Och...it's Scotland! The land of the Brave...

Yes, we finally made it to Scotland...a destination we've both been interested in visiting for some time. Our first stop was Glasgow. We found cheapish plane tickets from Bristol to Glasgow as the train or bus ticket prices were going to cost us a fortune (in the vicinity of £150 each)! We arrived at Glasgow Airport to be welcomed by overcast, cold and wet weather. It stayed this way the whole time we were in Glasgow and as a consequence we didn't take too many photos as it wasn't pleasant being outside! :-) Nonetheless, we did some sight-seeing, including walking along the River Clyde and around George Square and Buchanan Street (the main shopping area). We also visited the Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery - Scotland's first public museum which opened in 1807. Below are our two photos of Glasgow!

George Square -





We found Glasgow a wee bit depressing. Mainly because of the weather, but also because we'd heard that there is major rejuvenation work going on along the Clyde. We were expecting to see a lovely river front with shops and cafes, however they're still doing a lot of construction work and a lot of the parks and walkways (at least in the areas we walked) seemed quite neglected. We realised that the river has always been a working river so it might not have previously been considered somewhere you go for fun or pleasure. Maybe in a few years time this will have changed. Hopefully.

Bristol

After our pleasant stopover in Truro we found ourselves in Bristol. Energetic, young, multicultural, vibrant Bristol. We were lucky to find some cheap train tickets to Bristol, purchased through the Megabus website. Megabus is a truly fantastic bus and train service if you can plan your UK trip using it. There are limited destinations from departure locations and you sometimes have to go on indirect routes but it saved us a bundle of pounds on this trip alone!

We stayed in Bristol for a week - hoping to do some sight-seeing and serious job hunting. We found a hostel new to Bristol called The Full Moon Backpackers, which offered cheap weekly rates (at a cost of sleep deprivation on Friday and Saturday nights due to the bar and clubs surrounding the hostel!). It was great to finally stay in one location for more than a couple of days. We actually had a chance to really get to know our fellow hostel guests, some of whom were also looking for work. Many a night we spent discussing all sorts of topics in the Hostel kitchen - from working and living in the UK and Europe to Climate Change. It was fantastic!

While we spent many hours at the Bristol City Council Libraries using their free Internet access looking for work, we were also able to do some sight-seeing. Amongst the sites we visited were the Clifton Suspension Bridge and Brunel's SS Great Britain. We also wandered up and down the Avon River, walked through the charming Clifton Village and rested in some of the many parks in Bristol. We enjoyed a cheap but delicious Moroccan lunch at the St Nicholas Market and spent a few hours in the British Empire and Commonwealth Museum. It was certainly very interesting to visit this museum from a 'colonial's' perspective to see what the British think of both colonised and modern Australia! We also suffered a veritable heatwave while in Bristol as the temperatures soared to the mid to late 20's! Some of our photos are below.

Bristol Cathedral -






Bristol City Council building -







SS Great Britain -

The SS Great Britain was designed by Isamabard Kingdom Brunel in 1843 and was the first large iron ship driven by a screw propeller.



A narrow lane on our walk to the Clifton Suspension Bridge -



Clifton Suspension Bridge -

The Clifton Suspension Bridge was also designed by Brunel and is 75m high, spanning the Avon Gorge.











Looking down onto the Avon Gorge -



Don't look down!



Hurry up and take the photo - I want to get off!

Truro - the shopping capital of Cornwall

While still in St Ives (and after finally finding something to eat) we planned to make our way 80km north to another Cornish coastal town called Bude. One of the reasons for visiting Bude was that it would make an easy onward trip to Bristol - our next base where we would start looking for work. We thought wrong. Our only means of transport from St Ives to Bude was via bus as the train network doesn't cover this area of Cornwall (Penzance is the last train stop). We worked out that it was going to take 5 different buses (using three different bus companies) and take about 5 hours to go 80km up the coast. That's if the buses were running on time and we made all of our connections...which is not something you can rely on in the UK! We were at a loose end and didn't know what to do or where to go...we just wanted to get out of St Ives. In the end, after much debating, we left for Truro - one of the large cities in Cornwall further inland. We made our way to Truro and found a great backpackers hostel situated five minutes from the main bus station and in a lovely old Victorian house. We decided to stay here for a while and rest, while planning our next move. Below are our photos of Truro - in the end we loved our stay here and would recommend it to anyone. Although we were told by a local that Truro is the shopping capital of Cornwall (and it definitely has lots of shops to choose from!) we found the walks along the river very relaxing and quite beautiful.

Truro Cathedral -





















What games are you supposed to play at a Tennis Court and Football field?



Front Garden of the Hostel we stayed at -

St Ives

After our four day stay in Penzance and trip to Land's End we journeyed to St Ives - another seaside town in Cornwall frequented by the bucket and spade crowd. The harbour area is quite pretty though and there are lots of artisan shops to visit in the old harbour-side streets.

We probably would have enjoyed our stay in St Ives more if it wasn't for the dodgey night we spent in St Ives Backpackers Hostel - no sleep thanks to a crowded dorm room with a guy drunk from a beer festival being held in the town. This was compounded by the fact that there was only cold water in the showers on our side of the hostel so we were forced to use the showers that were situated on the other side of the hostel. We don't mean to winge but after enjoying our stay in the smaller, much friendlier and much better run Penzance Backpackers Hostel, this was a rude awakening! Thank goodness we only stayed one night. The next morning we got up early (thanks to the almost comatose drunk guy's alarm going off at 5am!) to find that no bakeries or cafes open in St Ives before 9am on a Sunday...and it was 7:30am and we were hungry!!!

Anyway, our photos are below and the town looks pretty good.







Look at the moss growing on this roof!

We've been to Land's End...

While staying in Penzance we visited the world famous Land's End. Not much to see here apart from the end of the UK mainland. Below are some photos of our somewhat short stay at Land's End.

Jo at the Land's End sign -



Scenes from Land's End -

Ahoy there matey - it's Penzance!

After our relaxing stay in the New Forest we made our way to Dartmoor and stayed in the small town of Moretonhampstead for a couple of days. Our intent was to walk the moors and explore as much of the untamed beauty of this moorland national park as possible. However, the weather turned cold, wet and windy so we didn't spend much time outside. In fact, we were only able to explore Moretonhampstead and another town called Princetown, spending much of that time in shops, cafes and the visitor centre. Consequently, we have no photos of our visit to Dartmoor and there wasn't much to take photos of anyway as it was misty and wet!

Our next part of the trip was over the "border" into Cornwall. Our destination was right near the end of the tip of Cornwall, to Penzance. We loved Penzance...it has a beautiful harbour, lots of cobblestone streets to explore, some good cafes and pubs and a good hostel - the Penzance Backpackers run by two very friendly and efficient South Africans. We enjoyed the Pasties in Cornwall, lathered in ketchup as they don't have a lot of flavour, however they keep you warm when that chill wind blows!

View of Church spires in the old town area of Penzance -






Mount Saint Michael - sound familiar? Yes, that's right...there's a French one too. Both were set up by the same monks and you can walk out to the mount at low tide...very cool...especially the sea water when the tide starts coming in!









The Admiral Benbow Pub - Fantastically over-the-top pub decorated inside like a ship, which serves great freshly prepared meals at good prices. We enjoyed their hamburgers and Ploughman's lunch.