Scotland roadtrip - part 4

 After leaving Glencoe, Laura and Nicholas James continued on the final part of the Argyll Coastal route to Fort William, then delved into the Ben Nevis valley to find the Ben Nevis caravan and camping site. They had booked a camping pod for the night, quite a contrast from the Ballachulish Hotel which they had just left. The camping pod looked like an armadillo. 

It was a beautiful sunny late afternoon when they arrived at their camping pod so they admired the view of Ben Nevis from the picnic table, with Heilan Coo.

"Wow, look at Ben Nevis" cried Laura.
"How lucky the clouds have lifted from the top" said Nicholas James.

Laura, Heilan Coo and Nicholas James with Ben Nevis behind them at the campsite

They decided to go further up the Ben Nevis valley to find a waterfall called Drochaid an Eas Bhuidhe (The bridge over the yellow falls). They didn't have to climb to get to it because it was a short fairly level walk from the car park they used. This was easily the most accessible of the waterfalls in the valley and was beautiful. There were some men jumping from the road bridge into the waterfall, which both Laura and Nicholas James thought was completely crazy as it was quite a narrow drop.

Laura and Nicholas James relaxed on the grass beside the waterfall

They could see where the water fell down the rocks and went under the road from where they sat

Drochaid an Eas Bhuidhe from the bridge, this is where they saw people jumping into the falls

View of the top of Ben Nevis from near the waterfall

After a surprisingly comfortable night in the camping pod, Laura and Nicholas James reluctantly left Ben Nevis and started their exploration of the length of the Caledonian Canal. They drove to the other side of Fort William to view Ben Nevis from a different angle then continued on minor roads for a while to roughly trace the route of the canal, which was built over 200 years ago to provide a safer passage from Inverness to Fort William than going round the north coast of Scotland.

They passed Loch Lochy and Loch Oich on the route, then stopped for lunch when they reached Fort Augustus as the foot of Loch Ness, the largest volume of water of all the Scottish lochs due to its great depth (Loch Lomond is apparently larger by surface area). 

There were some lock gates for the Caledonian Canal at Fort Augustus and the cafe where they had lunch had an interesting exhibition about the building of the canal.

Their first view of Loch Ness from the bridge in Fort Augustus

The road trip along the northern banks of Loch Ness took them past Urquhart Castle which they wanted to visit but the car park was full, so they went on instead to the newly reopened Loch Ness Visitor's Centre, in the building which had been a hotel in the 1930s when the manager, Aldie Mackay, had rushed in claiming to have seen the Loch Ness Monster (Nessie). This and other recent 'sightings' had rekindled public interest in the fabled creature. 

It was an exhibition in several rooms explaining the origins of the Loch, the myths surrounding it, explorations of it and some of the characters involved. It was geared towards masses of tourists moving as a group from room to room to hear the narrated story with video projections and lighting effects, only the waiting room had museum-like displays. Laura and Nicholas James didn't notice any indication the tour could be done in other languages other than the narration in English with a lovely Scottish accent. Of course there was a large gift shop at the end and ice creams! 

Outside was a small yellow submarine (there had been a large submarine in the exhibition) so Laura and Nicholas James decided to be Loch Ness explorers.

Laura and Nicholas James beside the Yellow Submarine at the Loch Ness Visitor's Centre

Laura and Nicholas James wondered what it was like to be sub-mariners

The journey continued along the north shore of Loch Ness. They managed to find a place to look back at Urquhart Castle from the road.

Loch Ness looking towards Ben Nevis and Urquhart castle in the middle distance

Looking towards Urquhart Castle on the shores of Loch Ness

Urquhart Castle, but no sign of Nessie

Laura and Nicholas James were not surprised they didn't catch a glimpse of Nessie as they drove along Loch Ness, it is vast and scientific evidence shows the loch is too cold to support a large creature such as Nessie. As they approached Inverness the countryside became much flatter than the mountainous countryside they'd been in the last few days, gentle rolling hills rather than dramatic mountains.

They got to Inverness and stayed in a hotel overnight on the outskirts of the city (they didn't visit the city itself).

On the Saturday morning Laura and Nicholas James left the outskirts of Inverness and drove the short distance to Cawdor Castle. 

Heilan Coo at Cawdor Castle

Nicholas James and Laura at the entrance drawbridge to Cawdor Castle

Nicholas James was keen to get going into the castle

Laura was happy to have her photo taken at the castle entrance

There was plenty to see inside the castle, including the dead but upright remains of a Holly tree in the base of the tower which apparently the castle had been built around for good luck. Laura and Nicholas James liked a room which had some old modes of transport in it.

Laura and Nicholas James were intrigued by this 3 wheeled bicycle in the basement

Outside the castle they explored the beautiful gardens. They were disappointed that the maze was no longer opened to the public, this was to allow it time to regenerate.

