Now we have published our Journey diary. There is still a lot of work left. We are going to put in pictures (You find some of them here) and try to link as much as possible of the places we have visited and written about. Give us a little more time and we will complete it.

Lots of thanks to Anette, who translate the diary from Swedish to English.

To get the english pages only click the “Travel Diary” link above.

Nu har vi publicerat vår resedagbok. Det är en hel del arbete kvar. Vi ska lägga in bilder och försöka länka in så mycket som möjligt av de platser som vi har besökt och skrivit om. Ge oss lite mera tid, så ska det vara ordnat

Vi ska även uppdatera listan över platser vi besökte, vi ändrade ju på rutten när vi väl kom till Skottland, den gamla fungerade inte med veckodagarna och platsernas öppettider.

Idag sov vi länge. Sedan blev det en dyr frukost på båten. Efter det gick Patrik och Terese och handlade i tax-freen. Tre röda viner blev det. Sedan var det dags för lunch. Vi valde lunchbuffén, så att vi skulle stå oss resten av dagen, den kostade ju massor. Efter lunchen så tog vi oss en middagslur. Sedan började väntan att komma in i hamnen. Kl 17.30 var vi hemma på svensk mark igen.

Home again
We had a lie-in this morning then we went for an expensive  breakfast  on the boat. Later  Patrik and Terese went to the tax-free shop and bought three bottles red wine. Time for lunch.  We decided to have the Lunch buffet  so we would  make it through the day and  this was also  expensive.  After lunch we took a nap  then it was only to wait until the boat docked.  We were home on Swedish ground again at 17.30 hours.

Efter en liten sovmorgon och när alla morgonbestyren var avklarade åkte vi söderut. Innan vi åkte ner till färjeläget för att checka in åkte vi runt lite för att handla lite saker. Mera Magners till Terese och mat att ha på båten, frukost och fika var så dyrt på båten. Väl på båten letade vi upp vår hytt och inackorderade oss. Patrik var snabbt uppe ock kontrollerade öppettiderna för tax-freen. När de väl öppnade var nog Patrik nummer 3 in i butiken, hn var snabbt framme vid whiskyhyllan och högg en Lagavulin Destillers Edition, han var mycket rädd att de skulle ta slut. Terese inhandlar två likörer på tax-free. Gun och Lennarth köpte också lite sprit och godis. Senare gick Terese och Patrik tillbaka och handlade lite andra saker. Senare på kvällen bjöd Terese och Patrik, Gun och Lennarth på middag, eftersom det var deras 30:e bröllopsdag. Kvällen avslutades med ett besök i puben och lite sing-a-long med musikern.

After a little lie-in and when we were all washed and dressed, we drove south.  Before we drove to the terminal to check in  we went for a little shopping.  More Magners for Terese and a supply of food to have on the boat, breakfast and  coffee breaks were so expensive on the boat. We went directly to our cabins and got settled in.  Patrik rushed  up and checked the open hours for the tax-free shop.  When they eventually opened Patrik was the third person in the shop and quickly made his way to the shelves with whisky ,  grabbed a bottle of Lagavulin Distillers Edition,  as he was terrified  it would be sold out.  Terese bought 2 bottles of  liquer in the tax-free shop.  Gun and Lennarth bought booze and sweets. Later Terese and Patrik went back and bought a few other things.  In the evening  Terese and Patrik treated Gun and Lennarth to dinner to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary. The evening ended with a visit to the pub and a little sing-a-long.

Dagen började som de flesta andra. Upp vid normal tid, frukost och morgonbestyren. Sedan åkte vi mot en Tescobutik så Terese kunde få köpa med sig ett gäng Magners hem. Tyvärr hittade vi ingen, men vi hittade vägen mot Stiling, så den tog vi. Väl framme vid Stirling Castle känner vi oss allihop ganska mättade på slott och tycker att inträdet känns lite väl dyrt. Så vi väljer att ta lite kort på utifrån slottet och även på Wallace Monument som ligger en bit bort. När fotosessionen är klar går vi istället ner i Stirlings Old Town och tar en fika. Efter några smarriga muffins gick vi tillbaka till bilen och började vår färd sydost mot Newcastle, imorgon går ju båten hemåt. Vi kör Edinburgh Bypass och väljer denna gång att köra utefter östkusten. I Berwick-upton-Tweed stannar vi och äter lunch på McDonalds och lite Magners till Terese i det närliggande köpcentret. När vi kört söderut till Belford väljer vi att köra kustvägen, den ska vara både vackrare och innehålla mera campingplatser än utefter motorvägen. Även idag märker vi av att det är en bankhelg. Alla campingplatser är fulla. Men i Craster stöter vi på en snäll ägare som letar upp tältplatser åt oss. Så där valde vi att spendera natten.

The day started  as usual, up at the normal time, breakfast and morning chores.  We drove around looking for a Tesco store so Terese could buy Magners to take home, unfortunately we could not  find one but we found the road to Stirling , so we took it.   When we arrived at Stirling Castle we all felt we had seen enough castles and thought the entrance fee was a little  too expensive.  We decided to take pictures of the  outside of  the castle and also of the Wallace Monument which lies a bit away but  after taking  photos of the castle  we went down to Stirling Old Town  and took a coffee break with tasty muffins instead.  We went back to the car and continued our journey to Newcastle, tomorrow we take the boat home.  We drive Edinburgh Bypass and decide to drive the coastal route.  In Berwick-upon-Tweed we have a break and eat lunch at McDonalds and buy some Magners for Terese in the nearby shopping centre. When we drive south to Belford we choose the coastal route, it is nicer and there should be more campsites along the motorway.  Even today we notice it is a Bank holiday all the campsites are fully booked, but in Craster  we meet a kind owner who  finds us a spot for our tent so we decide to spend the night there.

