Visiting Nessie in Scotland – May 2010

As much as we hate to say it, we flew (!!!) up to Aberdeen on the first May Bank Holiday as we had some air miles that needed using up before June. From Aberdeen, we picked up our hire car and drove up the East Moray coast towards Inverness. We enjoyed stopping on the way in the great little towns of Banff and Cullen (the latter we particularly liked) before arriving at our accommodation on East Grange Farm, near Findhorm. This was our first experience of "glamping" (glamorous camping) - we slept in a wooden wigwam, which was heated and had it's own kettle and fridge. There was then a shared bathroom and kitchen, which worked perfectly for us.This part of Scotland is lovely - well, it all is - but we were amazed afresh by the wild beauty of this area. The next day we by-passed Inverness in favour of Fort Augustus where we stopped for a while to see if we could see ol' Nessie while we ate our lunch. En route, down the western side of the Loch, we went to Glen Affric and walked around the woods there and then visited one of the local cafes in Cannich. Then, on our return journey, we drove up the eastern side of the Loch and saw it from a different perspective. We also stopped on the way to see Foyers waterfalls.

Day 3 and we took in some of the local castles. The famous pink Craigievar castle was a bit pricey for us but we enjoyed wandering over the extensive grounds and wood before heading on. The holiday was over all to quickly for us - last day and we drove back to Aberdeen the scenic way over high passes and low roads still covered in snow in parts. We also visited the ruins of Kildrummy Castle before reaching Aberdeen to return to London. Here are some of the photographic highlights.