this is a big update!

Well we've been talking about updating the blog for months now, but it's finally going to happen. Since we last wrote we've been busy busy busy! So here goes:

It's now early August. This weekend we spent visiting our friends Eric & Hilary who live in Dundee, about an hour north of Edinburgh. We caught the train up on Friday night and had a lovely evening with them – they have an amazing flat overlooking the firth of Tay, you can see the bridge and all the water and out to the North Sea – really lovely spot, and a nice new apartment with lots of big windows to take in the views. We went for a cycle on Saturday after a pretty lazy morning but unfortunately the rain came down – really heavy and big drops!! It was almost flooding some of the roads, which was a bit of a challenge! Lucky for us it was also pretty warm (around 20) so it was a bit muggy but we weren't too cold at least. Then on Sunday we didn't do much, Selina did some photography stuff and Angus played some music. Sunday night we went to a fantastic Jazz show – a Stephen Grappelli Centenary Concert, which was simply fabulous, really inventive and enthusiastic. It was part of the Edinburgh Jazz Festival, and we were glad to be able to get along to a show. Next year we'll go to more I think! Earlier in the week we visited Clare and Paul for dinner also. They live out a bit South of Edinburgh in a nice little cottage. We had a great evening with them – Angus just cycled there from Roslin, and really enjoyed riding along the little narrow roads. Selina caught the bus out after work and helped with the cooking and picking berries. It was a nice evening. The weekend before (last one in July) Angus did a music recording course (one-day only) on the Saturday and Selina went to see a great photographic exhibition at the Dean Gallery, it is called 'Foto: modernity in Central Europe', photos taken in the early 20th century, between the wars. It was very interesting and quite diverse, gave me lots of ideas! On the Sunday I had a nice chat to Michelle and in the afternoon we went to see 'Jazz on a Summers Day'. Given some scottish summer days we've had recently we rugged up warmly in jeans and took our umbrella. We were wrong – it was hot and sunny! We sat on the lawn in Princes St Gardens and listened to jazz while we had a picnic. We had some friends join us too. We even needed an ice cream to cool us down! Divine!! The weekend before that (19/20th July) we went to the Isle of Mull. We rented a car on the Friday night and drove to Oban. Then we got the last ferry and got to Mull about 11:30pm. We found the most soft and yummy piece of grass ever and put up our tent! The wind and rain gave us a small window and we managed to get in without getting wet, and slept very well! The rain disappeared again in the morning for our cooked breakfast ;-) We then had planned to go on a cruise to the Treshnish Islands to see the Puffins and other seabirds, but the wind was quite strong so we couldn't go. We went for a nice drive and a lovely walk along a loch, and enjoyed seeing the beautiful Mull scenery for the second time. We met with Amy & Juande and their Spanish friends who were also visiting Mull, and we spied a Sea Eagle young bird in it's nest, which was great to see! We stayed again at Sunart View (a lovely b&b) and once again they looked after us. We went for dinner in Tobermory overlooking the beautiful harbour with all the boats and pretty coloured buildings. Such a lovely spot! We caught the ferry home on Sunday afternoon and it was a beautiful day, sunny and mild. The previous Sunday (13th) we also went birdwatching with Amy & Juande. We caught the train to North Berwick (which is a lovely spot East of Edinburgh) and caught the boat out to Bass Rock, which is home to about 100,000 Gannets. They are large white and yellow seabirds who nest on the rock, and they cover it – literally the whole rock is white from them, and there are thousands hovering above it too – quite a spectacle! We also sat on the beach afterwards and dreamed that we were at Port Elliot Beach. Ahh.

Late in June we were lucky to have Martin & Ivanka come to visit us. We showed them around Edinburgh the day they arrived (they had lots of sleep on the plane!!), and Selina took them to Roslyn Chapel on the Monday afternoon, and we also went to a nice restaurant for dinner that night. On the Tuesday we all had the day off and we drove down to Melrose, a small town in the Borders, and went to see a great Abbey. It is very large and there is an excellent audio guide – we must have spent a few hours walking around it, Martin & I taking lots of photos along the way! We had lunch in a small cafe and went to see another Abbey in the afternoon before going back to Edinburgh. Then after Martin & Ivanka headed down South we followed, catching a plane to Bristol on the Thursday night. Angus and I got a city car on the Friday and went for a really nice drive around the countryside near Bristol. On the Friday night it was raining and we went for a walk from our Hotel – it was really warm which was nice. We found a great little restaurant and spent a lovely evening together there. Bristol is a pretty nice place. On the Saturday we caught a train to Bath where we met Martin & Ivanka and also Ronald. We explored the Roman Baths and had a nice walk around the town in the afternoon. We went to a great seafood restaurant for dinner. Yum. On Sunday we explored Bristol with Martin & Ivanka. It was wonderful to see them and spend some time with them both. We came back to Edinburgh on the Sunday night, and they were off to conferences and then a great tour of Italy.

