2 weeks now since Cath had her surgery for breast cancer and first follow-up, and it was nice to have Leigh, Ale and Mel around us for a sunny family lunch on our patio. End of adventures (other than medical ones) for some months now, but the Blog will be back in 2008!!! (Note that at the actual time of writing - June 2008 - Cath has finished all chemo and radiotherapy, her hair is growing back and she looks terrific. We have also had a wonderful trip to S Afr...

A bit of sightseeing before we headed for home. We took the bus first to Cawdor Castle, of Macbeth fame. It is a lovely castle filled with memorabilia of the various Earls and Thanes and their descendants, including some fairly scandalous history from the more recent scions. Then on to Culloden Moor, site of the Battle in 1746 which was the forerunner of genocide by the Butcher of Culloden and the Highland Clearances and banning of the tartan. The guided tour by ...

The planned visit from the Dows was super: we walked the length and breadth of the town, saw Proncess Margaret arrive at the Town Hall, met another 'highland warrior' at Inverness Castle overlooking the river, and had two superb meals (thanks to helpful restaurant research carried out in Inverness Public Library), and a visit aboard Vega for our routine 'evening prayers'! We were so grateful for the visit, a real mark of the long and valued friendship we enjoy w...

Four miles further down the canal iunder a grey and drizzly sky and through the last locks before the Sea lock brought us to Seaport Marina in Muirtown Basin, on the outskirts of Inverness. We had spent some time on the mobile over the previous few days trying to work out where we could leave Vega for a period until Cath's surgery etc was over and we could plan to move on and complete our planned circumnavigation. Seaport came up with an offer, but subject to s...

Took a taxi into Drumnadrochit village to visit Urquhart Castle. This is a splendid ruin overlooking the loch, and much seen in Scottish tourist brochures and on calendars. We were there for a light lunch, but did not have long enough to visit the Loch Ness Experience, which gets good reviews. What we had seen while in the harbour (known correctly as 'Loch Ness Harbour') was a regular succession of small boats laden with tourists off to find Nessie. Sad to say, w...