May 27 - No Sign of "Nessie"

Today we are in the highlands of Scotland - Cromarty Firth, having travelled overnight to Inverness. While the day is overcast, the colour of the fields alongside the firth are gorgeous yellow making the hillsides very colourful. The yellow comes from the rape seed which is used to make canola oil.

This area was used in WWII for British ship maintenance. Today, it is used as a repair and maintenance port for North Sea oil rigs - several large installations were visible in the channel and firth where we were docked for the day.

We decided to take a tour again today - this time to Cawdor Castle and to Loch Ness, with hopes of perhaps seeing the elusive Loch Ness monster. We were surprised to hear the statistics - 5 million people, and 8 million sheep in the highlands! Who would have guessed. AND .... it rains 250 days of the year. Yuck. Mind you, often it's just a drizzle, but still. We learned too that, where yesterday we were in the "lowlands", the "highlands"today means that the land is 100 metres or more above sea level (I think I got that right?).

As a backdrop to our first stop, Cawdor Castle, we heard all about the Battle of Culloden, and Bonnie Prince Charles and how the Catholic and Protestant conflicts eventually led to the downfall of the clan system in the highlands of Scotland. Today, apparently only 5% of Scots still speak Gaelic.

Cawdor Castle is the residence of the Countess of Cawdor (Angelica) from October to April - the rest of the year she resides at another property and allows her house to be open to visitors. The site is about 600 acres and has history back to 1372 when the King of Cawdor gave the land to the family and permission to build the castle. The centre tower is from the 14th century; the rest was added during the 17th century. Apparently the reference to the castle in Macbeth is erroneous as it was written in the 11th century. It is adorned with beautiful tapestries on most of the bedroom, drawing room and formal dining room walls. And ... they even have their own tartan!

These friendly souls met us at the gate to the castle - apparently they represent the ghosts of the castle! Our guide said they are not there often so it was a treat for us.

On to the beautiful shores of Loch Ness and hopes of seeing the monster. But no luck - like many others, she eluded us today. Urghart Castle was a great stopping point though. The castle is mostly ruins as this site has been damaged by numerous wars.

It's location meant that it was a strategic military point along the waterways.


This is a picture of Loch Ness - 57 (I think) km long and 10 km wide. We were told it contains more water than all the lakes in Scotland and England combined.

A great day steeped in the history of the Scottish highlands - amongst the heather and the thistles.