06/08/2021
Freedom! We are now out of isolation. Even better, Lachlan managed to sleep through the night for the first time, everyone woke up in a good mood.
The weather was a bit funny today, we experienced all four seasons twice, including our first Scottish flash flooding. [Chris and Penny, almost as bad as that weekend in Sydney.]
The day started with a short stroll to George Square, at the heart of Glasgow. Now that they had finished filming The Flash Batman movie, we could finally have a look around.
We then did a desperate groceries shop, leading us back to the ‘Style Mile’. This inevitably ended up with Eloise splashing the cash, lucking out on a new Scotland hoodie and series of face masks. She must be the most COVID-19 safe person around, even protecting her beloved shoes, her other obsession.
After isolating in our apartment for the past five days it was time to stretch the legs. What better place for a long walk than at Whitelee Wind Farm.
Whitelee Wind Farm is located on the Eaglesham moor in Scotland. It is the largest on-shore wind farm in the United Kingdom (second in Europe to Fântânele-Cogealac, in Romania) with 215 wind turbines and a total capacity of 539 MW. Scotland generates 97% of its electricity demand through wind power.
We arrived at the wind farm just in time for lunch. Eloise skulled an orange juice and was ready to go. We were roasting in the sun, so quickly set off to look at the wind turbines.
From an aero’s perspective, it looked incredible. Not only the sheer size and speed of the turbines but the number and spacing of them. Eloise was impressed the second she woke up from the car “wow, wow, wow” (she commonly says things in threes if you haven’t all worked that out by now).
The Heather flowers were out in force and looking beautiful. We definitely will return to do the full 8-mile loop. Today we made it to Blackwood Hill viewpoint. There are mum clubs that regularly stroll around the wind farm, might be a great way to meet new people.
As we made our way up to the Blackwood Hill viewpoint the beautiful sun slowly disappeared and it started to drizzle. This drizzle then quickly turned into a thunderstorm and we figured this was a good time to head back to the car. Luckily, as we made our way back down the path the sun appeared again and it was a nice summers day… For now…
We then went to a friend’s house who took us on a lovely walk to see some Highland Coos.
‘Coo’ means ‘cow’ in the old Scots language. Scots is a variety of English that’s been spoken in the Highlands for hundreds of years. But it’s not the same as Gaelic. In Gaelic, you’d call a Highland cow a ‘ Bò Ghàidhealach’. Now, try saying that with a mouth full of haggis!
After twenty minutes we arrived at Pollok Park, where there was a large field of Highland Coos.
Eloise was a bit unsure about the Highland Coos until she saw the baby, she tried to wake it up and was disappointed it wasn’t performing tricks on command like Delilah. Eloise named the baby coo Lach.
While we were watching the coos the sky truly opened, and after ten minutes of resistance Eloise happily retreated to her pram with the rain shield, laughing at us getting wet.
A swift walk back through the ‘Enchanted Forrest’ past some ducks, we arrived back at our friend’s house. Eloise was presented with an array of biscuits, and we all had some “squash” (cordial).
Exhausted after a big day, we picked up burgers on the way home from Bread Meats Bread. The Wolf burger and Irn-Bru hit the spot. Eloise went to bed happy with a belly full of bacon.
Wow! What a day!Certainly getting to see as much as possible in a 24 hour period!! Got to love the Highland coos!
Wow guys fantastic blog! Great to see your out of iso and continuing to settle in your new home.