Friday 13th September 2019

Lucky for me, being spoilt with a hotel room also meant being spoilt with a hotel brekkie. Bacon, yum, eggs, yum, sheep’s brains, yum… you wouldn’t think sheep’s leftovers smooshed with some grains and fried would be so delicious, but yummo, love me some haggis!

BOTB and we’re just cruising along and there on an island is an epic castle… kinda like Dunluce in Ireland, home of the Greyjoy’s. Once again would love to climb all over it but a picture out a bus window was as good as it gets…

Back in our seats and we’re headed to Glencoe. Dan the sometimes Man reckons it’s one of the most beautiful places in Scotland. We’ll see. On our wee trip to Glencoe Dan the story Man told us the tale of the Massacre of Glencoe. All started with the King trying to get the unruly Scottish clans in line, to do so they all had to pledge their allegiance in person. The chief of the MacDonald clan was a day late to do so. Apparently the excuse of a horse breaking its leg is akin to the excuse of a dog ate my homework. Anyway, the British and the enemy Campbell clan snuck into the MacDonald’s village and killed them all in their sleep. Ok, there’s much more to it, but in short, that’s the story of the Massacre of Glencoe. There’s a lesson kids, don’t be late, and apparently if you’re a King you can kill whomever you want, and Kings are meant to be servants of God…Right. So after such a delightful tale, Dan again the Man played a Scottish folk song about the massacre that was so beautiful it bought a tear to my eye… maybe I do like Scottish music and this country is perfect…

The trip to Glencoe was some of the most beautiful scenery I’ve ever seen in my life. As Glen means valley, the scenery was valleys and mountains on the left and a loch on the right… always a loch, I don’t think there was more than 5 minutes of travel in which there wasn’t a loch in view. I really just wanted to hike in the mountains and swim in the lochs, but unfortunately I was in-prisoned on the bus. Maybe Dan the prison Man won’t notice if I don’t get back on the bus…. and anyways, Glencoe is the home of Skyfall where James Bond lives so I could always go hang there… Upon arriving at Glencoe, rather than join the others in the visitor center, I decided to hike up the hill to the viewpoint, joined by Robert, the dude from the bus who sat opposite me, also traveling solo, really friendly and up for a chat. The view of Glencoe was magnificent, magical, all those WOW words. The sun shone in streams down the mountains and valleys, I could hardly believe just how stunning it was. Pictures don’t do it justice, not even close. This is the Scotland I love. Build me a little house on a hill overlooking Glencoe and I’d be happy for life. Throw in my very own Jamie Fraser and I’d never have reason to leave!!

After admiring the beauty of Glencoe, it was BOTB and before long, another stop at the Tears of Glencoe, a gorgeous waterfall that given the story about the massacre, really did make you think maybe the mountains were crying, or maybe that song just still had me overly emo…

Another short leg down the road and we hopped off the bus at The Three Sisters, a stunning mountain range that’s home of the Highlander, the infamous place where MacCleod does battle and dies… must go back and watch that movie. I was in absolute awe of how pretty the mountains were, I think I must have said WOW a million times that day…

After being wowsers at the mountains and waterfalls it was onto Fort William. For those peeps that watch Outlander and already got my Jamie Fraser reference, you’d know that Fort William plays a starring role in the first season. I was keen as mustard to see the fort and walk around the ruins like Claire did in the 1950’s… Dan not the Man completely burst my bubble when he informed us that it was NOT the same fort from Outlander and in fact, all that remained was a couple of walls. Talk about a party pooper. Rocking up in Fort William and immediately legging it over to the fort, Dan the serious Man was not joking, literally a couple of brick walls with a few canons so the walls could pretend they were a fort… Disappointing but it did make me wonder if I actually belonged in the time of forts and castles… Maybe our stop on the last day at Craigh Na Doon would send me back…

My disappointment from the fort was replaced with major excitement when the group reconvened at the train station and it was all aboard the Jacobite train… wait, isn’t that a song?? Not really sure why it’s called the Jacobite train, if I wasn’t 40,000 feet in the air while writing this I’d Google but even Google cant reach here, well at least not on Ryanair… I digress… my excitement for the train was because it went over the bridge from Harry Potter!! You know the one in the second movie with the flying car and Ron and Harry are trying to catch up with the Hogwarts train?? Yeah nah??? Check out the pics and vid below and you’ll know what I mean. Actually called a Viaduct for reals, would Google the actual name but can’t, seems I don’t function without Google…

