I am beside myself with excitement. After coming to Scotland on one of the worlds most sophisticated flying machines I am now on what must be one of the worlds coolest. After a great day of work in Aberdeen I headed toward Fort William at about 5pm. When you haven’t been driving for a while you forget what it is like to fly up and down mountains in a manual car. It was a great way to get behind a wheel again. The trip was long, about 4 hours, but the scenery stunning. I drove through Alford and then missed a turn but the GPS decided it knew where to go and I found myself in the most majestic Scottish scenery. Goat track roads and a few heart stopping moments with tractors, cows and sheep blocking the way; by glens, mountains, and mystical castles. I went up through Cairngorms national park and the ski fields and I must admit I did feel like a bit of a hoon planting the foot down 30 degree gradients. Yep reckless, but it was fantastic. There were no cars and I could see for miles. It was sort of like a Scottish Big Dipper and I drove irresponsibly fast. I had the bagpipes playing on the radio as I whizzed past the Monarch of the Glen Castle.
I drove toward Inverness through the Highlands and past the sites of the march toward Culloden. As I flew along I gave a thought to the Highlanders and decided that today the comfort of a car was preferable to a broadsword and a kilt. The mountains were covered in snow, with the lochs lapping at their base but the sun was shining.
Turning the car to Fort William I stopped for fish and chips. The rest of the world have an accent, not us, so I really couldn’t understand why I had a ten minute conversation with the young girl in the shop who couldn’t work out whether I wanted haddock or haggis. Oh come on. I really nick down to the local fish and chip shop at home to pick up my regular haggis and chips! After ten minutes of her not understanding a word of what I was saying I finally got enough haddock and chips to feed the entire Highland army, so put the pipes back on and stuffed my mouth full of proper Scottish fish and chips.
I found my ‘humble’ abode on the edge of Loch Linnhe and walked into one of the most stunningly beautiful rooms. The view through large picture windows of the loch and mountains; my wonderful hosts with buckets of restorative tea and fantastic home made shortbread. I am sleeping in the attic and have a whole suite with a lounge with the same view down the Loch. I have told my gracious hosts that I am so over Australian politics that I am planning to stay and squat in their great house; as long as they feed me the exquisite Scottish salmon and eggs that I had this morning. There are real advantages in staying in the house of a retired chef.
Back to my cool flying machine. The Jacobite Express. They say one of the worlds most spectacular steam train trips past the amazing Glenfinnan viaduct. The train is normally inhabited by a heap of witches and muggles on their way to Hogwarts. I have lovely old people sitting beside me in their tweed jackets, caps and tartan scalves, the train is rattling, the steam pouring out and they have just served tea. The A380 is amazing with its 700 people and its oh so smooth flying capacity but give me a hundred muggles on a rattling old steam train anytime.
The end to a perfect day was a 30 minute drive to Lochleven Seafood Cafe on recommendation from my hosts. A simple cafe on the edge of the water, with soaring snow covered mountains; Scotland’s seafood restaurant of the year and a great choice! Elderflower jelly, homemade pear ice cream and gorgeous shortbread and hmm I did have more of the fabulous Scottish scallops.
Sleeping under the stars 