The last two days the taxi side of our business has had the first signs of returning back to normal. This certainly makes all of us very hopeful.
However, dropping guests off at Elie & Earlsferry yesterday you could not move there were so many people and cars.
Today’s St Andrews is busier than I have ever seen it. On one hand it is truly awesome to see people supporting their local areas and tourism in general.
However, I am sightly worried that this might be too much too soon?
In saying this people seem very considerate and respectful and appear to keep their distance. So fingers crossed this will give all of you a fantastic break and for the tourism industry a solid recovery.
At Starfish Travel and Taxis we have screens installed, separating us from our guests, we sanitise the vehicles after each and have hand sanitiser and face masks onboard for you. We also offer contactless payment (no additional costs).
After listening to our daily First Minister’s update on the Covid-19 pandemic there are some good news for some international travellers. You can now fly into Scotland without needing to quarantine for 14 days if you are from the following 59 countries:
Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, Croatia, Curaçao, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominica, Faroe Islands, Fiji, Finland, France, French Polynesia, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, Malta, Mauritius, Monaco, Netherlands, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Réunion, San Marino, Seychelles, South Korea, St Barthélemy, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Pierre and Miquelon, Switzerland, Taiwan, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Vatican City, Vietnam.
If you travel from Spain or Serbia you still need to adhere to the quarantine rule.
If you & your family are on a staycation in St Andrews perhaps you would enjoy some sightseing in the surrounding areas.
R & A St Andrews
Our offer is sightseeing by the hour at £40 per hour
There gorgeous place in the surrounding areas, such as the fishing villages of East Neuk, the Crail Pottery, perhaps some kayaking at Elie or a walk on the coastal path. If you enjoy watching wildlife maybe you would like to visit a one of Fife’s reserves, such as Bankhead Moss
As of today, 3rd of July 2020, people in Scotland may travel further than five miles for leisure purposes, caravan parks and other self catering businesses may open up again and also beer gardens. For daily updates for Scotland Click here
View of river Tay
There is also some talk of reducing the 2m disctancing for some hospitality businesses, which hopefully enables smaller venues to survive.
Additionally the 14 day quarantine might be lifted for certain countries.
For Starfish Travel we expect to rely predominantly on UK visitors to join us for bespoke tours in 2020. For 2021 we sincerely hope to welcome back the rest of the world. So if you are planning a trip please do get in touch and we will assist you with any questions and worries you may have.
Our vehicles are santised after each use. We have soft, transparant partititions installed to separate passengers from the driver. Hand sanitisers and face mask are available and our drivers use both. All our vehiscles are MPVs and offer six seats separated from the driver currently arranged in conference seating . So six people of the same household and can travel safely.
For the future we have some exiting plans which involves diving into SCITOUR, which is a project involing scientific tourism in remote areas.
There was also and article in the Herald. The project so far involves a number of very exiting companies and we hope to be part of it.
Highland cows at Norman’s Law.
We have created a SPECIALS PAGES where will publish new exiting ideas on attraction, venues and sites. So, do visit it on regular intervals and by all means leave us a comment below if you have a great idea!
As mentioned in my last blog there are some passenger planes in the air again and best of all there have been no cases of corona deaths yesterday and slowly but surely the infection rate declines . There were 15 new case confirmed. These numbers are very much matching the ones which were reported at the very beginning on the pandemic.
So hopefully on 15th of July 2020 all of us serving tourism can get back to work if the infection numbers continue to drop.
On Thursday I received my first tour booking for September. Which is very exiting and at the same time feels so very strange. This time last year I spent most of my time sharing beautiful Scotland with customers.
This very short video showcases that you can have a wine tasting and gorgeous food with others even if it is via zoom. I must say I enjoyed this winetasting organised by the St Andrews Business Club and presented by Christopher Trotter Fife Food Ambassador much more than I had anticipated.
I still state that I really did enjoy the gift of spare time in nice weather and I did spent any hours with my horses in the sunshine.
What clearly has kept me sane are the online yoga classes of Heart Space
Even before the lockdown I frequently attended classes at their lovely venue in Scott Street, Dundee to conteract too many hours spent in the taxi/tour MPV and to be supple enough to climb on my horses whenever I managed some free time.
During lockdown I have become somewhat obcessed and truly enjoy the community – though long distance there is still a feel of togetherness.
My thoughts for Starfish Travel have been along the same lines: More intensity at a slower pace and adding new ideas.
