Scotland 31 December 2015 - 4 January 2016

We flew from Luton to Inverness via Easyjet. 1hr 10 mins - my kind of flight!

Loch Ness on 31 December - cold and black. Cold and black all year round I think! The monster was not to be seen, must have gone away for New Year.

Eilean Donan Castle, about 75 miles from Inverness via Loch Ness and Drumnadrochit.

It is one of the most iconic images of Scotland, situated on an island at the point where three great sea lochs meet, and surrounded by some majestic scenery. The first fortified castle was built in the mid 13th century and stood guard over the lands of Kintail. Since then, at least four different versions of the castle have been built and re-built as the feudal history of Scotland unfolded through the centuries. Partially destroyed in a Jacobite uprising in 1719, Eilean Donan lay in ruins for the best part of 200 years until Lieutenant Colonel John MacRae-Gilstrap bought the island in 1911 and proceeded to restore the castle to its former glory. After 20 years of toil and labour the castle was re-opened in 1932.

Plockton in the beautiful bay of Loch Carron.

Plockton faces east, away from the prevailing winds, which together with the North Atlantic Drift, gives it a mild climate allowing plants such as the cordyline to prosper. We also saw hydrangeas and roses in flower. One of the locals said that there are never any frosts but that it rains a lot.

Most of the houses date from the 19th and 20th centuries. It was a planned community based on fishing in an attempt to stem the tide of emigration from the Highlands.

It was a 90 mile drive from Inverness for us, but well worth it. Plockton has a station and you can get there by train in roughly 24hrs from Euston via Inverness! 

 One of the best picnic spots ever!

Glen Affric, 3 January 2016.

Glen Affric is a beautiful glen, stretching for some 30 miles from Kintail in the west to within a couple of miles of Cannich in Strathglass. The burns tumbling down the mountains on the north side of Glen Shiel and from Beinn Fhada culminate in two major streams – Allt a Chòmhlain and Allt Cam-bàn. Together they combine to create the River Affric that flows through two major lochs to Fasnakyle in Strathglass where it meets with the Abhainn Deabhag to form the River Glass.

There is lots of wildlife in the glen but on a cold and grey day we only managed to see two does and three stags.