In between getting carpel tunnel from snapping a million pics, on the train I was lucky enough to sit next to Robert and chat with a fun American couple Christi and Todd. Now it was on this trip that I learnt Robert was one of the coolest dudes I’d ever met, too bad about the 20 year age gap! Mr Craig (Robert not Daniel) had seen live in concert Queen, The Rolling Stones and The Who, all for under £10, AND had a ticket to Live Aid. If you know your music history or have seen the Bohemian Rhapsody movie, you’ll know that Live Aid was one of the most epic concerts of all time. Unfortunately Robert broke his leg a few days earlier so didn’t go and regrets it to this day. Don’t blame him, I would too!! He also saw INXS live, dude is a bit of a legend. The train ride itself was bloody brilliant as Ron would say, steam train through the beautiful Scottish countryside, great company and a bar cart serving gin. When Robert was the only other to order a beverage I knew we’d be BFFs for this trip!!! Disembarking at the train station, it’s was pics galore with the beautiful piece of machinery, and with some encouragement from Robert, I used my Aussie charm on the conductor so I could to climb inside the train engine area, no idea what it’s called…

Another gentle nudge from Robert and I was into the tower where they control the train tracks and having a go at pulling all the levers. Yeah, this guy knows how to have fun!!

In the town of Mylaig, which is pronounced like My Leg, which for some reason I found hilarious, we found another member for our crew. Apparently Robert spotted Peta on the train chatting with some older ladies but thought maybe she was keen on some younger company, she was also cute as a button which may have had something to do with it!! Over some fries and a gin at the local, us three got chatting and I realized that this trip would not be the quiet trip I’d thought, I had just met two of the friendliest, loveliest people ever… who also liked a gin or two and could have a good laugh. Peta is a high school teacher from Brissie, only 10ish years older than me and Robert is Scottish, 20ish years older than me in age but at least 5 years younger at heart.

From My Leg it was BOTB and we headed for the ferry over to the Isle of Skye. Dan the music Man was trying to be funny, it was Friday the 13th and we were going on a boat so he cranked the Titanic theme song, pretty sure I was the only one laughing because by the looks of the waves and the grumpy clouds over head, it was not going to be a fun ride!!! Onto the ferry and for some reason I thought the top deck was the place to be. The ferry did some mighty rolls, spraying us with delicious ocean water and blowing the hairs off our heads, well trying anyway. Mighty fun, only downer was that I couldn’t find my phone so not only did I not get any pics of the ferry madness, I spent the whole ride with my fingers crossed it was on the bus, otherwise how would I survive… joking, not joking…

BOTB and my phone was patiently waiting for me on the seat, enjoying the rest from my never ending reel of photos and videos. Off the ferry and I was at the place that was the reason for the trip to Scotland, to see the stunning Isle of Skye… unfortunately during trip from the mainland, an epic storm had rolled in and Dan the wet Man informed us a hurricane was on its way. Couldn’t tell if he was joking… At the 5th BNB stop I was lucky enough to be herded off into the same place as Peta. I was given a big gorgeous room with a double bed, big screen on the wall and en-suite… Winning! Knock on the door and ooops they’d given me the wrong room, my room was actually a broom closet for the next two nights, doh, luck had run out!! Anyhoo, regrouping for dinner, Peta and I wandered down the road to the only place that was open for some delicious Scottish food and possibly the worst waitress I’ve ever experienced in my life!! Grunts when asked questions, eye rolls when ordering and apparently getting the bill is just asking too much. Robert joined us for a few drinks, much to the waitress’s dismay, and before we knew it, we were the last ones left. Ok so maybe the waitress now had a reason to be grumpy! Little did we know that finding a taxi for Robert back to his BNB in the middle of nowhere would be as hard as it was for the waitress to get the bill… Calls to three taxi companies later and there was a dude on his way, I think I may have woken him up. He was nice enough to drop Peta and I off on the way, well Robert was, the grunts from the driver suggested otherwise. Getting back to our BNB and looking forward to a warm bed we were delighted to find we’d been locked out. Awesome sauce. The delightful (I’m lying) inn keeper said the door would be open until 1am, it was a little after 11am. Do time and manners work differently here?? After some rather loud knocking that could only just be heard over the hurricane like winds, we were in. Yes the inn keeper was in her nightie and we felt like AH’s for waking her but there’s no way in hell sleeping outside was even an option. Dan the Man was not joking about the hurricane being on its way….