Day 296/7 Tues 6 – Wed 7 Aug 2007 Edinburgh, Scotland

After filling ourselves with Michael’s excellent pancakes we venture out in to a warm sunny Edinburgh (can this really be Scotland?) to meet David and Karen at Waverley Station arriving from Newcastle. In 2006 they had driven from Newcastle (UK) to Sydney via a similar route to ours, but in a Triumph TR4 so naturally they assumed that there would be plenty of room for them and their luggage in our vehicle. Although we had finally jettisoned our unused porta-potty without which I2 would not venture beyond the back o’Bourke, at a Pets without Vets charity shop in Pitlochry (“Oooh I’ve always wanted one of those" the lady said when Jane asked her if she could sell it), there still isn’t much space so we have to do a major repack in the middle of Waverley Station concourse. Eventually we fit everything and everybody in and make our way to Pollock Halls at the University where we spend the next two nights whilst sampling a variety of Fringe offerings.

Our time in Edinburgh's world heritage Old and New Town is taken up sampling a range of performances of varying calibre, from a disgraced former Tory politian and his misses to a few disgraceful aspiring comedians. In contrast ‘Dickens Unplugged’ and ‘Tony the Blair Musical’ are very entertaining and the ‘Rebus tour’ informative but we now know that the only thing funny about three Irish comedians is the interval at the bar and the compere. Edinburgh at festival time is Party Central with streets awash with performers of every shape size and genre, the summer weather beautiful and a great collection of coffee shops, bars and restaurants.