Aborted visit and an unexpected bonus

The forecast was terrible as such we had decided to start off early and drive to Edinburgh. On the way we were listening to the radio and were made aware of the king's visit tomorrow. As a consequence there were many road closures and diversions in place. On top of this we found out that a lot of the indoor bits of the botanical gardens were closed for renovations. So we decided to do a couple of shop visits to pick up shoes and paint and make a plan from there.

Shopping accomplished we decided to take a chance on one of the local countrie parks.

They usually hav a totally different look than the

ones down south and this was no exception. We initially crossed the river. Past a castle closed for renovations.

The path then rose steadily and was precarious at times.

Past magnificent rock formations with caves recessed into them.

Climbing steadily with some scary drops off into the ravine.

We eventually came across the second castle. The person who built this also planted the forest so he could hunt boar and deer. English of course!

We took the river route back which entailed some narrow and difficult terrain.

Luckily Rae had her new boots!

The walk along the river was worth the effort and no injuries were sustained.

Once again we were incredibly lucky to find this walk but more importantly miss the rain. As soon as we got back to the car the heavens opened. It was torrential the motorway was reduced to a crawl and resembled a river.

We got back safely and Rae dropped me off at the man crèche before going swimming!

Tomorrow is not looking good at the moment so we will play it by ear . The one thing about Scotland is that weather moves through quickly.