Before that we had a lovely time with Carla & Brian visiting us. They arrived on Thursday evening (June 5th) with all their luggage! (they had a bit of excitement with delayed planes and missing luggage during their trip over to Germany). Angus & I both were very pleased to see them!! We drove on the Friday evening to Callendar, which is in the Southern Scottish highlands. We stayed at a nice place and had a lovely meal in the evening. On Saturday we went the scenic route to Oban - via Rannock Moor, the views were lovely and the snow had melted from when we were here a few months prior. We caught our ferry to the Isle of Mull in the early afternoon and then drove to Tobermory, which is a pretty town on Mull, the largest on the island. We went to a great restaurant for dinner - Cafe Fish, and it was excellent food. It was such a lovely day we sat outside in the sunshine for dinner and really enjoyed the views. On the Sunday we drove via the scenic (windy) route to get the ferry to Iona. There were lots of great views along the way. Iona is very pretty and the Abbey was interesting, and lucky for us the weather was very kind and the sun stayed out all day and we enjoyed blue skies and sunshine! On the Monday we did a wildlife tour which was really interesting. We all got acquainted with binoculars and the various types of birds we would see throughout the day. Unfortunately the weather was a bit bad, but that didn't stop us having a good time. We saw a golden eagle in a tree near it's nest, some Red deer, some Roe deer, lots of little birds, a Peregrine falcon, lots of oyster-catchers and herons, the list goes on! It was a fun day and certainly got us enthusiastic about all the fabulous wildlife to see here in Scotland. We didn't see otters which was a shame, but did see a few seals. Back in Edinburgh Brian & Carla did some sightseeing as Angus & Selina had to work a few days. On the weekend we all went on the bus to South Queensferry where we caught a boat out to Inchcombe Island, which is in the mouth of the Firth of Forth. There is an abbey there, and lots of seabirds nest on the island. We all got divebombed by angry nesting seagulls, which was certainly a different experience! We managed to see some puffins on the boat on the way back which was exciting - they are very small and fast! We had a wonderful time with our visitors and were sad to see them leave on the Sunday morning.

In May we had visitors too. Judy and Pete arrived in Scotland on the 8th of May. We picked up a rental car on the Friday and drove to Fort William, a pretty town right on a loch. Very nice. On the Saturday we drove the rest of the way to the Isle of Skye. We were lucky with the weather, a little overcast but dry. We stopped at the Eileen Donan castle and had a look around which was interesting. We couldn't see the tops of the Cuillin Mountains as there was a bit of low cloud, but the views were spectacular anyway! We stopped in for a short Whisky tasting at Tallisker. Then we drove on to the B&B on the Waternish Peninsula. Along the way the views were so stunning - we could see all the way out to the outer hebrides, misty islands everywhere! We went for dinner in an old pub which was in a pretty special spot right on the beach. The next day we went for a drive around Trotternish, which is really interesting, fabulous views around every corner, and lots of interesting rock formations too. Although we didn't fit a walk in, we really enjoyed our day very much. The next day we drove down to South of the Cuillin Hills, to Elgol. From there we caught a ferry to Loch Coruisk, which you can only access by water or walking. The views were amazing, really beautiful. We saw seals and terns, and the hills are stunning - sharp black peaks and rounded pink hills. We ate our picnic lunch by the loch and took in the views. Back at Elgol we debated a swim because it was so hot but when we put our feet in the water was amazingly cold so we decided against it and got an ice cream instead! We stayed at a nice little b'n'b that night and went for a fabulous seafood dinner in Broadford. The next day we drove off the Island and then up alongside Loch Ness to Inverness. Angus and Selina caught the train back to Edinburgh, and Judy and Pete drove up to explore more of Northern Scotland. Over the next few weeks they came back to Edinburgh and stayed with us on and off for the next few weeks. It was really lovely to have them around for a whole month!

During the time when Judy & Pete visited we also had some other visitors. Rachel came and had dinner one night, and Graham & Michaela & Karina also visited us, we had two lovely dinners with them. Selina and Angus also had a quick weekend in Paris. We visited all the main sites. The highlight for me was on Sunday traffic is closed on the road next to the Seine, so we picked up some bikes and went for a lovely relaxing cycle next to the river, right in the heart of Paris! I loved the Louvre, I could go back a few more times I think!! We did a tour which I would recommend to anyone visiting. We ate really well (no surprises there) and drank lots of coffee. We also visited the Musee Rodin which was excellent.

So thats the update from us for the last few months! It's festival season here in Edinburgh now, so it's all busy and go go go for us for a while (no changes there really). Summer is a joke and we're missing the Australian summer (we know you're all cold there at the moment ;-) We had a quick visit from Jasi too a few weeks ago when she was touring around. We took her to a great little vegetarian restaurant in the city. She managed to see a lot of Edinburgh while she was here! We like visitors and hope to have some more soon (hint hint!!)

Angus is officially a doctor now too. He got his PhD results a few months ago and got very positive comments from both markers. So I'm very proud of him ;-)

We have an Adelaide phone number now too. I'm not going to put it in the blog, but you all know where to email us to ask for the number. That means it's really cheap to talk to us, so hope we can chat to some of you soon!

Bye for now, Selina & Angus
xx

PS- some photos updated now, and will keep working on more ;-)