After a nice breakfast we hit the road for the Grey Mare’s Tail, a magnificent waterfall north-east of Moffat. The drive up was interesting, mostly on single-track roads, but we got there in one piece!

We parked in the carpark by the bridge and started to make our way up the hill towards the waterfall. The trail was a thin, steep path of stepping stones up the side of the hill which rapidly increases in difficulty as you ascend. It became pretty clear, especially after seeing the signs warning of fatalities in the area, that we were not going to make it to the top of the waterfall, so we decided to stop at the first point that the path levelled out. We got some great photos of the fall and the surrounding areas before heading back down again to hang out with the locals (sheep).

After spending some time looking around and taking more photos we jumped back into the car to head towards Moffat and ultimately Dumfries where we were meeting up with Mum’s friends Barb and Linz for a few days. As we were approaching the town I noticed a sign for a walk at Craigieburn, so I pulled off and we started on our way up the hill.

After about 200m I was ready to give up. The initial hill path had a gradient of about 1:3, and after aborting the Grey Mare’s Tail climb due to steepness, I wasn’t up for a repeat! But we pushed on, and on, and twisted round and round, and up some more, through woods, passed fields of sheep and then through more woods and finally to the top of the hill where we were rewarded with views across the Moffat valley. The top of the hill was only about a third of the way around the trail though so we carried on, and apart from and emergency (nature’s)  restroom detour for one of the party the rest of the walk was scenic but uneventful. I’m glad we didn’t give up at the first 200m, as the view was magnificent.

By the time we got back to the car it was getting close to 2pm and we had to be in Dumfries by 4pm so we decided to head back to Moffat for a spot of shopping for supplies for the next few days at our self-catering accommodation before hitting the road for Dumfries.

As we prepared to leave the local Co-Op, it became clear that the instructions  for finding our accommodation had been locked up in one of the suitcases, so we had to work from what we could remember as the location wasn’t on any maps, or the GPS!

The drive to Dumfries was easy, but after the point things started to go wrong, but looking back now we’d been pretty close, it was just a single overshoot the took us the wrong way. The owner’s were great though,  and sent out a car to find us and lead us to the accommodation, which was a great touch.

The house itself is amazing. Known as the Old School House, it’s a 19th century building in the typical architectural Scottish style of the time. Rustic but modern as well, surrounded by fields of sheep, dairy cows and corn with its own resident chooks and ducks. Across the road is a private woodland and in the back garden there are two apple trees loaded with fruit.

What a day, time for a kick back and catch up!

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One thing I hadn’t considered when we decided to stay in Glasgow as long as possible before we made our way to Moffat was that it would result in us trying to leave the city via the motorway during peak hour. Thankfully, Glasgow is quite a small city in comparison to Perth, so even though the traffic was heavier than any we’d encountered so far, it wasn’t too bad. Once out of the city centre itself, the motorway opened up completely and we were on our way.

Unlike Perth or London, Glasgow doesn’t sprawl out from the centre with miles and miles of suburbs, so it wasn’t long before we were on the open road. Once out of the city, the countryside just hits you. All of a sudden the buildings give way to rolling hills and green fields. As well as enjoying the view, it was fascinating to see the various lorries from all over Europe making their way down the motorway. We saw them from Hungary, Spain and England, as well as all the Scottish ones.

The town of Moffat is only about an hour south of Glasgow so it wasn’t long before we left the motorway and headed into Moffat. The town is quite small,  nestled in a valley between a number of hills, it’s also quite old. Once off the main road, we found ourselves driving along roads just wide enough to fit a small car. If Shaun had have been driving his XR6 here, I’m sure it would have been touching the sides! We made it through a maze of tiny lanes, ok, they were streets, but I call them lanes to our accommodation for the night, Hartfell House.

Hartfell House sits at the end of a culdesac up the hill behind the town. We received a very warm welcome from the owner and her little son, who wanted to help out with the check-in process, right down to opening the door for us, even though he was trying to open a wall, it’s the thought that counts.

With everything settled we decided to walk down into the town for a look around before dinner. As it was about 6pm, most shops were closed, but it gave us a great opportunity to look around. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so may pubs in such a small town. I think I counted at least 6 on the High Street!

We found ourselves in a beautfiul little park called Station Park with its own little lake and a memorial to Air Chief Marshall Dowding of Battle of Britain fame who was born in Moffat. The air was filled with clouds of midges but suprisingly they stayed away from us – they mustn’t like tough Australian skin.

Back to the B&B and what can I say except, amazing. It’s more like a small hotel than a B&B, complete with award-winning restaurant downstairs. We booked a table and we weren’t disappointed. The chef prepared us a special vegetarian medley which was excellent along with the service. If you ever find yourself in Moffat, pay a visit to the Limetree Restaurant at Hartfell House!

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Having familiarised ourselves with the local area around the hotel, today was all about exploring Glasgow for real. Our first stop was the Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum where a special Doctor Who exhibition is taking place. The drive from Renfrew into the city went relatively painless, with just a few wrong turns. The GPS seems to have difficulty with the narrow and close streets of Glasgow, but we got there in the end.

The Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum is a magnificent building built from red sandstone with beautiful carving and sculptures. I particularly liked the city crests that are carved on the front of the building. The details are brilliant. Inside, the gallery and museum are just as amazing. The stand-out feature for me was the enormous pipe organ at the end of the main hall. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to stay for a recital, but I’m sure it would be amazing.

Before I get on to the Doctor Who Exhibition, I just want to make a note about the people of Glasgow. So far, everyone we’ve come across has been so polite and eager to help out which has been a pleasant surprise.

