Looking for Nessie
My apologies. I prepared this on the 6th June but forgot to publish. A bit slack on my part. Den
Friday 30 May
My apologies. I prepared this on the 6th June but forgot to publish. A bit slack on my part. Den
Friday 30 May
Packed up from the hotel and on our way to the Royal Yacht Britannia. She is berthed in the inner harbour at Leith which is the port of Edinburgh. Britannia was sold to the trust that operates it because it put up the best proposal after she was decommissioned in 1997. The last official duty she carried out was to bring Prince Charles and Chris Patton from Hong Kong when it was handed over to the Chinese in 1997.
It is really well set up. The dock to which she is tied up to is a shopping centre with an attached car park. The car park is free and in the brochure about the Britannia it says to go to level "E" and you can walk straight to the Britannia booking office.
The entrance to Britannia leads to the bridge. You walk down a couple of flights of stairs and then over a walkway to the bridge. Press the number 1 on the audio guide and away you go. This goes on throughout your visit. Once you have finished on one level you move down to the next. The audio machine is hand held so makes taking photographs a bit difficult. The audio guide at Edinburgh Castle was better, however Britannia's indicators were better because they followed a logical order.
All the areas are well preserved and there are examples of everything the audio guide is talking about. The information at the beginning of the tour indicates that it will take about two and a half hours to do it. We had some morning tea and lunch while we were there and we were there for over three hours so they are pretty well spot on for their timing.
Prince Phillip's Bedroom
We headed for Aberdeen after Britannia. According to Google Maps it should have taken us about three hours, however it took us four. We did have a stop in Dundee for a cuppa which added about half an hour to our trip. We are staying at the Wellington Hotel which is on Wellington Road. Had the roast of the day for dinner and then headed down to the harbour and beach.
Aberdeen is a very busy port. The last time I was through was nearly 40 years ago and it was mainly fishing. Now with the North Sea oil it is the corporate headquarters of a number of oil companies and the port is the hub for maritime support for the oil rigs. While we were looking at the beach two oil rig tenders left the port, two were in the process of leaving and 9 were anchored off the port ready to enter.
Saturday 31 May
Off to Inverness today. Our charming companion the GPS (I still haven't given her a name) took us through the Cairngorm National Park. When I have had a look at the map there were alternate routes that might have been shorter, but this one was excellent. The scenery was magnificent. Some of the roads were a little narrow but Deb managed them beautifully.
Unlike most of the National Parks in Australia where there is no farming etc., in Britain because the farms were there before the National Parks were proclaimed there are still agricultural pursuits going on in the parks. We went through such diverse scenery from very green pastures to heather strewn hillsides. We even saw a grouse.
Deb got a good shot of a specimen of highland cattle or heilen coo as they are called here. Couldn't tell if it was male or female because it was lying on it's bits. We had a snack and cuppa in Inverness and then pointed our noses towards Loch Ness. Inverness is on the River Ness which runs out of the north western end of Loch Ness.
The beginning of Loch Ness is not far from Inverness and we drove next to it for most of its length. It is 21 miles long (34 kilometres) and has some spectacular scenery along its length. There are some ruins of Urquhart Castle along the way and there were people picnicking in the grounds. It seemed very idilic because the sun was shining and it was about 23 degrees Celsius.
We are staying at the Insch Hotel which is near Fort Augustus. It is about 150 years old and started life as a hunting lodge. It started its life as a hotel in the 1950's and is quite authentic in its decor. Lots of dark timbers and old world service. When we arrived the receptionist met us in the car park and took us inside and then took us up to our rooms.
We had a bit of time to spare so we went on a cruise of the loch. It was very interesting taking about 40 minutes. Got some really good information relating to the history of the area. The reason Fort Augustus exists was for the English to keep the Scots in line. The fort which is still there has changed hands a number of times through the ages.
Fort Augustus now has a series of locks which are part of the Caledonian Canal. The Caledonian Canal which was opened in 1822 goes from Inverness to Corpach near Fort William and was developed to make trade easier from the west to the east. The majority of the canal in made up of natural Lochs like Loch Ness making construction much easier.
On the side of the loch there is a horse shoe shaped area of scree (gravel) where legend has it that the monster tried to get out of the loch but slipped back in. If it was Nessie that made the mark it is quite a size.
When we arrived at the village to see about the cruise the gate [ and road bridge] over the canal was swinging back after letting a boat through. We missed out on seeing how the locks work. Maybe tomorrow.
Sunday 1 June
After booking out of the hotel this morning we went down to the village of Fort Augusta and the bridge was swinging back into position after letting three cabin cruisers into the first lock. Yesterday we missed out, today there are four ready to go.
There are 5 locks here at Fort Augusta and we watched the boats progress from the first into the second, then the third. A similar process for each lock. The canal was refurbished between 1995 and 2005 when parts of the canal was drained over winter and repaired. All the lock grates were replaced and hydraulic controls installed. It only takes about 15 minutes to flood one lock and float the boats into the next.
Our destination for the afternoon is Perth on the banks of the River Tay. On the way we passed near a monument to the British Commandos at a place called Spean Bridge. Evidently the site of the monument was selected because it was half way between where the prospective commandos de-trained at Spean Bridge and Archnacarry Castle where the Commando Training Camp was located. When the prospective commandos arrived at Spean Bridge, their luggage was loaded onto carts and with their normal kit of 36 lbs (16 kg) they had to cover the 7 miles (11 kilometres) in 60 minutes. If they didn't do in that time they were returned to unit. The train journey prior to arrival normally took about 14 hours. Pretty tough way to start.
Within the area of the memorial is an area where ashes can be scattered and a memorial garden. There are still names being added to the memorial garden from Iraq and Afghanistan. Some of the commandos remembered in the garden are as young as 21.
Have been trying to keep to the less used A roads. Turned off a dual carriage way onto a road going to a village called Blair Athol. There are a number of Blair Athols in Australia and I thought it might be nice to see the original. We had a cuppa there to keep us going to Perth. I have a thing about places with names that tickle my fancy. I have been to Muckadilla in Queensland, Paradise and Nowhere Else in Tasmania and when I saw Killiecrankie I had to go and see it. It is a small village near a river which wasn't far out of our way. Now I can drop into conversations that I have been there.
We are staying in the Royal George Hotel in Perth. It dates back to the late 1700's when it was a coaching house. Queen Victoria was a guest here and liked it, so she gave the hotel a Royal Charter. From then on it has been called the Royal George Hotel. Prior to this it was just plain George.
Sunday night is the cooks night off so there is no restaurant open this evening. All the high teas were booked out along with the afternoon teas. Oh well looks like we will have to go out in the rain to get a feed.
Deb and Den6'
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