Travel notes: midgefest

One of the most remarkable things about our trip so far was the wildlife. In particular the birds. At the campsite we saw literally a dozen or more different species, fairly tame, in fact in the case of one robin, extremely cheeky. I was sat in the tent, when he flew in and sat on the arm of the chair, where he deposited a small white poo. He looked at me unblinking and I stared back. He then hopped down and wandered further into the tent, before deciding to sit in the doorway where he was joined by an equally bold nuthatch. He came back into the tent once more, but usually was quite happy just to sit on the car door watching us. We also saw barn owls further into the holiday…

We wrote postcards on Iona and it transpired that my partner had told a few people that she was planning to ask me to marry her. So we spent a happy hour writing cards all ending with the words, she said yes! The ring was gorgeous but sadly too big! My partner was so disappointed but she has since phoned the jewellers who have ordered us a smaller one and we’re going to pick it up today. I felt overwhelmed; happy and very in love. And the setting was so perfect – hot sun, white sand, blue sea… it turned out that my partner’s grandmother and also her mother had visited Iona so we need to take our children to make it 4 generations in a row to visit this beautiful island.

Our next stop was Fort William; an outdoorsy sort of place, because of the nearby Bens – the most famous being Ben Nevis, of course. We bought new shoes (there’s always time to buy new shoes), ate an interesting breakfast (hot rolls: pork, apple sauce and stuffing for me, roasted vegetables for the soon-to-be-missus) and then we were back in Peggy our trusty steed to take us to Braemer, the heart of the Highlands and where the Highland games take place every year. We were staying in a youth hostel that turned out to be quite literally better than some of the many B&B’s and hotels I’ve stayed in.

The scenery on the drive was achingly beautiful. It was odd us ending up in Braemar because we were going to the Outsider festival in Aviemore. For those of you that know you’re geography Aviemore is on the north side of the Cairngorms, Braemar is on the south. But it was the only place that had room at the inn. The festival meant youth hostels, campsites, B&B’s had all filled up months before. It was a three day event but we were just going on the Saturday to see Capercaillie and KT Tunstall. The rain poured down and if you saw pictures of Glastonbury happening the same weekend, you’ll have an idea of what was happening hundreds of miles to the north.

It was a 2 hour drive to get there, often on a single track road. Like a grey ribbon we could see the road stretched out for miles and miles in front of us twisting, dropping sharply and rising steeply through the mountains. It’s exactly the kind of driving I like!

We parked and were just in time for Capercallie who were awesome. My partner had seen them before, but I hadn’t and it was fantastic. They played for 1.40hr and with the exception of about twenty minutes, it rained constantly. But we didn’t care!

KT Tunstall wasn’t on till much later. We ate and then went back to the car to get dry and warm, deciding in the end to go for a drive. We thought it would be a good idea to drive up a mountain! We climbed 809ft and for the last 50-80ft we were driving in thick cloud. It was eerie. Visibility was down to less than 5 metres and I drove very, very slowly! After that experience, there was only one thing for it, go get some fish and chips and then head back to the Festival!

KT Tunstall was amazing. Sorry, I do realise everything so far has been amazing, great, fantastic… but it’s true. Her voice is incredible and she had the very soggy crowd in the palm of her hand. Her charisma and humour were almost as big as the stage and definitely look out for her new album and the new video where she does robotic dancing! We faced a long drive back with big smiles on our face, soon to be replaced by fierce concentration. Mountain roads in driving rain with shit-poor visibility (at times less than 2 or 3 metres) required every ounce of focus and driving skill I had. At its worst, I was driving at less than 15 miles an hour for long periods. But we did see deer, sheep, a frog, three barn owls, two very unusual birds (haven’t looked them up yet) and a gazillion rabbits. And we did arrive back safe and sound.

It was around this time that I discovered the Scottish midges which I thought I was immune too, had actually been secretly munching on me. I woke up to find I had dozens of bites, including on my stomach and face. Luckily they didn’t itch too much but clearly there was Glastonbury, there was the Outsider and there was midgefest and I was the main attraction.

Our last day in Braemar was my half year birthday. I got chocolates and a great leather Quiksilver wallet and we went for a drink in the evening. (My partner thinks it’s unfair that my birthday gets overlooked being on Christmas and insists that we celebrate my half year birthday every year.)

There are surprisingly quite a few places to eat and drink in Braemar but we choose the Fife Arms. My partner went up to the bar and a few seconds later I heard laughter and looked over to see an animated conversation between her and someone behind the bar. The manager of the bar was a friend who she hadn’t seen since she was 12. But then perhaps we shouldn’t have been too surprised, that was the sort of holiday we were having, astonishing and delightful and a lot of fun…