From Inverness to Drumnadrochit

  Drumnadrochit, Scotland, United Kingdom
Tuesday, April 29, 2008

29th April 2008: Edinburgh - Inverness
 
We took the 1.36pm train from Edinburgh to Inverness. Along the 3.5-hour journey, we experienced a dramatic

Sunny Blue Sky.1

change of weather -the very sunny and blue sky

Sunny Blue Sky.2

of Edinburgh gradually changed to a grey cloudy one as we headed northbound. At some parts of our journey,

...And then the mist set in..

we could even see snow-capped mountains.

Snow capped mountains

 

Beautiful landscapes of mountains, rivers and lakes began to emerge as our journey progressed steadily and signboards of station stops in dual language became a familiar sight. It was amazing how totally different the English name is from the Scottish Gaellic as in this one taken by Argi :

Dual language signs

 

And we arrived at the HIGHLANDS !!!

 


Ford Vehicle Rental:

Arrived at Inverness Rail Station at approximately 5.07pm and conveniently situated in the station is Focus Vehicle Rental, where we had booked the hire of a car for our 5-day stay in the Highlands and Island of Skye. We had done some research and comparison of prices of all the other car rental companies around Inverness on the internet and settled for this one because we find the rates to be very reasonable, coupled by the fact that they were very flexible with our  travelling arrangements.
 
They were able to provide us with an automatic car of good quality (which we found was hard to come by in this area) and they are ideally located in the Rail Station. At the expense of being labelled as parsimonious (me being a Chinese??!!), we didn't think it prudent to spend on taxi fare to reach another car rental company in town for the sole purpose of picking up our hired car, which we have already paid for. They were also agreeable to our request to drop the car at the Inverness Airport, where we will be flying out from at the end of our trip here.
 
Our booking was done through internet about 1.5 months before our arrival and they responded promptly to our e-mails, which was very important to us. Payment was promptly made upon us obtaining the key and we were off in a jiffy to find "our" car at the car park outside the station. We found a cool 4-door silver coloured Ford Focus, very nice, spacious and comfortable!

Our nice Ford Focus

 

I was the designated driver for our trip in Scotland because they drive on the left side of the road here, as in Malaysia, so we came to a consensus that it would be easier for me to drive here than for Argi. I was very happy with this arrangement because I ADORE driving, especially in the countryside and I know that Argi would be a

Normal sight on the road here

better navigator compared to me - my sense of direction can be quite hopeless at times!!
 

Drumbuie Farm, DRUMNADROCHIT:

We have decided to stay at Drumbuie Farm in Drumnadrochit,

Our bed & breakfast

which is about 15 miles south of Inverness. We visited their website and liked what we saw.

Road leading to Drumbuie

Farm stay is so fun !!!

Being in the Highlands, we had thought it apt to stay in a farm to experience the whole "Highlands" experience. Drumbuie Farm is a working farm, owned by Caroline and her farmer husband, Ian.
 
I started driving nervously on Argi's instruction and we found Drumbuie Farm just about 150 meters before the turning to the village of Drumnadrochit on the A82. What a charming farmhouse it was, situated on a little hill overlooking the breathtaking Loch Ness.
 
Our room was lovely, we had a four-poster bed with a nice attached bathroom.

Our four poster bed

The room has good heating, which was important for both of us. 
 

Brief run at Craigmonie and Balmacaan Woodlands :
 
By the time we settled in, it was already nearing 7pm and by now, my poor Argi, who hasn't been running for the

The woods where Argi ran

past few days were raring to go for a run to release his adrenaline rush. With some tips we obtained from Caroline, we went looking for a place for Argi to run in the village.
 
Drumnadrochit is only a very small village and we soon found the Craigmonie and Balmacaan Woodlands and as I started my walk,

Tall imposing trees

Argi began his run ahead of me. It was rather late and had started to drizzle, so there wasn't anybody else in the Woods except both of us. As Argi was way ahead of me, I started to get nervous being alone in this unfamiliar surroundings.

My energetic man

The trees were tall and many, the drizzle was getting heavier. To my inexperienced eyes, the path wasn't very

View from top of the woods

clear at all and at certain places, I stopped to contemplate which direction I should take.
 
Being an experienced fell runner, the Woods was very easy for Argi, he ran back and forth many times to check on me and to guide me through part of the way.

Sweet Argi

Had it not been so late, I think I would have been less nervous - but frankly speaking, despite the drizzle, I quite enjoyed being in that Woods. It was really tranquil and nice to be so near to nature. I could hear so many different sounds from birds, insects and God knows what else!
 
It was overall a great experience for me and I hope I get to follow Argi more in his future excursions like these, where I can just walk while he runs. I could see the glow on his face after his run, expressing his happiness and satisfaction of being able to do just that. And that look alone gave me tremendous happiness in return, to know that my man needs to do only that to be so happy!! I felt so blessed that he is so easy to please...