| Date | Morning | Afternoon | Evening / Overnight |
| Monday July 13th | Drive to JFK Airport |
JetBlue Flight 73 - Leave JFK Airport in New York City at 21:16 |
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| Tuesday July 14th Central Belt |
Arrive at Edinburgh at 09:30. Pick up rental vehicles and head west... We'll have lunch in or around Bo'ness |
Museum of Scottish
Railways - Bo'ness The museum’s collections are recognised as containing items of great historical significance including locomotives, carriages, wagons, signalling systems and smaller items, as well as books and documents We're booked for a 14:30 ride on this heritage railway from Bo'ness to Manuel and back. The locomotive might be steam, or a heritage diesel - we'll have to wait and see what we get. |
We'll have dinner in one of the coastal fishing villages of the Kingdom of Fife - what could be more appropriate than fish and chips on the waterfront, possibly in Anstruther or Crail.
After dinner, we'll walk a section of the Fife
Coastal Trail
The cave is located below the Balcomie Golf Course. Archaeological investigations have found evidence of occupation from prehistoric times to the 19th century. The cave is associated with Constantine II, King of Alba (903-943CE). Local tradition says he was killed in the cave, but there's no evidence of this (and several websites label it as "untrue"). Never let the truth get in the way of a good story... Overnight at Douglaswood Scout Centre near
Dundee |
| Wednesday July
15th St. Andrews Ferry to Shetland |
We'll start our day with the St. Andrews Town and Gown Walk
around
this ancient university city.
Our walk will include a visit to St. Andrews Castle
We'll have lunch in St. Andrews |
After lunch, we'll visit the following - depending on timing we might do
both, or split into two groups:
Royal and Ancient World Golf Museum
Leave St. Andrews no later than 15:00 for the drive to Aberdeen. |
The NorthLink Ferry MV Hjaltland leaves Aberdeen Harbour at 19:00. We'd like to take this opportunity to thank NorthLink Ferries for their very generous sponsorship. We appreciate the help with our trip!
We'll have dinner onboard and spend the night in cabins on the ship.
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| Thursday July
16th Shetland Lerwick |
The ferry will arrive in Lerwick, capital of Shetland, at 07:30. We'll park in Lerwick and then walk the Lerwick Coastal Route around The Knab and past The Lodberries back to Victoria Pier. We're booked for the two-hour Seabirds and Seals boat trip from Lerwick around the islands of Bressay and Noss.
The boat can only take 12 passengers, so we'll split up into our two patrols. The Banana Slug Patrol will take the boat trip at 10:00, while the Puffin Patrol explores Lerwick and has lunch.
Watch the Market Cross in real time on Shetland Webcams |
In the afternoon, we switch off, and the Puffin Patrol takes the 13:00
boat trip while the Banana Slug Patrol gets lunch and explores Lerwick.
We'll regroup at 15:00, and head northward through Lerwick past Fort Charlotte to the Shetland Museum and Archives at Hay's Dock.
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We'll have dinner at Ghurka Kitchen, a great Nepalese/Indian restaurant. After dinner we'll walk to Clickimin Broch, an Iron Age fortification on the edge of a small loch on the south edge of Lerwick.
After that, we'll get back in our vehicles and drive to Weisdale to check in at the Whitedale Football Club where we'll spend the next two nights. "Thank you" to Dan Ward for arranging that for us.
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| Friday, July 17th Shetland West and Northwest |
We'll start our day with a hike at Esha Ness in the northwest corner of
Shetland Mainland.
We'll start at the Eshaness lighthouse. See the view in real time on Shetland Webcams From the lighthouse, we'll hike along the coastline, past cliffs and Calder's Geo, looking at natural arches and a ruined broch on a small loch.
The drivers will turn back at the broch while the rest of the group continues along the coastline, ending up at the Giant's Stones of Hamnavoe. The drivers will meet the group at the Giant's Stones, and we'll drive to the Hillswick Wildlife Sanctuary to see their otters and seals. |
We'll have lunch at Frankie's
Fish and Chips in Brae, the UK's most northerly Fish and Chips
shop which was declared the best fish and chips in the UK a few years
ago. After lunch, we'll do a quick hike to the waterfalls on the Burn of Lunklett, then stop off at The Cake Fridge for dessert. The Cake Fridge is just what it sounds like - a refrigerator by the side of the road, filled with great cakes and an honesty box to leave the money...
