Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
For four days (5-8 July), Peter, Sina, Marisa and I rented a car and drove around Scotland. Here's a summary:
On the Saturday we went to a Highland Games at Invergarry, which is about 20 mins south of the southern tip of Loch Ness. When we arrived, it wasn't quite what we imagined.No bleachers or permanent running track. No paved car park. Only a couple of hundred people. But when we got amongst it, the games had everything we were after and a few we didn't even expect (360 degrees of stunning scenery, a giant dog).
There was the highland dancing competition, with girls and boys ranging from five to sixteen or seventeen jumping around on a foot-high platform as a septuagenarian piper knocked out the standards and an octogenarian judge wrote down everything in his notebook.
There was the pipeband which did a circuit of the entire field every hour (or so it seemed). The field was actually the local shinty field (shinty is like hockey except you can play the ball in the air and use both sides of the stick and generally more rugged and becoming of a highland bloke's sport) - and there was a shinty penalty shootout at the far end of the field. Basically, anyone who wanted could smack a ball as hard as they like at a member of the local club who only had another shinty stick to protect him.
There were the track events, ranging from kids egg-and-spoon races to the men's and women's running events around the track which consisted of a single painted line around the field and the guy over the PA saying, "Please keep of the track" whenever a race was on. The best race had to be the women's three-legged egg-and-spoon race. Now that's multi-tasking. No wonder there was no corresponding event for men.
There was the greasy fast food tent. Luckily for the vegetarians among us, we brought our own picnic.
And of course, there were the heavyweights. There was a moment of doubt when the competitors were warming up for the hammer toss and we discovered our picnic was laid out at the very end of the measuring string. Internal monologue times four: "Just how far can they throw one of those? "The old Scots bloke with tartan trousers, mutton chops and a walking stick (I imagine every highland games has one of these officials) gave us a grin as we pulled out rug back a few yards. "Dinnae worry tae much. Unless the wind picks up." He was having a laugh - none of the throws came within thirty metres of us - but still, it would be an embarrassing way to go.
The caber tossing was the obvious highlight, although the cabers themselves were a bit smaller than I imagined. Less like telephone poles and more like really (really) big fence posts. Maybe I'm being a bit unfair. Still, it was obvious how much technique was involved just to pick one of them up, let alone propel it end over end so that it lands at exactly twelve o'clock (scoring is based not on distance or height but on the final angle of the caber at rest).
After the highland games we set up our tents in Fort Augustus and drove up the eastern side of Loch Ness (Marisa and I only having been up the western side). We had dinner in Inverness, then drove back down the 'highway' side of the loch, stopping to check out Urquhart Castle at night (well, the lights were on, though it wasn't exactly dark), and back to Fort Augustus for a kip in the never-quite-dark of a summer night in the highlands.
After our taste of highland life, the next few days were all about getting back to nature.
One of the highlights had to be the highland cattle ('coos').We only saw three herds of more than ten coos, so they aren't as common as one might think (it being the highlands and all). And while they aren't technically wild, it was just as much fun stopping on the side of the road and watching these creatures as it was in Africa with other herding herbivores.
The two wild animals we really wanted to see were otters and puffins.Puffins were a long shot, as they hang out on small islands during summer (breeding season) and spend the rest of the time at sea. The island we went to (Isle of Skye) ain't that small (we drove around it for two days) and there's a road bridge connecting it with the mainland.I think the puffins see this is contravening the definition of an island - so no puffins on this trip.
But otters were a distinct possibility. The various maps of Skye we consulted all had little otter icons along the southern coast. In Armadale we took a guided tour through the bush to an otter hide (a camouflaged hut overlooking the rocky coast). I think our chance of seeing otters was severely curtailed by the fact that our guide was a dog (a collie) - but it was one smart dog.Friendly too. After we spent ten minutes in the hide, holding our breath and trying to swat the midges with a minimum of movement, we gave up and followed the dog to what was signposted as Seal Island, but again, no wildlife.
So the two animal highlights of the wild isle were domesticated. Ah well, at least the animal lowlight was wild: the aforementioned midges ('midgies' to the Scots). Everyone warned us about them.That there'd be millions. That they don't mind deet and can stand citronella. The only things they can't abide are wind and rain. Luckily, our first day on Skye was windy.We camped in Uig, and we awoke the next morning to the sound of spits on canvas.So we had rain to keep the midges at bay until we got back to the mainland and set up camp in Fort William. The campground, on the banks of the river Linnhe and at the foot of Ben Nevis was a stunning we spot, and the sun was out as we set up camp.Sadly, we had to wear raincoats, hoodies, beanies and scarves to keep the biters off. Citronella candles lit, we sat around the picnic table and applied deet. But the locals were right, it's pointless.We were forced to retire to our tents early (well, it seemed early - it was 11pm but still daylight to my eyes). I guess we were lucky to be bugged out only once in four days, so I can't complain too much.
Skye was really beautiful, and it was a shame the clouds came in just as we were at the Old Man of Storr and put the kibosh on our plans to drive over a pass which gives great views of the northern end of the isle.But still, lots of natural beauty to be had (by us and our cameras).
There were also a couple of spots on the mainland where I'd definitely like to go back and spend a bit more time. A few days walking around Glencoe would be awesome (no pictures from me this time as I was driving and we had to get to Invergarry by one o'clock for the games).
In all, we drove over 1,300kms in the four days, which was maybe a bit much driving to ever really relax (for me, the driver, at least), but we certainly got around. And, despite the gaudy fuel prices, I was pleasantly surprised by the economy of the diesel Ford Focus Zetec we rented (it was a diesel, it managed 4.8 litres per 100kms - - Peter tells me this is very good. He owns a diesel, is an engineer, and is German, so he should know!). There, a token piece of car talk. Now this blog has everything.
Next up, it will be Marisa. She's heading off to the States for work tomorrow (Sunday). New York and South Dakota - two very different places to the highlands! Sadly I'm not going (too short a notice to get affordable flights and time off work), but I can't wait to see the pictures.
Footnote: Has it really been a year since we left NZ?
- comments
Lena its not as bad as you might think. it isnt good, but for a city that big, it should be eeceptxd. the pollution is worse in cities like atlanta, houston, la (except in the winter months)