Royal Yacht Britannia, Scotland

Day 25/Scotland 2
Travelled: 83km
Stay: Newcraighall (near Edinburgh) P & R cost 0.50pence/day 55.93364, -3.09273
Visited: Preston Mill, Royal Yacht Britannia £31.50 

We explored a bit more of the port of Dunbar this morning, reading some of the many information panels placed around the area. We even spotted the resident seals all called Sammy. 









Then we headed along the coastal drive to North Berwick. Along the way we detoured to have a look at Preston Mill. Although it was not open we could walk around the buildings and admired the unusual Dutch style conical roof and its architectural oddity. The mill was used until 1959 and suffered many misadventures included several floodings. It has also become a recent attraction as it was used in the popular series of Outlander. 







We then stopped at cafe made from ship containers that offered one of the best views of Bass Rock which is well known for its large colony of gannets. 





We also spotted lots of golf courses as we were driving and signs told us this area is the host of the Scottish Opens. 



Never seen a golf course in the middle of a race course

We then pointed Bluey towards Edinburgh and in particular to the Royal Yacht Britannia in Leith. After Mark watched a disappointing game of Essendon getting beaten by West Coast we went to see the Yacht.



 It was decommissioned in 1997 after 43 years of service from 1954. It had travelled over 2million kilometres, with 696 foreign visits and 272 visits in British waters. The crew was made up of 21 officers and 250 Royal yachtsmen, as well as 45 Royal staff. The Queen could travel with up to 5 tons of luggage. We were able to visit 5 decks of the vessel and saw many rooms and got alot of information from the complimentary audio guide. 











Queen’s room

Prince Phillip’s Room

The only double bedroom on board. Used as Royal Honeymoon suite and for VIP guests.

Officers dinning room

Used for Special events, movie theatre or dancing...

Queens’s office

Lounge to relax

All the clocks are set for 3:01 at the exact time the Queen was piped ashore for the final time during the decommissioning ceremony 

Mark is ready to join..

 Junior officers rooms



Medical rooms..Yacht was ready to be converted to hospital ship

Laundry..officers had to pay for laundry. Some had to change 6 times a day depending on Royal duties.

A very clean engine room



We then went to the P&R in Newcraighall to be ready to visit Edinburgh tomorrow. We already bought tickets on the website for the Castle to skip the queue and it was also cheaper.