ABC Tour – Cairngorms and Castle

WEDNESDAY 22 JUNE

We are really having no luck with the weather.  It continues to be cold and wet, only reaching 10 degrees C today.  There was quite a bit of rain overnight and it was still raining this morning.

Last night we looked at the map and decided that Braemar would be a place to aim for today.  We even got organised and booked accommodation for two nights.  It was only about 100 miles of travel, so should be a nice easy day.

As we were riding along we saw the sign to another castle.  This one was Crathes Castle, another National Trust property.  I’m so pleased that we joined, as if we see a property we generally go in for a look, which we probably wouldn’t have done otherwise.

This castle has been managed by the National Trust since 1951 and it is lovely.  What I really liked was all the textiles on display.  Some were ancient, while others, like some tapestry chair seat covers, have been worked by the ladies of the National Trust Guild.  There was a lovely patchwork quilt on a bed.  It was in panels with a red sashing running the length of the quilt.  On the cream panels there were lots of irregular shaped fabrics appliquéd with herringbone stitch.  It was all lovely and faded.  Just beautiful.

Once again no photos were allowed inside.  However, you were allowed to take photos from an upstairs window.  You can see the window on the top right hand side of the photo above.  This is the view.

You can also see this little turret.  It was actually used as a water closet.  Rather flash.

The grounds are extensive and have a beautiful garden.  The Trust do a marvellous job  with the management of the property.

We seemed to take quite a bit of time at the castle and gardens, so had to get a bit of a wriggle on.

We followed the River Dee from Aberdeen.  It is nearly in flood after the recent rains.  Along the way we came across this rather lovely suspension bridge.

Another lovely bridge over the river, this one at Ballater, which was a nice town to visit.

In the end, our supposedly simple drive took us all day, so tomorrow will be a day of exploring the area.

ABC Tour – Castle and Coastal Villages

TUESDAY 21 JUNE

Today is the longest day in the year, but unfortunately, it is grey, so we won’t be able to see what time the sun sets.  It is still twilight after 11pm, but we haven’t been up late enough to see when it actually gets dark.

After our brief encounter with sunshine yesterday, we woke up to rain again.  As we have no definite plans for a while, we decided to head east, following the Coastal Trail tourist road. 

Firstly though, we had to visit another castle.  Apparently, this part of Scotland has more castles per acre than anywhere else in the UK.  Brodie Castle is just down the road from where we stayed in Nairn, and is a National Trust property.  Visiting a castle is a great activity for a wet day.

We arrived nice and early and just in time to join in the guided tour.  The guide was fantastic, being both informative and entertaining.  It is amazing how interesting these places are.  There is so much history.  The tower was built in the 1500s, but they have some paperwork dating back to the 1300s.  The castle was “brunt” to the ground after being invaded in 1645 and then rebuilt. 

As usual, no photos were allowed inside.  We ended up spending an hour and a half on the tour, by which time the rain had eased.  Castles also usually have a cafe, which are a good place to get a nice hot bowl of soup for lunch.  Soup is our lunch of choice, as it is still quite cool, only getting to about 12 degrees C.

Once we had finished at the castle, we followed the coast around, visiting some of the many little fishing villages.  They are quite pretty and popular spots for film making. This part of Scotland doesn’t seem to be touristy at all, compared to the west coast.

What we noticed in this area is that the towns are actually laid out in blocks, with relatively wide streets.  This is the first of these we have seen since we have been over here.

Also, on the sea front in the little fishing villages there is often some colour on the houses, unlike most of Scotland, which is just bare, unpainted stone walls and quite drab.

We ended up at Fraserburgh at the end of the day.  This was once a major fishing port, but 70% of their fleet has now been scrapped, which has really hurt the local economy.  It is actually quite a depressing place, with very little accommodation and places to eat.  Our B&B was OK, and provided a garage for Olga, which was greatly appreciated as quite a bit of rain was predicted for the night.  We had a bit of a chuckle at the decorations in our room.

ABC Tour – Cawder Castle,

MONDAY 20 JUNE

Our initial plans were to go to John O’Groats at the very top of Scotland, but we decided a few days ago not to head that far north.  Therefore, this morning we started to head east again.  More rugged terrain.

The odd thatched cottage.

More lochs.

The weather continued to be cloudy and quite cool, like the previous few days, only reaching about 13 degrees.  We have no real plans from now on, not that that is much different from the rest of our trip.  We are just wandering around. 

Whilst riding along we saw the sign to Rogie Falls, so went to have a look.

We came back through the top of Inverness and over another big bridge.  This is the Kessock Bridge and is having some major road works done, which means delays during peak hour.  Fortunately, it didn't affect us at all.

We decide to have a look at the “lump” to the east of Inverness, where Aberdeen and the Grampians are.  We were surprised how quickly the terrain changed from rugged, to lush, relatively flat, farmland.  As we were riding along we saw a sign for Cawder Castle, so decided it was time we visited another Castle.  I’d heard of Cawder Castle from Macbeth, but in reality Shakespeare’s play was set in the 11th century and the castle wasn’t built until the 14th century, so it has nothing to do with it.

The driveway was even impressive.

After a late lunch of nice, hot soup we looked through the castle. 

Over the drawbridge.

Unfortunately, no photos were allowed inside.  This castle is not a National Trust property and you just wandered through and read the signs as you went. There was hardly anyone else there at the time, so there was no rush and we could see and read things properly.  The castle is still the winter home to members of the family.  Quite a few of the rooms had tapestries dating back to the 1600s hanging on the walls.  It meant you got a true feeling for how these buildings were used, rather than seeing the cold stone walls and thinking that is how it was.  I love this little turret room. 

