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**saralou** · #**1066** 8 Jun 2015

We were headed to the home of our friends Gino and Fiona (Gino' Travels) whom we had met in 2013 in Panama. We had actually first met on line in 2011 and have been corresponding since then. They welcomed us into their home and then took us out for dinner with a view of the Fourth rail bridge and the sunset.

Edinbourgh 10 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Edinbourgh 9 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Edinbourgh 8 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

**saralou** · #**1067** 8 Jun 2015

Gino and Fi had just bought a bike with a sidecar to go to two winter rallies next year including the Elephant in the Bavarian Forrest in January. For the weekend we were off to the sidecar rally in Moniave.

Screen Shot 2015-05-27 at 5.49.01 PM by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Edinburgh 11 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

FILE0201 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Edinburgh 33 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Edinburgh 35 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Highlights were the camping next to the Pub and the Ska/Punk bands.

Edinburgh 28 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Edinburgh 13 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Edinburgh 14 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Edinburgh 15 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Edinburgh 16 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Edinburgh 17 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Edinburgh 18 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Edinburgh 19 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Edinburgh 20 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Edinburgh 22 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Edinburgh 21 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Edinburgh 24 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

**saralou** · #**1068** 12 Jun 2015

Back in the city we had traditional Haggis dinner with Fi’s family. Gino did the address to the Haggis by Robert Burns. It starts out like…

Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain o' the puddin'-race!
Aboon them a' ye tak yer place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy o' a grace
As lang's my airm.

Nice seeing your honest, chubby face,
Great chieftain of the sausage race!
Above them all you take your place,
Belly, tripe, or links:
Well are you worthy of a grace
As long as my arm.

Edinburgh 36 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Edinburgh 42 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Edinburgh 43 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

**saralou** · #**1069** 12 Jun 2015

The next day we had a chauffeured tour of the city including a short walk up Arthur’s Seat, a drive by the castle, and some fresh oysters at the Café Royale.

Edinburgh 52 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Edinburgh 46 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Edinburgh 47 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Edinburgh 48 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Edinburgh 50 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Edinburgh 53 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Edinburgh 54 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Edinburgh 56 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Edinburgh 59 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Edinburgh 60 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Edinburgh 65 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Edinburgh 66 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Edinburgh 68 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Edinburgh 69 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Edinburgh 70 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

**saralou** · #**1070** 12 Jun 2015

Gino’s post Canadian Club

Excerpt

Canadian Club
After a bleak week at work I decided to call a holiday on Friday to welcome our friends Dan and Sara (World Wide Ride) to our humble abode on Friday. I must say it was weird, here are two fellow travellers (still travelling unlike us!) who we first met for a

in Panama rolling up to Casa Rondelli on the same bikes. We met them again in Vancouver when Sara was back working for a short while and Dan was…..enjoying himself. Really great to have them in our home for a few days, Friday we took them to Queensferry to see the famous Forth rail bridge which of course they hadn’t heard of. My god, what passes for education in the colonies these days? Neither had they heard of Moniaive so we headed to this bustling metropolis to the sidecar rally, Fiona bravely sitting in the chair whist a complete lunatic piloted it (me). Great time at the rally, worth a mention was the punk / ska bands whose average age was higher than mines, great crack and excessive drinking.
As we took off on Sunday, I tried the crash ability of the outfit by driving directly into some dustbin’s at the side of the road, unknown to me Dan had been up early in the morning and put a huge magnet in one of them to attract the chair to it, minor adjustments alter we were on our way having brightened up everybody’s Sunday morning (except Fiona as she was still in the chair)
Another party night Sunday with Fi’s family visiting, and then a high speed chauffeured tour of Edinburgh on Monday with Fi in the driving seat looking after us. I have to say I reluctantly climbed a mountain as well, I survived without oxygen or a Sherpa to help me and now I can claim to have climbed a small part of Arthurs seat.
Lunch in the town and then a superb dinner at Bert and Laurenne’s house topped off a great weekend. A struggle to keep focused at work today but luckily tomorrow we are off to Ireland for the Norton International Rally, life can be hard.
If you spot a couple of homeless Canadians this week on their BMW’s (the giveaway is the British Colombia numberplates) say hi, the tall blokey one is Dan and the petite girly one is Sara, they’ll be visiting a monument near you soon.

