Sep 1, 2012 - Out and about near Inverness

1 Sept Big cooked brekky. Lovely. We talked for quite a while with other travellers - a German couple, and aLononer with his Aussie girlfriend. They had just arrived from Skye so we picked their brains. Then we talked with Amy's (the hostess) mother and got to see Amy's 1 week old baby - Lots of Granny talk etc......Hubbie Ewan was a bit the worse for wear - tradition of wetting the baby's head the night before. Weather forecast indicates that the west is likely to be wet so we decided to go east of Inverness. First stop the Comet store to...

Aug 31, 2012 - "Hey, everyone needs to eat! "

31 Aug 2012 Awoke to a grey cold looking day. A change from yesterdays sun. After a hearty cooked breakfast where we met the hostess (Amy), it was off to explore the town. When we last visited in 1981, we arrived late, visited Culloden, had a meal, then left. So it was pretty well all new to us. As soon as we stepped outside, the drizzle started, so we returned for coats and umbrella. We just wandered as usual - along the river, over bridges, into town, hiding in doorways and huddling under trees when the drizzle increased. We saw anglers...

Aug 30, 2012 - Choo choo, choo choo chboogie

30 Aug 2012 Off to Scotland today. Caretaker David allowed us to check out later (10) and organised a minicab (A Merc) to pick us up and take us to Kings Cross. Of courtse as soonb as we had to walk out to wait for the cab, the rain started! Short drive through London to the station - Kings Cross is the old, and the very new - huge modern extensionon the side. Had a short wait before we went in to board (tickets were spat out of a machine when I typed a booking number in) Found tyhe 1st class carriage loded ourt bags and sat down. Roomy...

Jul 28, 2012 - Loch ness and whiskey

Arriving here has made me wonder why it has taken so long to return. It's almost been eight years. And it was like coming home. Maybe this is my spiritual home. Enough to extend my stay for a couple of days anyway. For those who haven't been here,there is not much in Inverness, which for those who know me well would be surprising as cities are more my thing. But there is something about the highlands that is calming and restoring. Especially the Ness Islands. I remember when I lived here, no matter how shit my day had been, I could go for a...

Mar 29, 2012 - Whis-Skye-Ness - Glenfiddich at Dufftown

Facebook photos: anyone can look at them by copy/paste this link https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151445472285707.825586.746395706&type=3&l=79e2f048ce Wednesday 28th March another early start as we are up at 4.45am to drive to Stromness at 5.30. We have to be checked in by 6am for the 6.30 sailing. We actually left a bit early as all the passengers were aboard and the freight was loaded, so guess there was no point hanging around. The sailing was a bit rough in places, (guess it was smooth by Orkney standards!), and when Tony...

Oct 13, 2011 - Inverness

We arrived in Inverness and were very surprised as to how big the township was. It is a very beautiful city and about the same size as Glasgow - but it seems to go around in circles instead of the normal square grid. Our accommodation at the Drumoisse is a little out of town with magnificent countryside views. The autumn colours of the surrounding countryside are beautiful. The hotel is like something out of a Miss Marple film. . Today we ventured to see if we could find the Loch Ness Monster but unfortunately it must have been away on...

Sep 25, 2011 - Inverness

If this is Sunday then this is Inverness. It is Inverness, not really the north of Scotland but like the Isle Of Skye, north enough to not have free WiFi! Now there is that old stereotype about a Scotchman being tight with a farthing, but I think they mean Northern Scots. I know, I'm getting obsessive about this free WiFi thing. But this is the UK not Bang-The-Dish! So this blog is being composed downstairs at the public "free" computer station which conveniently is positioned right next to the bar in the great room. The previously blog too...

Aug 10, 2011 - Inverness

We caught the bus to Inverness, what was to become our base in the highlands of Scotland. Unfortunately our hostel is under suspision of housing and working illegal immigrants resulting in unclean and disorganised accomodation. Our first night hear resulted in very little sleep after an exhibitionist crazy guy caused a fuss over some whispering french. On our second visit we were housed with the immigrants as the main hostel was overbooked even though we booked a week in advance. Unfortunately this has meant a lot of time and money has been...

Jul 6, 2011 - Nessie huntin'

Facebook album - if you are not a Facebook user you can still view the album of photos by clicking/copy pasting on this link: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150957880725707.759633.746395706&type=1&l=a5443fb827 4-6 July We are heading to the north-east coast, first stop Inverness. We got some cheap bus tickets online, just £15 for two (Edinburgh-Inverness, 4 ½ hours). Although we booked on Megabus, the service is provided by another company. Strangely the same trip was cheaper on Megabus than booking direct through Citylink, go...

Jun 15, 2011 - Inverness

We got an early start today and headed north towards Inverness. We took the long way in order to see Eilean Donan Castle (back out on the Coast). We took the road west from Fort Williams to Mallaig and the car ferry over to the Isle of Skye. From here we drove back east to Loch Ness and then north to Inverness. A beautiful drive but a long and tiring one. We made it to Inverness by around 5 PM with stops at 2 castles - Eilean Dolan and Urquhart. We made it to Inverness before supper, and managed to find a quiet B&B with a ground floor...

May 10, 2011 - Oban to Inverness

Today was a rainy travel day as we headed for Inverness. We took the road part way through Glencoe, a mountain and valley paradise and a National Trust for Scotland site. The rain was heavy so most of our views were from the car. As we traveled further North the rain and sun took turns coming out. The countryside is beautiful and we made many stops to take pictures and enjoy the mountain scenery.

Aug 27, 2010 - Nessieland

It was a confrontational morning as Stewart and I went up the road to a nearby hostel to try to score a free breakfast and ran into none other than the Chinese kid from the night before. I had to calm Stewart down so the situation did not get out of hand, but we managed to put our focus on food rather than a beat down. I stormed the 2 pound spread and gathered up some fresh fruit for later, then we headed out. The drive was another breathtaking experience. We stopped at a place called Glen Affric and I have to say, it was pretty damn...