Rugby & Life In Scotland

We have been in Scotland for 2 months now so have settled in nicely. We are living in a town called Inverurie which would be around twice the size of Wellsford. The area around us has a heap of tourist attractions which is a bonus.

Our new house in Inverurie, North East Scotland

The River Don which runs through Inverurie

The people here are very friendly. We were taken out for a very nice dinner her with the club president and his partner on our arrival - highly recommend the local Aberdeen Angus steak! Was a nice surprise for sure. We are staying in a house with another coach from Australia and a Scottish couple who are also involved with the rugby club.

Out for dinner at Fraser Castle with the Garioch club president & his partner on our first week in Scotland.

We have visited a few attractions in the two months we have been here (in between rugby which takes up a fair amount of time). Our first trip took us to the Stornoway Islands on the west coast, was a cool trip through the highlands and the relaxed coastal town of Ullapool. One of the best has been Dunnottar Castle (about 30mins southeast of Inverurie) which lies right on the coast up on a cliff. Bennachie is a mountain nearby with some decent walks and views once you get to the top, they once mined granite from here and there is some interesting history worth reading up about. We have visited the Battle of Harlaw monument (5mins drive from our place) where there was once a brutal skirmish (apparently the river ran red with blood after the battle). Fraser Castle is very nice and only a 10 minute drive from Inverurie.

Passing through the west coast fishing town of Ullapool on our way to Stornoway. 24 hour away trip for rugby on our first week in Scotland.

Crathes Castle - one of the many castles in Aberdeenshire.

Dunnotar Castle ruins - pretty spectacular place.

Have had a taste of some pretty decent whiskey also. The best so far is called Glendronach, a local distillery about 20 mins away. Is quite a sweet, easy drinking whiskey because it is aged in sherry barrels. They say it is available in NZ so go for the 12 of 15 years aged, is a good drop!

Visit to Glenfiddich Distillery on 22/10/12. Learnt all about the whiskey making process and finished off with a taste of 3 whiskeys, the 12, 15 & 18 year old brews.

The Glenfiddich Story

Rugby is going very well. The team has won 8 from 8 and everyone at Garioch (pronounced Gea-ry) is in pretty high spirits being on top of the table. Teams played so far include; Stornoway, Aberdeen Wanderers, Aberdeen Uni, Moray, Banff, Ross Sutherland, RAF Lossiemouth and Aberdeenshire - if you look on a map you will see they are all quite spread out. Have had a few tough games but our fitness seems to be our strength, must be doing something right as a coach. The standard of rugby is poor compared to back home, but I am still enjoying it. The club is happy with my performance as a coach and player, so hopefully we can carry on the good work!