Firhall Grantown-on-Spey

This weekend I was working at the Mitchell Trophy swim meet in Inverness - naturally I took the opportunity to take some photos along the way :)

Unfortunately the weather on the way up was far from the best. There was a grim moment somewhere in the middle of ...

Today I headed of to Loch Einlich with Jade from the hostel. She was over from Canada and had asked if she could come along with me. I had first planned to go off on my bike but as it was fairly expensive to hire a bike we decided to go off on foot.

We walked down to the Loch and then up one of the footpaths up the side of the mountain to get a better view of the loch and also some more pictures. We started the final part ...

... the time I got everything sorted and left the hostel it was around midday so I decided to head over to Aviemore via Loch Ness for a few pictures, first stopping at Foyers Falls and then a few places along Loch Ness south shore.

I arrived at Aviemore at around 15:00 and checked in to the Bunk House, got my room sorted and then went for a walk around the town, stopping at Tescos for some food for dinner. Yep, pasta and chicken again!

... worthwhile (and hopefully worth the money, i'll see when I work out how much I've spent). I obviously won't be uploading the 4000 photo's I took but anyone is welcome to see them, they need only ask; and set aside around 5 hrs to go through them. This is Mike's log.......signing out.

... of an independent nation evaporated at Cullodon on that fateful day in 1746.

Sue

We used our couple of days at Inverness to rest up - and simply wandered around the centre of the city at random. There was a lovely tourist walk along the River Ness and across a series of bridges. Part of the walk went across an island which was like being in a huge forest/botanical garden with people fly-fishing in different spots ...

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

... and it still doesn't avoid the very busy North Kessock bridge into Inverness.  I decide to take a more direct route and head straight over the Cromarty Bridge and onto The Black Isle, where I can pick up the National Cycle Route using quiet back roads to the dreaded bridge and then on into Inverness.  

This proves to be a lovely meander, again through woodlands and along rolling farmland.  As well as masses of ...

... a local and asked directions. He responded and I could not understand a word of what he said. Our driver later said "did you understand what he said?". No I said not a word, but thankfully Gordon understood. Amazing we speak the same language yet it was not understandable!

We passed by Balmoral Castle today and the Queen is in residence for her ...

... the unwashed backpackers and the anarchic children, and silently be whisked off into the night. When the time suits me, I can curl under a duvet and gently be rocked to sleep, and then wake, hundreds of miles away, and watch a wonderfully foreign mountain landscape drift by in the dawn light.

Before I moved to the UK, before I had even considered it, I had read about the sleeper train from London to Scotland, and I knew that if the opportunity ever arose, I was going to ...

... later.

Next morning had to get up sort of early-ish to grab out breakfast in the castle. It was really nice sitting in the dinning room with all these portraits of the owners hanging on the wall, felt like I was a Lord or something. Breakky done time to hit the road and we soon arrive at the Queen's estate which you might know by the name of Balmoral. We had a great time wondering the grounds and exploring some of the castle (the bit we were allowed to go ...