Not only was the castle spectacular, so was the garden.  We had a lovely time wandering around, finding different rooms and the maze.

This part looks more like a country house than a castle.

By then it was time to think about finding accommodation for the night.  A lady at the castle told us that there were some nice B & Bs in Nairn, along the waterfront, so off we went to find one.  What a great recommendation.  This is the view from our window.  You can’t get much better than that.

The weather improved during the afternoon, so we went for a bit of a walk around the town and were pleasantly surprised.  It was quite different from the last few days, as there weren’t many tourists.  The harbour was pretty.

There was a statue of a Fishwife, which had incredible detail, right down to the knitting in her cardigan and fringe on her shawl.

There was even a sandy beach.

So I played.

The sun even came out for a short while, so we sat and soaked it up.  There was lots of activity on the cricket ground, as they were preparing for a primary school cricket day.  Here’s hoping the weather holds.  We had a chuckle when the old roller came out to prepare the wicket.

And finally, the band stand has an Aussie connection.  It was built using funds gifted by a local man who had moved to Ballarat in the 1800s and made good.

So, considering we had no plans for the day, we had a lovely time.  The castle and gardens were well worth seeing and Nairn was a lovely town to stay in. 

Let’s see what tomorrow brings.

ABC Tour – Clearer Skies, Castles, Craggy Coastline

SUNDAY 19 JUNE

As predicted, Sunday dawned sunny!!!!  This is what we had been hoping for, as we were headed to the Isle of Skye and weren’t going to go if the weather was wet and foggy. 

As we headed west the scenery continued to be breathtaking with several lochs and rugged hills.

It was so nice for it not to be grey and raining, although it was still quite cool, only getting up to about 14 degrees C.

There are so many pine plantations and they are quite dark when you are in them.

Of course we had to take a photo opportunity at Eilean Donan Castle, although we didn’t go in to have a look.  It really is a beautiful setting.

Then it  was up and over the Skye Bridge.

The scenery on the Isle of Skye is really stark when you first get there.

We found our way to Portree, which has a colourful water front. It is the main town on the island.

We were surprised how big the Isle of Skye is, much bigger than the Isle of Man and the Isle of Skye has a really ragged coastline, so you can’t just drive around it in a circle.  We just went around the north east section, which was stunning.

The island is much more populated than we expected.  There were white cottages wherever you looked.  They looked so nice and bright after all the stone houses we have been seeing.

As you can see by the photos, the sunny weather disappeared and we had a drizzly afternoon.  We were very lucky with the weather on the most part though.

We found accommodation at Portree for the night.  There are heaps of B & Bs and nearly all had a “No Vacancy” sign up.  It is a really popular tourist destination.  We were surprised at how many left hand drive vehicles were on the road and wherever you went you heard a multitude of different languages being spoken.

The B & B we ended up staying at was right down on the shore, so lovely and quiet.

You can’t beat this outlook from the front of the cottage in the evening light.

ABC Tour – Changing a Tyre

SATURDAY 18 JUNE

Saturday was predicted to be a wet old day, so we had opted to stay a second night at Fort Augustus.  This provided us with the perfect opportunity to attempt to get a new front tyre for Olga, as hers was getting a bit worn.  Mick called a bike shop in Inverness at 5pm on Friday, just on the off chance, and they said they could have one in by about 11am on Saturday morning.  How good is that.

Saturday dawned dry, so we headed the 35 miles north along the side of Loch Ness.

We didn’t have an actual address for the bike shop, but had the postal code, which you can enter into the GPS.  It got us there, but instead of along the main road she took us on this road.

Which ended here!  I won’t use the postal code feature again.

We checked that no trains were coming and crossed the rails and went around the corner to the bike shop.  After a bit of a wait for the courier to arrive with the tyre the job was quickly done.  It was a big, very busy shop on a Saturday.  There aren’t that many bike shops around in the highlands.

Meanwhile, as you can see, it started to rain.  It was the heaviest, most set in rain we have had all trip, so we just headed straight back to Fort Augustus for a late hot lunch and use of internet in a cafe.

Eventually, the rain stopped and we went for a stroll in the evening.  These photos were taken at about 10pm.  The lock ladder looks great at night with the water cascading over the lock gates with the lighting.

We then walked down to the start of Loch Ness.  This is apparently the smallest lighthouse in the UK, but don’t take my word for it.

Do you think any monsters live in that lake?

ABC Tour – Crossing the Atlantic, Caledonian Canal, Cool and Wet Again

FRIDAY 17 JUNE – OBAN TO FORT AUGUSTUS

While we at the Isle of Man we were told about a bridge over the Atlantic just south of Oban, so we had to go and see it for ourselves.

I walked over the Atlantic and then Mick rode over the Atlantic.

It isn’t very wide here where it goes between the Isle of Seil and Scotland.

The pub looks rather nice as well.

Once we headed north again we had to cross the Connell Bridge.

The things you see as you ride along.

It wasn’t long before the rain started, as forecast. We were overtaken by these two Side-bikes from Germany.  What beasts.

We had lunch at Fort William before heading further north.  In among the fog we saw a bit of snow on the top of Ben Nevis.  

A monument to the Commandos of WWII is  a dominant feature as you drive along.

We saw a sign to the Bridge of Oich, so went to have a look.  It was a breakthrough in bridge design when it was built.

It just happened to be beside the Caledonian Canal, which was looking a picture.

Our destination was Fort Augustus, at the north of the Caledonian Canal, which crosses Scotland. 

We stayed here in 2007 and are even in the same B & B.