Day 4 - the Highlands

AT LAST........here is Day 4!     cont:  on the way to Forres we first stopped off at the harbour town of Nairn.  We were blessed with yet another beautiful sunny day (still COLD though).  We spent quite a while exploring Forres and was pleasantly surprised to find it a charming and interest large-ish town. Sueno's Stone at the top end of town which was fascinating and next we found Leanchoil Hospital.
Heading out of town we stopped at a memorial. Two councilors were discussing the landscaping to brighten it up. It's a memorial to the 2006 Nimrod crash in Kandahar, Afghanistan, killing all fourteen crew members on board. The airmen were based at the nearby Kinloss RAF base.
Kinloss was our next stop. Nowadays its an army base.
We took a look around the ruins of Kinloss Abbey which is amazing and quite poignant. Founded in 1150 by King David the 1st of Scotland, as well as the old ruins there are lines of Commonwealth war graves of airmen from the UK, Canada and the Australian and New Zealand air forces.
From Kinloss we took a run down to the dunes at Findhorn. The ecovillage looked very busy as we passed.
Our next port of call was the tiny village of Kintessack. 
Back in Inverness we headed north across the Kessock Bridge onto the Black Isle then across the Cromarty Bridge to get to Invergordon. 
After turning off the A9 at Alness, we pulled into a quiet looking yard overlooking the Cromarty Firth. We immediately wondered what the pungent but not unpleasant smell was and we started laughing when we realised we were sitting above a distillery, it felt like we were getting drunk from the fumes!  (well I was)
A little further down the road we saw the entrance, the name on the gate said Dalmore Distillery.  A bottle of the Dalmore Constellation Collection 1976 from Fortnum and Mason will only set you back £9,250.
On we went then to Invergordon and saw all the oil rigs in the Cromarty. We always seem to end up at somewhere very industrial! - oil refineries, now this! the industrial just seems to draw me for some reason.
We ate fish and chips watching a shift change at the Port of Cromarty before returning to our hotel in Inverness.
A few night pictures along the River Ness.

The photos are not in sequential order!

from Scotia

Sun 6 March 2016.... a local walk Criagdistant Hill

..... the day dawned beautiful so set off for another local weekend walk this time to climb up the Criagdistant Hill (but first  had to fight through rough ground, a bog and a clamber over two drystone walls)    It was only about 4 kms today (including the hill)

the hill was bigger than this but the aspect doesn't allow you to see what higher ground is behind

 ... me with a boulder and me with a boulder

 ...this is  me without my boulder

this is me with my boulder again.... I have separation issues

it was a fabulous view from the top  

after enjoying the views at the top it was down through the woods

some pretty sights along the way

and back to the start point

Day 3 - The Highlands

There was 'Scotch Mist' in the air on Wednesday morning as we set off from Fort William, but it was to lift later as the sun got higher, embracing us with another beautiful day in the Highlands.
Our first detour of the day was up to the Nevis Range Ski Resort which we found quite unimpressive and although we didn't know it at the time we were in for a much better 'snow treat' another day (at Aviemore)    
Our next stop was at the Commando Memorial at the junction with the Gairlochy Road. We were particularly impressed with the Garden of Remembrance with so many plaques dedicated to servicemen who lost their lives in more recent conflicts, especially Afghanistan.

We continued on alongside the beautiful Loch Lochy (my personal favourite) through Invergarry and on to Fort Augustus. We never did find the Caledonian Canal Visitor's centre but we did have a quick look along the canal.

From here we drove alongside Loch Ness up to Drumnadrochit where we searched for the Loch Ness Centre and Exhibition, but inadvertently took a drive through Nessieland and nabbed some photos on the way through. 
Once we found the right spot we had refreshments in the hotel cafe before heading to the 'Nessie' shop to make some purchases and on the way out a light shower of snow greeted us.
A quick look through the village and we were again heading north alongside Loch Ness.
We dropped down to Urquhart Castle, but didn't stay. It seemed it was undergoing repairs judging by all the scaffolding that was erected.
On then to the canal system just south of Inverness at the Clansman Harbour.We reached Inverness and after a bit of a run around we eventually found our accommodation at the Glen Mhor on Ness Bank - a wonderful setting alongside the River Ness, and we were soon booked in and out exploring. We liked Inverness very much but wow was it cold out!

After dinner in the town centre we walked home via the castle and the bronze statue honouring Flora MacDonald - as we neared the Hotel it started snowing albeit lightly.

here's how the day went

Inverness Castle...... now the Court House... these lads were sitting outside and were happy to leap up and play the larrikin for me - good sports!

....  if I look cold its because it was! freezing! and I didn't have my ski mittens with me...eeek!

Stay tuned for Day 4!