Scotland, August 2002
This summer I returned to what probably is my favourite country, Scotland. I travelled by car and by ferry from IJmuiden to Newcastle. The first few days I stayed with Kim, Tom and Liam in Duns in the Scottish borders. In the lovely house in the left picture. Indoors Mig Mog the cat rules. When she's not asleep that is.
Nearby is Torness power station where the 4 of us tried to catch some bass, I guess the bass were on holiday too:-(( In Eyemouth harbour there are usually some seals about. These would let you get quite close before they would be disturbed. Amazingly big animals, they must weigh 300 lbs.
Next stop was Pitlochry with its salmon steps, golfcourse and of course Edradour, the smallest whisky distillery in Scotland. The golfcourse is one of the hilliest courses I've played, this view down the 18th fairway gives you some idea. But the course was very wet, the summer of 2002 was very wet in Scotland, until I came along.
Oban is an interesting if a little touristic town on the westcoast of Scotland, pic on the left. A touch of Rome there with the Colosseumlike building up on the hills. A little inland and more south is the town of Inverary. Small and very scenic along Loch Fyne. Even late August and 30 miles inland you can still catch mackerel of the pier at Inverary harbour. QED on the right.
On the way to Kyle of Lochalsch (where the Skye bridge is at) you pass Eilean Donan Castle, a little spookier in bad weather at high tide but there you go, you can't have it all can you? Scenic route on the B8004 with the heather starting to bloom.
One of the more remarkable golfcourse is at Kirkton, with greens right next to the graveyard! Near Crianlarich there is a beautiful single track road that takes you through Glen Orchy with fantastic views of the hills an of River Orchy. Concluding this years tour of Scotland, but I'll be back! (bad austrian accent)
Belek, May 2002
Last year I went to France for a week of golf. This year Hans, Lia, Lenie, Jo, Ellen and I opted for Turkey for a change. And we may well return. A fantastic 5 star hotel, lots of challenging golfcourses about and the best weather we could have hoped for. I've tried to capture the beauty of this paradise on camera but failed miserably. Nevertheless, here it goes.
We stayed at the Tat Beach hotel in Belek, a half hour drive from the Antalya airport. All the details on the Hotel and the surrounding golfcourses are on the
Tour operators website The aeroplane itself was showing a little wear and tear and we weren't too pleased with the tour operator but as soon as we got to the hotel in Belek everything was great. A seaside view of the hotel and a mouthwatering desert table.
The shuttle service took us to the nearby golfcourses. We played Tat Beach 3 times and the Nobilis and National once each. National was the most impressive course, but Tat is very nice too. And as it is a 27 hole layout we played a different course every time. The 2 pics are the island par 3 at National and the '19th' at the same course.
The local wildlife is not really spectacular but there is a large variety of birds about, loads of lizzards and the occasional turtle. So compared to the Netherlands the wildlife was quite interesting. I spotted these fierce creatures at the National golfcourse.
These 2 holes are at Tat Beach. Also a scenic course and as you can see the layout is right next to the sea. So a cooling breeze is about when you need it. But is that a professional follow through Jo? Anytime you want some advice...?!?! Haha!
We had one day 'off' to see Antalya. Just outside the city is a true oasis. Waterfalls and a nature reserve, absolutely stunning. In Antalya you need to be a bit blunt to shrug off the salesmen at the shops and on the market. Not my cup of tea so I escaped to the boulevard and terraces for a cool beer or two. There are small beaches but for the main part the coast is quite rocky and rugged. Great for a view but not so great for sunbathing. For me Turkey is a holiday destination to return to.
Tenerife, March 2002
Last year on Gran Canaria I was very happy about being a week in the sun, but not too thrilled with
the place itself. Especially Playa D'Ingles was a little disappointing. This year Peter, Frederika
and I opted for Los Cristianos, Tenerife. We've seen a lot more variation on this island.
Allthough the harbour is full of boats for the sightseeing tours there is still a traditional fishing industry.
The town centre of Los Cristianos has still got quite some original streets, buildings,
shops and restaurants as well. So it was much more to our taste. We stayed in a very large appartment
(2 bathrooms and all!) a 5 minutes walk to the beach and 10 minutes to the harbour and town centre.
In Tenerife it is spring all year round, as the flowering bougainvillea shows.
We rented a car for a day to ascend the El Teide vulcano. That is Spains highest mountain at
around 12.000 ft. On the way up you have a great view back down to the coast. Half way up on
the sunny south side of the Teide is the town of Vilaflor. Very close to the busy coast but a
notably different pace of life. And trees full of oranges and lemons.
Unfortunately we couldn't reach the gondola at 8000 ft as there was too much snow on the road
before we got to that height. So we changed our route and went to see Los Gigantos. Think
'Cliffs of Moher in the sun' and you've got a pretty good idea what to expect.
Peter and I wasted a good few hours trying to catch some exotic fish species. In vain. Well, we
did get some colourfull tiddlers. If they look impressive enough on Frederikas pictures
I may put them on the site later. Errmm. The picture on the right doesn't actually show any
fish that we caught. These are pilotwhales that swim around in small groups. Just 20 minutes
away from the Los Cristianos harbour. Impressive. We didn't get a chance to swim and bond with
them though:-(
