Days 2 & 3 of three amazing days touring Scotland’s Highlands

Monday 21 May – north into the Highlands.  The morning started with beautiful weather, and some photos of the River Tummel that runs by the hotel.  Our plan for the day worked, mostly.

One of the great parts of this trip has been getting off the main A9 road onto the narrow C roads – these are single lanes with passing areas.  It sometimes felt as if we had an inch or two between the car and the stone fence.  But these are the roads that take you through small towns, passed farms with black-faced sheep and their very cute new-born lambs (Awww), and providing opportunities to stop to take photos of old stone bridges.  

We arrived at Aviemore late morning, and I took one of the funicular trams high into the mountain range.  It was cloudy and windy, but very interesting to see and learn about the geography in that area.  The influence of glaciers was evident – the mountains that been ground down to rounded, old shapes, similar to the Australian Alps, but with very different vegetation and colours, above the tree-line and below.

After a brief stop at the Dalwhinnie distillery, we were travelling on the A9 towards Inverness.  The further north we went, the darker the clouds became.  We could see low cloud blowing across the highway.  Alan thought it was being formed across Loch Ness, but as we got closer, it was clear that it was more widespread, and soon we were in driving rain – well it is Scotland after all!

Onwards ever onwards, and we arrived at Chanonry Point, a spit of land extending into the Moray Firth between Fortrose and Rosemarkie on the Black Isle, Scotland.  I was hoping that we would see the Moray Firth dolphins feeding there – they come to this area when the tide is changing and fish are plentiful. 

The rain was pelting down, and the visibility was far from ideal.  With my camera & lens safely in a dry bag, and my rain jacket on, Alan dropped me near the pebble/rocky beach with instructions to walk to “that point” about 200m away, while he went to park the car. 

I did as instructed, and there they were!  2-4 dolphins diving in and out of the choppy waves while about 6 people enjoyed watching, and tried to photograph them.  Alan arrived with his umbrella (a great invention for keeping the rain off the camera!), but this did little to stop the wind “grabbing” the lens.  The photos aren’t great, but the memories are.

After a tour of Inverness, we were soon back at Fonab, leaving the rain behind.

Tuesday 22 May – Edradour distillery & Aberdeen. 

Edradour is the smallest whisky distillery in Scotland and is still privately owned.  The tour started with a tasting (after breakfast), and we were then taken through the process from malting to distilling, being amongst the barrels where the whisky is ageing, and then finally to the shop – purchase made!  A very very nice start to the day.

We had significant miles to cover today as we left the Highlands and took the winding C roads east towards the coast.  So many sheep with lambs, and finally, finally – Highland coos/cows (see photo).  

At one point I spotted an eagle high on a post.  We screeched to a halt – well Alan found a gravel road off the C road – I leapt (carefully) out with my camera, and it flew off into trees.  At least the weather was fine!

After lunch at Glamis Castle, the original home of the Queen Mother, we made our way to Dunnottar Castle, a ruined castle on the North Sea coast, just south of Aberdeen.  It has significant history as a fortress, with many people dying in battles.  I’m sure there are ghosts in amongst it all!   Although I had hoped to be able to photograph it from below, the stairs and tracks made this fairly impossible for me, so photos (to be on my website later) will be from “mid” level. 

Last night was time for the travellers to gather ahead of our departure later today!  Over drinks and dinner, Virginia, Lisa, Edie, Susanna, Krista and I had a wonderful evening chatting about our travels.  Unfortunately Susanna and Krista will not be coming on this journey – hopefully the next one!

It’s been a wonderful introduction to Scotland, and a great start to my holiday.  The Ocean Adventurer arrived in Aberdeen this morning, and we’ll be boarding her at around 4pm today.  After mild weather over the last 5 days, it’s now noticeably colder but winds are light.  A blocking high is sitting over the UK, Scandinavia and Russia – we can only hope that it will get stuck there for a while so that we can have mild seas!

Stay tuned for the next post from somewhere north of Scotland.