Day 30: Manchester - Friday, 27 September

Weather: 6º - 13º - Partly cloudy, windy, chilly

Accommodation: Staycity Aparthotels 

We woke to a brighter day. The clouds had lifted considerably and the wind had dropped. The sea between the high cliff and the harbour wall at Eyemouth was still very rough with high waves coming onto the shore. It was so different from the calm seas we saw only two days ago only a short distance north of Eyemouth.

Our accommodation didn’t include breakfast so we packed our car and drove to the harbour at the other end of the village to find a cafe. We couldn’t see anything open and nearly walked passed  the Waterfront Cafe as we walked into the chilly wind. The award-winning cafe sits inside a plain harbour building. Henk and I indulged in French Toast with bacon and lashings of maple syrup (as Enid Blyton would say!).

Whilst waiting for breakfast to be cooked I walked along the long, narrow harbour to take photos. The wind was still bouncing the boats around and the water was rushing through the harbour opening from the North Sea. 

Before setting off for the day I wanted to revisit the Widows and Bairns sculpture on the esplanade because of the improved weather. I got Henk to take a photo with me alongside the sculpture to give a perspective of how tiny the figurines are. It is such a thoughtful and poignant installation.

Our major aim of the day was to drive to Manchester to return the hire car and ready ourselves to return to London via the train tomorrow. It was a two hour drive through the beautiful Scottish Borders before heading south to Manchester. We drove in some deep valleys with high mountains coming down to the road. Henk took a photo as I drove.

Once again we passed places we had walked through including Crailing Hall. Our house in Kilcoy is called Crailing named after Crail, my ancestor’s fishing village. When we named our house we had forgotten the name of the hall. We remembered the hall because it was our longest day of the LEJOG walk at 34kms and prior to heading out for that day’s walk we decided that if it was too long we would order a taxi at Crailing Hall to get to Jedburgh. We didn’t need a taxi but we did remember the hall, just not the name.

After two hours of driving in and out of England and Scotland along the border we called into Gretna Green for a break and lunch. Like John O’Groats it has smartened itself up as well. It’s a popular tourist spot with many gift shops and eating places. Gretna is a popular venue for weddings and today there was a wedding party and a piper in the central area. I don’t think the newly married couple needed their parent’s permission to marry!

When we started driving again we were going to take the M6 straight to Manchester and Google told us that there was a major blockage due to an accident and advised us to take a different route. Following Google we drove with many, many other cars, obviously following Google as well, up and down dale, through narrow single lanes, over single lane stone bridges, through little villages for about 45min before coming back onto the packed M6. 

When we arrived on the outskirts of Manchester Henk navigated me through the spaghetti junctions, the major ring road and round-abouts on the busy Friday afternoon. We dropped off our luggage at the apartment, went and filled the car with petrol and found our way to Hertz which was only a block away from our apartment. We were back where we started our Scottish trip five weeks ago.  

Overall, we drove 4000kms through the beautiful Scottish countryside, its amazing islands and highlands and quaint towns and small fishing villages. We have enjoyed immensely both the geography and the history. The Isle of Skye, the Outer Hebrides and Orkney were extra special. It’s been an unforgettable visit to a unique country. 

This travel blog will finish here. Tomorrow we head to London for a few days of sightseeing before returning to Australia.