Home and Away

With no caravan rally again this weekend, we kept close to home.  Robin’s champing at the bit to get away, but it’s not long now.   If he’s really good, we can go away very soon.

Can we go away soon?

Meanwhile, he has recently joined the Menz Shed, and whipped up a little something for the caravan.  He decided to make a new key holder.  Our current one was too small, and the keys swung around underneath and were starting to mark the wall.  This one, being deeper, stops that from happening.  And being firmly screwed to the wall, it won’t fall off, as our previous one was inclined to do.

Hand crafted key holder

Robin discovered the Menz Shed several years ago when we were staying at Richmond,  Nelson, while on our South Island Odyssey.  He went off to do some “Secret Men’s Business” at the Menz Shed, which conveniently had a meeting  room in the A & P Showgrounds where we are camped.  He collected Derek, and off they went – to whatever it was they get up to in the Men’s Shed.  “No women allowed”, I was firmly told, “And no, you can’t come and take a photo”.

First taste of the Menz Shed in Nelson

Meanwhile, half a world way, daughter Nicky and hubby Robert are continuing to enjoy their UK holiday, and they are now in Scotland.  We suggested they visit Culloden, (I found it very moving when we were there)  – after all, Nicky has Scottish blood in her veins, just like her Mum, and we are descended from the Gunn clan.  In April 1746 Bonnie Prince Charles and 5000 Jacobite Highlanders fought against 9000 Government troops led by the Duke of Cumberland.  This was the last battle to be fought on British soil, and the Jacobite soldiers came to a grizzly end.  The battlefield has been reconstructed in memorial to the Jacobites defeat, with burial sites and flags marking out their positions at the end of the battle.  The most recognisable feature of the battlefield today is the 20 feet (6.1 m) tall memorial cairn, erected by Duncan Forbes in 1881, and he also erected headstones to mark the mass graves of the clans.

We also told them about the fascinating Cairns of Clava, 4,000 year old burial sites dating from the Bronze Age.  There are three cairns here, two with passage ways aligned to the Midwinter sunset, and all with more subtle features, incorporated to reflect the importance of the South-west horizon.  It is amazing to think that these cairns are still around, although without a roof, after 4000 years.

They also visited Loch Ness, but no sign of Nessie at all, sadly.  As Kiwis on their first visit to UK, they have been blown away by their visits to these historical places.  And we are enjoying reliving our memories of our own trip several years ago.