Roadtrip: Scottish Highlands Part Five

in #travel6 years ago (edited)


Other articles in the series:
Roadtrip: Scottish Highlands Part One
Roadtrip: Scottish Highlands Part Two
Roadtrip: Scottish Highlands Part Three
Roadtrip: Scottish Highlands Part Four

I was conscious we had to drive many more miles to get to our final nights destination in Newtonmore. I initially looked at staying in Aviemore but was put off by the high prices. It’s a skiing resort, but even in mid-summer the prices for accommodation are still very high.

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We made our way east on the A87 toward Loch Ness. Surely everyone has heard of the famous loch and the mythical monster that supposedly lurks below its waters?

Click the link if by some strange reason you haven’t or simply read this short synopsis.

The Loch Ness Monster or Nessie is a cryptid of Scottish folklore, reputedly inhabiting Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. It is similar to other supposed lake monsters and is often described as large in size with a long neck and one or more humps protruding from the water.

Popular interest and belief in the creature has varied since it was brought to worldwide attention in 1933. Evidence of its existence is anecdotal, with a few disputed photographs and sonar readings.

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Loch Ness is an enormous stretch of water. As much as we tried we didn’t see anything lurking in the depths on this lovely sunny afternoon. Perhaps ‘Nessie’ only shows up when it’s grey and gloomy?

Our next stop was Urquhart Castle. This ruin is by no means anywhere near as impressive as Eilean Donan Castle, but it’s still a castle and as it was on the main north road to Inverness it was a must visit for us.

Perched on the edge of Loch Ness, this 12th century castle is now a ruin and has been since around 1692 when it was partially destroyed. It’s a real shame as it is in such an iconic location.

It cost us £9 each to enter and we watched the optional ‘movie’ as it was only around 8 minutes long. What I found a little strange was that the narrator was English; otherwise it was reasonably detailed for such a short documentary.

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The time was 2pm; it was very hot and subsequently full or tourists. Hardly the best time to get some snaps. Tourist free ones were proving a challenge.

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Grant Tower is the only true landmark remaining, and can be climbed via the original narrow stone stairway. What I found a little disappointing is that a ‘new’ modern stairway has been added inside which looks completely out of place and distracts from the history and originality of the ruin.

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While the new stairway is very easy to climb, to my mind it should never have been built.

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The castle is on the edge of the Loch, and so we climbed the steps down to the edge. You can see just how vast this loch is.

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There was a Trebuchet as we entered the grounds, but reading the blurb revealed it to be a replica.

We didn’t spend long at this castle as once was had climbed the main tower there was little else to see. Next stop was Newtonmore.

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I was remarking to @bingbabe that we had experienced zero speed camera’s in Scotland so far, a welcome relief to England’s obsessive devotion to these things. I spoke a little too soon.

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Source

Everything was fine until we made out way out of Inverness and hit the A9. It seems the Scottish government harvested all their traffic camera budget into this single road as the next 45 miles was filled with average speed cameras, the worst kind!

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Arriving for our final night, we checked into the Balavil Hotel. This turned out to be the nicest of the THREE that was stayed in. The food was just as nice, me having Fish and Chips and @bingbabe ordered a juicy steak (sorry if you are a veggie), with some breaded brie fried cheese as a starter to share.

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I asked about the local beers and was offered a pint of Belhaven. I know @steevc had some of this last week at his local but it is in fact Scottish. The beer went down extremely well and gave me no horrible acid reflux problems that I get with some of the ale’s I have tried.

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The last day was going to be dull. The drive back to England is long and very boring, and more so when the A9 continues south with those stupid cameras all the way down to Perth and beyond.

60MPH all the way and no speeding unless you want traffic school or 3 points on your licence. I already have 3 for this particular offence so simply daren’t flaunt the law whatsoever.

Our last stop was completely impulsive. I didn’t want to leave Scotland without some scotch, and as we had been given some bum information at the Taliskar distillery we wanted to make a stop at another one.

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Every time we spotted a sign for a distillery it seemed to be 5-6 miles off the beaten path, until we spotted the Tullibardine distillery right off the main road. Great! We headed off and into the car park.

I gave @goblinknackers, my scotch expert a call and he had never head of this brand.

