The travels of Tim and Megan: Great Britain Tour

Day 4: Newcastle and Hadrian's Wall, England

Sadly our run of good weather came to a horrible end on Saturday. We woke to a wet and grey morning in the pub car park in Chester-le-Street. We re-jigged our plans for seeing Hadrian's Wall in the morning and instead we decided to head straight to Newcastle, hoping the weather would clear later in the day for some Wall action.

We got some breakfast and coffee in Chester-le-Street and we arrived in Newcastle around 9.30am, having seen one of England's iconic images, the "Angel of the North" statue, on our way into the city. We parked the car and took jackets and umbrellas as we explored the city centre of Newcastle.

Newcastle-upon-Tyne owes its name to its Norman castle which was founded in 1080 by the eldest son of William the Conqueror. The Romans had bridged the River Tyne and built a fort on the site 1,000 years earlier. During the Middle Ages it was used as a base for English campaigns against the Scots. Later, the city flourished as a coal mining and exporting centre and was later known for engineering, steel production and as the world's foremost shipyard. Recently the city's industrial base has declined, but Newcastle now has a very modern city centre, fantastic cultural treasures and the Newcastle United football team to boast about.

As it was wet, we decided it was a good opportunity to do some blogging and catching up on what was happening in the world, so we found and internet cafe and sheltered from the rain for a while. We tried to stick to indoor activities, so we checked out the massive Eldon Square shopping mall, which was really impressive. We had some McDonald's for lunch, along with the rest of the population of Newcastle - prams, walking frames and all - you couldn't move in there! After lunch, we walked along the banks of the River Tyne, checking out the beautiful Tyne Bridge and Millennium Bridge and we crossed the river to visit the Baltic - a contemporary art gallery.

There was some really interesting art in the Baltic and we got a magnificent view over the river and the city centre of Newcastle from the 5th floor viewing platform. We were also sheltered from the rain, so we both thoroughly enjoyed our visit. When we emerged from the Baltic, the skies were a little clearer, which meant that we could at least walk through the city, which is very charming. However, another deluge soon followed, so we boarded the spaceship and left Newcastle behind.

We drove west past a little town called Hexham, where we would spend the night at a camping ground, and we continued to a tiny place called Haltwhistle, which is next to an impressive stretch of Hadrian's Wall. On the orders of Emperor Hadrian, work began in 120AD on a 117km wall to be erected across northern England, to mark and defend the northern limits of the British province and the north-west border of the Roman Empire. The wall was abandoned by the soldiers in 383AD as the empire crumbled, but large parts of it are still intact today and are protected by the English Heritage Trust.

Unsurprisingly, it was raining at Hadrian's Wall, but we braved the elements and walked up to the hilltop to stand proudly on Hadrian's Wall and take a few photos - you can't let the weather get in the way of your plans in England, or you would never get anything done! Then we drove back to Hexham to our camping ground for the night and parked up on a rather boggy grass bank...not ideal! We had a basic dinner of bread, cold meats and cheeses, chicken drumsticks and a bottle of wine, as the rain pelted down on the spaceship. Hilariously, we saw a couple of girls all dressed up in their tight tops and short, short skirts emerge from a caravan and jump into a taxi that had pulled up, presumably to take them into Newcastle for a big night out...

Day 5: Stirling, Scotland

The weather had not improved when we woke, so we quickly got showered and sorted and left the camping ground. We drove north across the border into Scotland and, almost the instant we did so, the skies cleared and the sun came out. Sunny Scotland! We grabbed some lunch on the outskirts of Stirling and then we carried on into the heart of the city, to Stirling Castle.

Sitting high on a rocky crag, the magnificent Stirling Castle, which dominated Scottish history for centuries, now remains one of the finest examples of Renaissance architecture in Scotland. Earliest recorded history of the castle dates from 1124 and the present castle dates from the 15th century. We were greeted at the entrance to the castle by a massive statue of Robert the Bruce, one of Scotland's favourite heroes, who led the vastly outnumbered Scottish forces to victory over the English at Bannockburn in 1314.

