Travel - Our Yurt Experience Part 2

I thought I would share with you our itinerary of activities from our glamping trip to the West Moss-side Yurts...

Friday

After cramming all of our belongings into the car we hit the road and headed towards Stirling. Check-in at the yurts was from 3pm so we decided to spend the afternoon at Briarlands Farm which was very close to our accommodation for the evening. The weather wasn't all that great, but I was well prepared so we all climbed into our waterproof trousers and made our way round the various activities. (Rick wasn't prepared and his trainers got absolutely soaked!!). We've been to Briarlands before and had a great day out so I was keen to visit again. There have been a few changes since we were last at the farm, and my son loved the new maze. I've absolutely no idea why he was insistent on wearing his cycling helmet by the way!!

The Highland cows at Briarland Farm

Which way out of the maze??

Saturday

After breakfast at the yurt, we decided to explore the play trail at Glen Finglas. The kids loved following the map and looking out for various items as we walked round the paths. There were drumming benches, spy chambers and a secret den.

The giant seed... children are encouraged to weave grass or leaves into the wire frame.

Following the trail

The shy roe deer

Magic eye trick... line up the panels to discover a stag beetle.

It took us a few hours to navigate the trail, including snack time in the secret den! Back at the car park we decided to head to the Scottish Wool Centre for a nosey and have lunch. We met the owls and birds of prey from Perthshire Sporting Plus. This was definitely one of my highlights of our holiday - seeing the kids faces as my son held Toby the European Little Owl.

Isn't he cute!!

Afternoon tea for two at the Scottish Wool Centre

That night we had a BBQ at the yurt and the sun stayed out long enough for us to eat and enjoy a little glass of wine.

Sunday

The weather was terrible overnight so we had a lazy morning in the yurt, the kids played with their games and drew some pictures. Back in the car, and this time we headed in the opposite direction to Bridge of Allan for lunch and a wander. I had a gorgeous tuna salad at Jam Jar. The littlest had a roast dinner which looked amazing... it was a huge portion which she didn't manage to finish so I had some and it was delicious.

The sun appeared thankfully and we made our way to Blair Drummond Safari Park for the afternoon. The entry was really expensive which I hadn't anticipated (about £50 for the four of us... I would have been a little cheaper buying online), but we went in anyway. 

This was the first time I had driven round a safari park, and I must admit it was a little daunting with all the entry gates. It did feel like we were going into Jurassic Park! We drove round the animal reserves slowly, taking it all in. My favourite animals were the deer, giraffes and zebra. The monkey drive through was closed, but we did take a boat to Chimpanzee Island later in the day. The pedal boats were good fun and the kids thoroughly enjoyed the Adventure Park...we also had some ice cream cones. Our last stop was the Sea Lion Show, by which point it was 5pm and time to go home. It started to rain just as we were leaving. 

Enjoying the pedal boat

Monday

On Monday morning we got all packed up and said goodbye to the yurts. We were back to Glasgow pretty quickly as Rick had to get to work. 

We had a fantastic weekend though and I will most certainly be visiting this part of Scotland again soon.

Sarah x

Ballathie House Hotel

R & I visited Ballathie Country House Hotel in Perthshire for an overnight stay in October en-route to Aberdeen. As part of our Autumn Break package, we had a four course dinner in the hotel's 2 AA rosette restaurant and it was the best meal I've had in a long time and quite possibly one of the best steaks I've had in the UK.

The hotel is stunning

After checking in we headed to the Riverside Building which is a short walk from the main building and it has views over the River Tay. We were on the first floor with a small private balcony.

Some of the rooms are gorgeous, like this four poster bedroom which I think is in the main building.

The decor of our room wasn't to my taste, but the room itself was lovely and spacious. It was a bit tired in places which was disappointing but it was clean which is the most important thing. I regret now not taking the room in the main building which was available when I made my booking. Anyway, here are the photos I captured of our room:

After unpacking my bits and bobs, I got cosy and watched some TV with a cuppa. It was lovely to get a chance to relax without feeling pressurised to do housework or laundry which always seems to happen when I'm at home!

Our room had lovely fluffy robes and I was super excited about having a nice hot bath to relax before going to dinner...

But if you were seeing my tweets on the day, then you'll possibly remember that there was no hot water! I was gutted. So I got dressed for dinner without washing and we headed to the main building for dinner...

