Five days, that's all it took for me to fall in love. Five snow filled, clear sky, sun shining days to fall in love with Scotland. I feel a massive sense of belonging to this beautiful country, as if the amount of generations past since my ancestors left is some how irrelevant, and the scottish blood is still fresh in my veins.
I find myself wanting to learn more, more tales of monsters and fairies, rivers whose water grants you eternal beauty and ideas about how the mountains came to be. I am facinated with clans, families, dating back so many generations. Fortunately for me, the Haggis Adventure tour took me on a wild trip, through the Scottish Highlands, to Isle of Skye and back down through the Low Lands, with plenty of beautiful sights to see.
We started the tour in Edinburgh, driving North across the 'bridge that is quite literally falling down'. In the weeks leading up to Christmas, a small crack was discovered in the Forth Road bridge, 10mm wide, but wide enough for the bridge to be shut. Luckily for us, the reconstruction was ahead of schedule, and the bridge was reopened just before Christmas.
Reaching the Highlands, we were in for the first major surprise, snow! I think everyone on that tour was just as excited about it as I was! I had not dressed for the occasion, but never the less, jumped right it, Nikes and all! After a super touristy, but had to be done, group photo, we reboarded the bus and managed to get a glimpse of Ben Nevis, the tallest mountain in the UK at 1300m high. Apparently it is very rare to see the top and it is only seen about five days a year. Our luck wasn't that great, just yet!
We arrived into Fort Augustus after dark, meaning views of Loch Ness had to be left until morning. We spent our first night enjoying a traditional Scottish dish, Balmoral Chicken: chicken wrapped in bacon and stuffed with haggis. I had already tried this before, the cultured that Scotswoman I am, but I was more than happy to have it again, washed down with a cold Irn Bru. Day Two saw us drive the length of Loch Ness, 36km, looking for any sign of Nessie. Although I love hearing about the myths and legends, I have a real hard time believing any of them, the tale of the Loch Ness Monster being no exception.
We stopped off in Inverness for lunch having no luck in our mornings search. The afternoon was spent visiting the Culloden Battlefield, the site of the last battle of Jacobite Rising, where they were finally defeated. To end a fantastic day we visited a Whiskey distillery, Tomatin, and it's safe to say I do not like Whiskey!
I had forgotten how much of a pain in the arse it is to live out of a suitcase, especially when you are packing up and moving on every other day! It was definitely worth the struggle on Day Three however as I finally got to see the Glenfinnan Viaduct AKA the Harry Potter bridge! It was a very sombre affair however as this was the place we learnt about Alan Rickman's death (Snape). A fitting tribute to an amazing actor.
We spent the night on the Isle of Skye. To me it always seemed so mysterious and exciting when others talked about their travels there, and this proved to be true. Skye is a magical place. The barren, beautiful mountain ranges were just mesmorising. Despite being further north than many of the other places we had seen snow, Skye seemed to be lacking in this department, a bit like Saint Andrews: must be the coastline and sea breezes. It did not matter though, as the barrenness was what made it so magical. I have been told that I was lucky to have visited at the right time of year, the midgies in summer are apparently unbearable.
Waking up on the Isle of Skye, we headed back over the bridge which represents two birds flying, and back onto mainland Scotland. Our luck kept getting better and better. The top of Ben Nevis was almost visible (close enough!), a great sign of things to come. We spent the day like all the others, driving to a mountain range, climbing the mountian range (the trick here was not to slip on the ice), taking breathtaking pictures (and a sneaky pano or two), climbing back down (once again trying not to slip; coming down is a lot harder than going up), and jumping back in the van to defrost (yet again I proved a true Scotswoman by finding it a lot more tropical than I ws expecting) and move on to the next danger zone. Of course the snow did not loose its appeal and there were many snow balls thrown and snow angels made.
Once again we arrived into our overnight stop after dark. Oban, a cute little seaside village which was a bit like Saint Andrews, I suppose. Our luck showed itself once more as snow began to fall as we were out exploring the village. We really could not have asked for a better final night.
Unlike the other 15 group members I do not have to say goodbye to Scotland just yet. The tour ended on our return into Edinburgh the following night. We sadly said goodbye to the snow and decended back into the Low Lands, via Stirling and the William Wallace Memorial.
I am really happy I took the time to go on this little adventure. Tours are such a great way to meet likeminded travellers, especially Kiwis, Aussies and Canadians who do the little things that remind you of home. Coming back to Saint Andrews was exciting, I have an even greater appreciation and understanding of who I am and where i've come from, but most importantly, where I belong.
"Travelling, it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller." - Ibn Batutta
I hope this has inspired you,
LARISSAJODEE x