2018 - FIP Glasgow: Day 4: Wed 29 Aug - Fort William to Inverness

Drive: 174km

Train ride: 68km

7-15 degC

Woke up with a very scratchy voice. Same thing happened last year in South Korea. After a relatively good night’s sleep, both Jane and I were ready to turn on the light just after 5am. We had a coffee then went for a walk to see stuff. The weather was still quite ordinary but we managed to get a few good shots. We walked past last nights’ restaurant and then on to Fort William. It is no longer a Fort, just some remaining walls and lots of explanations.

Back to the guest house for breakfast. It’s always interesting to watch the faces of the other diners when two females with wedding bands walk in together, followed by two males, also with wedding bands. They are not quite sure of who’s with who or what is happening. After breakfast we had a couple of hours to kill before leaving to take pictures of the steam train, so we caught up on sorting photos, etc.

We were collected at 9:45am to go to the train station to take pictures of the Jacobite steam train. There were hundreds of people there doing the same thing so had to push and shove a bit to get close enough. Managed to get a few good shots so it was all worth the while.

Today we travelled along the stunning “Road to the Isles” to view the iconic Glenfinnan Viaduct (21 arches) and Monument. Here we climbed a small knoll to view the steam train travel over the Viaduct. This viaduct and the Jacobite Steam train were used in the Harry Potter movies. We also viewed the monument to Prince Charles Edward.

From there we continued west along the scenic coastal route past The Silver Sands of Morar, and past the islands of Eigg & Rum. Continuing on we headed to the pretty fishing harbour town of Mallaig, where we had lunch before the train arrived and the hordes descended upon the eateries. We got in just in time. We then toured the village before the weather turned nasty again so decided to board the Jacobite Steam Train for the trip back to Fort William.

Described as the greatest railway journey in the world (according to whom, I do not know) the trip took us from Loch Nevis (the deepest seawater loch in Europe), passed River Morar (shortest river in Britain), to Loch Morar (deepest freshwater loch in Britain), all the way back to Fort William which lies at the base of Ben Nevis (highest mountain in Britain). We were collected by James and then travelled north along the mysterious shores of Loch Ness where we just had to stop a couple of times to check if Nessie was there. Alas, no Nessie, but we did get to take a picture with a concrete version.

We arrived in Inverness about 6:15pm and encountered an accommodation issue. There were only two rooms booked (one double and one twin) so Jane and I were tossing up who should sleep with who, with the boys all stating their cases as to why it should not be them! After a phone call by James, it was realised that we had single rooms in another B&B (Atherstone Guest House) two doors down; crisis averted.

We were supposed to have dinner at a rather larney restaurant, Rocpool, at 8:30pm however, due to my worsening voice box, we decided to go to a less flash place at an earlier time. James cancelled our booking and was good enough to make another one at Waterfront for 7:15pm. This meant that I was able to be in bed before 10pm.