Glenfield Hotel Ullapool

Evening all!

Well today is our first day on our Scottish adventure. Our day started early enough and by 9am we were off on the road. We have TWO tour guides this time around, Matt and Chris who alternate driving and pointing out all the interesting things. Again there's about 40 people on the tour, 28 Aussies, a couple of kiwis, 4 Americans, 1 Canadian, 1 Indian, a couple of South Africans and a lady from Turkey who can barely speak English (a la Alfred ...

... didn't feel too bad as the weather just didn't break.

I loaded up the bike and then headed up and over in the car and drove the 60 mile route. It would have been hard going and once started it would have been very difficult to cut short as there is no quick way back. Either the 11 miles back over the summit or carry on around the peninsula. I was quite glad that I had not ...

... photos of mountains and I will have absolutely no idea where I took them. I stopped the car up in the mountains for a little lunch (Pot noodle, Bombay bad boy!), very healthy! I got out the stove and the camping kettle and tried to boil some water. This didn't work very well as there must have been 50 mile an hour winds blowing along the glen, so much so that I had to turn the car around to point the bike on the car roof into the wind as it was ...

... 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.

Went to the highlands. Visited St Andrews (a famous gold course which you have to book 6 month in advance to play at) as well as Glenlivet (a whisky distillery) just went for a quick walk int eh rain through the area before having dinner of Tomatoe soup, chicken and cous cous and fruit salad. Was a very pretty area. But didn't do much around the town.

... water. I didn't realize how baffled I was by this until this morning, when I caught myself doing a little side-to-side quick hand shuffle between spouts to try and make "warm" water. It's a very good thing I played all of those video games in my youth...or else my reflexes would not be so 'cat-like,' and then where would I be?

Overall, I give today a 7. For a few reasons:

1. Viking helmet Mission Accomplished ...

... about everywhere we went. Then it was up north to Ullapool and on to the northwesternmost corner of mainland Scotland, and across to the Kyle of Tongue. It rained most of those days and was cold. Cold enough to wear all the layers I brought. But it tended to stop when we really needed it to, so we were able to take a few breaks, check out the ruins of Castle Ardvreck, a short beach walk at Durness, a stroll around Ullapool, a walk to a deep gorge with a waterfall.

... at Loch Ness... remember this, as some creeper guy took the time to make the comment on yesterday's blog). Though there is still no stand up shower. And the main light keeps doing "flicker flicker...off...on...flicker"...so I guess I have a ghost. Bonus!
3. I survived my first ferry ride today! All rejoice!
4. Other food that is edible: the tomato, basil, and cheese pasta from the CO-OP, and ...

(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 ...

... of climbing Ben Nevis for half a second before giving myself the excuse of lack of time. I did sample some haggis though, a gutsy challenge for a semi-vegetarian. My friend Lorna, with whom I studied in Calgary met me at the airport in Glasgow, which was fortunate, as I would never have managed to find her house in Glaswegian suburbia without her. I have Lorna to thank for this whole experience - I wouldn't have been able to afford a week in ...