Even More busy busy busy !!!

As of Sunday, the 11th, Iain will be on constant tours until the 10th of June - a 13 day tour, then a 4 day tour, a 6 day tour, a 1 day tour, then two 3 day tours in a row. During this time, the office will be unmanned during the day, and for the first 4 days or so, email/internet will be a problem, but after that we can pick up email in the evenings. So, in short, frequency of email response will be somewhat slower than normal for the next few weeks!

However, it's great that we're so busy; our accountant WILL be pleased!

Shore Excursions 7th, 9th and 10th July

Hi to all of you cruisers out there! Please note, that due to popular demand, we are now officially full for shore excursions on the 7th, 9th and 100th of July. If you need a tour that day, please contact Liz or Stewart at Maxwell's Heartland Tours on info@maxwellsheartland.co.uk.

Thanks a lot!

Summer has started!

The summer's finally here - the Mayday Bank Holiday Monday was incredible, with temperatures of up to 23 Centigrade, and lots of bright red Scottish people walking around today as a result of sunburn. Bad news for April's customers who had to put up with some cold and wet days, but great news for the rest of you!

The swallows and swifts arrived a few days ago at Doodlebus HQ, which makes weather prediction a bit easier - you can tell what the weather will do by the height the swifts and swallows fly at. If you find them frozen in their nests, you know there's another cold spell on its way, and if they lose all their feathers, the nearby nuclear power plant has had another leak... :)

Busy Busy Busy !!!

As of tomorrow, the season seems to start in earnest. We're fully booked until the 4th of May, then again from the 11th of May until the 7th of June, with the rest of the year filling up quickly. So, from now on, email responses will be a bit slower than normal, and also dependant upon internet access. Thanks to all of our customers who've made the season such a good one!

Office Closed 12th to 19th April

We'll all be taking a well-deserved vacation from the 12th to the 19th of April, with the office opening again on the 20th. During this time, we'll be unable to access emails or phones.

Cruise Ship Shore Excursions - Spare Seats

We've still got some spare seats on shore excursions from Greenock and South Queensferry, as follows:-

21st June - 4 seats available from Greenock, going to the Trossachs and Stirling.

7th July - 7 seats available from Greenock, going to the Trossachs and Stirling.

10th July - 6 seats available from South Queensferry, going to Edinburgh and Rosslyn Chapel.

If you have a larger group for any of these dates, get in touch, and we'll see what we can do!

Haggis !!!

I feel I have to defend my National Dish, after YET ANOTHER passenger tried it yesterday for the first time and, "LOVED IT". In total, I've encouraged about 50 people to try it for the first time, and all but one have really liked it. I don't understand why it has such a horrible reputation. I've seen some horrible accounts of its ingredients in tour guides (the worst was by a Cruise Ship "Guide to Scotland", which described it as a pig's bladder. Others think it's a sheep's stomach, which is eaten fresh from the carcass, inclusive of its contents.

So what exactly is it? It's a kind of sausage or mealy pudding, made from oatmeal grains, heart, lung and liver of sheep, with spices and salt. Traditionally it was stuffed into the cleaned, washed stomach of a sheep; in the same way as sausages were stuffed into intestines (why else do you think sausages are that shape?). Nowadays, like sausages, chances are the skin will be synthetic. The whole thing is then boiled until cooked, and served with mashed turnip (neeps) and potatoes (tatties). It tastes like a mild liver sausage, but has a consistancy like meatloaf. Add on a nice creamy whisky sauce, and it's delicious! (as 49 ex-haggis virgins will testify!)

May's Schedule

For anyone looking for tours in May, please be advised that we're ALMOST at bursting point, which is great, as it's a wonderful time to visit Scotland. We have a gap from the 6th to the 10th, and that's about it for Iain's schedule...however, don't be afraid to ask if you'd like a tour, as we can try to get other guides in, given enough notice!

And on a more positive note!

Now that my moaning's out of the way, I'd just like to thank ALL of our passengers, who make this the best job in the world. There's nothing better than driving around Scotland, chatting to interesting people from all over the world...

Itineraries and Time Keeping

We recently ran a tour which highlighted a couple of issues which can arise. The first is regarding the itinerary. Each of these is different, and is designed to fit as much into each day as possible, at a pace which suits you as the passenger. If there are any changes you'd like to make, please ask, and we can make adjustments before the tour. Sometimes (but not often), requests can't be fitted in, but rest assured we'll always try our best. Especially, don't be afraid to ask for later start times in the morning! While we're on the tour, some items can be changed, and stuff added in, on the understanding that there needs to be a little give-and-take regarding sites to be visited later in the day. We like to be as flexible as possible, within reason. Again, don't be afraid to ask; if we can fit it in, we'll try.

Timekeeping isn't the end of the world; the itineraries are set up for running over a little bit, and I usually keep some extras up my sleeve for those passengers who start to run ahead of schedule. However, please remember that while you may want to skip lunch, the guide should be given the opportunity to at least grab a sandwich or coffee, and that his days are quite long already, so unavoidaby, some stuff may need to be cut out in order to make up time. It's important that he doesn't go way over his driving hours, for safety reasons, plus so he can catch up on the Simpsons!

 Also, in most cases, the guide can advise you on how to prioritise sites if there's a clash. He's usually visited them loads of times, and had customer feedback, positive or negative. If you choose not to take his advise, please don't give him a hard time when his advise comes to fruition!

In case you're wondering why this has come to a head; imagine leaving late every morning; 90 minutes on one occasion, then being asked to change the itinerary constantly along the way by people who couldn't make their minds up about what they wanted to see. They hadn't been to Scotland before, but always went against the guide's advise about what to see. We ended up driving in circles, and paid three visits to the same town in two days, missing out literally dozens of better places. On top of all that, I didn't even get a coffee break in three days! The end result is that the passengers simply didn't see the best parts of Scotland...