Inverness

Good nights sleep at Elaine’s, albeit short as we wanted to crack on so showers, breakfast and lots of tea to clear my fuzzy noggin. Many hugs goodbye later and we were on our way northbound again. Quite a long 3 hour drive though v scenic through the Cairngorms national park, which helped.
We stopped in Dores, as recommended by Mike, on the east side of Loch Ness. A small village with a stony beach overlooking the vast loch. No Nessie but lots of friendly ducks. A man has a little shop there - he’s been set up since the early 90s his main purpose being he’s determined to get a glimpse of Nessie! Needless to say, nothing to report but what a beautiful location to dwell. In the meantime, he makes Nessie ornaments out of flotsam and jetsam off the beach. The sun was beating down at that point so we stopped on the beach for a bit before cracking on in to Inverness for a mooch. Lovely leafy walk in to town, the blossoms and spring growth is just perfect at the moment. The city is unremarkable as any other city, maybe I’ve seen so many now, they all look the same. Went to a very old, 2nd largest second hand bookshop in Scotland just out of interest, very interesting but a looot of stuff everywhere - bit too much to process. Wandered back to the van and on to our campsite for the night, Kessock caravan park in the woodland just north of Inverness ready to start the NC500 trail tomorrow.
Gary cooked at the van amongst his birdy friends then watched the footy. Beautiful clear light sky quite late at night which I was surprised about - maybe because we’re further north?Read more