Efter att vi lyckats boka om vår avresa från Islay fick vi en liten sovmorgon. Större delen av dagen gick för att transportera oss mot Stirling regionen. Vi åkte via Loch Lomonds naturreservat och stannade i det för att ta en fika. Vi åkte sedan till The Famous Grouse Experience i Crieff. Här köpte Lennarth en specialflaska Famouse Grouse till Guns bror Per-Uno. En flaska där vi själva fick bestämma vad som skulle stå på etiketterna. Det blev en Famouse Per-Uno, med några fint väl valda ord på baksidan. När det var klart hade Lennarth sett en skylt om fiske i närheten av grannbyn och trodde att dom även borde ha tältcamping, eftersom många fiskare tältar. Men det visade sig inte vara så och vi letade vidare. Klockan började bli mycket i skottska camping mått mätt. Så vi ringde runt till en del och de enda som svarade var en camping i Perth, ca 3mil bort. Det visade sig att denna helgen är en så kallad bankhelg och de flesta campingar är fullbokade. Men efter att ha fått reda på att vi var svenskar, vilket tydligen var bra, så kunde de fixa fram två tältplatser. När vi väl kom dit så visare det sig att dom har mycket platser kvar. Tyvärr är var det här den dyraste camping vi legat på. £18 kostade det per tältplats.

Det positiva med platsen var att vi mötte Jean och Collin Robb. Jean kom ut i det häftiga regnet och frågade om vi ville värma oss med en kopp te efter tältresningen. Ja tack, sade vi, och blev inbjudna till deras husvagn. Vi hade en stunds mycket trevlig konversation till en kopp te och kaffe. Mycket trevliga och vänliga. Tack Jean och Collin!

Patrik was awake first which was unusual, he seemed overexcited. Probably due to the fact that he was on Islay. During the night we had the worst rainfall in the whole of our trip the morning air dampness lay around 75% which made it impossible to see 15 metres in front of you in certain places. After getting packed up we went on the trips most distillery packed day. Our first stop was to Laphroaig which had a cosy little shop with leather couches etc. We were probably the first visitors for the day because the personnel seemed a little surprised but as usual very nice. The next distillery was Lagavulin. One of Patriks favourite whiskies. Unfortunately their shop was nothing special. It contained glassed in shelves where all the whiskies were. Patrik bought a dram glass and a postcard which he is going to send to Pär. We continued our journey to Ardbeg which had a proper shop and a restaurant. We were recommended to eat at the restaurant by an employee at Laphroig but we didn’t. Patrik bought a green water jug for his whiskies and Terese bought a picknick blanket in Ardbegs green colours. We met the cycling Swedish ladies again.

When this visit was done we continued north east to Kildaton Cross, which is an old celtic cross. It seems we managed to sightsee before the tourist invasion began. Then we hurried on to Bowmore where we hoped to join the round tour at 11.30, but it had already started at
11 ö’clock so we booked for the tour at15.00 hours We drove on to Caol Ila, which proved to be a smart move as their shop closed at 12 o’clock on Fridays. Patrik bought a Caol Ila Cask Strength and a dram glass,so now he has four (Edinburgh, Edradour, Lagavulin and Caol Ila). When the shop closed we drove towards bunnahahain, but was sidetracked by a lovely little pottery on the way, so we stopped for a look. They had a café so we had coffee and tea and a scone each for £2 per person. After speaking to the talkative and pleasant owner of the pottery we decided not to go to bunnahahain but go to Loch Finnlagan instead on his recommendation. After our visit to Loch Finnlagan we drove to Killnallan to look at the enormous beach. We then continued our journey to Bowmore so we wouldn’t miss the tour. When we arrived at the distillery who did we meet but the cycling ladies. Bowmore’s shop was being renovated but the temporary shop they were using was really nice. The distillery tour was interesting and exciting. We go through the whole production line (right now they didn’t have any distillation on the go) and really look at all the stages. After the tour we were treated to a wee dram. Patrik and Lennarth each bought a Bowmore 16year Limited Edition Sherry Cask which they had tasted and really liked. Terese bought a present for her uncle who likes Bowmore whisky. We then went and organised a little lunch. Gun and Lennarth bought rolls at the Co-op while Patrik and Terese went to the bakery and bought some pies to warm up. After lunch we took a quick look around the village. Patrik looked in “The Islay Whisky Shop� but didn’t find anything special, even if the had lots of exciting editions, but they were a bit too expensive.

Now we longed to get back to the camping site and started to drive south. We had a quick stop in Port Ellen to check if there were available places on the 9.45 ferry from Port Ellen, instead of the 7.00 from Port Askaig (which meant getting up at 4 ö’clock). Luckily for us there were available places on the 9.45 so we happily rebooked. We then took a tour of Mull of Oa for a closer look at the countryside. Then it was back to the camping site.