I will be diving a little deeper into meditation, mindfulness & movement by trying to become a yoga teacher.
Along the same lines I have been researching retreats, meditation and nature, such as forrest bathing, traditional crofting and animal husbandry.
For the ones of you looking out for more excitement I have added sea planes, gliding, kayaking to the mix and if you have other thought I am always open to make it happen.
If this pandemic has taught us one thing it is collaboration and helping each other.
The best news of today is that there are no new Corona deaths!
Golf and tennis can be enjoyed again though on this side of the country there is a little too much dampness in the air.
Crail Golf Links (but not today!)
Most flights arriving today will be national flights but nonetheless there was some exitement when the first Easyjet plane touched down in Glasgow this morning.
It will be some time before number of flights pick up again and even more time will pass before international flights return to pre-covid times if ever.
However there is some hope more and more businesses announce their re-opening and that even includes my dental practice (who as always have done such an amazing job that I did not need them during lockdown)
There will be some learning to be done. I had the honour to transport an elderly gentleman and his dog. How do you assist someone to get into the vehicle while keeping your social distance? If you cannot: face masks and hand sanitiser are the answer.
While you wait on Scotland being as welcoming as we are all used to you could entertain yourself with some
Meanwhile one of our favourite special treats have announced that they will start operating again as of 30th June with fifty flights a week each flight carrying four instead of the usual nine passengers so you are in for an extra treat:
Slowly but surely it appears the pandemic is leaving beautiful Scotland …
The tourism industry will hopefully start opening by 15th of July if the R number continues to reduce.
Scottish Airports
More airlines will fly to and from Scottish destinations beginning of next week and airports have made amendments to ensure your safety.
Edinburgh airport asking you to do five things:
We’re pleased to announce that, as of Monday, some of our airlines will be starting to fly more frequently.We understand that you might have some concerns about travelling. So here are the steps we’re taking, and the measures we’re asking you to take, to make sure that we protect each other and flysafe.When you come to the airport, we’re asking you to follow the 5 must-dos outlined below.
Please note there is still a 14 days quarantine requirement for travellers from outside the UK !!!!
A number of hotels are already opening but mainly for key workers at the moment.
The Balmoral in Edinburgh has annouced that it will open by 1st of August.
Attractions:
The first castle to open appears to be Glamis Castle
Gardens re-opening from 20th June 2020
Like many other attractions and businesses we have been working hard to navigate our business through this difficult time, so we are thrilled to announce that we will be re-opening our formal gardens daily from Saturday, 20th June 2020.
Opening times will be from 10am – 5pm at £7.50 per person or £23 for a family of 5 ticket. (All paid seasonal 2020 passes will also gain the benefit of a complimentary pass for 2021.) Please note that advance booking online is essential with entry time-slots from 10am – 4.30pm available for access, your ticket also includes complimentary car parking.
Current season pass holders must also book tickets online to gain access, however entry will be complimentary once the cardholder details have been validated during the booking process – please use code 3gcujfb3 when booking to secure complimentary status.Glamis Castle Kitchen will be operating a picnic and takeaway menu service during opening hours
Further information for visitors During these difficult times the health & safety of visitors and staff will remain of utmost importance to us, we have implemented strict practices to safeguard all on site including:Making hand sanitiser available on site for staff and visitor use.The Castle tours are currently closed.Displaying clear signage throughout the site advising staff and visitors to wash their hands regularly and follow the catch it, kill it, bin it guidelines.Enhanced cleaning regimes within the Castle toilets.Welcoming visitors with a smile instead of a handshake.Social distancing measures.One-way system around the Gardens which is found on the map when you book your entry ticket.Limited Capacity.We will endeavour to offer a safe space for families to enjoy the Summer months ahead. The Gardens and grounds are a great location to watch the seasonal flowers bloom while children can follow the Macbeth trail through the Pinetum, visit highland cows and play outside in the fresh air.The Adventure Playground will be open to all visitors at this time.There will be toilets open for all to use. We will be operating a queueing system which we will manage and we will have a one in one out system, but we will be allowing people of the same house hold in at the same time.We want everyone to enjoy a wonderful day out at Glamis Castle and would like to reassure all visitors that we are adhering to all guidelines issued by Public Health Authorities and the Government. We are monitoring the Covid-19 situation daily and will keep our website and social media channels up to date. We do however ask visitors to follow government advice and remain at home if you have any symptoms. We are working proactively to enable continued access to Glamis Castle, retaining employment within a viable business.
