Scotland (East Coast)

Invergordon

From Dover, we set sail for the east coast of Scotland, stopping at Invergordon as the gateway to the Highlands. An ancient fishing village it has more recently had some investment in port facilities through the oil industry and so there were a number of berths available for us and also for the Viking cruise ship in port on the same day.

Kathy has previously visited the area but as it was my first time I signed us up for the full tour including a boat ride on Loch Ness. So we set off through Invergordon with our bus driver in full highland garb (missing at least one front tooth) and a language teacher guide who reminded me somewhat of Maggie Smith in "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie"

We passed through Inverness which like the rest of the highlands is overrun by tourists in the summer with all available housing being snapped up for short-term rentals. The bus continued its narrated journey to Loch Ness where we alighted at Urquhart Castle. Kathy had previously been here in the early 80s and her recollection is that the ruins themselves were pretty much unchanged. What was new was the visitor centre with a small theatre, costumed staff and a modern gift shop. The castle itself was interesting but the history presented had only a series of destruction and rebuilding until it was finally abandoned during the Jacobite rebellion.

The weather was again spectacular with outer layers being peeled off and sunscreen being applied as we walked down from the ruins to board the boat for our short cruise along the loch.

The dark water of Loch Ness revealed no secrets as we motored back along the lake to meet the bus at another gift shop.

Gifts were purchased and we headed off in the bus to the visitor centre at Culloden.

Culloden - National Trust for Scotland website

There was some interesting information which filled in a lot more background to the battle and the whole Jacobie cause. While I can appreciate a lot of what was presented I would find it difficult personally to get behind protecting the divine right of kings. Anyway, the battlefield is there and the visitor centre, cafe and gift shop are first rate.

From the battlefield, it was back to the ship in the afternoon for the sailaway in the afternoon sun. Up on the deck we had to seek shelter from the sun and without a hat I had to improvise using a napkin and the skills I had learnt in Jordan on folding headgear. (Kathy was too busy smirking to take a photo)

As we picked up speed we sailed past the Viking ship which was at a pier much further down the firth. (note the fluent Scotttish)

==Shetland==

From Invergordon, we headed north to a port which was eagerly anticipated. There was some fog in the night and a short exchange of fog horns around 2 in the morning (presumably with another ship which was encroaching on our personal space). The morning had us in the Shetland Isles observing the grey landscape beloved by viewers of the T.V. Series Shetland.

Unfortunately, there was a reasonable wind blowing and this caused problems with the tricky manoeuvre required to back into the dock. So after two attempts to start the docking the Captain made the decision to skip the port and sail on.

So we left the Shetlands and headed towards Iceland. Leaving 40 pounds sterling in banknotes weeping as they were separated from the many gift shops in Lerwick and unwanted in our remaining destinations.