After a journey of abo
ut 2.5 hours and one biggish long hill we landed at the Braemar site having gone past the Glenshee ski resort with its chair lifts and cable car, it seemed very odd after only driving a short way to be this high up! We even saw patches of snow on a few of the mountains!
Phil got up at 7 to go out on his bike, and did an 8.5 mil
e ride in the sun up a nearby mountain called Morrone. The climb was up a long landrover track that rose up to the 2,875ft summit, approaching the top it got more and more windy and luckily the last part of the climb had the wind pushing me up. On the top there is a trig point and communications mast that was whistling in the wind. The view over the Cairngorm mountains was breathtaking. The descent took me down a brilliant walkers path, dropping 1,700 feet in 2 miles it was excellent, twisty and rocky meant you had to real
ly pay attention! Smudge had an appointment to have her bad teeth looked at and for her boosters at the vet in the next town, so when Phil got back we piled the dogs in the car and set off for Ballater. Once in the surgery the vet was a friendly lady who said that Smudge would need at least 2 teeth out, so we booked her in to their other larger practice for next week, poor Smudge.
After this we had a mooch round the village and got some supplies from the posh butchers (by Appointment to Queenie don’t you know) as well as some Balmoral bread from the bakers.
We had already decided to go over to Loch Muick the next day (as recommended by the bike shop the day before). As the crow flies it is only a few miles away, but because of all the mountains it took over an hour to get there! Linda set off for a walk around the loch, this ended up being a 7.6 mile epic, the first part round the far side of the lake was just a well kept track so was a bit boring but after the house by
the loch which was built by Queen Victoria (I’m sure she had some help!) it turned into a path through trees and then after the beach at the far end of the loch it became single track back along until it rejoined another track for the last bit. We passed two lots of deer on the final bit, 3 stags up on the hill and 3 does on the estuary fields, we got back to the car in 2 and half hours and we were all exhausted! Meanwhile Phil went on an equally epic 14 mile ride, as recommended by the bike shop. The first climb went on, and on, and on, but it was worth it for the descent down the other side, very steep singletracks with rocks drops and switchbac
ks it was like an alpine downhill. Once at the bottom the view was like a scene from the Alps too with the mountain river and the fir trees giving way to dramatic mountainous rock faces and even some snow on show! The climb out of the valley steadily got tougher and tougher until I ended up with the bike on my back as I scrambled up the steep track, on the way I met a few walkers who I stopped and talked briefly to. Once at the top the last downhill to the Loch was no place to rest with large rain gullies which you have to hop the bike over, it was physically exhausting, and after the last rocky singletrack back to the car I was beaten, time to head home.
Right in the heart of The Cairngorms National Park and sitting on the banks of the River Dee, Balmoral Castle is the Scottish home of the Royal Family. As a private house, the only room the public are allowed in is the ballroom, as a visitor though you are given unlimited access to the gardens and the grounds that the castle is set in, as well as some exhibitions and a gift shop. We parked up and walked into the Balmoral Estate over Isambard
Brunel’s bridge. Initially we walked down the drive to the stables where we picked up our audio tour and had a look around a couple of the exhibitions. We then headed around to the castle which we walked around the front of and headed into the ballroom where we both went in for a look. The castle itself is actually a hunting lodge built in the French Chateau style by Prince Albert over 150 years ago to replace an earlier castle which sat on the current castles front lawn, it’s picturesque turrets and its location nestled amongst the trees and mountains gives it a real fantasy feel. The inside of the ballroom is as grand as you would expect, but it isn’t as large as you might imagine, especially given that it is the largest room in the castle. After we had both been in we walked along the riverside walk, and of course Prince had to go in for a dip! The walk brought us back around to the stables, so we continued to follow the audio tour into the gardens, huge beds of baby plants, large conservator
ies, lawns, fountains and big trees all followed until we came to the cricket field, with its tiny pavilion and few benches. On the other side of the field is a wooden deer, which had loads of holes in it, and a particularly big one by it’s heart, this is where the family fire their first practice/checking shots before they go out stalking! We then opted to follow one of the waymarked walks into the estate woodlands which took us up one of the surrounding hills where we saw various cairns erected to commemorate members of the Royal Family, it also gave us a great view of the castle itself as well as a variety of wildlife including Deer, Red Squirrels, Beetles, Butterflies, Caterpillars, Giant Ants and Slugs! Having walked around 8 miles and happy with our lot, we headed back to Tonks and back to
the ‘van.
