Planning Our Big Trip

We have started booking a few flights & planning our travels a bit more now that we have a few dates locked in. We are leaving Aberdeen for Madrid on the 14th of May, leaving Europe for Brazil on 12th of August and leaving Chile for NZ on the 2nd of October. Both Haylee and I are really looking forward to it after what has been a long rugby season here in Scotland.

In the next couple of months we will continue to work hard and save money for the big trip. We currently have a couple of weeks off rugby, which gives us a chance to see a bit of Scotland. Haylees good friend Emily has been up over the weekend from London, so we managed to get out and show her a few local attractions. We went over to Loch Ness on Saturday, visited the Urquart Castle and Culloden on the way home. Culloden is the site of the last battle between the Red Coats and Scottish Clansmen (fighting against English rule). This was apparently a bloody battle only lasting a couple of hours, and there are gravestones with clan names on them - marking mass graves where soldiers were buried. We found one with ‘Fraser’ (the clan of which Haylee descends from) on it. On Sunday we braved the snow and went over to see Dunnottar Castle. Even though we had already been there, it was still good to see it again.. We spent 2 hours there before getting a hot drink at Stonehaven on the way home.

Cottage at the famous battle site of Culloden

Haylee & Em & Nessie

Fastest town in Scotland... Nairn

This weekend Haylee and I are heading to the Isle of Arran, which is apparently like a mini version of Scotland. We are catching ua bus down to Glasgow, train to Ardrossan and ferry over to Arran. It was pretty cheap getting down and back as we booked nice and early, worked out at NZ $80 each return.

It seems like it has been a long season over here playing and coaching rugby. This may be because I have had back to back seasons and being new to coaching. The Scottish weather definitely hasn’t helped as quite a few games have been put off due to the weather. In saying that, it has been a great experience as we have learned to live in a different part of the world, seen some pretty cool places, met some nice people, and I have learned a lot about being a coach. I think living over here has made us appreciate home a bit more - especially the weather!