Tag: highlands

Nano Adventure: A Weekend on the Black Isle.

During my PhD I have to do a PIPS project, which is essentially a three month long internship in something that has nothing to do with my PhD. My PIPS project is up in Inverness, at the Raigmore hospital. My pal, Anneli, did hers in Brussels at the European Commission, and as I went to visit her, she decided she wanted to visit me whilst I’m doing mine. This time another friend, Alysha, joined us.

Anneli and Alysha arrived on Thursday evening and after checking into our Inverness Airbnb we pretty much headed straight out to the Black Isle Brewery bar for a pizza and beer (I really like it in there). After dinner we went for a little night cap in The Malt Room (I also like it in there). They have an epic range of whiskies and do some great cocktails. I had work on the Friday but Anneli and Alysha explored the city; they toured some of the coffee shops, mooched around the antique and book stores and climbed the castle tower. After I finished work, I met them at the bus station and we jumped on a bus to Fortrose on the Black Isle.

I’d been reliably informed that IV10 in Fortrose was an incredible place to get dinner and luckily, despite not having a table booked, we managed to sneak in. As soon as we walked in we loved the atmosphere, it was suitably hipster for us millennials with water served in recycled gin bottles, marine artwork and lots of re-used wood. The food was amazing too. I had some sort of wood fired cod with a mussel sauce and fries with a really nice glass of Grenache. For pudding I had a pear and frangipane tart with a Lagavullin whisky. Definitely a good start to the weekend.

7th March

After a fairly relaxed morning and a brunch consisting of cake back at IV10 we walked towards Rosemarkie, popping into a couple of the gift shops along the way. Once in the little town we headed towards the beach so that we could follow the bay around to the first couple of Rosemarkie caves. I didn’t realise but apparently there are about 20 old sea caves just up the coast and there’s a cave project (although this might be over by now!) which aims to explore and excavate them.  

We only made it as far as Caird’s Cave which my potentially outdated web source tells me could potentially have been a site of occupation since the iron age but was certainly an active Pictish site. I have literally no idea who Caird is and why it’s their cave, google didn’t help me.

On the way to the caves I found a stone with a perfect circular hole worn away through it. When I was a troubled teenager into wicca I used to keep my eyes to the ground looking for these ‘hagstones’ at the beach or along riversides. I seem to remember they’re supposed to have lots of mystical uses. Now, I just think it’s an awesome feat of nature. What I did think was pretty cool is that there’s the legend of Kenneth…better known as the Brahan seer. In short, his mum acquired a stone with a hole in it from a Norwegian ghost princess and that stone allowed him to see the future. He predicted a tonne of stuff, seemingly with great accuracy but his downfall was in telling a lady on the Black Isle that her husband was cheating on her in Paris. She wasn’t chuffed about this foretelling and boiled the Brahan seer upside down in a barrel of tar at Chanonry Point. Incidentally Chanonry Point is only a short walk up the beach from where I found my stone. I haven’t yet seen the future through it though. I’ll keep trying.

So, not only did I find my ‘hagstone’ on the way to the caves, but Alysha also found her dream stone…An ammonite! Awesome find. Anneli did not find a prize rock but she did do a mini beach clean, picking up all the plastic she could see.

After exploring the caves we walked back along the beach to Chanonry Point to look for the bottlenose dolphin. I’d heard loads of different advice about when the best time was to try and see them but the most common timing seemed to be as the tide was changing/starting to rise. Unfortunately, the dolphin did not show up. It was super windy and choppy at that point though so I have a suspicion that even if they were out and about it would have been difficult to see anything. We did find a few hermit crabs along the point though which was, for me, almost as exciting as seeing dolphin!

On the way back from Chanonry point I started to feel a bit ME relapsey…probably for lots of reasons. So, by the time we reached The Anderson pub I wasn’t quite with it. I’d been told that there were two pubs in Fortrose and that one was dodgy and one was dingy. So, we went for dingy. It was a weird place. It definitely wasn’t immediately welcoming. Once we found our way to the bar and located a space in a dark corner, which was a journey in itself, we were all too awkward to go the bar because it was blocked by lots and lots of men. All of them standing quietly watching the England vs Wales rugby match. You can probably guess who they were rooting for! Once Anneli gathered the courage to go and order drinks for all of us (what a star?!), she was promptly told by the barmaid ‘you’re in Scotland now’ after part of the order involved a bitter shandy. Delightful! It hadn’t really crossed my mind that it wasn’t really ‘a thing’ up here.

