Because of heavy fog and rainy weather, we haven’t been able to get online for several days. Sorry it’s been so long between posts. We’ve been trying but haven’t had any success until tonight (Monday, August 8th).
This morning we saw something unusual – something we hadn’t seen since briefly in Reykjavik. It was some blue sky and sun. Not only that, but we were in a virtual heatwave with temps in the upper 60s.
We had visited Invergordon, the gateway to Loch Ness on our 2010 UK cruise a year ago, so both of us opted to do something that didn’t include Loch Ness and Inverness despite the fact that we always enjoy visiting that area. We had noticed an excursion called Photo Expedition in the Scottish highlands which would provide photographic opportunities that others on more traditional excursions wouldn’t see. However when we came to book, we found that there was only one space available. Barb suggested that I do it and she would waitlist with the assumption that someone between when we booked and when the excursion took place would cancel and she would get it then. However that never happened. We found out that it was a very specialized excursion with a professional photographer in the area and he would take four people in the morning and four in the afternoon and that would be it from the entire ship.
Barb had booked a different excursion for the morning so I took the opportunity to go into town to explore, something I don’t do frequently since we usually we book excursions in the morning. The town is small and there is one short main business district. What was distinctive was the fact that on the walls of many buildings were beautifully painted murals depicting events important to Invergordon. After a bit of shopping, I returned to the ship, had an early lunch and met my other three tour members and the guide outside the security area of the ship.
I had anticipated that it would be a technical photographic tour but it turned out that it wasn’t. He focused more on the history and geography of the area. We visited three spots which most visitors don’t see since we were “off the beaten path” and on dirt or gravel roads most of the time. The first visit was to a large estate but we visited just the area near the Dower House where a mother-in-law and her servants might live. We passed cows and sheep in the fields and climbed higher for some better views. He pointed out various kinds of Scottish thistle in bloom and we could photograph the thistle, the animals, and the house. From there, we took another unpaved road up higher and higher and finally reached a quite spectacular viewpoint with a panoramic view of the firth and an estate on the other side. Again, the Scottish wildflowers were in bloom with more Scottish thistle and lots of purple “heather on the hill.” After a short rest room break in the quaint village of Tain¸ we headed for our final scenic picture site, a small lighthouse on the firth. Again, nearby the beautiful Scottish wildflowers were in bloom.
Then we had to race back to the ship as our return was to be the time of the final boarding before the gangplank was to be raised. Fortunately some large tour busses were arriving at the same time, so at least we didn’t suffer the ignominy of having the entire ship waiting for the four of us. It had been an interesting trip given the fact that we had been in this area several times in the past.
Chuck
As Chuck mentioned, I took a different shore excursion, a scenic drive through the moors and the Highlands of Scotland. It first took us to the quaint village of Dornoch. Since we’d arrived early, we were also given a quick drive through the Royal Dornoch Golf Club, which apparently is quite prestigious. Not being an avid golfer, I’d never heard of it, but it was a pretty course, right on the firth.
We were given 45 minutes to explore Dornoch, which included a cathedral. By the time I’d done a little shopping and run to the post office, I had only a few minutes to pop into the Cathedral, which I have to say was the smallest I’d ever seen, before boarding the bus again for our trip to the Falls of Shin. Once again the trip was very scenic, and we enjoyed the views from the bus.
Having grown up so near to Niagara Falls, I’ve found that most falls I see just don’t quite compare. This was also the case for the Falls of Shin. However, they aren’t known for their spectacular beauty, but they are known for the salmon that swim upstream. Since this is “salmon season”, we had the opportunity to see several salmon struggling to jump up the falls to the next level. This in itself is very impressive, and it’s been 23 years since I’ve experienced that phenomenon.
We made one last stop at a panoramic view of the highlands and firth. The heather is just coming into bloom, so the carpet of purple splashed across the hills was becoming evident.
This is our first of three stops in Scotland, and they brought on Scottish entertainment this afternoon. “Music Scotland” performed for those of us who were back on the ship by mid-afternoon. It was a variety of pipes & drum, vocal, highland dancing, and Scottish fiddling that had the audience singing, clapping and tapping their feet to the lively music they provided.
Barb
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