All photos related to this blog entry can be found at Grant & Julie

2007 - Salta, Argentina
Photo Courtesy: Marcel Achermann

In 2007 we travelled with Emma and Hamish in Argentina and Chile. We shared meals, wine, campsites, wine, cabanas, gravel roads, wine, Christmas, very bad gravel roads, a farm house, wine, snow, Spandau Ballet and much laughter. None of us can stand the thought of drinking Uvita, a ubiquitous Argentinian boxed wine, ever again.

As life makes everyone busy, especially when you have two children now, as they do, we have kept sporadically in touch. So to see them again, meet their children and reconnect has been a real treat.

With Emma, Hamish and the kids being away in Turkey we had free run of their house for a couple of weeks. Here is a brief description of our 'Life in a Scottish Fishing Village'.

Weather

The most talked about thing in Scotland, apart from the upcoming referendum and Andy Murray's performance at Wimbledon is the weather.

Grant visited Scotland some twenty years ago, during the summer, and it rained eight days out of ten. When speaking to the man at local shop we were informed that Grant was truly lucky as normally it rains ten out of ten days in summer.

This year, however, has been a different story all together. Some spectacular days, peppered with the odd rainy day and a good old fashioned sea haar now and then to mix it up. For the first time in many years Jules actually has a tan from exposing herself... so to speak... to the sun instead of being completely covered up like a nun in a wimple and habit.

We were treated like Lucky Buddha’s. Everyone in the village we spoke to wanted to rub our bellies and thank us for bringing the good weather with us.

Navy Boats

The HMS Montrose was in its home port for the first time in nine years. The heavily armed Type 23, Duke Class frigate was open to the public while berthed at the Montrose Docks. It was built in 1992 and commissioned into the Royal Navy in June 1994. With Vertical Launch Missiles, Harpoon Launcher, MK8 Mod Gun and Magazine Torpedo Launch System, you would think there was no room for the fortified Lynx Helicopter nor the complement of 185 crew.

The public came out to support the sailors and see their namesake vessel at the wharf. The boat generally patrols the waters around the United Kingdom intercepting drug smugglers and pirates as well as providing a defensive role.

Sport

Commonwealth Games

The tickets to the Glasgow games were mostly sold out and the remnants were somewhat pricey for our meagre budget, but we did get to see the Inverbervie Playgroup’s version of the Commonwealth Games.

Isla was representing Malta and her team came overall second in the competition. The actual events were slightly different to the official games as these 'games’ included star jumps, tunnel crawling and balancing a pillow on your head to name a few.

Highland Games

The Stonehaven Highland Games were on whilst we were holed up in Gourdon. Our morning was blanketed in a dense sea haar or fog and arriving at the grounds just off The Slug Road we were concerned that we would not see any of the competition on the field. Even the commentator of the event noted that he could barely see the exhibition wresting from where he was as the fog was so thick.

‘OCH NO! The sea haar has lifted; an I can see the wrestlers. He has got him on his back... Oh my what a fine example of wresting’ he suddenly exclaimed whilst mid statement regarding the Heavy Weight for Distance event.

Highland Games are traditional games that have been played each summer for hundreds of years. Initially they were developed by wealthy landlords and monarchy to see which men were the strongest, fastest and most able. The winners were then selected for various sought after positions for example messenger, ranked soldiers etc.

ThrowingWeight for Distance

There are two classes of events Heavy (throwing weight for distance and height, hammer throw and caber toss) and Light (running, long jump and high jump), then there is Highland Dancing and Pipe Band competition.

The highlight of the day was the Tug-of-War. Whilst this may sound like a simple game for children it is full of strength, teamwork, endurance and strategy. It was very exciting to see how when one side gained a little advantage and the other would use defensive moves to gain control. Each bout lasted for nearly 10 minutes, with little break between pulls.

Enduro Motorcycle Racing

We had a day out in Lumsden to see Hamish participate in the Scottish Motorcycle Enduro circuit. The five lap/five hour race took place in amongst rolling hills and wooded lands. There had been some rain so a bit of mud was about to add interest. The time sections were very interesting as the riders zigzagged throughout the course dodging brush, and climbing steep rocky hills through narrow paths.

The race was not without controversy, as it is run on private land one of the landowners pulled out at the last minute and a new section was hastily added and, unfortunately, not so well sign posted. A few riders lost precious time as they were led up the garden path... so to speak.

Hamish in flight

Birthdays

Whilst Emma celebrated her birthday in sunny, blue skyed Turkey, Jules awoke to a cool, damp, grey day complete with fog. This did not deter Grant and Jules from taking a ride to Stonehaven and a long walk around the ruins of the medieval Dunnottar Castle.

Perched on top of a rocky outcrop and surrounded by steep cliffs, this castle can only be reached by a narrow path down one cliff and up the next. The Coastal walk is easy and in the misty morning our first sights of the castle were quite eerie as it slowly emerged into view.

Nearby Stonehaven War Memorial is a monument to the locals lost in WW1 and WW2. Designed to appear unfinished or ruined as the lives of those whose names are inscribed inside it makes a striking impression on the skyline.

Gourdon is serviced by a small general store come post office, a pub and one restaurant with a takeaway outlet underneath (colloquially known as a chipper). To commemorate Julies turning of age it was to the restaurant we went. Hornblowers came highly recommended and looking out over the harbour with the small fishing boats docked, enjoying a bottle of wine and some very lush fish and chips we concurred with the general consensus.

Becoming Scottish

It did not take long for us to become Scottish. Donning wellingtons daily we found a hill to walk up. The coastal area around The Original White House is beautiful whatever the weather conditions, however we were grateful for the lovely sun and lovely house to stay in. Our daily 5k walk took us south along the sea shore, then West up the hills, north along the ridge top before heading back down and east to the coast again.

Ian, one of the village fishmongers, also has an adjoining 100 year old smoke house, where the family has smoked salmon and haddock generationally. Inside the walls a pitch black and dripping with tar. On a still day the whole village is infused with a delicate smoky scent when the smokehouse is in operation.

Work – Great and Small

Grant spent time servicing the brakes and various other bits of the bike whilst Jules pursued her great joy of cooking things, needless to say our figures behaved accordingly. Just as well we walked every day.

Hamish and Emma needed a new woodshed for the approaching winter. Whilst winter seems a lifetime away whilst the sun is shining, this project has been a bug bare for the family. The job took a day and was a welcome distraction for Grant who likes to keep himself busy.

Likewise, the covered trailer needed repairs and Grant, as a skilled metal worker, offered to replace the twisted chassis so it could be returned to service.

Return of the Turks

The night before we departed Hamish and Grant went out to Martin’s house. Martin has a wonderful collection of Ducati’s going back to the seventies, some in pristine condition; he also is a very competent mechanic and rebuilds motors for people from time to time. He mentioned that the best way to keep an older Ducati in good mechanical order is to change the oil every 1000 miles (1600km), we all forget how progress has made our lives easier, still charging around the hills on a big bore Ducati is mind altering stuff, Grant knows as he used to own one!

Emma, Jules, Sam and Isla had a day out in Montrose at the House of Dun, a beautiful Georgian Manor House that contains most of its original furniture. Designed and built by Willie Adams in 1730. The estate was in the Erskine family from 1375 – 1980. The current house was bequeathed to the Scottish National Trust for preservation on the passing of the final family member.

2014 - Gourdon, Scotland