23rd October 2024 Hi, This is just a quick note to accompany the recently posted photos of time spent in Scotland with family from New Zealand. August 29th-31st You can see from my previous blog that the wider family spent a week in Portugal in early September. Prior to that, my brother Donald, who I hadn't seen for five years, had come up to Scotland. We had a great day trip on 29th August to St Andrews, visiting the Royal and Ancient Club for lunch and bein...

13th July 2024 Hi, On the 3rd of July I took a trip which will live long in the memory: a visit to Rona, a remote Scottish island with which I have strong links through my MacLeod ancestry. Our family have a direct link back to Malcolm MacLeod (1682-1761) the tenth Chief of the MacLeod's of Raasay. An old timey Malcolm X! The third generation down from Malcolm X is John MacLeod (1814-1884) known as Iain Ban (Fair-haired Iain), a crofter/fisherman. He married a...

24th May 2024 Hi, This is just a brief note to accompany the photos of a quick trip over to Belfast, primarily to see the Titanic exhibition. I swithered as to whether it was worth putting this in a blog but I think it will give you a brief taster of what the facility is like. It was a fairly short overnight visit. Easyjet flights were cheap with carry on luggage only and we got a centrally located air b n b. There not a lot you can say about major exhibitions...

24th July 2023 Hi, On 10th July I headed up to the north of Scotland to spend a week on the croft with friends Norman Schouten (a former travelling companion - see Patagonia blogs 2012), wife Nem and family. The croft house is called Tordarroch, and is in Rogart, a beautiful part of Sutherland. Tordarroch means 'mound of the oak-wood' and an oak clad hill is just across the main road from the croft. This blog is just a brief note to introduce the photos of the...

31st May 2023 Hi, This is just a brief note to accompany the photos taken at the marriage of Alex Macarie and Rachel Mary Macleod which I was kindly invited to attend. Instead of the usual distance travelling I walked the 1.3 miles from my flat to St Judes FP Church at Woodlands Road on what was billed as the hottest day of the year so far. The service was conducted by Rev Roderick Macleod, father of the bride who also gave her away. The reception was at Bocl...