Make-up on and ready to go!

The hotel lit up at night

Celebrating my new job with a glass of champers!

We started our meal with an amuse bouche which was a haggis ball if I remember correctly. We then had warm bread brought to our table with smoked butter. The smoked butter was absolutely to die for. Delicious!! All the food was presented beautifully and I thoroughly enjoyed it all.

Starter - waldorf salad with goat's cheese

Seriously the best steak ever

Chocolate fondant pudding with ice cream

After the most amazing meal ever, we retired to one of the sitting rooms for coffee & petite fours in front of the fire. It was bliss.

Unfortunately the next day there was still no hot water which did put a dampener (!) on things. Thankfully I wasn't too cold during the night (which is usually the case with me and my Raynauds!). We got up & dressed and headed back to the main building for breakfast. I had a fabulous breakfast of smoked salmon, scrambled eggs and bacon. Yum!

The customer service at the hotel was absolutely fantastic; knowing that we were disappointed with regard the hot water/heating situation we were given money off our stay without even having to ask. I felt a bit awkward about it all and don't like having to complain, so I was pleased with the way that this was dealt with.

So, my closing thoughts on Ballathie... the dinner definitely was the selling point for me - can't stress enough what an amazing experience it was. I'd happily recommend the hotel for a weekend getaway and I will go back, but next time I'll go for a room in the main building.

(This wasn't a sponsored post; I just wanted to share my experiences with you as I loved the food so much!)

{Travel: Our Weekend in Mull & Iona}

I thought I'd share with you our itinerary and some of the photographs from when we went to Mull & Iona for the weekend. It was R's dad's 60th birthday and so R and his brothers plus their other halves all headed West for a long weekend. There were 8 of us in total.

Saturday

08:30am - Depart Glasgow in car

11am-ish - Arrive in Mull. Grabbed picnic lunch from supermarket & headed to port to collect tickets for ferry

11.50am - Ferry departs Oban for Craignure, Mull

12.30pm - Arrive in Mull, depart Craignure in car

1.10pm - Arrive in Tobermory & check into The Mish Nish Hotel

We then chilled out for a bit before joining everyone for a walk around Tobermory, then back to the hotel to get freshened up for dinner.

6.30pm - Dinner at MacGochans

Amazing!

I was absolutely knackered after all the driving so we had an early dinner and then relaxed for the evening.

Sunday

Breakfast at the hotel

10.10am - Depart Tobermory

11am-ish - Quick stop at Duart Castle to take in the scenery

1pm-ish - Arrive at the Iona Ferry Port

Ferry to Iona takes approx 15 minutes and is ~£5 return

Iona is one of the most iconic and sacred places in Scotland. I discovered that St Columba arrived in Iona in AD563 and this began the spread of Christianity across country. The island has also inspired many artists and photographers. The beaches have lovely white sand and the sea is so bright. Beautiful colours and scenery are to be found in every direction.

We had a lovely walk around Iona ending up at one of the white sandy beaches and we sauntered round the shops. I bought a few souvenirs :) Have a peek on my YouTube video for details.

5pm or thereabouts - Ferry back from Iona to Mull and then drive back from the ferry port to Tobermory. We took the scenic route back and the views were stunning. I just wish I wasn't driving as I'd have appreciated them more! I was too busy concentrating as it was a single track road!

We had dinner at Fishermen's Pier - scallops & chips for me. They were absolutely beautiful. Again, another early night as I was shattered from all the driving.

Monday

Breakfast at the hotel.

We then said our goodbyes to R's family who were catching an earlier ferry than us.

R & I then mooched round the shops in Tobermory, and again I picked up a few souvenirs and even a few Christmas gifts. 

12.00 noon - Picnic lunch on a bench overlooking the harbour

1.15pm - Depart Tobermory

2.00pm - Arrive Craignure

2.30pm - Ferry back to mainland

3.15pm - Arrive in Oban

6.00pm - Glasgow!!

Phew! It was a great weekend but it was very tiring with all the driving that I did (R doesn't have a licence!). It was worth it though...

{Monkeying Around in Aberdeenshire}

Last weekend R & I hit the road; we were headed north to Ballater in Aberdeenshire for a weekend with my sister Ali, her boyfriend Robin and a few of their friends.