HIS has not publicised when they will open again but I will post updates from now on.
Starfish Travel
Our vehicles are all seven or eight seater Mercedes minibuses. We have fitted them with soft transparent screens dividing the driver from the guests. We supply hand sanitiser and sanitise the vehicles inbetween each use. We wear face masks when in contact with you (and can provide you with them if needed).
We offer contactless payment or pre-payment and accept cash if you wish
For customers of different households we recommend a maximum of 4 passengers and no more than six if you are from the same house hold
We are set to move to Phase 1 following the 28 May end-of-cycle review of the COVID-19 regulations, if the evidence supports that. In Phase 1, the virus would not be fully contained. There is a continued risk of overwhelming NHS capacity without significant restrictions remaining in place. To progress to Phase 1, R must have been below 1 for at least 2 weeks and the number of infectious cases starting to decline. There should also be a sustained reduction in new infections, hospital admissions, ICU admissions, deaths (WHO Criterion 1). Test and Protect capacity will be ramped up, with staff being recruited and digital systems being designed.
During Phase 1 a number of changes to the rules would be made – potentially over more than one review cycle (after 28 May, the next review cycle concludes on 18 June). Some of these changes would be to guidance and some to regulations. In addition, a number of public services that had either been paused or scaled back because of the crisis would now be resumed or expanded. The rules set out in the previous (Lockdown) phase apply except as set out below.
Seeing family and friends: We are planning in this phase to change regulations to permit people to use public outdoor spaces for recreational purposes, for example to sit in a public space. We are also planning for one household to meet up with another household outdoors, in small numbers, including in gardens, but with physical distancing required.
Getting around: Consistent with the reopening of workplaces set out in this phase, where home working is not possible businesses and organisations are encouraged to manage travel demand through staggered start times and flexible working patterns.
You will also be permitted to travel short distances for outdoor leisure and exercise but advice to stay within a short distance of your local community and travel by walk, wheel and cycle where possible.
International border health measures are set to be introduced.
Schools, childcare and other educational settings: We are planning in this phase to change guidance so that staff can return to schools and for an increased number of children to access critical childcare provision including the re-opening of child minding services and fully outdoor nursery provision. We are planning to make support available to pupils at key transition points, e.g. those due to start P1 or S1 where possible.
Working or running a business: In this phase we are planning for remote working to remain the default position for those who can.
For those workplaces that are reopening, employers should encourage staggered start times and flexible working.
We are also planning for outdoor workplaces to resume with physical distancing measures in place once guidance is agreed.
We are also planning for the construction sector to implement the first two phases in its restart plan with a decision to move to ‘phase 2’ of the construction sector’s plan only after consulting with government to ensure it is safe to do so and in line with public health advice.
Preparing for the safe reopening of the housing market.
Workplaces resuming in the following phases can undertake preparatory work on physical distancing and hygiene measures in this phase.
Shopping, eating and drinking out: In this phase we are planning the gradual opening of drive through food outlets as well as the re-opening of garden centres and plant nurseries with physical distancing. Associated cafes (e.g. in garden centres) should not reopen at this stage except for take away.
Sport, culture and leisure activities: In this phase we are planning to allow unrestricted outdoors exercise adhering to distancing measures and non-contact outdoor activities in the local area – such as golf, hiking, canoeing, outdoor swimming, angling – consistent with the wider rules and guidance applicable to any activity in this phase.
Community and public services We are planning the gradual resumption of key support services in the community. We are expecting to restart face-to-face Children’s Hearings and for there to be greater direct contact for social work and support services with at risk groups and families, and for there to be access to respite/day care to support unpaid carers and for families with a disabled family member. All of these would involve appropriate physical distancing and hygiene measures.
We are planning for the opening of Household Waste Recycling Centres.
Court and tribunal buildings open, with limited business and public access.
Gatherings and occasions: In this phase we are expecting no public gatherings except for meetings of two households and then only outdoors and with physical distancing.
Health and Social Care: In this phase we expect to begin the safe restart of NHSservices, covering primary, and community services including mental health.
We are also planning on retaining COVID-free GP services and planning a further scale up of digital consultations.
We expect to roll out the NHS Pharmacy First Scotland service in community pharmacies and increased care offered at emergency dental hubs as practices prepare to open. We will also restart, where possible, urgent electives previously paused. And there will be a resumption of IVF treatment following the approval of Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority.
There will be an increase provision of emergency eyecare in the community.
