Sterling

The internet still wasn’t working, so this morning we ended up returning the cards to get a full refund. The van is still overheating now and again, and today is no different. Sterling isn’t a far drive from Edinburgh but we managed to stop 3 times to top up the water in the coolant reservoir. This procedure is pretty frustrating as we need to remove Julie’s seat before we can lift the lid to access the engine compartment. So when we eventually arrived in Sterling and we started to pass by many dealerships we made the decision to see about getting the van fixed, or at least looked at. We were sent to two shops, the last shop providing us with honest help. We were told that the head gasket is probably blown and the water is leaking into the piston heads. We were also told that the engine would need to be rebuilt or replaced to fix the problem (this mechanic was an engine specialist and he said he wouldn’t touch our van). Since we don’t have the kind of money needed for that kind of repair anyway, he gave us some stuff to put in the coolant tank in hopes that it would seal any leaks we have. After that we continued on to Sterling castle. The castle is not extremely impressive. Actually, for the price they charge (we paid half price because we are EH members) it’s not worth visiting. The views you get from the castle are nice enough, but you can get better ones at the nearby Wallace monument. We visited the Wallace monument after the castle. It was late in the day and we ended up having to cut our tour of the William Wallace monument short. Fortunately, we managed to see the more important things, the view from the top and Wallace’s huge sword, before they closed. From here we drove to St. Andrews.