Day 18 Thursday July 9th Isle of Skye and on to Inverness
Today we follow the ‘bonnie banks’ of Loch Lomond and enter the highlands, by Rannoch Moor, Glen Coe, Fort William and then the ‘road to the isles’ and ferry to the Isle of Skye. As we passed Loch Lomond (the largest lake in Scotland by surface area..Loch Ness is greater in terms of water volume) 24 miles long x 5 miles across, we were slightly detoured to miss the traffic heading for the start of the Scottish Open.
The day is sunny and we are into the hills, green, treed and rocky and we stop for photo shoot at Tarbet. Winding, narrow roads, mountainous, somewhat like foothills of large mountains, and there are the usual 3 sister mountains as in other countries. The temperature is now 13 degrees and there are small patches of snow in the higher hills. We stop briefly at Glencoe..where the McDonald/Campbell feud began with the murder of the Campbells. This is also where parts of some of the Harry Potter movies were filmed.
It gets more mountainous and we pass a ski hill..at 4406 feet the highest hill in Britain is noted.
At Fort William we see a statue of Bonnie Prince Charlie (not the last you will here of him) and take a picture of an aqueduct also found in a Potter film.
Off to Mallaig and board the ferry to the Isle of Skye. Only ourselves, fellow Canadian, Barbara, guide Michael and Australian representative, Don, brave the open deck for the crossing.
On the Isle we visit the Museum of the Isles at the Clan Donald Centre. The Isle of Skye is home to about 15,000 and receives some 120 inches of rain on average.
On the Isle we visit the Museum of the Isles at the Clan Donald Centre. The Isle of Skye is home to about 15,000 and receives some 120 inches of rain on average.
We board the Coach to leave the Isle and pass Loch Ness on our way the Highland capital, Inverness. Guide Michael has forewarned us that some Globus clients do not favour the Columba Hotel where we are to say, but to our surprise it proves to be a favourite for many of our group. Inverness proves to be an extremely pretty City with beautiful paths along both sides of the River Ness and many quaint and attractive houses and streets.
We enjoy the hotel and regret that we cannot stay yet another day here. It is a City that we would certainly recommend seeing.
This evening we are off for a boat cruise on Lake Ness and, while it is a clear day, there are no sighting. There is an interesting museum type presentation prior to the tour that gives a very complete of the history of Nessie sightings, scientific investigations, and the lake itself. Dinner follows at the local hotel and we have our first taste of fish and chips..albeit in Scotland.
On returning to the hotel we join a group in the hotel bar to once again discuss the “ashes” cricket thing. Attending are Jessica, ourselves, Cheryl and Graham, Trevor and Alma, Kevin and Julie, Gordon and Mitzi.
On returning to the hotel we join a group in the hotel bar to once again discuss the “ashes” cricket thing. Attending are Jessica, ourselves, Cheryl and Graham, Trevor and Alma, Kevin and Julie, Gordon and Mitzi.
Some more stuff…
..Scotland and Finland are the main suppliers of salmon for Europe, and use salmon farms which cause similar problems as in Canada when they escape and breed with the natural salmon.
..Someone named Munro climbed and mapped all of the higher hill/mountains in excess of 3000 feet, all 184 of them. Following in his footsteps (so to speak) are what are called “munro baggers” and out of the 5 million or so Scots almost 10% make claim to this title. As they climb each peak they check it off …referring to this practice as “bagging another one”.
..Scotland (859) is older than England (872).
..bobbies in England, peelers in Ireland, police in Northern Scotland.
..80,000 deer in Scotland..so far we have seen 2 (the royal ‘we’ as in not me personally but someone else on the bus). They cull 5,000 a year.
..Hunting is very expensive (1000 pounds a day for license) ; as is fishing which can cost 200 pounds per day;
..missed the name but the highest mountain in Great Britain is in Scotland and rises 4406 feet.
..conscription in Britain was only initiated for the wars and done away with in the early 60’s.
..the motto on the Scottish coat of arms, rampant lion on yellow background, translates into “nobody strikes me with impunity”.
..85% of Brits live in urban areas and the countryside of Scotland in particular is much more rural and uninhabited than I expected.
..Scotland is the main source of lobsters for Paris and, with the Finns, Salmon for all of Europe.
..Someone named Munro climbed and mapped all of the higher hill/mountains in excess of 3000 feet, all 184 of them. Following in his footsteps (so to speak) are what are called “munro baggers” and out of the 5 million or so Scots almost 10% make claim to this title. As they climb each peak they check it off …referring to this practice as “bagging another one”.
..Scotland (859) is older than England (872).
..bobbies in England, peelers in Ireland, police in Northern Scotland.
..80,000 deer in Scotland..so far we have seen 2 (the royal ‘we’ as in not me personally but someone else on the bus). They cull 5,000 a year.
..Hunting is very expensive (1000 pounds a day for license) ; as is fishing which can cost 200 pounds per day;
..missed the name but the highest mountain in Great Britain is in Scotland and rises 4406 feet.
..conscription in Britain was only initiated for the wars and done away with in the early 60’s.
..the motto on the Scottish coat of arms, rampant lion on yellow background, translates into “nobody strikes me with impunity”.
..85% of Brits live in urban areas and the countryside of Scotland in particular is much more rural and uninhabited than I expected.
..Scotland is the main source of lobsters for Paris and, with the Finns, Salmon for all of Europe.
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