Hello Everyone,

I am so cold at this very moment. I arrived in Edinburgh with Kala on Saturday evening, but didnt really see all that much that night because it was dark and we were incredibly tired. We struggled a little with the map but eventually found our hostel and fell into bed.

It was a great sleep.

We woke up nice and early on sunday, about 8am and no-one else was around in the hostel because they were all nursing hangovers and we felt pretty damn good about ourselves at that moment. There was one other guy around, Callum from Canada and he was pretty cheery so he came up the big hill with us to Edinburgh Castle. We reached the top of the hill and WHAT A VIEW!And it was a view that wasnt all of buildings, which was a nice change. Don't get me wrong, the buildings are amazing to see and learn about, but there is just something about green mountains and navy/black ocean that is really breathtaking. We wondered through the castle, which is really huge and quite creepy. You can see alot more of the Edinburgh Castle than Windsor Castle, so it was nice to have a big of a peek around and learn about all the scottish history, which I had no idea about. That took us a couple of hours- certainly long enough to work up one hell of an appetite. Kala and I farewelled Callum as he was going off to Wales (I think) and headed back to the hostel. I had to call Australia at that time to cancel all my credit cards and what-not (my wallet was stolen/lost) so that put a bit of a downer on the morning. We were just having a coffee in the kitchen when this man comes in who was staying at the hostel and starts chatting to us. He seemed like a nice enough fellow and took us out for lunch where I got to eat Haggis!And not pay! Hurrah!

And quite frankly, I dont understand all the 'ewwwness'. I loved it. It is delicious.I ate the whole lot in a very short amount of time. It is yummo

Then I ate a burger afterwards.

I am going to get really fat whilst over here.

Kala and I wandered around, saw the Palace and walked through a really beautiful old cemetary at the base of the Edinburgh Castle hill and then went back up and had us some dinner. Which was just chips, because we were feeling poor. They were pretty tasty though.

That night we went on a bit of a pub crawl, but again only had about 2 drinks because alcohol is sooo expensive here and it tears me apart a little inside. We went back to the hostel because we had to be up hugely early the next morning... and thats where things get disturbing....

*The following story is rated MA 15+. It is disturbin, foul, and I am sorry I ever had to experience it. If you dont want to read on... I completely understand.*

OK, YOUR DECISION. READ ON BUT IF YOU ARE EATING SOMETHING, I SUGGEST YOU FINISH IT, OR PUT IT DOWN.

We had long gone to bed and drifted off into a lovely sleep. All was well, I was dreaming of big bowls of spaghetti doing the cha cha cha around the table, nothing out of the ordinary. The dorm room door opens. (Now, that is a normal occurance. People get home at all hours but are generally quiet and respectful, even if they are sloshed). It is about 4.30am. A trampy looking girl who I dont recognise walks in and climbs into one of the top bunks and I thought "That is strange, I swear that is the bed of the guy who took us out for lunch today." He walks in after her and I am thinking Oh. My.God. They wouldnt. would they?

I am lying there, wishing I was dead, hearing a really foul conversation that I wont write here because I dont want to further disturb anyone. Anyway, they finished talking and I look over to all the other bunks in the room and EVERYONE was awake. And we all had to hear everything. IT WAS HORRIBLE. HORRIBLE. Infact, I am feeling a little ill just remembering. Poor Kala, she was on a top bunk so she rolled the wrong way and got a visual. I couldnt get over it. How disrespectful! And trashy! The other weird thing was this other girl came in and lay down right in the middle of the floor, and I was thinking "I wonder if she is so drunk she doesnt know where her room is..." No, she was the friend of the girl on the top bunk and was going through everyone's bags on the floor.

I tell you, some people are just dodgy.

Anyway, after we ran out of there we got a bus up to Inverness which took about 4 hours but was such a beautiful drive. So much green! And the mountains! And the water! I was very very excited about the nature. When we finally arrived at Inverness and found our hostel, we settled in very quickly. It was a really nice place, had a good kitchen and great dining room, lots of character and really lovely staff. Kala and I went for a wonder up to the Loch Islands, which reminds me a little of the Dandenongs, but way nicer. We came back and cooked up a massive storm. Pasta, Garlic Bread, Mushrooms, Capsicum... (Can you tell I havent had dinner as I am writing this...?)

It was great. We went to a local pub that night with a bunch of people from the hostel and listened to some live scottish music which was pretty rad.

Kala had to head off early the next morning to get her flight, but I made friends with a lovely Australian girl called Sarah, and we went for a really big walk in the afternoon and saw lots of Inverness- the Castle (Which is only about 200 years old so its fairly new), the river, the graveyard, the gym (Inverness has a great gym!) and lots of other places. It is a really beautiful little city/town, the people are delightful and it has a really good vibe. There are lots of backpackers there who came to stay for a few days and were there working, 8 months on. I can understand why!

My next really exciting blog will be about my Loch Ness adventure, and all the excitement that was involved with that, but for now I am really tired... (OK, FINE, people are watching Lilo and Stitch and I kind of want to go and join them) but I'll finish it off in the morning before I head off on my 4 day tour of the highlands.

Happy Eating!