Scottish Highlands - July 2011

There are few more beautiful places in the world than the Scottish Highlands; or at least there aren't when the sun is shining! It seems I am something of a lucky charm for Scotland, because whenever I go I seem to be blessed with beautiful weather. This trip to Inverness and the surrounding area followed that fortunate trend.

I opted for the cheap - if not entirely cheerful - overnight coach trip up to Inverness; leaving Birmingham at 2.30am and arriving in Inverness (via Preston, Glasgow and Perth) at midday. I arrived to a beautiful afternoon, with the sun shining and making the River Ness and Inverness Castle look at its most picturesque.

I eased myself into my trip, wandering around the city (which is not large and can comfortably be done entirely on foot) and taking a trip by the river to the little islands that dot the river at one end of the city. It is a very pleasant way to spend an afternoon. After an evening Harry Potter fix at the local multiplex (a quick bus ride away) it was off to bed for me to re-charge my batteries after my tiring journey up.

The next day was the main reason for my trip. I opted to take the bus to Cromarty on the Black Isle. At this juncture I must say that the bus service in Inverness is excellent. The website gives easy-to-follow timetable information and links to exactly where bus stops are and the buses seems to run on time which is a novelty compared to where I live!!

Although the sun shone in Inverness, the Black Isle had somewhat cloudier weather, but at least it was dry and I was determined to enjoy myself. I took a walk through the pretty little town and along the beach which I shared with sea birds, including gulls and enchantingly oyster catchers.

My trip out into the Firth was with a company called Ecoventures, who pride themselves on their wildlife friendly operating methods. They will voluntarily keep their distance from the whales, dolphins and porpoise they encounter and allow the animals to decide how close they wish to get. Although we all want to get close, this is by far the best option as boats that chase wildlife can severely stress them and it can lead to fewer people seeing that wildlife in the long run. We have to remember that we are visitors in their backyard; not the other way around. Ecoventures are quick to stress that no wildlife sightings are guaranteed, but a quick check of their whiteboard shows that almost every trip encounters dolphins and on the few that did not they saw porpoise instead.

With that in mind I was reasonably confident and that confidence was well placed as we had not been going more than 10 minutes before we saw our first dolphins. This pod seemed to be rather spread out, so it's hard to judge how many we saw, but I think it must have been at least 6 dolphins of varying ages. I did my best to photograph and video them, although this is harder said than done, as you never know where they will pop up next! Here's what I got though.



Dolphins

I still had two more days in the Highlands and for this I decided that hiring a car was the most effective way to see the area and get a little further away. My Hyundai i10 and I set off for the Cairngorms National Park with the sun cracking the skies! I headed for the RSPB Osprey Centre at Loch Garten first, which proved to be the only play in the Highlands where I encountered any midges and even there they were not very troublesome. I saw the female Osprey and one of the fledglings on the nest and also enjoyed the other varied bird life at the feeders, as well as a cheeky red squirrel.

From Loch Garten I drove to Loch Morlich for lunch beside the beautiful lake and then onto the nearby Reindeer Centre. Reindeer were introduced to the Cairngorms many years ago and with careful management the herd is flourishing. A small group of us went up on the hill to meet a small herd of about 28 male reindeer (the females and calves were out roaming freely). Here you are permitted to touch and feed these gentle creatures and it is a wonderful way to spend an hour and a half.

My last stop of the day was back to the coast, via Aviemore. I enjoyed my tea by Fort George on the coastline and watched the sun sink lower to the horizon on what had been a hot and sunny day and which had seen me even get a little sun burned!!!

My last day in Scotland saw me again drink in the beauty of the coastline. This time I headed back to the Black Isle and to Chanonry Point, a place renowned for its dolphin watching. This is where two spits of land jut out on either side of the Moray Firth, forming a very narrow channel. I believe it is a good spot for fish, hence the popularity with the dolphins and they can be viewed from the shore. Sadly the dolphins did not put up an appearance while I was there, but it was still a very pleasant place to enjoy a walk.

Heading back to Inverness to return the car, there was just time for me to take an afternoon coach and boat trip to Urquhart Castle and Loch Ness. Although very busy with tourists, this is a very pretty area and definitely worth a visit.

That was all I had time for really, so it was back to Birmingham overnight by coach again, following a very pleasant short break in the Highlands.