Highland to Holyrood

Finally a contribution from me. This is written from the outdoor sitting area of the cafe at the Pillars of Hercules. We are nicely sitting in the shade.  Is this Scotland? It feels like being in the tropics! Some of us are reading,  others writing for the blog. All very relaxing.  It's been a very lazy day, well deserved.  We have cycled approx. 55 to 60km for 4 days in a row and the children have coped so well. Yesterday at the end of the day they were still having lots of fun together while being obviously tired, amazingly. The Pillars of Hercules is an organic farm with a shop, a  cafe and a campsite.  Perfect place for us, very much recommended. Our meal tonight will contain red, orange and yellow carrots from the farm shop. And then an early night to get ready for tomorrow's 30 mile.  Kristina has obviously been much better in writing for the blog, i think i spend far more time sleeping than she😀 I am excited about tomorr...

Hi Lente here, I have been liking the fact that we were always close to the railway and we once saw a railway station. I have liked stopping at rivers and l liked the campsites. I disliked the wild camping because the midges were really annoying, but they were better in the morning and now I have an annoying midgie bite. I have been doing food research. Yes, what food we eat also affects the environment.

When someone throws away plastic, it can cause harm to the environment. But it cannot only harm nature on land, it can also cause trouble in the sea. It all starts with a piece of plastic which has been thrown away. That piece of plastic stays there for some time until a breeze or a storm takes the plastic down to the beach. Soon afterwards the tide comes in and takes the plastic. The plastic drifts far away from the shore until it reaches a whirlpool which connects two or more oceans together. There plastic has been gathering ever since it was invented. That's how  the Plastic soups where created. The plastic soups still grow to this day. As the plastic stays in the plastic soup it starts to break into smaller pieces, which can become so small they can't be seen by naked eye. Which is the main worry about the plastic soups. When we catch fish who have been eating micro and nano plastics. Then we eat the fish and the micro and nano plastics. Heather's Top six facts about: L...

  Trees are one of the most important things on our planet. We need them and without them we wouldn't survive. They take CO2 and reproduce it as oxygen! It would be better if trees lined the side of the road because it would give us more shade, keep out the noise and there's more CO2 from the cars 🚗 so it would help make the CO2 into fresh air. When we were cycling by the A9 we smelled fumes from the cars and it was disgusting so if we have more trees it wouldn't smell it as much. Plants  are another important thing on our planet🌎 they help us as well because bugs and insects and bees are attracted to them and they are useful for birds to eat. Bees also help, they pollinate the flowers which makes them grow big so no bees no trees no us so next time you see a bee remember it is very important. While I am typing this there is a massive bumble bee nest behind me, it is so satisfying watching the bumble bees go in and out.  From Olly ...

Most people are aware about how we travel but they don't actually know what happens to the bad gas they are emitting. We have chosen to cycle to Edinburgh to show people a sustainable way of traveling. We know that some people have to go to places but  others are just out for a drive. Another thing is public transport because it would be better if buses and trains were more accessible and if more of them could allow bicycles. When cycling we thought that it would be better if every road could have a dedicated cycle path and that the cycle paths next to busy roads could have trees beside the path because they absorb the carbon dioxide and turn it into oxygen. Best wishes, Freya

I'm lying in the tent with two sleeping children beside me, no sound from the other tent, birds busy singing all around us, bees working busily somewhere in the forest and the background noise of cars on their way to work on the A912. We're in the Pillars of Hercules organic farm campsite and having a well deserved lie in and rest day. It was a blessed relief arriving here yesterday, a peaceful haven amongst the fields and commuter roads of Fife, nestled at the foot of the Lomond hills. And so different from the two holiday parks we stayed in already, with their big tents, campervans, caravans, people playing music. Here we're nestled in amongst trees and shrubs in the small cyclists' camping area, with a sign marking a bumble bee nest in the centre of the campground. We're vaguely aware of other campers in other camp areas. And we're nicely shaded from the baking sun. Plus, nestled in amongst the trees, it was a warmer night.  Day 4 was a slightly shorter day (...

Well,  eventually you'll hear more from the children,  but the days are long,  and there's so much else to do when we stop, that writing in a blog doesn't take the highest priority! 64km today - the longest day of the journey and the tiredest day.  And still an amazing effort and spirits generally still high. I was the one trailing at the back! We woke up at Loch Garry to gorgeous sunshine and not too many midges,  so we weren't the fastest leaving our peaceful wild campsite. We managed to make the time for a morning swim.  And Freya,  Olly and Heather continued building their pier - an impressive feat of engineering.. Note to self: remember to check bikes for loose bits after cycling on jiggly tracks.. When we finally set off, a sudden scraping noise from the back of the trailer revealed that a nut had popped off and the 'boot' full of heavy bags of food was trailing along on the ground. Luckily I'd just passed a couple of guys...