On Thursday the 30th of August, Brandon, Sandy and I set out early in the morning for quite the adventure. The day started bright and early with a 6:15 taxi to Waverly Bridge where we boarded the airport shuttle bus. Coffee was the first order of the day and once we’d picked that up, we made our way to the car rental building. We had reserved a large compact but as luck would have it, they didn’t have one in that morning in automatic so they upgraded us for free to a four wheel drive Kia Sorento that we affectionately named Katie the Kia.
Happy to be driving!
Keeper of the map!
Katie the Kia
Feeling a little posh and brave in our big car, I, being the principle driver for the day, pulled out of the parking lot and headed for the motorway. Two roundabouts and an easy merge and away we went. We made for Stirling first where the roundabout situation got a little dicey. I had to go all the way around one because I missed the proper exit and then got honked at in another because I had no idea where I was going or even if I was in a lane. But eventually we found the last one and headed out of Stirling in the shadow of the castle on the way north to the highlands.
Only thing is, I took the wrong exit. The map we had was very small and most of the towns and roads we passed weren’t on it. So by the time we were starting to get worried about where we were we had no idea of how to find out. We pulled at a furniture maker’s shop in a tiny little town and Brandon got enough advice and directions to get us back onto a more major road. The one really good thing about our little detour is that we ended up eventually at Loch Lomond. Totally unplanned but really good none the less! We stopped for a few pictures and it’s just as gorgeous as I remember it from back in 2008 when I had a cruise on the loch with the bus tour I was on.
"You'll take the high road and I'll take the low road and I'll be in Scotland before you"...we sang it as we drove away!
From there we were back on the road and trucking along. We made a few photo stops, the best of which at Glencoe. We’d all been through here before but the view never disappoints. And being a warm, clear day it was nice to get out and stretch a bit. The sight, though famous for the massacre of the MacDonald clan by the Campbell’s, takes your breath away for it’s beauty instead of any monument to that tragedy.
Brandon took off down the hill to investigate this waterfall while Sandy and I stayed up above.
Would like to go back someday to hike along the trails all through the glen.
Back in the car and we were on the road a short time to Fort William where we got a quick lunch at McDonald’s and were on our way again. We made all the right turns coming out of town this time and were on the correct roads so we sailed up to our intended destination, Eilean Donan Castle.
It’s easy to see why this is one of the most photographed castles in the UK. It’s stunning and romantic and every bit a character in every fairy tale I’ve ever imagined. It sits at the meeting point of three lochs on it’s own small island. You cross a vaulted bridge to get to it and can see where the tidal flow surrounds it every evening. The structure, in some form, has been there on that island since the 13th century. Because it holds such a strategic position at the meeting of the lochs, it has always been a stronghold and it has seen many battles. It was partially destroyed in 1719 during a Jacobite uprising and lay in ruins for nearly 200 years. The castle as it stands now has only been there since 1932,and that only after 20 years of restoration. The inside is not as dramatic as you’d kind of hope it to be and not at all like what it looks like in the movie Made of Honour. But the great hall is pretty cool and was once used as a chapel instead of a dining space, and there’s even a set of bag pipes hanging on the wall of the musicians loft ready to entertain. No photography allowed inside I’m afraid so I can’t show you what it looked like. But the pictures from outside were much more dramatic anyway. We made a quick phone call to my mom back in Canada so that we could wave at her on the webcam and then made our way back to the car.
From here we continued up the road just a bit into the town of Dornie. From memory and Google Earth, I had some idea of how to find a hill top view point that I’d seen on my tour of Scotland with my brother in 2008. At that time, even with a group of 30 other people around me, I knew that this was a magical place. I described it in my journal from that trip as a Place with a capital P. It’s where my heart felt happy and where I knew that once to this country was not going to be enough. Sitting there that day I felt absolute calm and I wanted to burn the sights I was seeing into my memory.
And we found it.
As we drove up the road, higher and higher and around tight turns praying not to meet another vehicle, I just felt like it was right. And rounding one bend, there it was! I pulled the car into a passing place and was crying before my feet hit the gravel. Built up anticipation and a little adrenalin kicked in and we quickly got through the gate and onto the grass and…I was home.
I don’t know if I can properly describe it. It’s…well, it’s where you’re supposed to be at that exact moment in your life and everything is absolutely right in that moment because you’re there. I was worried it wouldn’t feel the same but it did completely. And it was only better because I could share it with Brandon. This hill I’d been talking about for years and hoping for so long that we could find was finally real to him too and he understood exactly why it was such a magical place for me.
On my mom’s suggestion I took along something to represent me that I could bury and therefore leave a part of me in the highlands. So I took a tiny Canadian flag, dug a little hole with a spoon, added a piece of heather for good measure and covered it all back up again.
I don’t know if I’ll be back there again but everything we’ve done this year, all the hardship we’ve seen and loneliness we’ve felt has been worth it just to see that place again. I bawled and laughed and time just kind of stood still for a bit as we held onto each other and marvelled at what we were seeing.
Sandy very sweetly named the spot Carmen's Peak before we left.
But we had to go. We made our way back up the car and just before getting in noticed some animals on their way to meet us. At first I couldn’t figure out what they were but as they got closer Sandy declared them wild boar! Not wanting to find out if they were friendly or if they would live up to their reputation, we all got in the car and took pictures from the windows. They didn’t seem all that interested in us and continued their way down the road. Brandon took over the driving for a bit here and as he passed them very cautiously as we drove away just in case they decided to jump in front of the car. How would you even begin to explain that story to the car rental guy?!?
All too soon we were back on the main road and we retraced our route back through Fort William and Glencoe, stopping now and then for really good photos. As night came on, and I was back behind the wheel, I got a little braver with driving. Maybe not seeing the edges of the road as clearly made it not as scary - not too sure. But after a few close calls during the day which had me rubbing curbs and freaking out as someone came around a corner over the centre line, I wasn’t going to complain too much about feeling more comfortable. We were all starting to get sleepy though and by the time we saw Stirling and found our way onto the motorway we were happy to be nearing home. We were also starting to understand why people thought we were crazy to take this journey all in one day. A long drive for locals is three hours - you would never attempt more than that in one day! Are you crazy? But although it doesn’t look that far on the map and the number of miles doesn’t seem all that bad, those no-shoulder twisty-up-and-down roads are stressful. I was glad to see the roundabout entrance for the airport and the exit to the Enterprise car drop off.
It was a long and emotional day but so worth every moment. And though we may have worn her out a little bit, I think it was a great way to start Sandy’s visit. And one of the very best of this year so far.
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