After tea Phil went out on his bike to see if he could photograph the Lions Face. This is a rocky outcrop that we walked to the day before where the notice said you needed to be on the other side of the river to see a clear outline of a lions face in the rocks. So I rode past the rocky outcrop and out the other side, over the river bridge and up into the woods opposite, once in a clearing I looked back at the rocks. No matter how much I squinted, looked sideways, closed one eye, or looked at it upside down I could not see a Lions face! Ahh well, the 10 mile ride in the woods was good fun and tired me out for the rest of the night
Phil was up at 8:00 (again!) this morning to do an 8 mile ride up Sron Dubh, a 584 metre peak just up the road from the site, tired legs got me to the top just before the weather closed in and the drizzle started, but I’d seen 3 stags and it was downhill all the way back so that didn’t matter! We set off in the rain to watch the Breamar Youth Highland games in the village. Unfortunately when we got there the lady on the gate told us that dogs weren’t allowed in. Very disappointed we trudged back to the ‘van.. After a brief mope Linda decided that we should go down the A93 t
o the Glenshee ski area, which we passed on the way here, there was a café there so we had a brew and some very stodgy carrot cake. As we looked around all the ski lifts and café area we spotted that there was a mountain bike track and you could take your bike up on the lift! We decided to get the dogs out and walk them up the track to have a nosey.. It turned out to be just a landrover track which is used to access the top lift, but the wa
lk we had was amazing with some fantastic views over the ski area, we could see most of the 19 ski lifts they have there and many of ski runs were marked out with fences, we just had to imagine the snow! We walked to the top of Cairn Aosda which sits at 3,000 feet and had a look down on Loch Vrotachan and the valley which it sits in before heading back down through the clouds.
Next day due to the rain we stayed in the van until early afternoon with Linda reading the paper and Phil listening to the Grand Prix. Once the rain had eased we had a wander into the village with the dogs, we heard a marching band coming through with the drums and pipes going strong, we followed them to the square where they stopped walking and continued to play for a bit, so we headed home to get away from the racket! After a brew Phil took Prince into the woods across the road, Phil had his bike and they went on tracks that took them round the small pool in the woods and then back to the van. In the evening Phil went off to a packed Fife Inn to watch the world cup final, stood next to some Dutch with the Spaniards behind us the atmosphere was great!
The next day, because they were getting mucky, we had to give the car and the caravan a wash. We’v
e done this a few times now, and sometimes get funny looks as people wonder why we’ve come on holiday to wash the caravan! Still, it got us chatting to our neighbour who told us about some of the epic walks he’d been doing while walking the munroe’s (mountains over 3,000ft).
In the afternoon we went out in Tonks to the Linn of Dee and the Mar Estate, a huge a
rea of countryside owned and managed by the Scottish National Trust. From the car park we did one of the recommended walks, first we had a play in the river Dee with Linda going in the freezing water barefoot and Prince putting his face in and pulling out big rocks! We carried on round to the River Lui, where we came across a manmade salmon staircase, a series of small pools that the salmon can jump in and make their way up the river to spawn. After that we carried on back to the car meeting a lady with a friendly Scottie dog called ‘Caber’, great name! At the car we got chatting to a man with a mountain bike, he had used the bike to take him to the end of the track and then walked the rest of the way up a monroe! The ride saved him a 2 and a half hour walk either end. He lived in Aberdeenshire, and told us they had the worst winter ever with snow from Nov to April! Once back at the ‘van Phil went out on his bike (again!) up the nearby Creag Choinnich, a 1,700ft peak that overlooks the campsite. The downhill was so good he had to go back up and do it 3 times, steep with rock steps, slabs roots and gullys!