The place was deserted! There are so many of these in Scotland that I guess there’s a lot of competition for tourists. That familiar sweet smell entered my nostrils as I left my car and headed for the entrance. It doesn’t smell of whisky at all and I can’t describe it other than ‘very pleasant’.

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I grabbed a bottle of ‘Sovereign’ at £35 and @bingbabe picked up 3 bottles of Whisky Beer. This was to be a good move in retrospect as it really is top quality as long as I drink it early enough in the day to avoid my nightly drinking issues.

As much as I was tempted, I had to pass on the 1952 Limited Edition at a cool £20000. It was sold out anyway. Some people love their whiskies!

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This is the end of my FIVE part series on ‘Roadtrip: Scottish Highlands’. I hope you enjoyed it.


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Great write-up! You will have to let us know how the Sovereign is. Based on the information they give, it sounds like it would be really good. The pictures of the loch and the castle are awesome. I wonder how many people got hurt before they built the newer staircase. It's always a few people that ruin it for everyone :)

Yes, I think the stairs are for the older people, but to build them INSIDE the ruin just seems wrong. I have yet to crack the Sovereign. Maybe tonight I'll give it a go.

Awesome! Let me know how it is. I am a big fan of Jameson but have never tried scotch.

You certainly packed a lot in! And I know it's hard to go wrong in Scotland on a sunny day, but those photos are amazing!
The A9. There are so many things I could say about that road - most of them critical. Though it does take you to some of the most beautiful parts of the country. Scotland almost exploded in anger when those average speed cameras were introduced, but to be honest, I think it was worse BEFORE they came along!

Scotland almost exploded in anger when those average speed cameras were introduced

Really? Are there any more besides on this ONE road? I saw none.

I know there are some in Ayrshire, on the A77. I don't think I've seen any others.

Very cool series, @slobberchops, I liked it very much! Hope you will have more like that in the future.

While that last castle looked less impressive, from your description it seems also like a forgettable cheap tourist attraction. Too bad, if only that trebuchet had been authentic! 😅

Also I think you are very much right about the distillery. We did a road trip in Ireland a while ago with my sister, and one of our best moments were visiting the Tullamore distillery. The whisky there just tasted perfect, even for my sister who does not like strong dark alcohols.

Thanks, sometimes I think I'm rambling but I have now got into this thing about writing down anything I feel interesting. It may not be to others though.

We did feel a little hard done by with the ruin, it wasn't so good really. I'm drinking that whiskey now, very smooth.. not like the stuff you get in the stores,

I don't know if it's rambling or not, but I like those digressions and that "light" style.

Also congratulations on becoming a dolphin!🍻
I myself became a minnow not too long ago and have access to the fancy voting percentage bar ✌

Thanks, @jalayn. I noticed you had the bar, I guess you invested some to get there so fast. Good on you!

What a trip! Envious for sure.

I may see crypto in everything but your route may follow the bear and next bull run pattern?

Steem could do with a kick up the arse, can you make it happen?

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Looking for Nessie, exploring old castles, good food, beers, and whiskey... minus the speed cameras it sounds like it was an awesome trip!!

Awesome photography and nice to know about your road trip.

That castle, the water and that artillery(I hope it's an artillery) and finally some food and drink to sum up.

Awesome, thanks for sharing.

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Thanks @coolguy123 :) it is artillery although not genuine.

They tried the traffic cameras in Albuquerque several years back, and there was such an outcry and pushback from the public they removed them about 8 months later.

It was a bonanza in red-light tickets for the city financially, but we at least have (or had) enough control over the quality of our lives to get rid of these damn things. I never got caught by one, but I hated 'em, too. I was surprised we managed to get them removed.

They are everywhere in England, and on the A9 in Scotland exclusively it seems. No amount of complaining would make them vanish here, your lucky!

With enough signatures on a petition, you can get a measure put on the ballot. You can even force a special election, which is not easy, but that's what happened.

Such a Cool road trip Awesoem shots brings back memopries of my visited Loch Ness area so interesting

Wow, some great pictures... to bad you didn't captured Nessie :P ....
I would love to make a Whiskey trip some day, visiting some of those great disttileries...

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