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Published: August 9th 2011
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Battle of Culloden
Monument to those who lost their lives Today was a big travel day from our central Highlands Hotel up to the far north east town of Wick – last stop before the Orkney Islands.
BATTLE OF CULLODEN
On the way north we stopped at the famous Culloden Battlefield. The exposed upland Moor is about seven km east of Inverness. It was here in 1746 the battle of Culloden was fought. On one side was the Highland Jacobite army, hungry, exhausted, almost out of food and money, but determined to reclaim the thrones of Britain and Ireland for its Stuart king. On the other side was the well rested and resourced army of the British government equally determined to quash its opponents.
Despite their bravery the Jackobite army had too much stacked against them and they were heavily defeated. The result changed the Highlands forever as the British set about destroying all aspects of Highland life. The battlefield was a large open space and had a very eerie feeling as you walked around.
On the way up we saw an Oil rig in port for maintenance, and also were able to look out over the North Sea and see one on the horizon. The North Sea oil drives
Loch Ness
Jeanette at Loch Ness, the only sign of Nessy was the necklace she wore. the economy in this part of Scotland, although there was some pretty impressive farmland as well – lots of lush green grass. Having said that stock numbers (that you could see) appeared to be very low, perhaps because the stock would need to be housed during the winter where temperatures can reach more than 20 below.
LOCH NESS
From there we headed through Inverness to the nearby Loch Ness. We stopped, had a good walk around and took plenty of photos out over the Loch (no Nessy today). Unfortunately there was no gift shop where we were so Jeanette was unable to get any Nessy souvenirs.
After that we had lunch at the small village of Dornoch, it was a typical pretty English village. There was time for a walk around to stretch our legs. From there it was the long last haul up to Wick.
WICK
The road to Wick mainly followed the coastline so there were some spectacular coastal views on the trip. In a way the poor weather added a brooding misty feeling which enhanced the overall atmosphere. Along the way we also stopped at a memorial to the tenant farmers who were forced off
Windy Wick
Wind so strong could hardly stand up-no chance of opening out Hutt News for pic their land and forced to immigrate. Essentially the land owners (Lords) realised it was much more cost efficient and profitable to have sheep on their land rather than tenant farmers, so they put the rent up to level the Farmers couldn’t afford and they were forced to leave their plots. With no other work and few prospects they had little choice but to look for opportunities in the ‘new world’.
When we reached Wick we dropped our bags off and despite the conditions headed off for a look around – she’s a pretty bleak place, Windier than Wellington I reckon! Its location is right on the North Sea coastline and it’s very exposed.
We were talking to a woman in a sports shop about the weather prospects for the next couple of days and she said “we had a really nice fine day with no wind early in August, i wouldn’t be expecting another one this year!”
One of the things we are doing is kind of a ‘Hutt News on Tour’ (taking photos of me reading the Hutt News in all sorts of places). We went down to the waterfront to get a photo and the wind was so strong I could barely stand up, I couldn’t actually open the paper out – it would have ended up half way to an Oil Rig – so had to half fold it. You can see our Hutt News on Tour photos by going to huttnews.co.nz and clicking on the Facebook link (or just check out Hutt News on Facebook).
We had a nice meal at the Hotel and a few drinks before retiring for the night. The Hotel isn’t too flash to be honest, but she’s a fairly isolated, rugged old area. One thing that is REALLY unusual (compared to NZ) is that many of the Hotels here have single beds not doubles – very strange! The first two nights we had lovely rooms with double beds, since then it’s been singles.
Tomorrow it’s off to the Orkney Islands for a day trip, something we are really looking forward to.
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Terence
non-member comment
That's weird, there was pretty big gift shop when I was there, it must've shut down. It had the won the best toilets in Scotland award the year before I was there, so it's a real loss.