Bonnie Prince Charlie

14 June – Thursday

First stop this morning was the battlefield of Culloden and a history lesson on Bonnie Prince Charlie. Discovered that my ancestors, the Downie family, are part of the clan Lindsay – bit spooky, given my father’s name. Then it was of to the Isle of Skye with a stop at the Glen Ord Whiskey Distillery for a guided tour (we were the only people on the tour!) and a “free” sample of a wee dram. Evidently the whiskey passed the taste test. Some spectacular highland scenery on the way, with the green, bare mountains, lochs, burns, old stone buildings and some forest, with lots of wild rhododendrons foxgloves. A fly fisherman would absolutely love this country!!! A bit of entertainment was provided by the Royal Air Force practising their low level flying through the valleys and over the hills. The Isle of Skye was very similar and the weather was glorious – sunny and clear, with the temperature reaching about 17 degrees today. Returned to Inverness, with a magnificent view of the Castle of Eilean Donan and then drove along the bank of Loch Ness, which is much larger than I imagined. Despite all the road signs warning of deer, we have not seen a single one.

15 June – Friday

Left Inverness, bound for Oban. First stop was at Loch Ness for a boat ride and hopefully a glimpse of the monster. Unfortunately, Nessie decided to sleep in this morning. We had a short stop at Fort Augustus (at the end of Loch Ness) and watched a yacht move through the series of locks. Then on to Fort William at the base of Ben Nevis. This town was really buzzing with tourists, and is also a winter base for skiers. A short detour to Glencoe, the sight of a MacDonald massacre, and the most amazing highland scenery imaginable. A film crew were filming while we were there – a gentlemen in full highland dress was walking through the grass followed closely by his piper, piping. The area is obviously well used, as there was a helipad at the end of the car park.

After this, the day went downhill slightly. The coastal scenery on the way to Oban was just beautiful and Oban was the most marvellous old harbourside town, but the traffic! All the B & Bs were full (at 4.00pm!) except for those in terrace houses along the edge of a road with no parking on the street or at the rear. Thinking we may find something on the other edge of town, we kept driving (didn’t even get a photo) for nearly 2 hours before we found somewhere at a place called Kilmartin. Kilmartin is evidently the stone (circle, standing and cup) capital of Europe.

I saw two folds of heiland coos today, but HE wouldn’t stop the car for me to take a photo – kept mumbling something about cars behind us and no where to pull over!!! There is also a big brown owl flying around outside the house we are staying in.