The Pedersen’s arrive, both with nice new Bumot panniers

a1 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Dan’s first ever Irn Bru

a2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

It seemed to affect his riding style somewhat

a3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Fi was sitting backwards in the sidecar taking these, very brave.

a4 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

The ladies after climbing the mountains

a9 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

**saralou** · #**1071** 12 Jun 2015

Today we are starting out on the Gino Rondelli tour of Scotland. The first day’s campsite is in the town of Aberfelty in 85 miles, but there is a lot to see on the way.

Screen Shot 2015-05-27 at 5.50.16 PM by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

The first stop was in the town of Falkirk to see the 30 meter tall Kelpies. A Kelpie is a shape-shifting water spirit that is said to inhabit the lochs and pools of Scotland. It is usually said to appear as a horse, but can also adopt human form. These Structures flank the lock here are it would be quite something to come thru here in your boat.

aberfeldt 1 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

aberfeldt 2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

aberfeldt 3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

aberfeldt 4 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

aberfeldt 8 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

aberfeldt 11 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

**saralou** · #**1072** 12 Jun 2015

From here it is a short drive to the Falkirk wheel. This is a rotating boatlift that connects the Forth and Clyde Canal with the Union canal. It opened in 2002 to reconnect the canals for the first time since the 1930’s.The wheel raises boats by 24 meters (79 ft), but the Union Canal is still 11 meters (36 ft) higher than the aqueduct, which meets the wheel. Boats must also pass through a pair of locks between the top of the wheel and the Union Canal. The Falkirk Wheel is the only rotating boat lift of its kind in the world.

aberfeldt 12 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

aberfeldt 13 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

aberfeldt 15 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

aberfeldt 16 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

aberfeldt 19 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

**saralou** · #**1073** 12 Jun 2015

The tour continues with a drive by of the Stirling Castle and then onto the Wallace Monument. The tower stands on the volcanic Abbey Craig, from which William Wallace was said to have watched the gathering of the army of King Edward I of England just before the battle of Stirling Bridge. You can climb the 246-step spiral staircase to the viewing gallery inside the monument's crown.

aberfeldt 21 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

aberfeldt 22 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

aberfeldt 23 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

aberfeldt 24 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

aberfeldt 25 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

aberfeldt 27 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

**saralou** · #**1074** 12 Jun 2015

From here we got onto some of the small roads to wind our way into Aberfelty. We got off easy with just a cloudy day and no rain for camping.

aberfeldt 32 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

aberfeldt 33 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

aberfeldt 34 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

**saralou** · #**1075** 13 Jun 2015

The destination today is the long way to Strontian in 126 miles.

Screen Shot 2015-05-27 at 5.52.57 PM by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

The route is up and around the Loch Tummel and then back around Loch Tay.

strontiam 1 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

strontiam 2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

**saralou** · #**1076** 13 Jun 2015

The rain started around Killin and got worse and worse.

strontiam 4 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

strontiam 5 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

strontiam 6 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Despite this the views over the pass on the A82 in to Glencoe were amazing.

strontiam 11 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

strontiam 12 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

strontiam 13 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

strontiam 14 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

strontiam 15 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

strontiam 16 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

strontiam 17 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

**saralou** · #**1077** 13 Jun 2015

From here we got the ferry to Strontian. It was still pouring and options are very limited here. We finally found a hotel with a room, but it was a bit like being in a twighlight zone episode. There were only 3 guests in the large hotel and the owner was drunk at dinner and at breakfast.

strontiam 18 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

**saralou** · #**1078** 13 Jun 2015

Despite the continued rain we had to leave the atmosphere here. Our plan was to get to the westernmost point in the continental UK and to the Commando memorial near Fort William.

Screen Shot 2015-06-06 at 9.38.27 PM by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

**saralou** · #**1079** 13 Jun 2015

The road here is single lane with passing places and may actually have been some of the most dangerous driving we have done because of the speed of the oncoming cars on the corners.

fort william 1 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

fort william 2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

fort william 3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

**saralou** · #**1080** 13 Jun 2015

We continued down the single-track road along the coast until we reached the most western point of the Continental UK at Ardnamurchan Point. Here there is a lighthouse and you can see the Wee Isles of Rhum, Eigg, and Muk, which are important to us since Sara’s sister actually lives on “Rhum and Eigg Drive” at home!

fort william 6 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

fort william 9 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

fort william 10 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

fort william 11 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

fort william 12 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

fort william 14 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

fort william 15 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

fort william 17 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

fort william 18 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

fort william 19 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr