UK Roadtrip - Nairn to Edinburgh

28th September


Brace yourself for the scenery photos...


We packed up our car and our suitcases, only slightly fuller this morning compared to when we picked it up from the airport! Locked up the door behind us to our little apartment in Nairn. 


   


We took the A939, the Highland Tourist Route, through the Cairngorms National Park visiting little towns such as Grantown-on-Spey, Tomintoul, ending in Braemar.  Here are the scenery photos....





   

I told you to brace yourself. Needless to say it was gorgeous!


We tried to visit Lizzie at Balmoral Castle, hoping she had the kettle on, but it turns out Mum forgot to send the email to let her know we were coming!





In Braemar we visited the charity shops and the local castle; Braemar Castle.  The L-shaped tower Castle was built in 1628 in a commanding position overlooking the River Dee, primarily as a hunting lodge.  The lands around the castle were owned by the Earls of Mar, hence the name Braemar, which translates as the ‘hills of Mar.’ Braemar Castle is the only Community run castle in Scotland.

  

Continuing on the A939 and the A39, we passed through many more little towns, visiting many more charity shops, and Scone Castle, before making it to the city of Perth. 

 

Visiting Perth in Scotland was very confusing despite the fact that Perth, Scotland was founded wayyyy before Perth, Western Australia.  However whenever anyone asked us where we were from, in that split second between saying 'Perth' and 'Western Australia' the look on their face was as if we were the stupidest people alive.  We walked along the shore line and through the sculpture park before heading out on the M9 to Edinburgh. 

Perth

Dodging parked cars and buses through the centre of Edinburgh we found the next little apartment which was our home for the next three nights. Once we unpacked the car, we headed out for a stroll along the nearest main street.  

Queensferry Crossing coming into
Edinburgh

 

  

Edinburgh

 

UK Roadtrip - Loch Ness and Inverness

27th September


I woke up this morning to Granny Nanny talking (quite loudly, might I add!) on the phone to people back home.  When I looked at the time, expecting it to be early morning, I was shocked (that's an understatement!) that it was 4 AM. Needless to say I was not impressed and turned over and went back to sleep. 


When I awoke again, at a much more reasonable hour of 7 am, we got up and got ready for the day.  Continuing with yesterdays tradition, the view from the balcony was incredible. 

We started the day by completing the hour drive along the A96 and the A82 to Urquhart Castle.  Situated on the side of a hill, it over looks the Loch Ness.  Once one of Scotland’s largest castles, Urquhart saw great conflict during its 500 years as a medieval fortress. Control of the castle passed back and forth between the Scots and English during the Wars of Independence. The power struggles continued, as the Lords of the Isles regularly raided both castle and glen up until the 1500s.
The last of the government troops garrisoned here during the Jacobite Risings blew up the castle when they left. Urquhart’s iconic ruins remain, offering glimpses into medieval times and the lives of its noble residents.




At the top of Urquhart Castle over looking Loch Ness

  

Next we visited the Loch Ness Centre and Exhibition Centre.  The hi-tech multi-media presentation lead us through 7 themed areas and 500 million years of history, natural mystery and legend revealing the unique environment of Loch Ness and the famous Nessie legend.  The presentations display the contents of a loch with rare and unusual properties, and discuss why some people still motivate expeditions to explore the loch, while others can "create" monsters.

Loch Ness

Once we had sufficiently and unfortunately unsuccessfully searched for Nessie, we headed back to Inverness.  Here we ambled around some more charity shops and had some lunch; where I took it upon myself to eat Granny Nanny's black pudding (as she refused).  It wasn't overly horrible... however its not something I would order again.  Once considerable purchases had been made from more charity shops, we departed Inverness for Culloden Moor. 

On 16 April 1746, the final Jacobite Rising came to a brutal head in one of the most harrowing battles in British history.  The Jacobite supporters, seeking to restore the Stuart monarchy to the British throne, gathered to fight the Duke of Cumberland's government troops. It was the last pitched battle on British soil and, in less than an hour, around 1,500 men were slain – more than 1,000 of them Jacobites.

