04
Aug 10

Fort William – Ardnamurchan peninsula

Iestyn is actually proud of this picture

Oh no, Iestyn’s knee hurt in the morning, and got swollen and red from yesterday’s slip on the rocks, so we couldn’t go do Ring of Steall trail. We decided to do a nice scenic drive up North instead, tuning into the smooth sounds of radio Nevis (really :)).

We dropped in the award-winning information centre near Fort William, which hosted a beautiful exhibition of wildlife photographs. Other than that, the award-not-winning information centre was equally as nice, and we got our postcards there.

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03
Aug 10

Ellenabeich – Fort William

Putting on Gina's Gaiters

Late-ish start, but who could blame us in such a lovely place. Drove up by the Stalker castle, which I finally got to see in the sun, we even had our morning coffee outside with a view. But then we wasted no time no more, and got to Glen Coe to do our first epic route over one of the Glen Coe ridges.

The clouds were low, which meant the views were mostly obscured, which was quite a pity as this route was named #3 most beautiful route by the Trail magazine (and that certainly does mean something :)!), but we still got a really nice walk out of it. Also the fogginess and occasional rain brought some good stuff with it, namely 1) the opportunity for me to put on my new fancy waterproof e-vent gaiters, and 2) there were no other people on the trail, which I assume otherwise in good weather turns into somewhat of a bloody tourist highway (I don’t count the unfortunate couple we met at the beginning, who decided to do the route with a rope, and who both looked so uncomfortable on the rock that it was quite scary to watch, and we can only hope they finished it ok).

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23
Nov 09

Fort William – Tokavaig (Isle of Skye)

Loch Garry Panorama

Today was totally going to be a chill out day. We drove up from Fort William to Tokavaig on the Isle of Skye. Tiss a beautiful drive, with lovely scenery and Lochs. We stopped off at the lovely famous Scottish Caslte, Eilean Donan, and took some pics etc.

Loch

Gins a Loch Garry

Us by Loch Loyne

Eilean Donan Castle

Eilean Donan Castle

We grabbed some food at the little village just before the Skye bride, and decided we were going to camp that night. So armed with supplies, we headed over the bridge, to the most beautiful place I’ve ever been to (thus far) – the Isle of Sky.

I knew of a lovely spot to camp, so we headed directly towards it, Ord. Our view was the Cuillin ridge, and the sea was our view.

Camping at Tokavaig

It was really nice. After I complained a lot that ‘I was starving’ I was let go to cook us some food. Pasta ‘n sauce with mushrooms ‘n peppers. It was lovely – followed by chocolate dessert.

It’s a great spot this. I’ve always liked it.


21
Nov 09

Loch Lomond – Fort William

We woke up, and had the best breakfast of the whole trip me thinks. Regina’s porridge looked amazing, and I tried out French Toast for the first time, and I’m happy to report that I’m a fan. Over breakfast, I remembered something that Regi had said previously, and asked our lovely hostess about this. She’d remember that there was this great big whirlpool off the West coast of Scotland, and was wondering if we were gonna go see it. Our hostess googled it, and found some information about it; Corryvreckan (meaning “cauldron of the speckled seas” or “cauldron of the plaid”). It was now a part of the agenda for the day, as today we were taking the beautiful scenic route from Loch Lomond to Fort William – the A83. Really beautiful road, through the mountains, and pass the Loch’s.

Regina and Loch Lomond

Rest and be thankful

We came to lovely named viewpoint – ‘Rest and be Thankful’ where we had a really nice view down the valley we’d just cruise up. We happened upon a really beautiful little town called Inveraray. Every single house/shop/building in the little town was black and white – it was so nice;

Inveraray

Inveraray Castle

We boarded a wee coffee ship shop, and had what we Welsh people call ‘panad’ – a nice cup of coffee. We headed into the town, where we came across a traditional sweet shop. Only one thing was in my mind; Midget Gems! I bought a bag so that Regi could experience this wonderful sweet. She fell in love with them. (Not the black one so much – as the one and only black one she tried went hurling through the car window).

We continued North. The turning off to Corryvreckan was on the way – so we took it. We drove along this really nice single track road, and Regi took this really nice picture;

On route to Corryvreckan

I love it. We continued, and reached, what can only be described as ‘the end of the World’.

Regina at the End of the World

End of the World

It was a nice rugged place, with nothing at all there. There was a disused (looked un-used anyhow) jetty running into the sea, and ending abruptly, and just sea. Unfortunately, or beloved Whirlpool wasn’t to be seen – the weather had come in, and visibility was quite poor. The whirlpool itself looks quite impressive though – check it out! http://www.whirlpool-scotland.co.uk/index.html

We headed back on track, and continued North, through Oban, and up towards Castle Aaaaargh (for the Monty Python fans out there) – or Stalker Castle.

Castle Aaaargh!

Epic Irn Bru

I love this spot. Whenever I do go to Scotland, I always try and stop off here. We grabbed some lovely food at the little café, and headed for the Fort of William.

We checked ourselves into a posh B&B We decided to hit Fort William that night, and grab some alcohol. Night life there was alright. We had fun. I managed to be-friend an older man, who’s beard was mighty impressive, to which I’ve taken my inspiration from to grow my own. it’s slowly getting there.

We had a nice night.