront area is very nice, the town centre is a little run-down and I was disappointed not to be able to find a wet-fish shop.
Wandering around unknown towns can sometimes reveal hidden delights, such as the Knockcushan Gardens. This small, walled garden forms part of what was once the old Town House. It has a small aviary and a beautiful mosaic. I imagine that this is the perfect place to go to at lunchtime for some peace and quiet.
I moved the van from the free parking on the prom into the car park at the harbour (also free), popped the top up and made lunch (soup and sarnie). It's great to be able to just pull over and within a few minutes have the kettle on the go for a cup of something hot
I discovered that I could get Internet access using my 'limpet' – huzzah!
The only down-side here was the cost of using the public lavatories – 30p!!
Ow!, thirty pee
To have a wee -
That really did
Astonish me.
Onwards again, we headed off to Culzean Castle Club Site (The Camping & Caravanning Club (C&CC)).
http://www.campingandcaravanningclub.co ... zeancastle
(The wheel-wobble was getting worse – it kicked in at about 40 mph and I was starting to become a little concerned about it.)
The Culzean Castle campsite is just lovely. It's IN the grounds of the castle (not very well signposted from the road - basically, you have to follow the signs to the entrance to the castle grounds and keep an eye out for the small signs showing the way to the site.)
Most pitches are fairly level with hardstanding and the facilities are great and extremely clean: showers, toilets, washing up area, a children’s play area, laundry facilities, an outdoor drying area and recycling bins (including one for waste food – a first in all of the sites I've visited). Many of the 90 pitches have hook-ups. There are also designated dog walks.
The lady who showed me where to pitch decided against Pitch 1, telling me that, “There's not a very good view from this one”, and instead allocated me Pitch 7, which had a spectacular view out across a recently ploughed field across the Firth of Clyde to the Isle of Arran. Just gorgeous.
Pre-warned by the site information, I knew that there wouldn't be any mobile/Internet signal here, but by hanging my 'make-your-own Wi-Fi hotspot' device up in a tree, I got signal and contacted my Brilliant Brother to discuss the wheel-wobble. We both came to the same conclusion – it would be prudent to get it checked out the next morning.
Supper: Softened shallot (can you see a pattern emerging here?), cumin, coriander (glad I took herbs and spices with me), smoked garlic, water, udon noddles, then cooled it slightly and added tinned tuna.
Lesson learned: Use any Internet connection as much as possible when you get it.
Seen: Black Grouse, Eider Duck, Rock Pipit.
Culzean Castle.
Up early (again) to bright sunshine (again). Before 07.30, Ellie and I were walking down a lovely forested path towards the castle. There was nobody in the entrance booth, nor did there appear to be a charge for walkers to enter the castle grounds.
Half an hour or so later, we came to Home Farm.
Along another footpath, and the castle came into view.
It was far too early for the first tour of the interior of the castle (and I doubt that Ellie would have been allowed in!), so we wandered around the grounds and then went down to the beach below the castle.
The mid-19th Century Gas House provided coal gas, then acetylene until 1947, when electric power was installed. It now houses an exhibition on early gas production.
Whilst we were walking on the beach, I noticed sea-glass in amongst the stones and seaweed. Within 10 minutes, I'd collected all of these different colours (Ellie wasn't any help at all, she was far more interested in sniffing out 'dead things', especially in the clumps of weed. Thank the gods that she didn't actually roll in anything horrid!):