| Scotland Wild in Scotland tour, August 2003 |
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| I will not even attempt to correctly recount this tour as it is a big blur - we saw so much! But briefly - we made our way to Loch Ness, alas, the monster wasn't out, and stopped off at the battlefield of Culloden where the Scots lost their final stand - a haunting place. We made it to John O'Groats, not the northern most tip but the end of the line (the longest route through Britain is from Cornwall to John O'Groats) - Dunnet Head is the northern most tip but was so covered in cloud that we couldn't tell!! |
| We could see the Orkneys form John O'Groats and after picnicking on a clifftop, took the ferry over in perfect weather... See the Orkneys page for more on that. After 2 nights there, we travelled along the spectacular mountainous north coast, Ed and I swam in the sea (after the initial shock and pain, you go red and start burning so then you can continue swimming, as we did). We went to Smoo Cave, took the little boat tour, scrambled about on the rocks, trying not to fall like Urtzi did! (you should have seen the colour of his foot!) |
| That night, we stayed in a great hostel in the middle of nowhere (Inchnadampf) and got eaten alive by midgies, which is why most of us are still scratching to this day. We explored the last of the Caledonian Pine Forests and listened to fantastic Scottish legends (which are quite similar to the Irish ones), took photos of mad highland cows (heilan' coos), visited the Isle of Skye and went scallop dredging in dreary rainy weather with a local fisherman in Plockton (and later enjoyed his music at the pub). We climbed huge mountains (okay, okay, they were big hills, but they felt like huge mountains!), visited the castle that is in one of the Highlander films and saw William Wallace's monument before heading back to Edinburgh (click on Edinburgh link to see more on that...) |
| Thanks to Ed and the late nights he made us suffer through, it took ages to recover but what a fantastic country! |
| Heilan' Coo |
| The 'Highlander' castle |
| Sorting through the goo to retrieve the scallops |
| The mob at the top of the 'huge mountain' |
| One of our many extraordinary lunch spots |
| Ed, Gavin, Claire, Wade, Me and Belinda on the boat at Smoo Cave |
| The sign to wherever you want at John O'Groats, Orkneys in the background |
| Loch Ness |