The Ham Nomads

7 Aug 2014. <GB-SCT> Edinburgh, & South Queensferry, Edinburgh, & Edinburgh —

Today we checked out of Mortonhall — but not before a couple of interesting experiences. Arriving, to park where we were, was "Rotel Tours — Das Rollende Hotel". This is a German tour company which takes people on a coach tour, but which tows a rolling hotel behind — there are 52 little cubicles inside, for the non-claustrophobic tourist!

The other was a bus that parked near us, with a couple of adults and a heap of teenagers. Apparently this French couple, who run a holiday park in the north of France, had decided to take a busload of institutionalised kids for a touring holiday — the teenagers were camped in tents ranged up the nearby hillside. Today they were all going into Edinburgh to enjoy the Fringe Festival. Warren was talking to the woman, who was saying that they had no troubles with the kids, except for keeping up with their raging appetites for snacks! Full marks to them!!

We moved out, and drove through Edinburgh — yes, even on South Bridge and Princes Street (yay Susie!!) —

to Ocean Terminal Shopping Centre, beside which the now decommissioned Royal Yacht Britannia is moored. This is a fascinating thing to explore — when it was decommissioned, instead of scuttling her as was the previous procedure, she was put out for sale for public exhibition. Nothing was disturbed, and all the furnishings and paraphernalia that were on board on 11 December 1997 are still in place — only personal belongings were removed, and not even all of these! So we see the yacht virtually as the Queen walked off it on that day.

The whole ship is in immaculate condition — there is a legendary story of when the American General Schwartzkopf visited the yacht in 1992, on being shown the engine room, remarked "Okay, I've seen the museum piece. Now where's the real Engine Room?" The crew had to wipe their feet before entering this room, not on leaving it!

We were able to go round and look at the Queen's and the Duke's Sitting Rooms, the Royal Bedrooms, the State Dining Room, and on and on. The Royal section has the constant message of restrained splendour.

The State Drawing Room

The State Dining Room

The State Dining Room is no white elephant — it is still used for corporate dinners and other functions, and still operates to the same precision as when in the hands of the Royals — table settings, for example, are laid our precisely, with the aid of a ruler!

Firth of Forth Road Bridge

After having wandered the Royal Apartments and the crew areas for a few hours, we left for a last viewing of the Firth of Forth Bridges, to the northwest of Edinburgh. The modern road bridge is magnificent, but the real star is the Victorian Rail bridge, which has a regal presence. The first train crossed it in 1890. While we were there, a train crossed it at least every ten minutes.

Firth of Forth Rail Bridge

Beneath the bridge, on the waterfront, was a fun fair — after all, it is midsummer here in the UK! We wandered through it, and of course we indulged ourselves with an ice-cream cone!

Also, beneath the railway bridge, is an old inn — the Hawes Inn. If you are up with your Robert Louis Stevenson, you might recognise the name — it features in his novel "Kidnapped".

We got back to the van and set off for Northumberland — and got nowhere. Breakdown. The clutch was making horrid smells, and we had no power at all, couldn't even get up the next hill. We called the RAC, and when the fellow was able to find us — it took him a while, as the dispatcher sent him to the wrong part of Edinburgh to start with — he fairly quickly diagnosed the problem. Part of the gear linkage had failed, and when we thought we were choosing first gear, we were getting third. Not much use for starting up, even worse for handling hills! Anyway, he jury-rigged a temporary fix, which got us moving. He took the car for a test drive up the hill, and realised that the brakes were very suspect. But we were mobile, so he led us to a garage in the west of Edinburgh that does a lot of RAC work. By this time it was well after their closing time, so we camped there overnight and waited for them to open their doors next morning.

Distance driven — today, 28 miles ( 45 km ); to date, 5,450 miles ( 8,771 km )