dear all...wow it feels like i havnt written that for a long time...sorry its been a long time in between blogs, but nothing very exciting has been happening.
work is going well, dan and i are officially the assistant managers of faskally caravan park..woo..dan manages outside and maitenance and i do the bookings, office and shop.we moved out of the staff house and into the chalet..very plush and its nice to have our own space.we made jelly slice yesterday and it was amazing, dan has already eaten half...mum,you would be proud of our biscuit,lemon creamy and jelly layers!!there is us,jason and kat-melb, amy, tash-canadian, grant-qld, kate and nathan-newcastle,uk and naomi-kats friend from melb. so its nice to be surrounded with other aussies.weeks have passed with work and our days off relaxing, wandering around pitlochry and getting jabbed in the arm...were getting ready for india and nepal and had to get our vaccinations up to date,hep c,typhoid,diptheria,polio and tetanus, and dan has got hep b.theres a few other shots we can get but theyre not in stock in the uk at the moment so will wait a few months.
so apart from work,this week we scammed two days off and hired a tiny little ford ka and went cruising. first day off went for a drive to glasgow,shopped,ate and went to the movies.only thing on suiting our times was night at the museum 2, which was good but not as funny as the first one.
the main reason we hired the car was to head down to fife, an area of the coast just above edinburgh.Its a almost 2 hour drive from pitlochry, but we passed time being amazed at the 70mile speed limit on the freeways, which NOONE adheres too.and the only speed cameras are fixed and some dont even work!
we stopped at st andrews on our way down.st andrews is the home of the university that prince william went to..ooo..but we didnt spot any royalty.st andrews is on the coast and there is an amazing cathedral in ruins right on the water. the entrance, tower and some walls are still standing, the rest is grassed and ruins. it was a beautiful day, the sun was shining and we could smell the sea..was really nice wandering around the site. St andrews is also known as the home of golf!!there is amazing golf course on the cliffs. To play there it costs £175 per game and a place needs to be booked at least a year in advance!crazy, apparently its popular with americans and japanese golf fans.
from st andrews we cruised down to anstruther. the drive amazed me again at how green and lush everywhere in scotland is, its totally different to australia.lunch was at the best fish and chip shop in the uk.its won the award for the last 6 years, and the 20min queue was definately worth the fish and chips.light battered haddock and chunky yummy chips..dan and i sat in the sun on the pier and watched the boats coming and going with the isle of may on the horizon.
the isle of may was originally home to the first light house in scotland. It had a coal burning lighthouse that a family maintained for years until one year the the family was killed by sulphur dioxide poisonin..i think thats the right chemical.the lighthouse was then replaced with a gas lighthouse. years after the lighthouse was replaced by gps and other technology the scottish national heritage bought the island and it now a bird sanctuary inhabited by a few staff who are doing research.
the boat trip out was on a small ferry, probably about 30 people.50 minute trip out to the island was a little choppy, but nothing too bad. the island has really tall cliffs where the birds nest we saw guilmotts and razorbills and gulls all along the cliffs, squeezed into little nooks and crannies.there were also grey atlantic seals on the island, that popped their heads out of the water to have a look at us. the boat docked on the island, and we were free to walk around the island.the island is quiet small, only 1.5km all the way round.just as we stepped off the boat, the rain began POURING down, we had waterproof jackets but not pants, and the rain didnt stop so we were sooooaked by the time we left the island, 2 hours later.
the main highlight of the trip were the puffins!!i never knew the actually existed. they spend most of their time at sea and then stop in scotland, iceland and greenland where the bring up their chicks in burrows under the ground. they are tiny, only 25cm tall with their huge beaks and little wings. when they fly they not graceful and soaring, more flapping like crazy to stay in the air. the puffins were everywhere along th island and not too scared of us, we were able to stand a couple of metres away and the birds were not fussed by us.they were amazing tiny little cute birds with their clown like faces watching us.
finally made it back to car and had to strip down and try and dry out all our wet pants and socks..the rain never stopped and dan and i looked like we had been swimming.the trip was well worth it though.
its friday now and back to work..however its only 113 sleeps until we leave for cairo!!!hooray, and i think its only around 240 sleeps til we get home late on the 12th feb 2010!
will hopefully load some puffin photos on later today.
back to work..
love to all,love jess xo
please see the new photos
