What a busy few days! We have travelled from one side of
Scotland (sort of) to the other side (sort of), with some to-ing and fro-ing
from north to south and back again, and south to north and back again, to see
the things we wanted to see and do the things we wanted to do. It has only been
5 days since the last blog, but it seems so much longer - we have done so much
and been so busy that there just hasn’t been time to write and go through the
photos. Bear with us - this blog is a little long with LOTS of photos!
The countryside we drove through varied from being
reminiscent of the bushland around home (except for the castles and mansions
that kept popping out of the trees every so often); the pine forests of New
Zealand; being stark and desolate, windswept and barren; or a riot of colour as
the leaves change colour from green to yellow, orange, red, and brown.
Saturday 30 September – Kirriemuir to Drumnadrochit –
Visiting the Highlands Wildlife Park
The wildlife park was put into the itinerary before we left
home mainly because it had polar bears. But there was sooooooo much more there
to see! Lynx, snow monkeys, Amur tigers (used to be called Siberian tigers, but
their name has been changed for some reason), Pallas cats, Scottish Wildcats,
muskox, camels with 2 humps, an Arctic fox, Arctic wolves, Turkmenian Markhor’s,
moose, yaks, and so on….
Sunday 30 September – Fast RIB Ride on Loch Ness and visit
to Urquhart Castle
This morning started with a test to the taste buds of bacon,
eggs, venison sausages, mixed veg, black pudding, and haggis for breakfast.
Bacon – OK; eggs – OK; sausage – OK; mixed veg – OK; black pudding – one slice
was enough; haggis – one bite was more than enough!
Graham booked us a ride on a RIB (rigid inflatable boat) on
Loch Ness. The weather was a bit iffy, but stayed mostly dry before it was time
for us to set off. We left from Fort Augustus, which is the most southerly
point of Loch Ness, and sped up to Urquhart Castle at Drumnadrochit, which is
about half way up the loch. The ride started out smoothly enough, but soon got
quite bumpy – much to Cam’s delight - he spent most of the outward journey
laughing and yelling ‘faster’. The way back was not so pleasant. We returned
into the teeth of the wind, bouncing over white caps that sprayed up in our
faces and slammed up into our seats. Never mind the weatherproof suits we were
all wearing – we still ended up wet from the waist down! Except Cam that is.
Can’t fathom how he managed to stay dry when the rest of us got swamped by
waves and ended up with wet behinds.
After going home to get dry, it was off to Urquhart castle
for a wander and look around from a landward perspective. There has been a
building on this land since the 6th century – a castle since the 13th
century. It was destroyed and abandoned in 1682.
Monday 1 October – Visit to Fort George and Culloden
Battlefield
Much to Danielle’s disgust, today was about military stuff.
First was Fort George – an 18th century fortress near Inverness. It
is still an active army base, so we couldn’t look around all of it. Best way to
appreciate the size of the place is from the air – so thanks to Google images
for the aerial shot!
Culloden is the site of the last – and bloodiest – battle on
British soil. The tourist centre they have set up about the battle and the
events leading up to it was really well done, telling both sides of the story.
Unfortunately, no photos were allowed inside. Calum and Cam went to have a look
at the memorial and some of the battlefield outside while I went to check on
Danielle, who had taken her book to the café to read (strange things for
Danielle to do at the best of times!)
Tuesday 2 October – The Jacobite Train
A 2 hour steam train ride from Fort William, one hour or so
south of Drumnadrochit, to Mallaig on the west coast. An overcast, rainy trip out
for the most part, although the rain did ease up while we were on the train.
Started again as soon as we got to Mallaig and went to find somewhere for lunch
though! Of course, it stopped raining while we were having lunch, only to
bucket down again as soon as we stepped outside the restaurant. Stopped just
before it wsa time to get back on the train, and we even had sunshine on the
return journey. Some of the best things about the trip: The sound of the steam
train on the tracks; the smell of the steam coming in the windows; and going
over the Glenfinnan Viaduct – which featured in the Harry Potter movies as the
way to get to Hogwarts!
On the way back to Drumnadrochit, we stopped for Calum to
have a look at the Commando Memorial at Spean Bridge.
Wednesday 3 October – Drumnadrochit to Glasgow – Waterfalls,
Loch Ness monster – fact or fiction?, and the road south
Before leaving Drum, Morag and Grahame took us to see the
waterfalls where JM Barrie got his inspiration for the entrance into the hidden
home of The Lost Boys in his novel Peter Pan. Wow… I also took the opportunity
to (finally) play with some of the effects on my camera – fun!
Then we went to the Loch Ness Monster Exhibit back in Drum –
very interesting, and some thought provoking points made. Although a strong
case was put forward for all the sightings of ‘Nessie’ being logically explained
away, I still think it’s real :)
We were hoping to do the cable car to the top of Aonoch Mor,
a mountain next to the UK’s tallest peak Ben Nevis. Unfortunately the top was
shrouded in cloud, so no point really. The scenery on the road south was
nothing short of spectacular. Stark mountains, lochs and rivers, sunshine,
rain, low cloud, trees of various colours, and even some snow-capped peaks! See
for yourselves…
Wow Scotish scenery really is beautiful, thanks for all the pics really worth looking at. As for Cam not getting wet, well he is one magic little man and it shows his aura kept the water away
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