Day 8: Inverness, Loch Ness

Our last full day in Inverness and, once I finish this entry, I’ll have caught up on the backlog of days.

G wanted to have a quiet day pottering around the B&B and town, possibly a little burnt out from our “short trip to Dufftown” yesterday where he was the driver. M&P wanted to do some wandering around Loch Ness, so I happily joined them.

We headed south, and were soon alongside the loch, traversing the Great Glen that basically splits the Scottish mainland into two bits. It’s certainly a very beautiful split, driving along Loch Ness if one stunning view after another, once the trees part. Our first stop was Urquhart Castle, where we were able to sneak into the parking lot and grab some photos. Not totally keen on paying the 14.50 entry charge to the castle we carried on.

We popped into one of the little towns along the loch, I’m probably being unkind in not remembering the name but to be cynically honest, all these towns spend their efforts on the whole Nessie thing as the main selling point, rather than attempt to establish the town’s individuality. Drumnadrochit, Lewiston, Invermoriston, a couple of cafes and a bunch of shops selling all manner of Loch Ness Monster tat (just about the only thing I haven’t seen with Nessie is a Frozen crossover souvenir, but I’m guessing even the mouse’s lawyers have some limits). About the only building we encountered along the way that didn’t have some huge Nessie thing going on was a dispensing pharmacy (note: voltaren is only available without prescription as a gel in the UK).

Next was a stroll to see a waterfall neat Allt na Criche, which again was a beautiful sight, not huge but worth the stroll. M&P seem to want to go chasing waterfalls. I was just happy to take off a shoe and dip my foot in the Loch, though I’m not finding things as cold as the others (score 1 for the overweight, white and hairy guy) so was wearing shorts today.

Lunch was Fort Augustus, at the southern end of Loch Ness, at the Monster Fish and Chip shop (of course, I can just imagine all the parents having to explain to kids that they aren’t actually eating Nessie). Was decent: a nice piece of haddock and a decent serve of chips. Despite the reputation as being Britain’s premier food, I’ve regularly found fish and chips to be somewhat underwhelming. Few places ever double cook their chips, which is the secret to an awesome chip (back in the late 1980s I worked in a shop and the pre-cook was part of the deal even then) though it’s rare to experience, leading to far too many experiences with soggy, limp chips. Similarly, probably due to popularity/time factors, most shops will prepare the fish/haggis/sausage/etc in advance, and leave them to die slowly under a bain marie, often with the chips. So to encounter a place that cooks fish and chips to order is not the way many will encounter this type of meal.

In Fort Augustus we found the most puntastic shop title,

After lunch we headed back along the other side of Loch Ness, a road that cuts away from the loch in placesto show other beauty in the highlands. At one especially picturesque stop, we arrived just in time for a German motorcyclist to drop his pants and pee against a post right in front of us. I couldn’t remember how to say “that looks like a penis only smaller” in German so had to settle for glaring at the back of his uncaring head.

Seeing a sign for the falls of Foyers, our waterfall chasing duo took the turnoff to go check them out. It was a generally well maintained walk, as the path had steps for the most part, except for the occasional patch of hard rock to provide a bit of a challenge. The falls, apparently rated among Scotland’s top 3 sites to visit (some time in the 18th Century) are quite pretty, though there isn’t a lot of water going over them at present.

Getting home was an easier affair, so we had a bit of time to do some planning research for tomorrow before heading out to dinner. We again went for The Black Isles as they were good and reasonably priced (while there are some nice looking restaurants in and around Inverness, we’re paying attention to our budgets). Again, I had several Scotch ales, for it’s a very fine drop. Dinner was the black pudding and goats’ cheese pizza, again very tasty but I’m not convinced that it needed the honey drizzle. Before we left I tempted G to try the Imperial stout (well I bought two and handed one to him, so he didn’t need much tempting). He enjoyed it, as did I, a wonderful malty stout with some sweetness and lavers of complexity.

So I’m all caught up. Tomorrow we head for Skye, once I’ve checked every Scottish traffic website I can fine.