Journey Jottings

When I go travelling I never take a generic journal, bought prior to the trip, away with me.

One of my ‘travel secrets‘ is to buy a small (my preference is an A6 sized) jotter/notebook in each country/region I visit so associations of the travel journal are connected to the place – It also means I get to have my first interaction with the locals as I make it’s purchase.

On the first day of my recent trip to Scotland I sought out a local supplier of stationery ~ in this instance the local newsagent ~ and purchased an A6 x 80 page notebook with the blue and white cross of St Andrew Scottish flag on the front, and the yellow and red Royal flag of Scotland on the back.

Not keen on feeling I have to make time, for what otherwise requires an obligatory evening journal writing session, my favourite way of recording my travels is to stop and take stock at pertinent moments in the day and simply jot a few words of response to what I can see, what I can hear, what I can feel, what I can smell and what in the atmosphere I can taste, that will serve as memory joggers years later when the moment for nostalgia strikes.

See, Hear, Touch, Smell, Taste

I find this technique cuts to the chase and omits obvious mundane words such as ‘I went for a walk…’

I also like to bring encounters with people I meet along the way more alive by incorporating their notations in my jotter too! When in Cairnsmore Nature Reserve I was having trouble finding the location of a sculpture located on the top of a mountainous cliff – I met a girl who sketched this mudmap for me to follow, which being in a rugged moorland area with blanket bog of varying depths of peat, I was most grateful for ~ It’s also a great reminder of my conversation with her

Mudmap

Once filled, or as the trip draws to a close, I make a visit to the Post Office and select as many pretty stamps as possible and post it home ~

Postbox at Cairn Holy, Scotland

Its such fun opening the mail box and finding a package from a far flung place…

My Mail Box in Australia

Adorned with local stamps and precious overseas postmarks that fix the trip in time

Scottish stamps and precious local postmarks

These stamps illustrate the monarchy of Scotland – On the right is Mary, Queen of Scots 1542 – 1567 and to her left is James Vl, King of Scots 1567 – 1625 (becoming James l King of England and Ireland 1603 to 1625) ~ The stamps on the left portray the Thistle, Scotland’s floral emblem and the lion rampant of the Royal Standard of Scotland

Its great, a week after returning home to receive my holiday memories encapsulated in a jotter; walleted in an envelope that is adorned with stamps from the country/region I have not long before visited and date stamped for future musings…

revealing another chapter of my travelling life

When I arrived in Scotland mid March the Snowdrops were in full bloom in both cultivated gardens and wild woodland glades ~

Snowdrops in Scotland March 2010

Snowdrops

I was due to return to Australia 6 weeks later so the chances of seeing the first of the bluebells would possibly have been a little  optimistic ~

But then Eyjafjallajökull, the Icelandic volcano erupted!

Being grounded for just those few extra days meant I got to see some gorgeous spring wildflowers burst into life including violets…

Violet Violets

…in both violet and white!

White Violets

…Primroses and Lesser Celendine

…Forget-me-nots

…Yellow Archangel

and on those extra few days there at the end of April…

The first of the Bluebells

Due to the Icelandic volcanic eruption of Eyjafjallajökull my stay in Scotland was extended

Making the most of the extra time, my sister and I did a coastal walk along the Solway Firth south of Dalbeatie between Sandyhills to Rockcliffe ~

Coastal Path

There is something gorgeous about walking a trail that winds along a stone walled cliff’s edge adorned with bright yellow gorse. Enjoying the anticipation of treading the trail ahead…

Our path went over the hill up to the right

…whilst taking satisfied glimpses behind of hills and dales now conquered, and peering down into sandy bays.

Sandy Bay

Spying cormorants…

Cormorant

and sea gulls

Sea Gulls

on the craggy rocks below

Rocky arch

And then doesn’t food always taste just the best out in the fresh air after an exerting morning

Picnic at the halfway point

We’d passed salmon nets out to sea in the morning ~

Salmon Nets

and ancient ruined cottages in the afternoon

Ruined Cottage Window

decorated with dandelions!

Dandelion decoration!

Before climbing  the final hill… around the final headland…

Me on the Coastal Path

…before descending down to the shoreline…

On the home leg

…and along a shelled beach ~

A beach of shells

to our just reward!

Caramel Apple Granny Cake

There are some things that epitomise a place ~

Here are a few classics from my trip to Scotland…

Telephone Box

Milestone on side of road

24 miles forward, or 6 miles back!

Footpath Steps over Wall

Highland Cow

Bumble Bee collecting pollen from Heather

Mountain sheep

Scottish Loch

Standing stones ~ Cairn Holy

Farewell Dumfries & Galloway

Till next time

Things are ever changing here in Scotland as spring advances -

We now have the wood anemones, primroses and may blossom just beginning to flower

Wood Anemones

Wood Anemones

Primroses

Primroses

May Blossom (Hawthorn)

The pussy willow has now exploded with pollen

Pussy Willow

And leaves on some trees are just starting to sprout!

I love trees, and because in Australia most of our trees are evergreens (primarily Eucalyptus) I get a real thrill at seeing the deciduous trees of Britain in their winter skeletal form

And while this last tree is not deciduous…

it seems appropriate the final photo should be a Scots Pine

Nothing can beat spotting local wildlife on their home turf ~

During the first few days of my stay in Scotland I spotted this Cock Pheasant doing an evening patrol around the garden…

Before departing over the garden wall -

Later, with spring in the air I was privy to his courting ritual!