We had an amazing time & lots of laughs. On Friday we ate chilli & rice followed by Cards Against Humanity & wine around the fire. On Saturday we cycled to Dinnet & back (about 14 miles) then had a browse round the local shops before heading back to the house for BBQ, cheese & wine tasting and more card games. On Sunday I'm amazed I wasn't hungover. Surprisingly I actually felt not too bad! Anyway, we left Ballater & drove to Crathes as we were booked for a session at Go Ape.

We arrived at the historic Crathes Castle with plenty of time to spare, so we had a bite to eat in the cafe before heading to the Go Ape reception to sign in. The Go Ape Tree Top Adventure is advertised as one of the best days out in Aberdeen so we were keen to check it out. If you haven't heard of it before, Go Ape takes you on a forest adventure where you enjoy 2-3 hours in the trees taking on Zip Wires, Tarzan Swings, Rope Ladders and a variety of other obstacles and crossings. You have to be over 10 years old, over 1.4m tall and under 130kg to participate.

There are three tree top adventure courses in Scotland. Aberfoyle in Stirlingshire which has two of Britain's longest zip wires. Glentress Forest near Peebles which has the highest zip wire in the country and Crathes Castle which features the skateboard zip wire.

We had a thorough safety briefing before we got started and my heart was racing as we were accompanied down to the first obstacle. The first part of the course is only a metre or so above the ground, just to give you a taster of what's to come and let you practice using the equipment. I however slipped on the first step up on the rope ladder and screamed a bit. How was I going to cope in the tree tops?! Much laughter ensued from the queue behind me!

Safety is obviously so important and there are warning signs etc at each platform with clear instructions

Well, I made it round the whole course in 2 hours and there was only one section that I couldn't manage but it's my own fault for choosing the 'extreme' route rather than the easy one!

I had anticipated it to be heart racing/adrenaline packed the whole way through which it wasn't, but it was certainly a decent workout (my arms ached the next day) and I did properly freak out in a couple of parts that were definitely a bit nervy. The final tarzan swing was epic... as you'll see from the videos we took. And you'll also spot my epic fail......(apologies in advance for the swearwords, it wasn't me!).


Despite having a great time, we felt the price was perhaps a bit steep for the experience (I wish now that we'd gone to one of the other Scottish sites with the longer zip wires). It's £30 for Gorillas (over 18 years) and £24 for Baboons (10-17 years), which meant it would have cost us £120 for the 4 of us. However, I've organised a 10% discount at all Scottish sites if you quote the code GLMUM10. This code is valid until 30th November 2014 and excludes Saturdays and corporate events.

I tried to mount the Go Ape monkey at the end for #mymonkeyselfie but I failed miserably! 

So, what do you think? Have you tried Go Ape before? I reckon it would be good fun for a corporate team building exercise!

We had a complimentary experience of Go Ape for four in exchange for an honest review. Opinions as always are my own.

{Eating Out - Guy's Restaurant}

Tuesday marked the anniversary of my first date with R, and to celebrate we decided to head into town for dinner. I had booked a table for two at Guy's Restaurant in the Merchant City. I've only been to Guy's once before, over 5 years ago though, and R hadn't been before so we were both excited to check out the food on offer! 

From my previous visit I remembered that Guy's is renowned for its ravioli and this was evident in the specials menu that we were given upon arrival. There were four ravioli to choose from as either starter or main. However we decided to stick with the Pre-Theatre Menu, and at £13.95 for 2 courses or £16.95 for 3 it's fantastic value for money with a variety of options to choose from too.

I loved the decor in the restaurant. The comfy sofas at the entrance make it feel very relaxed and homely. As does the sideboard and mirror that features in the restaurant. The staff were also very friendly which all in all made for a lovely atmosphere. 

Starter - Smoked salmon terrine

Starter - macaroni cheese

Main - Glasgow Tapas - steak pie, haggis & neeps, mince & tatties and chips!

Dessert - fruit crumble & custard

Dessert - chocolate fudge cake

All the food was lovely. The Glasgow Tapas is such a novel idea & will be great for the tourists that are here for the Commonwealth Games to sample some local delights. My favourite was the haggis. The custard served with the dessert was also immense. Yum!! Definitely worth a visit.