From there we'll drive to Staneydale Temple, a neolithic (Stone Age) structure of unknown usage, and then do a circular hike to Culswick Broch
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We'll have dinner in Lerwick or Scalloway (tbd) After dinner, we'll return to Whitedale FC and take an evening hike from the clubhouse down to the Loch of Strom.
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| Saturday, July
18th Shetland South |
Early in the morning we'll drive to Sumburgh
Head, on the southern end of Shetland
Mainland. We'll park at Jarlshof and take a circular hike along the
coast to Sumburgh Head
Lighthouse.
The cliffs around Sumburgh Head are known for their wildlife - in particular, Puffins...
See the cliff view at Sumburgh Head in real time on Shetland
Webcams The hike will end up back at Jarlshof Prehistoric and Norse Settlement, an archaeological site with remains of settlements from the Neolithic to the 17th century.
|
Our afternoon will be at St. Ninian's Isle, an island near the
hamlet of Bigton, linked to Shetland Mainland by a tombolo (a two-sided
beach). We'll have a bag lunch overlooking the beach, then take a
circular hike around the island, looking at abandoned crofts and the
remains of a medieval chapel.
On our way back to Lerwick, we'll stop off at the Trondra Shipwreck |
The NorthLink Ferry MV Hjaltland leaves Lerwick Harbour at 19:00.
We'd like to take this opportunity to once again thank NorthLink Ferries for their very generous sponsorship. We appreciate the help with our trip!
|
| Sunday, July 19th Southern Highlands |
The ferry will arrive in Aberdeen at 07:00. We'll hit the road to the
northwest for a roughly three hour drive to the Highland
Folk Museum in Newtonmore.
|
After lunch at the Folk Museum, we'll drive around the western end of Loch
Ness and up the north side to Urquhart Castle
|
It's about a four hour drive from Urquhart Castle to Edinburgh. We'll break it up with a stop in Pitlochry for dinner along the way.
Overnight at the 88th Craigalmond Scout Hall for
the next two nights. |
| Monday, July 20th Edinburgh |
We'll drop off the vehicles, then ride the tram to Princes Street in the city centre.
Edinburgh Castle is a historic fortress which dominates the skyline of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, from its position on the Castle Rock. There has been a royal castle on the rock since at least the reign of David I in the 12th century, and the site continued to be a royal residence until 1633. As one of the most important strongholds in the Kingdom of Scotland, Edinburgh Castle was involved in many historical conflicts from the Wars of Scottish Independence in the 14th century to the Jacobite Rising of 1745. Research undertaken in 2014 identified 26 sieges in its 1100-year-old history, giving it a claim to having been "the most besieged place in Great Britain and one of the most attacked in the world". We're booked for the first entry of the day at 09:30. We'll spend the morning at the Castle, then get lunch at the Castle or on the Royal Mile. |
We'll do a Curious about Edinburgh self-guided scavenger
hunt/tour along the
The Royal Mile leads from Edinburgh Castle on Castle Rock down a volcanic ridge to Holyrood Palace at the lower end. We'll walk down the upper part of the Mile, at least, which is lined with gift shops where our Scouts can view and purchase all sorts of tourist stuff. Our walk will end at Calton Hill. From there, we'll either continue on with Curious about Edinburgh's walk from Calton Hill through the New Town to Princes Street Garden, or, time permitting, stop off at the National Museum of Scotland. |
Ghost Walk - Double Dead Tour
The worst of both possible worlds. This tour has SOLE access to two of the most haunted places on the planet. The South Bridge Vaults (home of the South Bridge Entity) AND the Covenanter’s Prison in Greyfriars Graveyard - lair of the infamous Mackenzie Poltergeist.
This tour even has a unique gift shop – located in Greyfriars graveyard funeral parlour! You can go in afterward and get yourself a creepy souvenir. We're booked for a 19:15 tour. Overnight at 88th Craigalmond Scout Hall again |
| Tuesday, July 21st through Thursday, July 30th |
Blair Atholl Jamborette
The Jamborette will send a coach to take us to Blair Atholl on July 21st. For the next ten days, we'll all be at the Jamborette. You can find the story of the Blair Atholl Jamborette and pictures from past Jamborettes elsewhere on this website. |
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| Friday, July 31st Blair Atholl to Edinburgh |
On July 31st, we'll ride a coach to Edinburgh.
Depending on timing, we may go into Edinburgh by tram or walk to the Edinburgh
Zoo.
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| Saturday August 1st Fly Home |
We leave Edinburgh on JetBlue Flight 72 at 12:10 BST, arriving at JFK at 14:58 EDST | ||
