To the garrison!

Waking up on the Caledonian Sleeper train en route to Fort William we marvelled at the highland landscape and the many beautiful lochs. The rolling moors were filled with heather and it was exactly what I’d been hoping for as our start to Scotland. Our hire car was waiting for us at the station - a fancy Kia Stonic - which we had hired for a few days. The train was 1hr delayed which hardly impacted us with no strict plans, but because the delay passed the National “Delay Repay scheme” threshold we had the full NZD$600 train ride refunded; sweetening the deal even more for what was an amazing train ride (we couldn’t believe our luck!). Getting off the train, the weather was warm in the sun but there was a chilly breeze while we headed to the first stop which was lunch at the Corpach Marina. An awesome spot where we feasted on a lentil soup, toasties and chips with curry sauce plus our first drop of the local nectar: Irn Bru (tastes like liquid candy). We walked part of the Caledonian canal and spotted the Coal Beach shipwreck. Then kept driving out towards the coast and parked up to see the Glenfinnan Viaduct where the coal railway runs - the place that Harry Potter flies over with the Weasley’s flying car. Pretty magical. Afterwards, we drove around the local area and sussed a campsite at the bottom of Ben Nevis which was a really cool spot, if a bit busy, then headed for a beer at the Ben Nevis Inn around the corner. It was our first taste of the one way roads and passing places that are all over the highlands. The inn itself was a classic highland inn and clearly a popular haunt for the hikers finishing the Nevis walk. Then we drove to look for a dinner - trying many places on an empty stomach that kept falling through; the supermarkets had no hot food, others closed, others with impossible parking and the doner kebab which was not at all what a doner is in NZ -> no veges which is what I was craving, so we drove out again to the Coal suburb for dinner. The area had a beautiful view of the Loch and mountain as we waited for our Chinese which we ate in the car. Delicious vege dish and rice which hit the spot after driving around hungry. We watched the view and a movie on the iPad for a bit while we ate, and finished a bit of cheap red wine we’d picked up for the train ride the night before. All and all a cool day and one that I’ll remember for learning how hard it can be to find a hot meal with diverse vegetables in the Scottish highlands (at least affordably). We had some nice long hot showers at the campsite (good because they’re part of the campsite fee) which started the evening well but then we attempted to settle in to sleep in the car with our two single blow up beds. They didn’t fit well so we ended up sleeping on what can only be compared to a deflating bouncy castle this night. Vikum said to me at probably 1am “we are buying a tent tomorrow”. We went to bed eventually, but had a rough sleep 😆もっと詳しく