Again the takeoff is slow, deliberate and finally we are in the air with vivid green fields below. I watched the plane takeoff the other day and it looked so slow that I thought it was going to stop. It feels slow too, compared to other aircraft I’ve been in.

The girl that sat beside me was too enthusiastic and just a bit loud and I’m thinking that this could be a really long flight, however not long after we were in the air she switched on the TV and fell silent. An Australian living in Glasgow flying home for a holiday. Oh how I’ve missed that accent 😩

The chicken curry I had at dinner was good alongside the potato salad, but I left the sticky toffee pudding. I’ll keep the wee piece of chocolate for later.

I did manage to snooze a bit and dribble down my shirt because my mouth kept opening as wide as hippo. I might have snored a bit to, maybe I woke myself up… I can never tell. There’s always a child crying somewhere, why can’t we have children free flights or stick them in the hold.

I’m going to order an orange juice I think as I need to hydrate and I’ll have that bit of chocolate that I stuck in my bag before.

It never turned up 😩

I’m watching the progress of our journey on the onboard flight map and we are cruising at 39,000ft and we are covering a distance of one mile every five seconds which is fairly quick. To put that into perspective, if you are doing 60mph you are covering one mile per minute compared to 60 miles a minute on the plane.

The couple beside me have obviously read about all the things you must do while flying. Drink lots of water, go for a walk, put moisturiser on your face and the obligatory lip balm, which I will admit I did use myself. But they seem to do everything and not just once but many times. I had a glass of red, I would have had more but I struggled to get one of them. The service was not very good in our section. Oh and somebody kept dropping their guts, dirty BASTARDS.

And I have finally arrived in Dubai and made my way to gate 26 where I wait until I can board.

And they are playing Eminem, how good is that 😱

I’m at Glasgow Airport waiting for my Emirates flight to Dubai where I’ll connect to the flight to Brisbane. I’m looking forward to getting back to my own bed, my own tv, my own house, my own car and my way of life. Oh and the food, I’ve loved the food here but I feel I should be the size of a house and unhealthy inside if I stayed here eating all the wonderful fare that Scotland has to offer.

Although the trip was to farewell family, it’s also been great to spend time with family.

I also managed to catch up with close friends and enjoy that time too.

I’ve always known that Scotland is a pretty place, however in recent trips the weather has not been kind and of course Scotland had not looked it’s best. This time it was magical. The sun shone most days, the rain appeared at night or early in the morn so it gave the sun a chance to shine on the beautiful autumnal colours that were vibrant and plenty.

I’m hoping that next time I’ll be able to wander the length and breadth of this wonderful land at my leisure and soak up the beauty that abounds.

My last day in in Scotland was a very lazy day. I started to pack my case this morning, securing my beloved whisky in its inflatable bag so hopefully it will make the journey home.

The Lowry print I picked up the other day was secured in the shoebox that my new boots came in. Plenty of tape lashed the box making it fit snuggly around the frame and I’ll take it on as hand luggage.

With about 80% packed I’ve only got 19kg of weight so well under the 30kg that I’m allowed. I still have a few bulky items to pack and I’m hoping that once the case is expanded I’ll be able to get everything in, the less I need to carry on hand luggage the better.

Last night I caught up with Norma, David and Margaret for a curry at Shimla Pinks. It was a great wee night and we were all staggered to realise that it had been five years since the last time. The banter and the laughter made for a wonderful night. Living so far away from good friends really makes me appreciate these times.

Today Christine and I went to Lochwinnoch, we parked the car at the Loch side and had coffee while basking in the wonderful sunshine. So lucky with the weather. On the way home we stopped at the Clochoderick Stone, which was deposited here during the ice age over 10,000 years ago.

Now this is something that we need to bring back with some urgency. If we were to introduce this back onto the menu of punishments then I feel that the amount of minor offences would be reduced in a heartbeat.

However all those human rights experts that are slowly bringing civilisation to it’s knees would no doubt disagree with my solution… What do you think?

