Scotland - The Final Fling...


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April 10th 2010
Published: April 17th 2010
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Hello there and greetings from inside our van that is currently been knocked about in gale force winds! We are wrapped up in our sleeping bags actually enjoying the chance to do nothing!

We are staying at a place called Big Sand which is currently being buffeted by what can only be called a Big Wind. It wasn’t like this yesterday though. Take a look at the photos and you’ll see that we did actually find our white sandy beach - and believe it or not, for a time we even sat on the beach wearing a tee shirt! In Scotland no less! Hurrah!

The journey from the Isle of Skye to Big Sand was absolutely stunning. Possibly the best we have seen yet. But Scotland has a way of doing that, just when you think you have seen the best, something else takes your breath away. The Ben Eigen area was a highlight and the beautiful Lochs around Torridon were spectacular under the bright blue skies.

Like New Zealand, it also suffers from ‘four seasons in one day’ which is why the only things we have done today has been a drive along the coast and a visit to a great little pub for lunch. The owner had a beautiful retired greyhound that spent the afternoon curled up on the sofa in front of the fire with Chris, her head in his lap as she gazed across at me with big moony eyes. She was lovely, we would certainly consider getting one in the future - if only they didn’t have such a penchant for chasing cats!

Tomorrow we are heading south again towards Edinburgh. Till then…

Sometime later:

After leaving our campground we headed a bit further north along the coast to see some more beautiful hidden coves with crystal clear green water. If the sun had been shining a bit more, it would have been stunning and we probably wouldn’t have been heading back to England!

We stopped in to visit the Corrieshalloch Gorge National Nature Reserve where a swing bridge spans the Falls of Measach. If you don’t like heights, then I would strongly advise giving this one a miss! Our next stop was The Moray Firth where we spent an hour dolphin spotting. The Moray Firth is a feeding ground for a resident population of dolphins. It was great to see them in the wild again, it’s been such a long time!

After navigating our way through Inverness (a nice looking town) we made our way to the East side of Loch Ness where we followed the Loch Southwards. Loch Ness was pretty disappointing, there are certainly many, many more beautiful Lochs but who goes to Scotland and doesn’t visit Loch Ness? Unthinkable!

We stayed overnight in the grounds of Blair Castle. While the village was lovely, it was not the type of campground we like (absolutely massive with lines and lines of caravans - ew!) but it had been a long drive and we were both looking forward to a shower.

The next day we continued on to Edinburgh, where we left Brian in a Park & Ride and spent a few hours wandering around the city centre. What a seriously good-looking city! I’m sure it deserves much longer than a few hours to do it justice, but being back in a city again was a bit of a shock. The huge crowds of people… I’m sure we would both preferred to be back in The Highlands!

So this ends our Scottish Adventure. What a beautiful place. So many aspects of it reminded us of New Zealand - especially the South Island with the scenery and lack of people! We felt a freedom and relaxation on this trip that we hadn’t felt for awhile - it really was a chance to walk, chill, go a bit feral and start thinking about our last five months in the UK.

Watch this space…




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Argh porridge! Top it with bananas and cream... and it's still disgusting.
Ohmygod, it's...it's... a floating stick.Ohmygod, it's...it's... a floating stick.
Ohmygod, it's...it's... a floating stick.

Anna getting excited at Loch Ness.


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