May 31: Farewell Dear Friends

We feel the pain of loving today when it is time to say goodbye after such a wonderful time with great friends. We send off Grae and Sus on their epic trip home. It's a sizable drive from Drochmandrocit to Woburn. They have a ten hour drive in front of them. We start missing them before they have gone!

We spend a little time gathering our thoughts about where to next. Initially we had thought about showing the girls where some of their ancestors came from in Scotland. We open the information about the various families and start to realise that a trip like that would take a long time. Looking at Clare's family alome there are ten or more different places in Scotland that we could visit, so we curtail the excursion and decide to aim for driving through Perth and Mussleburgh. Both are on a direct path heading to our next destination York.

The day is sublime. So warm and no wind at all. We head for Inverness and look to buy a bike for Millie sometime today. It takes a little searching but we do eventually find one in Aviemore, which is where we end up for the night. After a couple of hours sorting the bike we head for Loch Morich which looks out onto the Cairmgorn mountains. Millie enjoys a blat around the lake before a quick bite and bed. We are parked up in the car park by the lake. We are not the only ones to ignore the signs asking for no overnight parking. We are pretty stoked that we are finally sorted so that the four of us can go biking together.

May 30: Eilean Donan, Plockton and More

Up and at em. It's a great day so we make the most of it and head to the sea. First we stop at Eilean Donan Castle which is simply glorious sitting on an island in the glistening waters. Sacked in the early 1700s, this was rebuilt in 1932. It's a bit of a tourist trap but the kids love looking through it and you couldn't choose a nicer day to do so. Next we head to Plockton which is a cracker seaside village of great beauty. We appreciate the cabbage trrees that adorn the beach front. We wander on the island and walk up the beach. It's a really memorable place.

We decide to head for the Isle of Skye for fun.... Just to say we've been there! It's a short distance from Plockton on a single track road complete with quaint villages and sheep wandering the roads. It's a taste of what we could get to see if we stayed longer. This trip has left us all with a taste for Scotland and a desire to return to see more.

It's time for dinner so we cross the bridge to Skye for a bit of fun and explore the little town which overlooks the bridge and lighthouse. We cook tea in the van while the others wander to explore the castle ruins a short distance ahead. We've finished dinner and done the dishes by the time we are asked to move on by a neighbour.

The drive back to base is not actually that long but we are all rather tired after another wonderfully long day... our last full day together for what could be a long while.

May 29: No Driving Please

It's unanimous. Today noone wants to drive far.

Francine falls from her bike onto gravel and things are on hold a little longer... She's pretty upset and it's a bit messy so we head to the village 6 miles away to the doctor who cleans her up and glues her together again. She bounces back and we meet the others to take a wander through town. We considered taking them through the loch ness museum but decide against it.

Graeme and Tony take a dip in Loch Ness and hatch a delightful plan for us. We all walk to the lake shore.. . by now a little windy and cold.... But light a fire and cook sausages damper amd smores. A local man catches a small brown trout. It's fun  to talk with him about life in the area. For the record his own father saw the monster... So there!

We head home smokey and happy but very aware that this wonderful time together is drawing to a close very soon.

May 28: Glencoe Fort William and the Pub

We're all getting a sense of how little of Scotland we are going to see in a short week and so we decide to pack in another big drive today. A quick look at Fort William, a walk in the reserve just out of town and a short walk into the hills of Glencoe are enough to cement our hunger to return for more. We stop for a quiet pint on the way back to base.

In spite of the amazing things we've sesen again today, everyoine is ultra tired and ready for a rest day tomorrow... Well at least a day with a whole lot less driving.