I was very surprised by Queensferry, down by the old Forth Bridge the main street is very quaint. Some of the buildings dated back to 1626.

We managed to park the car for free which was a very pleasant surprise. We managed to get parked very near the bridge.

The bridge looked absolutely glorious and more so when the sun stuck is head through the clouds.

I don’t recall being here before, although I do remember getting the train across the bridge over thirty years ago.

I can’t wait till I am able to return home and travel to the many places that I’ve never been to. There are so many places that I want to visit here and I think the time is right. I might go back to China or Thailand once more as I enjoy both those countries, however before I go to discover destinations new I feel that I should spend some time in the country of my birth.

I saw this place on The Antiques Roadshow months ago and today I finally got here. Margaret, Catherine and Christine came too and the sun was also kind enough to join us.

It’s been here since the late 1700 hundreds and is a UNESCO historical site and it’s definitely well worth a visit, especially when you see the glorious autumnal colours everywhere.

After a roll ‘n’ square slice and coffee we went out for a walk along to the Falls of Clyde which are stunning to say the least.

I bought some black pudding with the intention of taking it back to Australia, however we know how strict the border control is and so I’m not very confident of getting it into the country. I will keep you posted.

This pudding weighs 1.5kg and is 14 inches long and a diameter of 9 inches. What’s the chances of sneaking this passed the grumpy border guards?

Oh and it only cost £11…..

Up to the city today and I went to The Kelvingrove Art Gallery, always a good place to go when you’re in the city. I came here last week but it was closed due to a strike by the gallery staff.

I was meeting Grace for lunch in Partick so it made sense to kill two birds with the one stone. Lunch was delicious, I had 干面, or dry noodles in a spicy peanut sauce and it was absolutely amazing, one of my favourite dishes that I often had when in China.

Here are some of the interesting things from the art gallery.

The technology of the past is quite incredible and it would be very difficult today to replicate many of these ancient pieces.

Walking through Partick I was staggered at the amount of Chinese everywhere. There are shops a plenty of course, which will introduce many Glaswegians to local Chinese fare. However I was not prepared for the amount of young Chinese students, they were everywhere and the only language you hear at times is Mandarin, many years ago the second language in Scotland was Polish but now I think it may be Chinese.

To get to Patrick I took the underground, the old noisy Glasgow subway, haven’t been on it in years and not much has changed apart from that very particular smell that we always associated with it.

Headed back to Glasgow via the east side of the Kintyre Peninsula and then across the ferry from Dunoon to Gourock. A very pretty drive on the way back having Arran on the right before heading west to Tarbert where we stopped for lunch.

We were very lucky with the weather, the wind of course was blowing a gale but the rain stayed at bay which made it so much better.

On the way we stopped at Skipness Castle which dates from the mid 13th century.

I got back into Gourock just after 4pm so I decided to go via Largs and up through Dalry and by this time the sun was well gone. Fleeing around these narrow twisty roads was a bit of a challenge at times, especially when the locals came around the bends over the line if there was one that is.

It was a relief to get on to the wider roads and even more of a relief when I made it back to Houston. Thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Campbelltown and every time I return to Scotland I will do my best to return here , it’s almost a pilgrimage to recapture youth and of course say hello to my mother.

Until we meet again!!

The wind is blowing a gale and the rain is not too far away and so it seemed that the best thing to do was to go to Springbank Distillery and buy whisky. I bought a bottle of Longrow Whisky which is around 56% and it tasted really nice. I forgot to take pictures of the distillery but it’s well worth a visit.

Lunch was Lentil soup and an egg and bacon roll followed by coffee x 3 and it only cost £22, which seemed very cheap. After lunch a brief walk around the wee toon and then back to the house to get out of the wind. By the way I was not alone at lunch, and no I wusnae a greedy bastard!!

After a respite from the wind back at the house we then went out to finish our stay but having Indian at the Taj Mahal on the sea front and it was delicious apart from the really really hot green chilly I ate.