Scotland Day 9 - a tour of the Loch Ness area

Today we are indeed touring the Loch Ness area, ending with a boat tour from the northern end of the loch down to Urquhart Castle.

On the way to the Fort Augustus stop at the south end of the loch, our driver made yet another unscheduled stop, at a lovely stream and waterfall:

A rural mailbox

 A short video clip of the rushing water:

The bridge overlooking the falls

Some succulent-looking holly

Coming into Fort Augustus we crossed the Caledonian canal, a popular cruising route:

The Canal, and a tour boat

The Clansman Centre, where we'd have a historical presentation

Our bus driver Colin, and the historical presenter

Inside, the Clansman Centre is well equipped with clan artifacts, set up to resemble a croft house (although I'd imagine most crofts weren't quite this well equipped):

One of our tour members, another Gord, was "volunteered" to get wrapped up in a traditional kilt, quite different from the modern skirt-like portrayal. Gord is likely about 6 ft 5:

And for equal time, he was dressed up as a typical crofter woman might have been:

No fancy colourful tartan for the ladies

After the Clansman presentation it was time to head back north to the top of Loch Ness to board our tour boat near Dochgarroch. First we were treated to an ice cream at Miele's Gelateria:

Lots of people enjoying the beautiful day

The canal that would carry our tour boat down to Loch Ness:

A cute private touring boat

There are some pretty nice places (some are historical estates) along the shores of Loch Ness:

 

At Urqhart Castle we disembarked for a tour of the castle, while keeping a close eye out for Nessie in the waters:

Urqhart Castle ruins

Our tour boat

The hairy guard coo?

A beautiful spot on a beautiful day

After we finished our castle tour it was back on the bus, heading to our Drumnadrochit hotel. We saw a lot of the east side of Loch Ness today.

Some energetic people toured some nearby bars etc. We're missing our afternoon naps though, so stuck to our room except for dinner. 

 

Scotland Day 8 - Across the bridge to Skye

Eilean Donan castle

A somewhat longer travel day today, we boarded the bus towards the Isle of Skye at 8 am. Lots of hilly views today.

Another right-sized travel van for this area

 

With the early start we all needed a rest break along the way, so stopped at some facilities with a view of the famous Eilean Donan castle. 

Some boats do fish these waters for lobster etc.

Here's a short video clip on Eilean Donan on the Kyle of Lochalsh:

 

For more information on Eilean Donan, click here:

<Eilean Donan link> 

Soon after that stop we were on our way to the Skye bridge:

 

This bridge was not here on our previous visit 34 years ago:

After crossing the bridge we headed north across Skye:

We went as far north as Kilt Rock, so-called due to the look of the rock formation, a 90-metre-high wall of multi-coloured hexagonal columns of basalt rock and dolerite sills resembling the pleats of a tartan kilt:

 

Turning south again, we passed the Old Man of Storr formation. The magnificent pinnacles and weathered basalt rock formations of The Storr dominates the Island’s north-eastern landscape and can be seen for miles by travellers heading past, as well as from the mainland.

I'm afraid our pictures from the bus don't really capture the feeling. It's more attractive to hikers, who get much better views:

Still heading south, we stopped at the coastal village of Portree, for a good break and another diy lunch stop. Most lunches on our tour were not provided so we were free to find whatever appealed to us, usually a shared sandwich or sausage rolls for us.

A nicely protected harbour

Portree gets a lot of tourists, so lots of choice of eateries

A young piper entertained at our bus stop

The piper accepted tips of course, and did well by all the waiting bus passengers. There were several buses using the square as a gathering point.
 

Of course, even picturesque towns like this have their issues:

Back on the bus, we headed back to our hotel at Drumnadrochit, where dinner included the option of another version of the ever-popular sticky toffee pudding:

Thanks to the early start we were back to our room by 7:15, ready for a relax.