We will consider the introduction of designated visitors to care homes.
The Test and Protect system will be available across the country.
Travel
Travel is still very much restricted. Our associates at Starfish Taxis operate a pre-booked social distant taxi service and you can find more here: https://www.starfish-taxis.com/
It is important that you plan your journey. Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle operators may have put in place new measures to help with physical distancing. You should check what new measures apply. You may wish to confirm payment arrangements to avoid, if possible, cash transactions.
We recommend before starting your journey you wash or sanitise your hands.
On your journey
At taxi ranks you should try to keep a 2 metre distance from others. If you come within 2 metres of others, you should avoid physical contact and keep the time you spend within 2 metres of others as short as possible.
You should wear a face covering when using a taxi or private hire vehicle as a consideration to your driver. The wearing of a face covering for very young children or those with particular conditions is not appropriate. See further guidance on face-covering.
You should also be aware of the surfaces, like door handles, you or others touch.
Be considerate to your driver by taking all your belongings and rubbish when leaving the vehicle.
Completing your journey
When finishing your journey, you should deposit any of your used tissues or rubbish in bins. We recommend you wash or sanitise your hands (and children’s hands if you are travelling with them) as soon as possible.
Private cars and other vehicles
Plan your journey
It is important that you plan your journey and check the latest travel advice on your route via trafficscotland.
Try to stay as local as possible to your home unless you are traveling for work purposes. Routes may be different as local authorities make changes to enable physical distancing on pavements and cycle routes.
On your journey
Good ventilation particularly by keeping the car windows open and facing away from fellow passengers may help to reduce the risk of transmission.
You should be aware of the surfaces within your vehicle that you or others touch. If the vehicle is your responsibility you should clean regularly areas such as the steering wheel and door handles.
When driving, you should anticipate more pedestrians and cyclists than usual, especially at peak times of day. You should allow other road users to maintain physical distancing by, for example, giving cyclists room for a 2 metre separation at traffic lights.
You should limit the time you spend at garages, petrol stations and motorway services. You should keep a 2 metre distance from others and pay by contactless methods, if possible.
You should wash or sanitise your hands before your journey and if you are the driver you should encourage passengers to do likewise.
Completing your journey
When finishing your journey, we recommend you wash or sanitise your hands as soon as possible and ensure that keys or fobs are also cleaned regularly.
For those of you who have been on a tour with me in the past you will have heard this story in at least a short version. As I find myself with extra time on my hands (Time I intend to spend in more positive ways then filling out forms to apply for support) I shall tell a story why there is a tour guide in Scotland with a German accent.
This takes me back to 1993 when I was studying Political Science at the University of Marburg when realising that I needed a year abroad for completing my masters.
I had taken Latin in School and thankfully English was compulsory. I had been travelling to the US during an unforgetteable holiday with my late dad and I had been to London several times and to Bournemouth.
I owned a horse, Mirko a Trakehner stallion, whom I had purchased when I turned eighteen. He needed to come and as I matter of fact we kept together till 2017 when he died aged 31.
Bringing a horse to the US was something unaffordable so my choice of study was limited to the UK. When my UCAS form arrived it coincidently had as many spaces as there were Universities in Scotland. So, I entered all Scottish Universities and I had never been anywhere near Scotland.
I was offered a space at Stirling University and qualified for an Erasmus grant (In the days the EU seemed a good idea even in Great Britain).
Prior to departure my boyfriend and I had been given another horse, Justus an 11 year old Hessian gelding (who stayed with me till 2011 when he died aged 30). To bring any horses to the UK you needed a health certificate, pedigree papers, a vaccination document and an address in the UK.
By that time we did not know where we would stay but as an address (stables/fields) for the horses was required we decided one evening to drive over to Scotland to sort that out. So we boiled some coffee, put it in a flask and off we went.
This was a perfect way of testing our new car. When Justus arrived in our lives it became apparent that neither my car (an old Mercedes) nor my boyfriend’s car (a slightly younger Audi 100) could tow a trailer with two horses. So we ventured out and bought an 18 year old Volvo 244 DL. Just in front of our house in the village we lived in was a parking area when we had purchased the Volvo we populated 50% of the parking in a traffic light manner: red Audi, yellow Mercedes and green Volvo.
This Volvo brought the horses across and was in my service for another eight years
Driving to Scotland involved using the Calais Dover ferry, which was easy. I had been to the dentist for a root treatment which sadly was not done properly so I spent the entire journey in agony and eating out of my own free will McDonald ‘s soggy burgers.
