Epilogue on Gaelic Explorer

Charlene’s trip home on Monday was uneventful but very long. Unfortunately mine was a bit of an adventure with my first flight being cancelled by United just as we arrived at the airport. The new routing and a mechanical problem delay had me dashing through immigration, to the inter-terminal train, through security and sprinting to the finish line which resulted in me being the last passenger on the flight from Newark to Ottawa. My Nexus card, and having just carry-on luggage made it possible and the snafu actually got me in to Ottawa earlier than my original flight, so all good.

I’ve had time to catch up on some sleep, get some movement (besides walking) back into my body through a physio appointment and a yoga class, and go through all my posts and pictures and to contemplate the trip a little. And what a great trip it was!

First of all, having my sister, Charlene, experience the Gaelic Explorer with me was so fabulous. She’s a great traveller and despite getting a cold part way through, she was a trooper and wouldn’t waste a minute of the time we had by resting to try to shake it. We have similar interests and getting to do the hikes on the Isles of Man and Mull together was a special opportunity. And of course, the day on Skye when we were able to get a picture of the McKinnon Clan castle was very special and so grateful to share that with Charlene.

One of the main impressions I’m left with is the kindness and friendliness of the people of Ireland, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man and Scotland. People were willing to help or just chat wherever we travelled. Another take away was the Norse influence in the region. I had no idea how long the Vikings had stayed in the places to which they had travelled and how much influence they had on the English language. This was especially apparent in Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands, but also in the Isle of Man.

Our weather was amazing, cool but with sunshine for most of our days- perfect for touring and all the walking we did. (We averaged 12,000 steps per day) The one day we did have rain, wind and really cool temperatures was in the Orkney Islands, where it seemed to add to the experience rather than take away from it. When it counted, we had really usable weather, even if that meant layering up with fleece and rain jackets for breaking the wind. And a couple of days were downright warm and I almost put on a sleeveless shirt one day.

We had amazing guides along the way and the excursions put together by Windstar were terrific. We missed out on a couple of experiences because we left it til too late to book, but I think in both cases, it worked out that the ones that we chose as back ups were great if not better. Windstar did its amazing job of service and food. We had one little hitch on board. Our travel agent didn’t specify that we wanted separate beds and we were in a cabin where the beds were not easily separated. Housekeeping managed to make it work, and in the end, Charlene got a wonderful little window seat because the bed was pushed up against the window.

I have added some of my favourite pics from the trip to this final blog on our Gaelic Explorer. Thanks for your kind comments about the blog and thanks for coming along on the adventure.