Last days in Scotland

On the northern side of Ben Nevis under the towering mountaineering routes lies the CIC Hut. On a very pleasant day we walked up the Valley to visit the hut. Chas climbed from here in the 60's. The hut has been modified since then, now complete with its own turbine generator. However the hut was locked and only available to members of the Scottish Mountaineering  Club and others with a key. Following days saw us travelling to Glen Lyon promoted as " the longest, loneliest and loveliest glen in Scotland" . We agree, a must see valley in Scotland. Our trip was coming to an end and we decided to have a day in Edinburgh on our way back to Bill's. We stayed close by and caught the early train in to Waverley station and spent the day at the royal mile absorbing all the goings on of the Fringe Festival. A really magic way to finish our Scottish tour.

We are now back at Bill's preparing to come home leaving on Tuesday and arriving back in Dunedin late Thursday afternoon. Catch up then.

Highlands, Islands and the Ben

The Isle of Mull welcomed us with bright sunshine after a spell of indifferent weather. Landing Off the ferry at Tobermory you instantly get the feeling that Mull will be a great place to visit and the pictures below indicate that it is indeed a lovely place. In fact it has been the favourite part of our trip. We continued with our hill walking , having a go at climbing Ben More, one of the Scottish ' Munro's' and made it to the summit ridge as the cloud came in and extinguished the view. Next day we drove to Fionnoport for a 5 min ferry crossing to the island of Iona. Iona has been a religious place of pilgrimage since Columba first went there in 6th century to introduce Christianity to the Scots. Today it is a bustling must see tourist spot but you can still get away from it all by walking to the end of the island where you find white sand beaches and a feeling of peace and tranquility. After such a great time on Mull we  headed for the tourist Mecca of Fort William which is where people base themselves if they want to climb Ben Nevis, Britains highest mountain at 1344 metres. We duly joined the masses, no exaggeration, to make our attempt on the peak. We succeeded in dragging the ailing kidneys to the top and Chas was pleased to be back here after 50 plus years. He pointed out the climbing routes on the North side of the Ben that he climbed in his younger days. Muscles are a bit sore as we write this blog but we have had a fantastic day on the hill. 

This is probably our penultimate blog as we only have a couple of weeks until we head home. Once again enjoy the pics.

Southwards through the Highlands and Islands.

In the time since our last blog we have explored some wonderful country in the Highlands and Islands.

One of our objectives was to climb Stac Pollaigh in Wester Ross. After days of rain the day dawned clear and we had a great day out on the hill.

We came down the coast to Inverewe and visited the gardens, described as' oasis of the North ' which included flora from all around the globe including NZ . A southern rata was in flower!

Onwards to the Isle of Skye where after arriving at Glen Brittle in the heart of the Cuillin Mountains, we walked up to Corrie Lagan with a misty Scurr Alasdair towering above us. Chas was envious of people with packs and ropes venturing into the vertical world.

Continuing on down the coast we caught the ferry from Armadale to Mallaig from where we took a day trip to the Small Isles of Muck and Eigg passing close to Rum. Today in Lochaber and heading towards Ardnamurchan Point.

We have done some great hill walking on most days despite the indifferent Scottish weather.

Grey skies in Wester Ross

After loading Bills camper with supplies we headed north through Edinburgh to the far north of Scotland. Traversing west through Tongue and Durness our first stop was to walk to Sandwood Bay,an 8 km trip to a remote beach owned by the Jon Muir Trust. Continuing our west coast drive through remote country and villages and the multitude of lochs, marvelling at the crofts and wondering what the occupants do to survive the harsh winters here. If you think NZ has remote places come to Wester Ross. The weather of course is living up to its reputation in Scotland and further more there has been 200% of the normal July rainfall in the Highlands, thank goodness we have only experienced a few days of it!

Driving has been great along the single track roads with much of the coastal landscape looking like northern Norway. Many opportunities are available for freedom camping often being able to look up at the mountains at overnight stops or out to sea viewing the many islands of Wester Ross and Sutherland. This is indeed impressive country.