In the light of that we somehow found ourselves in North Wales on some country road utterly lost. We stopped at a petrol station and raised eyebrows when we asked which of the two directions possible would take us to Scotland.
In the process we did some unwanted sightseeing of Liverpool and Machester. We loved the Beatles so it could have been worse.
When approaching the borders my heart sank at the view of these barren mountains with no trees and I really did start to ask myself: ” what had I done?”
For those of you who have been driving to Scotland you will know it does get so much better then barren mountains.
Somewhere in a country lane close to Stirling we pulled over utterly exhausted to sleep a few hours only to be woken by a gentleman with a gun. My heart was pounding but the guy was rather friendly and had a lovely Labrador and was simply wondering what we were doing there. He had a smile in his face once we had managed to explain…
We had some odd encounters queueing at the bank and when it was finally our turn we had forgotten the English word for bank account. So we tried to explain ourselves: We would like to open something we can use to put money in and take it back out. The baffled bank assistance kept asking: “Would you like to exchange foreign currency?”. We eventually got there. Finding a place for the horses was dead easy. Never ever has it been so easy since. We managed to rent a field at the local vet in Bridge of Allan, a wee town close to Stirling and even closer to the University.
I needed to get back to hand in my final essay but we thought we would try to find a flat. We bought some newspapers and did not get very far and when bypassing a building society and not really knowing what that was we entered and asked and the somewhat bemused staff pointed us towards the Link House Association in Falkirk. We calculated that we could make it there before they closed and arrived about 20 mins before 5 pm. The gentleman who invited us in happened to be the manager and had some German connections. We signed a contract for a flat in the beautiful Riverside in Stirling for £83 per month. We had not seen it and we did not have time to do so because we needed to head south to catch the ferry at Dover.
Some weeks later and after the visit of the state vet to create the health certificate for the horses (which was valid 48 hours) we were ready to set off. By the time we had loaded all our belongings into the car and the horses into the trailer there was less then 5 cm space below the tow bar. So we decided to leave some boxes behind.
On the way with two horses, a trailer, a towing vehicle and all our belongings
We set off on a 32 hour journey. The tow bar only once touched ground when driving onto the ferry. The horses were checked and watered every two hours, had hay adlib and we walked them somewhere on a dirt track after we had left London behind. We did take a few hours nap but had not anticipated that the car was so fully loaded that you could not even lower the front seats. and as the horses kept eating in the back the entire coantraption moved like ship on sea.
At the end of it we turned the horses out into their new field. They had a roll and a run around and appeared to be very fresh and happy in comparison to us.
It was way too late to pick up the keys for our flat so we decided to drive to 34 James Street to at least have a look at the building. When pulling up in front of it with the green Volvo, red trailer and German number plates a couple walked by and asked what we were doing there. So we explained. It turned out they were our neighbours so we asked if anyone would mind if we crashed out in the car. They said it would be fine and went into their house. We got changed and decided to walk into town for a pint before going to sleep in the car.
When walking across the bridge over the railway a car stopped beside us . It was our new neighbour who was having our Volvo keys in his hands. We had left them on the driver’s door. He invited us into his car, took us to his local pub, we all had a pint and he invited us to stay in his guest room.
I have never felt more welcome anywhere and this explains my love for Scotland!
The last time I reported Covid 19 deaths in Scotland on this blog we had six. This was back on the 5th of March 2020. Back then I was hopeful that despite the epidemic we might look ahead to a good summer with amazing customers.
Today 2007 people in Scotland have sadly died and everybody is still coping with lockdown. The good news the cases are decreasing!
Spring is in full force while Starfish Travel (and many, many other) remain grounded
But even if this trend continuous we will not go back to where we were before Corona took over all our lives.
I attended a zoom meeting “Economic Update with Royal Bank of Scotland” this morning and this has clearly strengthened me in my believe that it will be very unlikely Scotland can welcome international visitor in 2020 or if there will be any it will remain very limited.
Starfish Travel ‘s mechanic workforce
While our vehicles remain grounded our minds can still dream and be creative.
As lives will be different I would like to welcome you to start thinking about visiting Scotland perhaps in 2021 or later. Do get in touch and raise all your safety concerns with me and I will aim to reassure you where I can.
I have never required a deposit for booking and I will not do so in future so if you wish to make plans now you can by using the form below and if you book you can always cancel without any costs:
Gardens re-opening from 20th June 2020
