For the first May Bank holiday weekend Kelley, Bevan and I flew to Inverness and hired a car for a cruise around the Highlands. We waited in line for ages at the car rental office and fortunately they felt so bad about it that we got upgraded to what was almost a van, which was a bit excessive for us but we did enjoy the extra pep and the extra space.
It was a nice evening (and a good half hour longer than in London) as we cruised down the side of Loch Ness to find our first night's accomodation, some dinner (haggis and chips from the local chippie), Nessie, and an after hours visit to Urquhart castle which avoided the queues, crowds and paying.
Bevan and Kelley on the pink shores of Loch Ness
Urquhart castle and Loch Ness in the late evening
We continued down the Loch, following the Caledonian canal all the way to Fort William. On the way we made a stop at the Ben Nevis range and took a gondala up to the ski area for a walk around. It was rather windy up the hill but good to get up close to Ben Nevis, even though we couldn't workout which peak it was amoungst the cloud and mist.
Looking towards Ben Nevis, its up there somewhere, or it could be the next ridge over!
Bevan deep in thought.....
From Fort William we drove up through some classic highland country, hilly, barren and lochs in every valley. Very very different to southern England. We were also lucky enough to stumble on a hard out game of
Shinty which was amazing to watch and prompted the question 'are there any rules' which was laughed at by the Scottish lady beside us 'oich aye, o'course 'ere's rules' but we could figure any out. Maybe its illegal to intentionally wrap your stick around someone's head but I reckon you'd probably get off with a warning.
Shinty 'line out'
Eilean Donen castle
We were fortunate to snap up some of the last beds at the backpackers on the Isle of Skye but once we were moved in we took off for a late evening walk up to the Old Man of Storr. Kelley set a cracking pace up the hill and we had plenty of time for a good look around up there.
Now there's an Old Man who doesn't need viagra
It rained on Sunday which was disappointing so we drove round the Isle of Skye and then finished up back in Inverness for the night, which was also slightly disappointing but the rain cleared and it was a nice evening.
Skye residents
River Ness with Inverness castle in the background
Monday morning was a great day and it was a shame to have to leave. To fill in some time before our flight we went out to Fort George, and what holiday would be complete without some frisbee.
Bevan at full stretch
For the second Sunday in a row we risked the weather and got out of London, and again we struck it lucky. This week we went to Kent for what was supposed to be a 3 - 4 hour walk. Thinking we were clever, and to get a better deal on the train tickets, we got off at the wrong station and had completed a decent walk by the time we got to the start of the walk we had been hoping to do. A huge lunch at the local pub had us fired up for more but we didn't complete as we got lost, but we avoided the rain, somehow avoided a penalty fare on the train home and got home in time for tea.
Well, what a chilly welcome back to London. A couple of inches of snow fell on my first Sunday morning back in London in the space of a few hours and disappeared almost a quickly as it arrived. Just enough time to get out for a walk, throw a few snowballs and make a snowman.
It was my first time home in 18 months and it was well worth the wait. It was great to catch up with everyone and spend time at home with Mum and Dad.
