We survived the year

We survived the year

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Highlands Journey – In search of big Nessie

It seems you can’t travel more than a few miles without coming across a castle. Eilean Donan Castle is one such castle that graces many Scotland postcards with some saying it is Scotland's Most Romantic Castle. But I think the best was Castle Urquhart perched on the rocky cliffs of Loch Ness. A castle that saw more attacks than an oil rich country, only the ruins remain. We saw Scotland’s weather at its best as the mist slowly wound its way around the castle while the sun shone brightly creating an iridescent blue sky and water.

But the real reason we came here was to join the bus load of American and Japanese tourists peering out into the murky cold waters of Loch Ness in search for the smallest bubble from a monsters fart. A whole industry has been concocted around this famous Jurassic beast in the form of visitor centres, boat trips, fan clubs and countless low quality souvenirs. Luckily for us we decided to bypass it all and go to the real thing – the Loch.



I read that in 1999, an Australian woman, Tammy Van Wisse, swam the 24-mile length of Loch Ness in nine hours and six minutes. I heard she beat the previous record (held by Nessie) by twenty minutes.


With lots of ‘potential’ sightings (see photos above) from the kids we made camp by the lake just in case she is nocturnal. The next morning we woke to a thick mist overhanging the Loch dashing any further hopes for that illusive photo. So it was time for ‘Nessi’ to leave her friend and head to the mountains and another memorable camp at the base of the UK’s biggest mountain Ben Nevis.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Just reliving our trips while reading your adventures in Scotland- one of our first trips we bought petrol in Isle of Skye for 64.9p litre. In 2001 in Black Isle Scot. was 79.9, in 2004 it was 81.9 and in 2006 in Oban 96.9 and near Glencoe 98.9. Wonder how much it was for Nessie? Never mind the cost, the scenery is priceless. We have always seen Ben Nevis covered in snow. Did you drive through the mountains of Glencoe? Anyway, if not, there is always next time.