Loch Ness
First stop of the day was a boat tour of Loch Ness. After seeing the giant purple sculpture of Nessie outside the gift shop, where the boat docks, I was weary that the excursion was going to be a little too commercialized for my taste. Happily, my fears subsided once I was sailing along the dank murky waters of Loch Ness.
The scenery is quite simply breathtaking; the beautiful ruins of Urquhart Castle sit forlornly on the shore of Loch Ness and the majestic mountains shimmer on the glassy surface of this famous deep watered lake.
Since we didn’t have any success is locating Nessie, we continued our exploration and drove to Culloden to see the sight of the 1746 Battle of Culloden. This famous battle ended the lives of over 1500 Jacobite soldiers and forever changed the Clans of Scotland. We toured the newly opened visitor’s center and gazed out over the vast eerie battlefield.
Clava Cairns
After leaving Culloden, my friend Amelia suggested that we try to find Clava Cairns, the 4,000 year old Bronze Age ancient stone huts which are located just a few miles from the Culloden visitor center. It was a lovely summer day and with the sun shining warmly on us, we walked the old country lanes alongside fields of sheep and cows until we saw the Cairns in the distance.
A few minutes later, an electric crackling noise coursed through the quiet countryside and ended in a loud pop and fizz on the power line directly above us, startling the cows in the pasture alongside the small country lane. Not sure what caused the noise; we continued to walk towards the entrance of the Clava Cairns. A few minutes later, smoke began to billow and small flames could be seen through the hedges separating the cows from the ancient stone huts.
We were a few miles from the nearest town and we had not encountered anyone else on our walk, but luckily Hendo acted quickly and called the Scottish equivalent of 911. The fire brigade arrived shortly and without much fanfare put out the fire and went about their day.
After the excitement of what I now refer to as the Clava Cairns fire, we walked along the ancient stones that sit undisturbed in the countryside with few visitors. The serenity and peace of this area is well worth the trek.
Forres
After walking back to the car without further incident, Hendo drove us to Forres, a small village on the Northern coast, where his grandparents used to live and he spent many summers exploring while growing up. We arrived in Forres and stopped at a bakery on the high street for takeaway sandwiches. We took our impromptu picnic goods and drove to Findhorn Beach. Sitting on the grey stone-covered beach overlooking the North Sea with the crisp fresh sea air whipping through my hair, my cheese sandwich had never tasted so good!
We finished lunch and walked leisurely along the deserted beach and made our way around to Findhorn Bay where we stopped at an enticing pub, The Kimberly Inn. The pub had a small beer garden overlooking the bay and we all enjoyed a pint while sitting in a sun patch.
Inverness
After finishing our pints, we made the short drive back to our lovely bed and breakfast in Inverness, the Trafford Bank Guest House to freshen up for the evening.
Around dinner time, we walked into the city center and decided to have drinks at the Hootananny. This truly fantastic pub turned out to be our home for the evening. After gorging ourselves on the delicious Thai food on offer, we settled in with our pints and listened to a spectacular jam session of Scottish music played by the many locals who drifted in throughout the night.
All in all, an award winning day. I can’t wait to go back to this pocket of Scotland, if only for another night at the Hootananny!Culloden
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