Now, Doctor Who. What can I say except AWESOME. I had been to the Cardiff exhibition a couple of years ago but this, I think, is a more entertaining show. Maybe it’s because I’m not that fussed in the earlier series’ of Doctor Who, only really those from Christopher Eccleston onwards. The exhibition is structured by episodes and includes props, information and media displays from various aspects of the show, from the first episode “Rose” until the latest episode. We were the only people there which meant we had plenty of time to enjoy the exhibits.

As usual the end of the exhibition features a collection of Doctor Who merchandise. Unlike last time I managed to control myself and walked out with just a couple of things.

After the exhibition we decided to have a look around the rest of the museum, but that was somewhat restricted by the fact that the museum was in the process of doing a photo shoot. With that done, we decided to head into Glasgow city after a short walk along the boundary of Kelvingrove Park.

One of the most surprising things about Glasgow is how green it is. There are so many parks and trees, which together with the excellent specimens of architecture and the massive amount of building and regeneration going on make Glasgow a great city. We drove in and parked up at the SECC and walked along the Clyde into the city centre. The whole river front is being redeveloped with the old abandoned warehouses and shipyards being replaced by luxury apartments and office blocks. I could so live here.

After lunch we made the steep climb up to Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow’s pedestrian mall which seems to go on forever! Shopping wasn’t really on the agenda so we continued on, down Buchanan Street until we arrived at George Square where the city’s open top (optimistic, I know) hop on hop off bus tour leaves. While we waited at the stop for the tour to start the skies were blue, but once we were off the clouds decided to dump their load, so a hasty retreat to the undercover area at the front of the bus was made. It was great to get some background on the city and the various landmarks of Glasgow. We ran out of time and couldn’t finish the tour, but we’ll be back in Glasgow at the end of the holiday, so we’ll see everything we missed then.

With that we waved goodbye to Glasgow (for now) and hit the open road to Moffat.

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I’ll start with the plane journey. Our Dubai – Glasgow leg was our first experience of business class, care of an Skywards (frequent flyer) upgrade. We had pretty high expectations after researching the planes on the Emirates website, but I have to say we were a little disappointed. It seems the particular plane we would be flying on, was the dog of the fleet and was fitted out sometime in the 1970’s! Definitely felt like we’d had a Sam Tyler, Life on mars moment. There was none of the promised lie-flat seats, large flat screens with the new ICE system. The only bonus was the size of the seats and the space – everything else was pretty average.

Anyway, we got into Glasgow just after lunch. As we approached from the south-east the clouds seemed to part and we got a great  view of the south-west of Scotland, so nice and green and open. The total opposite of an approach into London where you’ve greeted with miles and miles of built up houses.

The airport experience was great.  The airport is quite small, a little like Perth Airport and we were off the plane, through customs and with the hire car in about 30 minutes! Unlike Heathrow, it was an advantage to be a non-EU traveller, as we were the only ones in the line. It probably helped that both my mum and I have very Scottish names!

We picked up the car, which turned out to be a silver Mercedes A-Class. Not bad so far with the little bit of driving I”ve done. It has a very high driving position, which I’m not used to, and should make the swap to the Smart Roadster quite interesting when we get to Arran next week.

Once we had the car we headed straight for the hotel, which is just 5 minutes from the airport and a few minutes from the Clyde. We freshened up and headed out for a wander. The complex next to the hotel has a huge shopping centre and a place called Xscape, which is an entertainment centre with restaurants, indoor skiing and climbing, as well as the Braehead Arena. The area is in the middle of a regeneration, with new houses and buildings going up everywhere.

Our first top was the shopping centre where we re-hydrated and  had a look around. Popped into HMV to pick up some of my favourite TV shows in Blu-Ray. The range here is amazing compared to back home.

Then it was down to the Clyde-bank. Because we’re out of the city itself, this end of the Clyde is the old industrial end. It was good to see two warships, the Diamond and Dauntless berthed near the hotel (they are massive) and the old warehouses looked sorry and in need of some attention. Further along these areas are being turned into luxury apartment blocks, so it will be interesting to see if that will continue out this far west.

We headed into Xscape for dinner where we had pizza at Pizza Express (truly the best pizza in the UK, despite the name’s implications. We weren’t disappointed and the food was every bit as good as when we first went there in Cardiff two years ago.

Having not had a proper sleep since Monday night, we were really ready for bed by 8pm, so we headed home. My first impressions of Glasgow are that it’s a great little place working hard to modernise itself. I’m looking forward to heading into the city centre today for a good look around before heading south to Moffat. And with that I’d better wrap up, I’ll post some pictures later, but for now I’d better get a shower and some breakfast!

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After being called in to a client job that went nowhere late on Tuesday afternoon, we finally made it to the airport on time thanks to my brother acting as chauffer. Check-In went smoothly and after a quick meal (I’d forgotten lunch thanks to last minute work) we were on our way.

Perth customs were their usual pleasant selves, confiscating items which are deemed legal in the Government’s documentation, but apparently leathal weapons in the hands of an Australian woman!

The flight itself was only about half full, and being the night flight, everyone was very well behaved and quiet. As usual the food was great, but I found myself dozing for most of the flight. We arrived almost an hour early thanks to tailwinds and an slightly earlier than expected departure from Perth, which was a relief as we only had two hours otherwise.

The new terminal 3 at Dubai airport is greatly improved over the old terminal, although I’m not that fussed with the duty free stuff on offer. Thanks to the number of flights mum has made in the last 3 years, we scored an upgrade to business class for the second leg of the trip and as a result I’m sitting here in the Emirates Lounge writing this blog post in comfort, rather than standing around waiting for the gate to open as this airport is severely lacking in seating!

Now, just 8 or so hours between me and Glasgow. It’s been  a long time planning, but it’s almost here. I can’t wait to get this holiday started proper.

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