…puffing up his feathers peacock fashion…

but she wasn’t impressed, and departed over the garden wall…

Leaving the cock pheasant rejected

I have also had the fun of watching this brown hare having breakfast…

He had been having a spot of supper in the garden the night before but with the fading light the photos below are all a bit grainy ~

popping in for a spot of supper

and a wash before bed!

Then there’s the more common sights of a Thrush hopping about on the ground looking for grubs and worms…

a Wagtail coming by for a morning bath…

and these lovely Chaffinches I saw up at Clatteringshaws Loch

And this starling…

atop the barn gable

Post Script:

Just seen this cheeky leveret (a baby hare) scamper past my window…

I later went out to discover he’d enjoyed a snack of newly planted Sweet Peas… avoiding the snap peas and runner beans – obviously not so keen on vegetables!

Cairnsmore of Fleet is a National Nature Reserve covering just under 2,000 hectares of south-west Scotland.

Made up of wild and open heather moorland, Cairnsmore itself is a large granite ‘hill’ (2331 feet/711 metres) that rises unforested from river valley to summit; yet as one enters the Reserve it is the rugged  ’escarpment’ of the Clints of Dromore to one’s left that dominates the landscape.

The Reserve has a Visitor Centre where information regarding all the flora and fauna of the region is presented: visually – on large beautifully illustrated boards; kinaesthetically – with actual size jigsaws including one of a Golden Eagle that has a wingspan of more than 2 metres; and aurally – where with the press of a button sounds of the environment, such as the frogs and bird calls, can be heard.

I was lucky enough to meet Kevin Carter, the Reserve Manager, who enthusiastically inspired me to  search out not only the fabulous flora and fauna on the Reserve but also, to keep an eye out for the series of sculptures that artist Matt Baker had installed a couple of years ago, which accompanied poems by Mary Smith.

He gave me 5 cards showing photos of the installations, along with a clue for each on the back – But no hint of what order I might spy them, or how far off the track I may have to venture to find them

He also gave me a leaflet with a map called the Inbyre Walk ~ Can’t resist a map…

So off I set… and was thrilled when I found  ’Ocean‘ along the way.

'Ocean' by Matt Baker

But I was sorely dissapointed that that was the only one I found, not realizing I’d have to veer off the path to find the others

So, a few days later I returned for a second try!

It was the most beautiful day so following the clue …’over the stile, venture up where the ravens call and look down upon the inbyre’ I returned to the only stile on the walk and ventured off the beaten track up the rocky cliff face…

shared with the local inhabitants…

Looking back down to the Visitor Centre during the climb

And on the top of one of the cliffs this is what I found…

Hush

Poem by

Mary Smith

No one was here when lands crashed together,

no one to witness volcanic flames erupt

in fevered dance, nor see in hot lava tears,

this landscape’s beginnings.

When glaciers scoured rock faces,

carved mountains, opened rivers and lochs,

no one felt the icy touch

of their slow slide to the sea.

Except the wind, which still carries stories

of what once was, and how things came to be.

But the why of it lies deep

beneath its whisper,

in a silence with power

to unlock mysteries.

'Hush' and Linda Fairbairn with Cairnsmore Visitor Centre Inbyre in the distance

On the descent the viaduct, situated beyond the Visitor centre came into view ~ Built in 1860 (now no longer in use) it carried ammunition trains during the war.

And is famous as featuring in the 1935 film version of John Buchan’s novel ‘The 39 Steps’.

Once back down (across tuffty grass and mossy bog) I found ‘Heart‘ with the clue – ‘twixt viaduct and forestry, we lived here once’

'Heart' found in the remains of a stone building

and ‘Scene Shifters‘ with the clue ‘before the river is bridged, don’t get your feet wet!’

'Scene Shifters' by Matt Baker

With another 2 hour walk required for the final sculpture ‘Erratic‘…

that will have to wait for another day

Just before I left Australia in March I wrote a post about the autumn fungi I spotted on one of my last walks there ~ I associate fungi with the end of summer so was interested to see this tree fungi here in the Scottish spring!

Whilst most was hanging on the underside of the tree… there was some popping up on the top in between the moss!

There are over 700 species of moss in Great Britain, of which about 100 have been identified as occurring in the Wood of Cree, where this was photographed.

Whilst most occurs around the base of trees…

… including saplings…

it can also be seen growing on the branches ~

My attention was then taken by the most beautiful lichens, which are amazingly formed by a symbiotic relationship between fungi and algae.

Some look like coral from an underwater scene

It is said the presence of lichens reflects the purity of the air as with no roots their well-being is directly related to the atmosphere they are absorbing so they only grow where the air is free of pollutants.

Love the illustration below by Ernst Haeckel of lichens from his Kunstformen der Natur (Art Forms of Nature) book published in 1904

"Lichenes" from Ernst Haeckel's Artforms of Nature, 1904

The Wood of Cree outside of Newton Stewart in south-west Scotland is a beautiful stand of deciduous trees protected by the RSPB for the local wildlife ~ While the Forestry Commission in Scotland plant Spruce for timber production, Spruce trees support only 37 species, where oak trees support 284!

Apart from the beautiful trees though there are some simply stunning waterfalls as the river twists, turns and cascades down over rocks and through gorges to join the River Cree at the bottom of the valley.