Fort Augustus, United Kingdom

Happy Birthday Vernon! Breakfast was not included in our room rate but we could make a tea and coffee in our room so we had a light start to the day, hoping to grab a little something at the airport. The international airport is a 40 minute drive from the city and the trip went perfectly well with little traffic and no circling roundabouts at 6:30am. We got to the airport at 7am, dropped the car in the Hertz park and joined the huge queues at the check in. We had electronically checked in, and received e-boarding passes on our iPad, but you still have to line up for bag drop off and the security checks. We did use the airport wifi and SKYPE Casey to make good use of line up time although it was pretty noisy in the queue so we gave us to resume later.

When we went through the metal detectors Vern discovered his had the hire car keys still in his pocket – darn it. They will not let you back out at this stage, but one of the nice staff said he would drop it back (apparently it was not unusual LOL). Once we got through all of the checks we only had time to gulp a coffee and share a dry scone before boarding. The Ezyjet left 15 minutes ahead of schedule – not sure how that works! Basically they had everyone on board by the ‘boarding time’ on the ticket. One would have to be very careful not to be late by any means (guess we were lucky in Geneva).

The flight to Edinburgh was only about 1/2hr and we landed to a very different vibe. Its a lovely airport, modern, clean and bright. Belfast is a little dated and rundown. We stopped for a relaxed coffee and a nice ham and cheese toastie and birscher museli and resumed our SKYPE with Casey at airport Starbucks before picking up the car. Got to love free wifi. I also discovered that at the supermarkets they have a great chilled section with readymade sandwiches in packets with lovely fillings and artisan breads. I got an Angus beef, cress, chutney and mozzarella one to share and it was tasty snack later on.

When it came time to pick up the car there was apparently some problem with the voucher and their end computer system and we had to stand for 45 minutes whilst they attempted to fix it. This was really shocking but we eventually got going. Their special offer was £30 per day extra for an auto with GPS so we declined that thank you very much!

The weather was cloudy and overcast but not cold, and we set off across the Firth towards the eastern side of the highlands to Inverness before making our way down the west side of Loch Ness to our accommodation at Fort Augustus. The bridges over the Firth of Forth are tall and handsome, strange that they appeal to me as much as they appeal to Vernon. There are two, a red rail one, two hundred years old and a more modern car one with tall pillars.

The motorways are really good and not too huge or multi lane and we made good time to our first stop of Pitlochry which was not scheduled – it just looked really pretty and it was time for coffee and comfort stop. This stop actually ended up as lunch in an pub-bistro where I sampled local salmon and Vern had a Scottish classic of beef and ale pie – which came in a pot, with the pastry on top. It was not cheap as such, but tasty and good fare with no frills. The town is very touristy with buses full of grey hair coming through every 10 minutes it seems. It is known for whisky and walks, and a salmon bridge/ladder where you can see the salmon jumping up at the appropriate season. We went for a little town wander, bought a local ice-cream cone to share (still not up with isle of man) and resumed our journey which was progressing to the low-lands before the highlands.

I had researched the route and it came with lots of warnings that the A90 claimed lives on a weekly basis due to changing from two way single lanes to dual carriage ways – what we call motorway with more than one lane and a protective barrier in-between. Apparently many get confused and lots of head on fatalities occur. It was not confusing to us as essentially there are lot of these changes in NZ, but I can see how it would confuse a right hand driver, or a city person without this experience. There is lots of signage and road marking warning you of changes and we had smooth travels which was good.

The low-lands rural scenery became very scenic – lots of green grass and tall woodland trees, prolific purple rhododendrons, and yellow broom in full flower. Ferns about a metre high abound and there are many other purple and red flowers including fox gloves, lupins of all colours, and others unidentified. I had no idea I would see such an abundance of colourful wild native and rogue flowers about.

The roads up to the highlands continued to be good and as we skirted the edges of Inverness it looked interesting in a semi industrial way – lots of stone and grey but tidy. The trip from Edinburgh to Inverness if no stops would take about 3hrs. After Inverness, Loch Ness appears in view pretty much straight away. Pity the day was dull, but there was still a little thrill to see it, eyes peeled in anticipation …..

The road along the loch is very scenic and tree lined, however also a bit narrow. Still lots of flowers and leafy trees it was just a delight to drive through and enjoy the views. We stopped part the way along for caffeine and you know what and got free shortbread with our coffees from a charming bar man at the lodge. It was very tasty and Scottish feeling eating it looking at the Loch.

Half way down Loch Ness is Urquhart Castle and we did the cheap thing and took a photo from a distance (view point up the road) as its pretty much rubble any how and not worth the entry fee according to reviews. We finally arrived at Fort Augustus, which is at the end of the Loch and the beginning of the Caledonian canal at about 5pm with plenty of time to settle and go out for a meal.

Our B&B is by the original river/canal before they built the Caledonian canal. The Caledonian Canal is a series of locks and canals between 3 lakes designed by Thomas Telford nearly 200 years ago and runs 62 miles from Scotlands east to west coast and 22 miles of it is man made. It was a great feat of engineering it its day, taking 19 years to complete. It was built for commercial purposes raising ships from sea level to 51 feet, 93 feet and 106 feet. However, these days it is for pleasure and tourism – and very busy and popular. Fort Augustus has 5 locks and a resident population of 600, but it triples in peak season – and was pretty full. Lucky we had booked well ahead.

After our friendly check in we walked the couple of minutes to the canal locks and went for a nice walk down to Loch Ness to be near its edge and lure Nessie. We were unsuccessful, however it is curious to think how we long to believe the story that she exists, yet our logic says she no longer does. We ambled back up along the canal enjoying the very pretty town and surrounds before choosing to have a quick fish and chips take-out from a pub claiming to have the best in town – with a takeaway cider. Both were terrific, even if it was a bit cold outside. They make such light crisp batter here which goes perfectly with cider! Takeaway was £6.95, sit in was £12.95 – go figure, the only difference was a salad garnish.

We headed home to attempt a blog catch up and earlier night.