We have now moved to a council run site in the small village of Alford (pronounced Afford)
ut 2.5 hours and one biggish long hill we landed at the Braemar site having gone past the Glenshee ski resort with its chair lifts and cable car, it seemed very odd after only driving a short way to be this high up! We even saw patches of snow on a few of the mountains!Phil got up at 7 to go out on his bike, and did an 8.5 mil
e ride in the sun up a nearby mountain called Morrone. The climb was up a long landrover track that rose up to the 2,875ft summit, approaching the top it got more and more windy and luckily the last part of the climb had the wind pushing me up. On the top there is a trig point and communications mast that was whistling in the wind. The view over the Cairngorm mountains was breathtaking. The descent took me down a brilliant walkers path, dropping 1,700 feet in 2 miles it was excellent, twisty and rocky meant you had to real
ly pay attention! Smudge had an appointment to have her bad teeth looked at and for her boosters at the vet in the next town, so when Phil got back we piled the dogs in the car and set off for Ballater. Once in the surgery the vet was a friendly lady who said that Smudge would need at least 2 teeth out, so we booked her in to their other larger practice for next week, poor Smudge.After this we had a mooch round the village and got some supplies from the posh butchers (by Appointment to Queenie don’t you know) as well as some Balmoral bread from the bakers.
We had already decided to go over to Loch Muick the next day (as recommended by the bike shop the day before). As the crow flies it is only a few miles away, but because of all the mountains it took over an hour to get there! Linda set off for a walk around the loch, this ended up being a 7.6 mile epic, the first part round the far side of the lake was just a well kept track so was a bit boring but after the house by
the loch which was built by Queen Victoria (I’m sure she had some help!) it turned into a path through trees and then after the beach at the far end of the loch it became single track back along until it rejoined another track for the last bit. We passed two lots of deer on the final bit, 3 stags up on the hill and 3 does on the estuary fields, we got back to the car in 2 and half hours and we were all exhausted! Meanwhile Phil went on an equally epic 14 mile ride, as recommended by the bike shop. The first climb went on, and on, and on, but it was worth it for the descent down the other side, very steep singletracks with rocks drops and switchbac
ks it was like an alpine downhill. Once at the bottom the view was like a scene from the Alps too with the mountain river and the fir trees giving way to dramatic mountainous rock faces and even some snow on show! The climb out of the valley steadily got tougher and tougher until I ended up with the bike on my back as I scrambled up the steep track, on the way I met a few walkers who I stopped and talked briefly to. Once at the top the last downhill to the Loch was no place to rest with large rain gullies which you have to hop the bike over, it was physically exhausting, and after the last rocky singletrack back to the car I was beaten, time to head home.Right in the heart of The Cairngorms National Park and sitting on the banks of the River Dee, Balmoral Castle is the Scottish home of the Royal Family. As a private house, the only room the public are allowed in is the ballroom, as a visitor though you are given unlimited access to the gardens and the grounds that the castle is set in, as well as some exhibitions and a gift shop. We parked up and walked into the Balmoral Estate over Isambard
Brunel’s bridge. Initially we walked down the drive to the stables where we picked up our audio tour and had a look around a couple of the exhibitions. We then headed around to the castle which we walked around the front of and headed into the ballroom where we both went in for a look. The castle itself is actually a hunting lodge built in the French Chateau style by Prince Albert over 150 years ago to replace an earlier castle which sat on the current castles front lawn, it’s picturesque turrets and its location nestled amongst the trees and mountains gives it a real fantasy feel. The inside of the ballroom is as grand as you would expect, but it isn’t as large as you might imagine, especially given that it is the largest room in the castle. After we had both been in we walked along the riverside walk, and of course Prince had to go in for a dip! The walk brought us back around to the stables, so we continued to follow the audio tour into the gardens, huge beds of baby plants, large conservator
