Holiday Diary - Day 19

Today we traveled from Fort William, down one side of Loch Lynne, along the side of Loch Leven, through Glen Coe, past Loch Ba and Loch Tulla, we stopped for lunch at Bridge of Orchy, continued on through Strath Fillan and Glen Falloch, and traveled down the side of Loch Lomond, finishing our journey in Dumbarton. Sue took a load of photos along the way as there was so much to see but I've culled them down to just a few.

Tomorrow we head down to Troon, dropping the car off on the way, to catch the ferry across to Ireland.

Richard.

Holiday Diary - Day 18

This morning we headed south from Inverness, arriving in Fort William with plenty of time to catch the train. The train took us from Fort William to Mallaig and on the way there and back we saw much beautiful scenery, many animals and other things. Here are some of the photos we took today.

We brought a couple of extra passengers with us today. They have been with us all the time but we hadn't taken any photos of them until now. We will have to get at least one shot of them each day I think.

Harry Potter fans may recognise the viaduct in the above photo as it is the one used in the films.

One of the buskers that greeted us in Mallaig. Looks like he is doing quite well out of the tourists.

The last shot is taken from the viaduct looking at the river that it crosses.

There were also a lot of photographers along the way and I tried to get a photo of those taking a photo of us but they were a bit too far away to get a good shot. It's hard to zoom in when you're in a moving vehicle.

Apparently that's the last steam train we will be riding in for a while. The next one we've booked is in Wales and we don't get down there for a couple of weeks or more. If the weather is fine tomorrow we're going to try the chair lift up Ben Nevis. That should be good for a few photos.

Richard.

Holiday Diary - Day 17

Well, today was a bit of a mixed bag. We started by heading over to Kilravock Castle but there was no one there. I did get to take a couple of photos of the building and grounds but it wasn't particularly impressive. I have to admit that Sue's castle was more impressive.

After lunch we headed down the loch to Fort Augustus. While we will be going that way in the morning we won't have time for sight seeing as we need to get from Inverness to Fort William by 10:00am. Loch Ness is quite an impressive expanse of water.

Here are some of the photos we took today.

It seems they might be Christians in this neck of the woods

Kilravock Castle

It is quite a bit smaller than Blair Castle but it does have a Keep, something that Blair Castle doesn't.

Another Angle

The Arboretum

Rose Hall

Someone has been doing a bit of gardening in one
of the roundabouts on the way into Inverness

Loch Ness

A couple of swans on the Loch

More of the Loch

There was more to see but we had trouble finding places to pull over to take the shots.

Tomorrow we have a train to catch in Fort William and that's also where we will stay the night.

Richard.

Holiday Diary - Day 16

Today we reached our furthest north destination, Inverness. On the way here we stopped and caught a train to Glenbogle. Here are some of today's photos.

On the way to Aviemore

 From what dad used to tell us, I didn't think Britain had any dirt tracks.

The start of our train journey

No steam today due to fire risk so we get a vintage diesel instead

The local fishing hole

Our destinations real name

Here we at Glenbogle station

 This is a station with two names, a real one and a TV one.

An intermediate stop - Boat of Garten

Sue wanted a photo of the flowers

Some of the old rolling stock

A steam engine getting serviced

 You can't see it real well in this photo but the door at the front of the engine is open.

The maintenance shed

We're now in Inverness and tomorrow we plan on having a look at Kilravock Castle and the Loch. More photos tomorrow.

Richard.