Ratho EICA.

While we've been in Scotland, Ross has been taking us climbing at Ratho. The EICA is built onto the side of an old quarry and is the largest climbing centre in the world. It's a pretty spectacular place and really fun but bloody hell you're arms don't half hurt the next day!

Brrrrlin.

While we were in Berlin they experienced a bit of a cold snap which meant that the average temperature for the week was around -10 degrees. It was so cold that the rivers and ponds were completely frozen solid which made them good for sliding on.

Auf wiedersehen pet.

We went to Berlin for the week and it's one of the best places we've been to this whole trip. There is so much to see and do including art galeries, museums, the Brandonberg Gate, the Reichstag, the Berlin Wall; not to mention all of the street art. It's a bit of a culture mecca to say the least.

Aussie Invasion.

For the next week it was pretty full on with 8 of us staying at the house and trying to fit in as much tourist stuff as possible. We went on a few trips including a day out in Edinburgh. We climbed the Scot Monument, had a pub lunch and took a walk up to the top of the Royal Mile to the castle.

Dirty thirty.

I had a really great birthday party this year. You'd think that when you reach the age of 30 you'd become more responsible but we spent the night thoroughly drunk, dancing on the tables and taking over the whole pub. Getting old doesn't really seem too bad so far!

Hogmanay 2012.

It's probably the biggest holiday of the year in Scotland. Every New Years Eve in Biggar we have a bonfire in the middle of the town. It's kind of like a big street party where everyone gets really drunk so it's hard not to have a good time. Happy New Year!

Home for Christmas.

As we flew into Scotland it was snowing and the ground was white and it really started to feel like Christmas. For the couple of weeks leading up to Christmas day we enjoyed kicking back a little, home cooked meals and the luxury of not having to live out of a suitcase for a while.