Scotland to Wales 2014

My sister and I haven't been together since her wedding to Elliot two months after Lisa and Steve were married in 2013.

Like Lisa, Fleur had been eager to start a family and, happily, during October, she and Elliot had had a beautiful baby girl.

My road trip destination and planning had totally revolved around the fact that I would be able to call in for twenty four hours and visit both my sister and my new niece.

Parking in Edinburgh is not the easiest thing to achieve in a car, let alone a 17 seater converted LDV bus!

 I managed, with the help of some local builders and a lot of Blue Dot following on my phone, to park quite near to her new house and after my last fiasco with parking in Edinburgh (see Blog Twenty Four Hours in Edinburgh 2010) I carefully read the sign beside the parking place. No Parking between 4pm and 6pm. It was now 2pm so I could manage a two hour visit before I needed to find somewhere for the night!

To be fair Fleur had not been expecting me until the next day yet she took everything in her stride and as I began to explain the wonderful adventure with Lady Sage's ignition, she began to laugh and introduced me to her daughter!

Torra was beautiful, but who would expect anything less from my beautiful sister.

She was also very loud when she required feeding! I chatted and noticed happily what a natural mother Fleur was.

I had been totally unprepared for wonderful changes the arrival of Lisa had made into my life, but Fleur had everything organised. 

Not only was my sister an amazing business woman but she was now proving to be just as organised at motherhood!

As I needed to move Lady Sage and find somewhere safe for the night, I left the two of them together and promised to return in about two hours once I had found somewhere to sleep.

Across the road from Fleurs house was a brewery. Behind the brewery ran a rail line and between that and the four story town houses beyond, ran a one way road with cars parked on both sides. I spotted a place just big enough for Lady Sage to squeeze in against the wall that ran along side the rail line. We wiggled our way in, put up the curtains on the road side, twizzled the driver seat around and popped the heating on. The next hour was spent finishing off my Pringle stash and reading the second book of the Hunger Games that I had acquired from Cian for the trip.

With the Pringle packet empty and only three chapters to go in the book, I returned to Fleurs just as Elliot was returning and willingly took the opportunity to hold my well fed niece while they cooked dinner together. An hour later, as Torra slept, we dined and talked over the past year.

Fleur had received a message from our father to say he was off to New Zealand for three months, I told her all about Lisa and Steve's trip and new life in Singapore. 

We talked of plans and ideas, we talked of the possibility of visiting Moorea again in January of 2016. She and Elliot wanted to take Toora and I would go just come to say hello.

As the evening progressed Fleur and Elliot insisted that I slept in the house but I had Lady Sage. What, I protested, was the point in having such an amazing bus if I wasn't going to sleep in her. I had food, warmth, my belongings, everything I could possibly need, so at 11pm we said goodnight and armed with the front door key, in case I got cold or scared, I headed off to my bed.

My choice of parking spots for the Lady and myself was perfect. The trains stopped running at 11.30, the cars had stopped driving past even earlier, just the occasional late night walked disturbed the peace and tranquility of the spot. I had managed, by chance, to park under the only tree along the road and as I lay in my bed the leaves moved gently across the sky light.

I could have been sleeping deep in the highlands beneath a canopy of trees, hidden away somewhere in a distant forest for all I knew. The streets of Edinburgh offer some great camping opportunities!!

In the morning I returned to my sisters and we spent the day walking along the edge of the canal, through the streets of the city and eventually took lunch in a great child orientated pub. At night this place was 'The Place' for the young and prosperous, but at lunch time, families and mums were encouraged. Hot home-made chilli soup and fabulous chunks of toasted bread finished off with a great desert was just what we needed after our few hours of walking.

Back at the house I took the opportunity to plan my next move. From the places I mentioned Fleur said Dunbar was the nicest. I lined up my Blue Dot on the Iphone and just before the evening rush hour, I headed back to Lady Sage for the next part of my trip.

Dunbar was reached early evening and this time I found a location literally next to the beach! On one side of the road there was a solid wall about fifteen foot high, on the other side of the road was a ten foot drop to a narrow strip of beach and the sea. The tide was just beginning to go out, drifts of seaweed were being left upon the sand, waders rushed back and forth looking for things to eat. I cooked up my supper with the doors wide open to the late evening air and then headed into town.

There is not a huge amount to see in Dunbar at 7pm on a Wednesday night in November and by 7.30 I was sitting in one of the two pubs I had found on the main street. I had my book, a glass of cider, a packet of crisps and total peace …... that lasted about twenty minutes before three teams of ladies darts arrived for their mid week practice!!!

The rest of the evening was spent in conversation, raffle ticket buying (no I didn't win) and declining a huge array of meat orientated foods and snacks!! The ladies had a big competition the following week, they informed me, every lady was out to win and by the practice shots I witnessed, they had a very good chance.

I returned to the bus well after closing time and as the sea gentle brushed the shore somewhere out in the darkness, I finished my book and slept.

The next day was a rain day! Total, consistent, grey, soaking rain. I traveled along the coast road for about an hour seeing nothing but wet grey fields and an even greyer wetter sea before heading in-land toward the A1.

Doncaster was my next destination! Doncaster and the Foster Family from the Holiday Showdown program we had all made nine years ago.

The Fosters have to be the most warm hearted northern family I have ever met. Pizza's were ordered, the entire family was gathered, questions were asked and answered as I met up with the new husbands, children and pets since my last visit.

They too insisted I slept in the house, in fact I was offered a few houses to choose from, but Lady Sage awaited me and eventually I headed into her embrace to sleep like a log in the forest.

Tomorrow I would head home to Wales before a two day visit to Vicky in Porthcawl. Four days after that I would board a plane bound for Singapore, yet another adventure was about to begin!!

 Life was amazing xxxx