The Culloden Visitor centre is richly researched and stands beside the battlefield as a monument and a guide to a pivotal day in history.  The centre features artefacts from both sides of the battle and interactive displays that reveal the background to the conflict. 

Where artefacts were found on the battlefield
The red line is where the Government forces stood at the commencement of the battle and the blue line was the Jacobites



 

The Clan Memorial Stones

Though Mum and Nan were growing tired of ruins and historic sites, there was one place left on my list to see today; Clava Cairns.

Clava Cairns or the Prehistoric Burial Cairns of Bulnuaran of Clava are a group of three Bronze Age cairns located near Inverness.  Dating back approximately 4,000 years, Clava Cairns is a well-preserved Bronze Age cemetery of complex passage graves; ring cairns, kerb cairns and standing stones in a beautiful setting.  It is a exceptionally well preserved prehistoric site and a fantastic example of the distant history of Highland Scotland. 

Finally we headed home, but once again we took the scenic route along a 'B' single lane back road.  Though we were risking our lives with the blind corners, 60 miles/hour speed limit and insane Scots driving erratically, we were once again not disappointed with the views, the Nairn Viaduct between Daviot - Culloden a highlight. 

A quick trip to Sainsbury's and the Co-op (because one grocery store is not enough) and we were sorted for dinner, just needed to come home and cook it! Now we are about to plan our day tomorrow before heading to bed.

UK Roadtrip - Glasgow to Nairn

26th September

Our day begun with a full homemade breakfast served in the front room of our hotel. A typical English set up with personal service, it was a lovely way to start our day!

 

After eating our fill, we packed up the car (it was a little bit of a tetris game to fit three big suitcases and three hand luggage bags into the car whilst still being able to get in and out easily!) and headed off.  First was a little taste of Glasgow, as you can't say you have been somewhere and haven't looked around!

We drove around Glasgow, getting used to the different signals and style of driving... we didn't realise what the zig-zag lines on the side of the road at random intervals meant until we had a hurried discussion with a taxi driver at the traffic lights! For reference, they mean that you can't park on the road there. 

We found The Metropolitan Cathedral of St Andrew to walk through.  Stunning stained glass windows as with pretty much every church in Europe, we drove through the Glasgow SSE Hydro and the SSE, and along the River Clyde.  We finished up with some shopping in the charity shops along Byres Street before setting off on our journey to Nairn.









We headed out along the M8 heading north, and our first stop was Bannockburn. Here we visited the Scotland National Trust exhibition of the Battle of Bannockburn.  The battle, fought on 23 Jun 1314 – 24 Jun 1314, was a significant Scottish victory in the First War of Scottish Independence, and a landmark in Scottish history. Stirling Castle, a Scots royal fortress, occupied by the English, was under siege by the Scottish army.  The English king, Edward II assembled a formidable force to relieve it. This attempt failed, and his army was defeated in a pitched battle, by a smaller army commanded by the King of Scots, Robert the Bruce. 


  




The simulation game of the Battle, it was like one big game of D n D

After walking through the exhibition and walking to the monument, we drove to Stirling Castle.  High on the hillside, we didn't walk through however still managed to get some impressive shots of the castle and of some Highland Coows!

Stirling Castle

We left Stirling and headed north again on the A873 through Thornhill to Callander on the A84.  We pulled over off the A84 next to Loch Lubnaig, because if the local Ranger is taking photos you know the sights are good. 

We continued on the A84 to the A827, to drive along the Loch Tay.  Each little town had a collection of little shops that we had to stop and have a look through, which made our progress a little slow. 




 

Loch Lubnaig

Eventually we made it to the A9, back onto a semi major road, until we veered off on the A95 to the B9007.  Mum and I were quite grateful Nan was asleep in the back by this point, as the single lane road with 'passing points' was quite narrow, windy and really quite concerning to drive on.  However the views as we drove through the heights of the Highlands were incredible.  As the sun was setting it left us with some magical sights that looked like they had come straight out of a Harry Potter film. 











We were onto the A939, a double lane road (Yay!), and into Nairn by 7.30pm.  Here we had fish and chips for dinner at the local pub, before finding our apartment on the Harbour side and crashing into bed!