Loch Ness and Highlands

(Hi all. This blog entry is belated. I started to draft it at the time we travelled, then only managed to put photos in, then got too busy with our return home. I never actually wrote it up and posted it. So here is my posting, only 21 months late!)

Today we awoke to beautiful weather, perfect for our day of travel. We head off towards Inverness, where we cross the Caledonian Canal then follow it south towards Loch Ness stopping to look at the Docgarroch Lock.

We follow the A82 alongside Loch Ness down to Urqhart Castle, which Helen and I have visited before. It's busy here today, parking is difficult. I take Dad into the castle for an hour while Helen goes for a drive into Drumnadrochit town. Cellphone coverage is not good here, and we struggle to meet up with Helen afterwards, walking around in the heat trying to get a signal.

Eventually we are back on the road. Soon enough at Aberchalder we happen upon the Bridge of Oich which is a beautiful suspension bridge dating back to 1854. We cross the canal then park up to take photos of the bridge.

Only moments later, an alarm sounds on the bridge we just crossed. The lock keeper comes out of his house, and shortly afterwards the bridge is closed to traffic. There is a boat travelling along the canal, and the bridge rotates 90 degrees to allow the boat through. The the bridge moves back. The entire event takes about 5 minutes, the bridge moves quickly and quietly. We were lucky to be here just as this happened.



We continue on down towards Fort William, stopping at a Little Chef for lunch. Passing through Fort William, we happen to see that The Jacobite steam train is in. We park up and go to have a look. When we arrive, the engine is being uncoupled from the carriages so we wait to see it pull away. It's not often we get to see a steam train in action so this is most interesting.

We still have a long drive back to Edinburgh. We head down through The Highlands, where the road is busy, then passing through Doune so Dad can see Doune Castle. We return the car at Edinburgh airport, then we're back on the buses again to get home.