The castle has been restored recently and provides a realistic picture of what it would have looked like through the 14th-16th centuries. There are also actors dressed in the traditional garments, who pose for photos and provide more information about life in the castle. We had a brilliant time wandering through the castle with a very thorough audio guide, which not only explained about the different parts of the castle and what they were used for, etc, but also gave a great account of some of the history associated with the castle, Scotland's monarchs, battles against the English, etc. It was fascinating. We had no idea that Stirling was such an important strategic location for invading (or protecting against invasion) the whole of Scotland.

After our castle visit, we drove across Stirling to the other big tourist attraction, the Wallace Monument. On top of another rocky crag stands the impressive 67m high Wallace Monument, which recounts William Wallace's defeat of the English at Stirling Bridge in 1297. We walked up the steep hill to the monument in time to hear a talk from an actor dressed as one of Wallace's men. Tim even got a photo with him and a massive sword!

Stirling itself is a very nice city - we parked in the city centre and walked around a few shops for a while (Stirling has an insane amount of hairdressers and barbers for its size - every third shop was a hairdresser!) and then had a drink at a pub on the main street. Megan then hit the jackpot by stumbling across an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet restaurant. Exactly what travellers on a budget were looking for! We dominated - Tim even sought some tactical advice from his mate Simon, who is experienced in such endeavours. After dinner, we found a good spot on a quiet street in Stirling to park the spaceship and we had a wee whisky before bedtime. Great first day in Scotland!

Day 6: Perth, Scotland

We had a great night's sleep and woke to another glorious sunny Scottish day. After some breakfast we drove the short distance from Stirling to a little place called Auchterarder, to visit a relative of Megan's. It was lovely to see Renee and she had some useful tips for navigating around Scotland.

By the time we left Auchterarder, it had turned grey and a little drizzly, but it was not too bad. We carried on the road to Perth, another pretty little city on the banks of the River Tay. Perth was once the capital of medieval Scotland and its rich heritage is reflected in its many beautiful buildings.

We had a Boots lunch deal for lunch and we picked up some groceries for that night's dinner and then we had a nice, leisurely walk through Perth and along the south bank of the Tay. There were loads of sculptures all the way along the river bank, in amongst beautiful gardens, so it was a very pretty walk.

Later in the afternoon, we drove out of Perth to a camping ground near the small village of Dunkeld. We did some washing and dishes etc and cooked a really nice dinner on the gas stove next to the spaceship - sausages and beans on rice. Awesome. After dinner, we went for a walk to Dunkeld. It was very pretty - also built on the banks for the River Tay and it has a collection of cute cottages along its main street and an impressive war monument too! After our walk we did some more planning of what we would do in the coming days, played some cards and had a wee whisky / Baileys before bed. We love Scotland!

Day 7: Oban and Inveraray, Scotland

With washing done and water tank refilled, we left the camping ground and drove west from Dunkeld to Oban. We were treated to magnificent scenery all the way to Oban - we stopped several times for photos of beautiful green farmland lined with old stone walls, rugged mountains, rivers and lakes and even the odd highland bull! We stopped in a little village called Kenmore, on a lakefront, with an old castle wall, a pretty little church and a cute general store. We also stopped at a place called Killen, which had a river running through it, and we got a slice of carrot cake from the tea rooms - it was delicious!

We eventually arrived in Oban at around midday. Located on the Firth of Lorne and commanding a stunning view of the Argyll coast, the bustling port town of Oban is a popular tourist destination for travellers on their way to Mull and the Western Isles by ferry. We had fish n chips for lunch at a renowned fish n chip restaurant. It really was excellent. Then we walked up the steep hill to McCaig's Tower, a Victorian imitation of the Colosseum in Rome. There were amazing sea views from the top of the hill, so it was worth the trek!

We did some more exploring of the town centre and managed to find an internet cafe, which was quite handy, and then we carried on our merry way around the lakes to Inveraray. Inveraray is another cute little village on a lakefront, best known for its Gothic castle. We happened to arrive on the day that the Inveraray Highland Games had taken place. While the Games had finished, the place was full of people, so it was really buzzing. As the castle had also closed for the day, we wandered through town and found a nice pub, where we chilled out over a few Scottish ales, looking out over the beautiful lake. Later, we had pork and cheese rolls and some wine down by the lake for dinner and then we parked up for the night to get some much-needed sleep!