The Cawdor Castle maze, firmly locked to visitors

Scottish Thistle in Cawdor Castle gardens

In the woodland garden beside the river, Laura and Nicholas James discovered an enormous tree

"It is so tall" they shouted with glee

"Far too high for us to climb!"

They enjoyed visiting the tower house castle which had been built for the Thanes of Cawdor (well after the time of Shakespeare's 'Macbeth').

After leaving Cawdor Castle, Laura and Nicholas James made their way towards the Cairngorms.

Scotland roadtrip - part 3

After leaving Oban, Laura and Nicholas James continued on the Argyll Coastal route to see a Castle on an island. Castle Stalker featured as The Castle Aaaaarrrrrrgghhh at the very end of the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It was necessary to walk down the hill from the Castle Stalker View cafe through a small wood see see the Castle more closely.

Castle Stalker View information board

Laura and Nicholas James could see Castle Stalker from a nearby field

Laura and Nicholas James wished they could cross to the castle, but it was surrounded by water and is private

While looking across at the Castle from a higher viewpoint near the cafe, Laura and Nicholas James were fascinated to see a pair of horse riders on the island.

Two horse riders on Castle Stalker island

Horses and riders left Castle Stalker island at low tide

The horses and riders wading at low tide from Castle Stalker island

Laura and Nicholas James continued on the Argyll Coastal route along Loch Linnhe to where Loch Leven joined it. Here they explored the stony beach of Loch Leven beside the Ballachulish Hotel near the road bridge over Loch Leven, Argyll (to avoid confusion, there are two Loch Leven's in Scotland - one in Kinross north of Edinburgh and one in Argyll). 

It was late afternoon, the rain had stopped and the clouds were lifting off the mountains.

Nicholas James and Laura looking west on Ballachulish beach

Laura and Nicholas James with the Loch Leven road bridge and the mountains of Glencoe behind them

Laura and Nicholas James with the Loch Leven road bridge behind them

"Look at that view" said Laura.
"Isn't it beautiful" replied Nicholas James

"I like how the mountains reflect in the loch in the evening light" said Laura

On their way back to the hotel, Laura and Nicholas James encountered a character sitting on the stone wall beside the hotel. 

Sheep or Donkey character on the wall beside the Ballachulish hotel with the mountains in the background

Sheep or Donkey character seemed quite cheerful sitting on his wall even though he was soggy from the rain

The Ballachulish hotel was lovely and comfortable with delicious food for dinner and breakfast (the most expensive night of the whole trip but definitely worth it). 

The following morning, after loading the car again, Nicholas James and Laura went to the Glencoe Folk Museum, which was in 19th century stone cottages thatched with heather in the heart of the village where once the fateful Glencoe massacre took place in February 1692. The museum told the story of the Glencoe massacre as well as many other stories of the local area because it contained all sorts of local items, some them going back to prehistoric times.

Poignant diorama of the Glencoe massacre

There were some lovely vintage toys on display in the museum.

Selection of toys including a vintage Noah's Ark

A carved Romany wagon toy

A miniature shop, the Romany wagon and a Sindy horse

In another display cabinet there were artifacts from spinning, weaving and knitting.

early knitting machine

spinning, weaving and knitting display

Spinning wheels displayed under the rafters

Embroidered greetings cards from the First World War period

Nicholas James and Laura found a wooden cradle for a Highland baby

Nicholas James and Laura with the wooden cradle and spinning wheel in the Glencoe Folk Museum

Probably the most mysterious artifact on display was a copy of the Ballachulish Goddess which had been found in peat bog in 1880. The original Ballachulish figure, which is thought to be about 2,000 years old, is kept in the National Museum of Scotland.

Replica of the Ballachulish Goddess

Laura and Nicholas James discovered that in such a mountainous northern region, methods of getting about in the snow which are used now for sport had a very practical purpose, and there was a display cabinet with vintage wooden skis and poles which reminded them of the early production Gotz Sasha skis.

Vintage wooden skis in the Glencoe Folk Museum

On top of some of the display cabinets were some rather wonderful miniature figures in Highland and period costumes.

Highland man in his tartan

Two Highland women, one in working clothes, the other dressed in a ballgown

Bagpiper and lady in her tartan ballgown

There was a beautiful embroidered dress in a cabinet - it was the 1740s Spitalfields dress which featured in the online Highland Threads exhibition.

Embroidered 1740s Spitalfields dress

After leaving the museum, Laura and Nicholas James explored Glencoe and Loch Leven by car, this involved driving up into the Glencoe valley then retracing the route to Glencoe village to drive along the south of Loch Leven to Kinlochleven at the end of the loch, then along the north side of the loch to view Glencoe from the distance. So they never crossed the road bridge across Loch Leven!

Distant view of Glencoe valley and the village from the north side of Loch Leven

Closer view of Glencoe from across the loch

A glimpse of the road from Kinlochleven on the left, with Loch Leven and Glencoe

The road trip continued even further into the Highlands as Nicholas James and Laura travelled along the west side of Loch Linnhe to Fort William.