Mid-life gap year Tanya and Craig

Our gap year planning began in earnest about 6-8 months before departure, we knew we wanted to travel Europe and knew we wanted a self-contained vehicle to do this in. First we needed to decide the type of vehicle. Roads in parts of Europe are not like those in Australia, they can be much narrower and tunnels much lower. Friends had rented a van in France a few years ago and found that reversing 2 km down a one way road when their van did not fit through a tunnel was no fun at all. So we knew the van had to be reasonably compact. We visited campervan sales yards in Australia to get some idea of what a compact van offered and found that a small pop-top van while okay for a weekend was not going to be suitable for a long trip. The idea of setting up a bed each night and packing it away when we wanted to use a table was not inviting. Having a bed set up at all times would give us effectively two living spaces, one at the table and one in the bedroom.   This configuration wo...

Sometimes as you drive along a highway you see a work of art that catches your eye. Those who travel the Eastlink in Melbourne would be familiar with the Bird and Worm, Smarties, and the Hotel. As we drove on the M9 past Falkirk in Scotland we saw two large horse heads rising above the landscape. These are the Kelpies, shifting spirits that make a monument to the horse powered heritage of Scotland. They form a gateway to the redeveloped Forth and Clyde Canals. Canals and canal boats criss-cross most of the UK. Before road or rail services, canals formed the most efficient highway for goods to be transported. The limiting factor of a canal is navigating any change of altitude, this requires lochs where the water level can be adjusted and this takes time slowing the trip. In the 1930’s the Forth and Clyde canals had become disused and sections filled in. Resurgence in using the canals for pleasure craft saw a demand to reopen them. Re-digging the canal would be relatively ea...

Arriving in Scotland we saw Highland Games advertised in almost every town that we visited. The problem for us was the events were either the week before or in 4 days time; never at a time convenient for us. Our luck changed on the Scottish Borders town of Peebles; all the stars aligned.  Highland Games are when local communities get together and celebrate Scottish culture. All Highland games include: a pipe band competition, highland dancing, and traditional heavy events including caber tossing, hammer throwing, and the crowd favourite of haggis hurling.  Pipe bands and dancing are open to all ages and cover a range of abilities Shot putt is the same as the Olympic event but competitors are free to use whatever technique works for them. Some use a standing throw, others use a run up or spinning preparation.   Hammer throwing, unlike its Olympic equivalent the hammer has a wooden handle and the athlete does not spin in a circle before throwing it. ...

Before meeting Tanya I had never heard of Charles Rennie Mackintosh (CRM). For many years Tanya has owned an item of jewellery designed by CRM, every time she wears it she say “I love CRM designs”.  But who was CRM and what is so special about his designs? In Glasgow Tanya made it her mission to make sure we both learned more. We went to the Willows Tea Rooms, The Lighthouse, the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and the CRM House in the Hunterian Art Gallery.   The staff at the CRM House were extremely passionate and knowledgeable about all things CRM and were able to put his designs into perspective.  In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s Glasgow was leading the world in architecture and design largely due to the influence of CRM.    CRM was born in 1868 in Glasgow where he was educated. At the age of 27 he was attending art school and working as an architect when he designed his first building for the Glasgow Herald known as The Lighthouse....

We’ve heard it said by others much cleverer than either of us that "Design matters" to which we whole heartedly agree. Design matters because depending on the quality of the decisions made it can enhance our lives and moods or if poorly executed make our lives more difficult. Building design matters, because all buildings make us feel something. Sometimes we are not even conscious of the effect a building has on us and unfortunately most of us can't articulate or are not even aware as to why we like or don’t like a building; but our response to building design is never neutral. As humans we are naturally drawn to organic shaped buildings with lots of natural light and natural materials.  Pier Arts Centre, Stromness, Orkney, Scotland Last week we visited the Pier Arts Centre at Stromness on Orkney. It was formerly the Hudson Bay Company’s recruiting office. It was original a two storey stone building on the harbour. The building probably started life as a wa...

There is something magical about medieval castle ruins: the architecture and how social context and surrounding natural resources during the different time periods influenced it; the livelihoods of the servants and how they provided; and the dramas associated with the wealthy families, their interaction with the church, their generosity (or lack their of) and their warring factions.  Eilean Donan on an island in Loch Duich Dunnottar Castle on a cliff top in Aberdeenshire Urquhart Castle on Loch Ness

Isle of Skye Skye, simply beautiful.  Our highlights were The Storr and the Kendram Turf House. The Storr Our GPS told us that we’d arrived, so we parked. At this stage we couldn’t see The Storr in fact we could not see much through the fog and rain. Being a wet cold day, we donned our waterproof jackets, hoods up to protect our ears from the wind. Craig felt the need to double up and wore a beanie as well. We set off, walking up the steep mountain for about 30 minutes before the fog cleared revealing The Storr, and in particular, The Old Man. The Storr are rock pinnacles, some 100+ metres high clinging to the top of a steep hill. The slopes of the hill are covered in lush grassland. Like the 12 Apostles on the Great Ocean Road, The Storr has been formed through erosion.   The Old Man is the most prominent of these rock formations. The walk up to the Storr starts with a steep gravel path that gradually becomes steeper then deteriorates into uneven rocks, m...