Bumblebee Cottage Dornoch

... take a little detour to Loch Ness and see if I can't see anything... look carefully :P Again, not lit the best, so... that's my excuse!



I checked in at the hostel, but couldn't get wi-fi so wandered into town with my comp and ended up having dinner ...

... local hangout for the cast and crew. They even pinched the 'Glenbogle' village sign when shooting ended.

Then up the road to the Culloden Battlefield, where the native Scots (led by Bonnie Prince Charlie) fought the Brits and were fairly well decimated. You can walk around the battlefield, and the two sides are represented by red (English) or blue (Scots) flags. There are also headstones where mass graves for the clans lie.

Back on the road ...

... phoned ahead to make sure that there
is some availability and there is. Great, my first night back in
Scotland is a SYHA Carbisdale Castle, and what a hostel this is. I arrive at the castle at 7pm and
dinner is just being served so I treat myself to a cooked dinner after my 8.5 hour drive up, I think I deserve it.

... a visit to the battlefield of Culloden 5 miles east of Inverness. This is where the differences between the Scots and the English were sorted out by war for the last time in 1746. The history of the relationship between the Scots and the English is a very troubled one which I will try to cover later in the blog

The tensions building to the battle had been brewing for a long time. It was the Scottish Stuart King James VI who ...

Spent yesterday walking through Scottish terrain. Unfortunately the weather wasn't sunny but it wasn't raining so since coming to the UK I have come to know that as 'a good day'. I have to admit it, but any day that doesn't rain I consider a good day of weather too. How quickly standards change..

Time has flown by here in Scotland. Back down to London tomorrow and off to India Wednesday. This is quite possibly the most boring blog entry ever, but the photos should at least be ok

... I come across some huge bilberries (blaeberries in Scotland) and collect a large bagful to enjoy later.  The sun is out in full strength this afternoon and it turns into a stunning day.  

The North Kessock stretch of the A9 into Inverness is long and the traffic relentless but at least the cycle path provides a safe distance from the road and eventually I reach Inverness Youth Hostel - source of washing machines ...

... that was just a bit too hot. I quickly crossed to the other end, where, much to my delight, I found the buffet car, and immediately bought another two pints of lager that I didn’t really need. It’s a reflex action, I guess.

After making my way back to my cabin, and drinking and reading some more, I finally turned in for the evening. My bed was not huge, but perfectly comfortable for my large 6’ 2” frame, and I was soon asleep.

Next –Inverness to Tain…

... by side for the whole roadworks. They must have Millions of witches hats, someone is making a lot of money. Oh yeah and these aren't just normal witches hats these things are on steroids. They are huge! They are taller than your waist easily. Anyway Katherine found one and we then started to try to make Nessy calls to see if we could entice her to show her face but to no avail. Dave got his obligatory photo standing in Loch Ness in his boxers, we got blinded by ...

... miles over the mountains and the loch, and it is a special place. I stopped at a small cafe called Rialta Cafe where I was able to finally send an email to people to let them know I still existed, had some coffee and a snack for some energy. For the first time in my trip it started to rain, although it was very light mist. I pushed on through the Highlands and passed through Inverness. Over the Moray Firth, onto the Black Isle (actually a ...

(Originally published at http://www.troysgonewalkabout.com)
< br>A long day of driving beckoned, which we felt was necessary in order to get some appreciation of the rugged Scottish landscape. After scraping the ice off the car’s windscreen we crossed the Firth of Forth parallel to the iconic Forth Rail Bridge and across to St Andrews. Though we were again under a clear blue sky the idea of a round of golf at the Old Course didn’t seem ...