ies, lawns, fountains and big trees all followed until we came to the cricket field, with its tiny pavilion and few benches. On the other side of the field is a wooden deer, which had loads of holes in it, and a particularly big one by it’s heart, this is where the family fire their first practice/checking shots before they go out stalking! We then opted to follow one of the waymarked walks into the estate woodlands which took us up one of the surrounding hills where we saw various cairns erected to commemorate members of the Royal Family, it also gave us a great view of the castle itself as well as a variety of wildlife including Deer, Red Squirrels, Beetles, Butterflies, Caterpillars, Giant Ants and Slugs! Having walked around 8 miles and happy with our lot, we headed back to Tonks and back to
the ‘van.After tea Phil went out on his bike to see if he could photograph the Lions Face. This is a rocky outcrop that we walked to the day before where the notice said you needed to be on the other side of the river to see a clear outline of a lions face in the rocks. So I rode past the rocky outcrop and out the other side, over the river bridge and up into the woods opposite, once in a clearing I looked back at the rocks. No matter how much I squinted, looked sideways, closed one eye, or looked at it upside down I could not see a Lions face! Ahh well, the 10 mile ride in the woods was good fun and tired me out for the rest of the night
Phil was up at 8:00 (again!) this morning to do an 8 mile ride up Sron Dubh, a 584 metre peak just up the road from the site, tired legs got me to the top just before the weather closed in and the drizzle started, but I’d seen 3 stags and it was downhill all the way back so that didn’t matter! We set off in the rain to watch the Breamar Youth Highland games in the village. Unfortunately when we got there the lady on the gate told us that dogs weren’t allowed in. Very disappointed we trudged back to the ‘van.. After a brief mope Linda decided that we should go down the A93 t
o the Glenshee ski area, which we passed on the way here, there was a café there so we had a brew and some very stodgy carrot cake. As we looked around all the ski lifts and café area we spotted that there was a mountain bike track and you could take your bike up on the lift! We decided to get the dogs out and walk them up the track to have a nosey.. It turned out to be just a landrover track which is used to access the top lift, but the wa
lk we had was amazing with some fantastic views over the ski area, we could see most of the 19 ski lifts they have there and many of ski runs were marked out with fences, we just had to imagine the snow! We walked to the top of Cairn Aosda which sits at 3,000 feet and had a look down on Loch Vrotachan and the valley which it sits in before heading back down through the clouds.Next day due to the rain we stayed in the van until early afternoon with Linda reading the paper and Phil listening to the Grand Prix. Once the rain had eased we had a wander into the village with the dogs, we heard a marching band coming through with the drums and pipes going strong, we followed them to the square where they stopped walking and continued to play for a bit, so we headed home to get away from the racket! After a brew Phil took Prince into the woods across the road, Phil had his bike and they went on tracks that took them round the small pool in the woods and then back to the van. In the evening Phil went off to a packed Fife Inn to watch the world cup final, stood next to some Dutch with the Spaniards behind us the atmosphere was great!
The next day, because they were getting mucky, we had to give the car and the caravan a wash. We’v
e done this a few times now, and sometimes get funny looks as people wonder why we’ve come on holiday to wash the caravan! Still, it got us chatting to our neighbour who told us about some of the epic walks he’d been doing while walking the munroe’s (mountains over 3,000ft).In the afternoon we went out in Tonks to the Linn of Dee and the Mar Estate, a huge a
rea of countryside owned and managed by the Scottish National Trust. From the car park we did one of the recommended walks, first we had a play in the river Dee with Linda going in the freezing water barefoot and Prince putting his face in and pulling out big rocks! We carried on round to the River Lui, where we came across a manmade salmon staircase, a series of small pools that the salmon can jump in and make their way up the river to spawn. After that we carried on back to the car meeting a lady with a friendly Scottie dog called ‘Caber’, great name! At the car we got chatting to a man with a mountain bike, he had used the bike to take him to the end of the track and then walked the rest of the way up a monroe! The ride saved him a 2 and a half hour walk either end. He lived in Aberdeenshire, and told us they had the worst winter ever with snow from Nov to April! Once back at the ‘van Phil went out on his bike (again!) up the nearby Creag Choinnich, a 1,700ft peak that overlooks the campsite. The downhill was so good he had to go back up and do it 3 times, steep with rock steps, slabs roots and gullys!We have now moved to a council run site in the small village of Alford (pronounced Afford)
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