After the rugby was over, a few of the men cleared out and the barmaid came over with the menus as we’d originally gone in there for food. She seemed a lot more cheerful, maybe we’d redeemed ourselves somehow after awkwardly stumbling in and ordering an English ale. The menu actually looked great and the barmaid pointed over to the butcher who supplied them, which seemed like a great sign. There were some mixed opinions about whether we should stay or go but the ‘ayes’ had it…just. The food was amazing! I had a lamb burger with feta and mint sauce, Anneli had a beef burger with haggis and Alysha had a veggie burrito. We pretty much licked the plates clean! Although our Anderson experience had a bumpy start I actually really liked it in the end…I’d go back! It probably helped that after a sit down, one of Alysha’s babybels and half a pint I started to feel a bit more like myself again.

8th March

In the morning we had a quick look around Fortrose cathedral…which was ‘nice’. I wouldn’t tell anyone to go out of their way to visit it, but if you’re in the area and you have a spare 15 minutes it won’t ruin your day!

Once we’d seen all we wanted of the ruined cathedral we grabbed some outstanding breakfast baps from the Fortrose Café on our way to catch the bus to Cromarty. I had link sausage and tatty scone just in case you’re interested!

The bus took about 25 minutes and brought us pretty much all the way to the Cromarty lighthouse. It’s one of the University of Aberdeen’s remote campus locations and they run a field course there every year. Unfortunately, because of a re-shuffle, Alysha and I are in the year that don’t get to go, so it was good to go and explore the area on our own.

The Cromarty Firth is unusual in that there are loads of oil rigs ‘parked’ there whilst they’re undergoing ‘refurbishment’. I’m not sure I know what that really means but it’s an unusual and strangely cool sight. We talked a bit about turning one into a bar or a hotel but then realised we have no money.

Before embarking on a damp walk in the unpredictable weather we had a coffee and cake stop at The Slaughterhouse Café. It was a pretty cosy space but lovely, definitely worth squeezing yourself into. Our walk took us through the town where we stopped in a couple of shops. I bought a wooden Cromarty butter knife in a Scandi style shop because Anneli insisted that my life would change for the better if I owned one. I’m yet to use it but I have great hopes!

After leaving the town we headed round to the coast path to the Sutors of Cromarty and then back into town to catch our bus back to Inverness. It was a nice walk with stunning views across the firth and out to sea. We saw a couple of deer on our way back, which is always sweet. 

The bus took about an hour to get from Cromarty to Inverness and only cost about £3.50, which, I think, is an absolute bargain! Back in Inverness Anneli and Alysha had enough time to grab some absolutely essential M&S train snacks before they were back off to Aberdeen. And I bought some sushi dinner and wandered back to the Raigmore on the phone to my parents, giving them the low down on the weekend.

I’m not positive yet but I think next weekend I’ll be in Nairn. These weekend trips won’t last forever by the way…just until I stop living in hospital accommodation!

Mini Adventure: A weekend around Loch Ness.

As I mentioned in my last blog, the thought of spending the weekend in my Raigmore flat doesn’t fill me with joy. So on this particular weekend, my boyfriend came up from Aberdeen to drive around Loch Ness with me….much better.

29th February

Mattia ‘alighted’ in Inverness about half 10 but I’d already been in town for a while excitedly buying maps, shopping and picking up a donut in Perk (essential)! We collected the keys for our hire car at the train station from ‘Focus Rentals’. The guy who met us and introduced us to our car was very friendly and as the car we originally wanted wasn’t actually available we’d been upgraded to a brand new car. Winning!

As soon as we’d picked up a few picnic supplies we headed off out of the city towards Loch Ness. I was actually pretty excited and as soon as we hit Dores the views across to the Loch had me buzzing! Also, Mattia loves driving (I do not) so I just got to sit and watch out the window, pointing things out.  

Our first stop was Farigaig where we just climbed straight up to the viewpoint and had lunch. It needs to be said that the toilets were delightful! A great place to stop if you’re out kayaking or hiking the trail from Inverness to Fort Augustus. Loads of people had left their post it notes of thanks behind which were really sweet to read.

