Back to civilisation
Trip Start
May 11, 2011
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21
23
Trip End
Jun 07, 2011
Fort William, Scotland, United Kingdom
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Headed back to Portree so we could have some brekky (not much else in Broadford) and a proper look around the place.
After that we headed to the west of Skye, around Dunvegan and out to the Port Neis Lighthouse. We'd headed up into the clouds again, so we couldn’t see much, but Rod was determined to take the hike out to the lighthouse just in case. Just as well – it was all clear around that side of the rock and the views were magnificent. Mum had piked out of this little trek because of the clouds and lack of sight at the top, and just as well. The hike back up the hill nearly gave both Rod & I heart attacks, it was that steep!
We made our way around most of the rest of Skye (after ensuring that we had out next few nights accommodation booked!!!) with Rod stopping off and looking at just about every form of rock he could find – and plenty that he couldn’t find either….
Then it was on to Eileen Donan Castle – the most photographed castle in Scotland. It was fabulous, although disappointingly, the tide had gone out by the time we got there so we had mudflats instead of water in front of the castle for our photos.
Next stop was Fort Augustus and the Caledonian Canal – a series of stepped locks that let the boats in and out of the lower part of Loch Ness. We were just in time to see them in action letting half a dozen or so boats up the canal.
Mum could have picked herself a Scotsman if she’d been willing – he offered her a trip on his boat as 'someone from the Antipodies who was this far north should step aboard’.
Headed for Fort William and our hopefully lovely beds after that but got stuck in traffic for a good ½ hour as a truck had hit the edge of the road and nearly tipped over and blocked the road for a while.
We were welcomed into Fort William, by the snow capped peaks of Ben Nevis (the tallest mountain in the UK) which overlooks the town.
Very glad to get into our hotel, have a decent feed and even better still, lovely beds with linen!
Turns out we were very luck to get our accommodation as this weekend is the mountain bike championships in the Nevis Range and attracts about an extra 16,000 people to town (a town not that much bigger than Port Fairy). Fort William is the adventure capital of Scotland.
