Part 6: In pursuit of great writers, lochs, whisky, wildcats and love… Scotland/England

The haggis taste test...

CARLISLE Mon 12. After a good night’s sleep and a delicious cooked breakfast,  we try potato scones and Max tries some haggis, we are on our way again.

There are storm warnings out as the tail end of hurricane Katia sweeps across Ireland, west England and Scotland. Our journey is fraught with strong winds and heavy rain giving us limited visibility at times.

Heading to Carlisle means leaving Scotland and we are sad to go – we have loved the people, culture and scenery.

Let's tie the knot...again!

Our very last stop before we leave the country is Gretna Green, just above the Scottish border. We should stop, I say, it’s famous.

Max isn’t convinced as he encounters busloads (at least 10 or more buses) of elderly/older people disembarking at this iconic and highly commercial historic landmark. He’s still in denial. I was never there, he insists.

Gretna Green Village, near the River Esk, is famous for run-away weddings. It all started back in 1753 when an English Marriage Act was passed that didn’t allow weddings between people who were under 21 years old and did not have their parent’s permission to marry. The young hopelessly-in-love fled England and Gretna Green was the first village they encountered over the border.

Whether folklore or not, the village became famous and now hosts over 5000 weddings a year.

We arrive in Carlisle early afternoon. Our hotel is cheap and basic but comfortable and just for one night.

The town is known for its castle and cathedral, neither of which we have time to visit.

We have a pleasant walk in the shopping area and retire back to our hotel, ready for the last part of this journey to take hold.

LIVERPOOL Weds 14.  Our final part to this journey is to return our rental car back to Avis in Liverpool.

After travelling some 1600 km, we are pleased to report, with great relief, that it was not harmed in any way during our journey.

Nor to our knowledge do we have any speeding tickets and, luckily, no traffic misdemeanours (thanks to intense finger-crossing).

We spend some time in Liverpool visiting the Beatles Story shop and the brand new Museum of Liverpool at the docks. It’s a stunning building that houses contemporary exhibits including the history of soccer, music and literary greats.

We catch a bus back to Heswall. Our Scotland adventure has ended – we loved every bit of it (even though I was sick for most of it) and yes, Neil, it did make us homesick, you were right!   

The next two weeks will see us in Heswall before we head off to Sweden on Oct 1 and back home in New Zealand on Oct 12.

We’re looking forward to seeing our boys, family and friends again – what a grand hugging that will be!