Daylesford Spring Dispatch - Sunday, 9th November 2014

 Dear Everyone, when I last wrote we were about to spend our last day in Scotland. We rose early, enjoyed a last breakfast at Greystones and drove 2 hours to the pretty little town of Colintraive to catch the 5-minute ferry to the Isle of Bute. Our interest in this island came because Emily Knox, daughter of Jane & David, is happily living in London with Alan Kinnear, who hails from there. We arrived in perfect sunshine at the top of the island, and drove 30 minutes or so to visit the Fernery at Ascog House. We had read about the Fernery and I emailed the owner, Karin, to find out if they would be open. She said they had closed officially but would be happy to let us see the garden for £2 each.

We knocked on the door, but there was no answer and we didn’t like to trespass so left a note and went onto our next site – St Blane’s Chapel at the very bottom of the island. Well we couldn’t find it and by this time the rain was bucketing down so we headed back to Kingarth and spotted the Three Standing Stones on our way (having missed them the first time). Lunch at the pub was a treat – wood fire, haunch of venison on the menu, wooden carriers with 9 different sauces & vinegars on each table, as well as fresh flowers, and although we got drenched getting in the welcome was warm. Thanks to Emily for the suggestion.

After lunch, we headed into the capital, Rothesay, which reminded us very much of St Kilda, with lots of Victorian architecture, including a Victorian toilet block, which is worth the 30p entrance fee. The Museum was closed, but we enjoyed the Interpretive Centre, which is housed in an enclosed gazebo-like building and tells the history of Bute. When the rain eased off, we headed for the Castle, but there was no-one to collect tickets and audios from, so we bravely walked across the moat and had a look around. It was meaningless without some audio assistance and the rain was getting heavier, so we set off to visit the other side of the island.

Eventually it was time to catch the 4pm ferry to another pretty town, Wemyss, and that took about 40 minutes and brought us closer to Glasgow. Night was falling and Wes did well to negotiate about 100 roundabouts before we found the airport and more particularly the Avis car return area.

We checked in, discovered we couldn’t talk our way into the Emirates Lounge, so sat in the Caledonian bar, where one of the girls behind the bar thought Prosecco was a brand, and Wes mellowed with a couple of Oban whiskies, while I had a prosecco and then a red wine.

Our flight was OK – the seats in the plane were uncomfortable, the blanket was thin, as were the pillows and after watching an episode of Wallander, I skipped dinner and tried to sleep for the rest of the 7 hours we were in the air.

Making notes in Dubai

We arrived in Dubai and, as we were flying Qantas on this last leg, had no trouble getting into the Emirates Lounge, where we confirmed our domestic tickets from Sydney to Melbourne, I had a shower and Wes got the results of the Melbourne Cup including the very sad death of Admire Rakti.

The next 14 hours were some of the best we have ever spent in the air – we can’t fault the crew – from the moment we arrived and were greeted with warm smiles and some friendly banter until we left the plane in Sydney. Our crew really seemed to enjoy working with each other, and as well as showing infinite patience with us all, they didn’t stop working. The toilets were in constant use and were cleaned frequently; we were frequently offered glasses of cold water; given bags of chips; later bags of M&Ms, and lastly, fresh bananas. The seats were comfortable, the pillows and blanket more than adequate and when we tired of watching films, we did manage to get some sleep.

I’ve now caught up on the following films – Jersey Boys (which I loved), Grace of Monaco (which was good to see on a plane), Closed Circuit (which was great), and an old favourite, Notting Hill. Our welcome in Sydney was good, we were able to collect our boarding passes, check in our luggage and sit quietly in the Qantas Club waiting for the final 90 minutes of flying to be over.

Of course it soon was and we landed in Melbourne to very warm greetings from Immigration and no interest at all from Customs, and outside to find huge queues for buses and taxis, almost as though it was Christmas. The van from Andrew’s arrived quickly; we collected our car and set off for home, admiring the unbroken skies and the colours of Spring on our way.

Red poppies in our back yard

After unpacking and starting the first load of washing, we headed for bed, where Wes fell asleep instantly and I caught up with the local papers as well as The Age. We had something to eat around 8pm, and then tried to sleep and found ourselves with pots of tea, reading and eating mince pies at 2am. The mince pies were courtesy of Dene & Rob from next door and were very welcome indeed. Judi had left us beautiful lilies, tomatoes, cheese, fresh bread and juice, so we could survive until the next day.

On Thursday morning we were awake early so I went shopping at Coles and Tonnas and once it was a civilised hour, Wes did the first mow of our rather long grass. Then he drove to Ballarat to pick up Bilbo, while I tried to balance our accounts on Reckon. Bilbo arrived crying with excitement and seemed to spend the first few minutes looking for Frodo, before he finally accepted that Frodo wasn’t around and settled down to enjoying the comforts of home. He looked very clean and fluffy after his bath, if a little tubby – apparently Andrew & Annette couldn’t resist spoiling him!

Wes spent the afternoon visiting Barbara and helping her with various things that needed doing, including shifting back her furniture which had been moved by the chaps installing her blinds and not replaced. I went to bed and eventually to sleep, which was a mistake as I was wide awake at 12.30am and didn’t get much more sleep, while Wes and Bilbo enjoyed close to 11 hours and both looked much better for it.

We both got lots done on our computers, handled the mail, copied everything from the laptop back to our own computers and started to feel in control of our lives again. I spoke with Leanne, who sounded good, and delivered thank you gifts to Judi & Jeff, who had been so very helpful during the 5 weeks we were away. By early afternoon I was sound asleep and managed to sleep most of the night, so felt much better yesterday morning.

Wes walked Bilbo very early and I washed the cars, before doing some more shopping, pumping mineral water at Lake Daylesford and doing some more computer work. After helping a friend who had gotten into difficulties with an undesirable client, Wes cooked another lovely lunch, (which makes three in a row), before he tackled mowing in the bottom part of the garden. The rest of the day we rested as we have a busy one today.

Bilbo & I are off to the Sunday Market, and then we three are off to breakfast, where we will catch up with Judi, Janine, Margot & Barbara, before heading to Melbourne to visit the Robinsons and see for ourselves that Ian is really on the road to recovery.

There are lots of seats in Rothesay and all are dedicated to people who have died...some of them have flowers tied to them like this seat.