After our Farigaig lunch we followed the ‘Walk Highlands’ route to Foyers Falls, down to the shores of Loch Ness and then back to the car through the village of Foyers. The falls were epic! We’d been told with a grunt earlier in the day that they weren’t that impressive, but they blew us away. The falling water was so powerful that as we approached them I thought someone was having a bonfire, the spray of water being forced upwards looked like smoke. In fact, the Gaelic name for the falls, Eas na Smùide, means the smoking falls…I can totally see why.

I couldn’t get the video to load – you’re just going to have to go!

We were both pretty knackered after climbing back up to the car, so after refuelling (the Foyers shop at the carpark is crazy cheap), we pretty much headed straight to our Airbnb home for the night just above Drumnadrochit. The only other time we got out of the car was to experience the crazy weather in the hills above Fort Augustus. Such a change from 10 minutes down the road! It was insanely windy. I had to crawl out of the car over the drivers seat because the wind was too strong for me to open the passenger door and it was blowing snow and little bits of ice off the hills which made it hard to face the wind. As painful as it was, it was fun leaning into it and trying to catch flight!

The accommodation was unreal. I thought it was going to be pretty special but it definitely surpassed expectations. It was a little wooden shepherd’s hut lit with fairy lights. It had a little wood burner inside, a bathroom hidden behind a ‘secret’ door, hot water bottles, some milk and biscuits for when we arrived AND some free whisky decanted out for us. They’d thought of everything. It was so cosy. I kind of wish I’d taken more pictures but I was too busy enjoying the space.

(Despite the fact the place/day was very romantic and it was the 29th Feb on a leap year I did not, like one friend thought, propose! Bit early for that.)

1st March

We stayed in the hut as long as we could and enjoyed a lazy breakfast. I don’t enjoy cooking in the hospital accommodation so it was just really nice to have something more exciting than tortellini, pizza or super noodles (yep, I have indeed regressed)!

We decided to head to a place called Abriachan for a walk on the way back to Inverness. It was a recommendation from my office mate who has so far nailed it with everywhere that she’s suggested. Almost as soon as we drove away from the shepherd’s hut we saw a red squirrel. Or, more accurately, I saw a red squirrel, yelled ‘SQUIRREL, SQUIRREL, SQUIRREL’ and made Mattia reverse back up the hill so he could see it too!

I didn’t think the day would get much better after that but as soon as we parked in the Abriachan carpark my spider senses were tingling about some birds chirping about in the tree next to the car. They were only bloody crossbills! Sorry, if you’re not into birds or wildlife in general, maybe skip this little paragraph, because I need a little moment! I honestly never thought I’d be lucky enough to see these birds. I mean other things are hard(ish) to spot like otter, red squirrel, waxwings… but I’m happy to head to a hot spot for that species and have a go. I thought it was so unlikely I’d ever see a crossbill that there was no point actively trying! I knew they were shy and secretive and I mistakenly thought that all types of crossbill were only in certain parts of Scotland (I’ve now learned I was wrong on that point). But anyway, here I was, literally stood next to the car in a fairly busy car park watching both male and female crossbill in a tree a few metres away. No idea if they were Scottish or Common but that wouldn’t have changed how I felt. I was so excited! They were around long enough for me to stare and check in disbelief that they weren’t anything else and I hadn’t made an utterly stupid ID mistake but they left after a small group of kids ran screaming through the snow into the car park!

With me still chattering away about the birds and clutching onto my binoculars hoping to see more we headed off up the hill to the 434 metre summit of Carn na Leitire. We stopped via the pond to poke the ice, at the Lochside bird hide to see if we could spot anything, at the bronze age hut to talk about what people would’ve dressed in back then to stay warm and in the forest a couple of times because we were tired!

The views from the top were awesome and I’m sure my photos don’t do it justice. I’m often afraid to push myself to climb big hills or little mountains because last time I did (about 2 years ago now) I triggered another little ME relapse. It felt right though and luckily this time I’ve suffered no payback from it. It was a really nice moment to be up there in the snow, nobody else around, just taking in the scenery.

Once we were back down I finished the Perk donut I’d been nursing for two days (honestly the best donuts ever) and Mattia enjoyed watching another couple struggle to get their car out of the icy bay.

And that was pretty much it. We stopped for a late lunch in a place called An Talla at the Dochgarroch lock (not loch), dropped the car back off at the train station and then Mattia got his train home. I walked back to the Raigmore but avoided Burger King for once!

Next weekend I have a couple of friends visiting from Aberdeen and we’re exploring the Black Isle. Only time will tell if I’ll write about it!