Monday 8th July 2024 - Cruising relaxing Loch Linnhe

 Monday  8 July

Breakfast was from 0730 and our bags had to be out by 0800.

We departed the hotel at 0830 and were on our way to Fort William. A very cloudy/ misty start to the morning.

We arrived at the Neptunes Staircase around 0920 and departed at 0945

There were 5 or 6 yachts going through the locks when we arrived. Watched them pass through 1 lock and then back to the coach.    I took a couple of videos.

After that visit, we then went to Corpach, to catch another view of the Jacobite Steam Train passing through. Much closer than we were yesterday.

We were back on the coach by 1030ish and Angus is taking us up to an area where we can get a better view of Ben Nevis. About 2 minutes later, we came to a stop, as apparently the yachts that were coming down Neptunes Staircase earlier had reached the bottom, as the swing bridge was now open to let them pass through and the road traffic was stationary.

Traffic started moving again about 15 minutes later. Richard helped fill in the time by telling us about one of his “memorable” tours. Sounded very much like a Fawlty Towers episode.

1110 and we reached the Nevis Lower Falls, so we offloaded from the bus and walked up the road for a short way, to take photos of the falls. Small falls but impressive, none the same.

We were back on the coach by 1120 and heading back down the mountain.

We were dropped back in town to have some lunch and walk the main pedestrian street. I bought myself a souvenir tea towel that has a map of most of the places we have visited.

We all met up again at 1240 before boarding the boat Elsie, for our cruise on Loch Linnhe.  This is a saltwater loch and there is a seal island on the Loch.

We were back at the dock and on board the coach by 1615 and on our way to Inverness.

First up was a quick “comfort” stop and then we had a 10 minute break at the Commando Memorial at 4 pm. 

Shortly after that we came to a very short standstill because of roadworks, where one side of the road is closed for about 500 metres. We were quickly on our way again.

Angus is often pointing out little bits of interesting things along the way. 

1630 and it’s suddenly raining.

We are driving along side Loch Ness & tomorrow we are taking a cruise on it.

We arrived at the Palace Hotel & Spa and I was checked in and had received my bag well before 6 pm. 

Dinner was booked for 7:15pm & we all met together before heading into our own dining room. I was sitting with Janine & Joe from the USA, Kate & Adrian from NZ and Richard, our TD.

Another delicious meal. I didn’t take any photos of the dishes.

Back to my room by about 9pm and once I have uploaded this and downloaded some photos on Flickr, I’ll be heading for bed.

Night all

EDITED: 6,369 steps today.

Sunday 7th July 2024 - The enchanting Jacobite Steam Train

7 July 2024

Up at 5am and fixed up my duplicate photo problem. I hope.

Made it down to breakfast this morning. We all met up just after 8:40 and were on the bus and on the way by 8:45 to Fort William and the Jacobite steam train and Mallaig.

Arrived at the railway station at 9:30 but because the station was still closed, Angas, our driver took us on a short drive around, so we could see the mountain Ben Nevis.

Once offloaded  by Angus, some went and used the loo for 20p. Lois and I went for a walk to the front of the train to take a photo of the steam engine, which is due to depart at 11:15 and it did, right on time.

Stopped at Glenfinnan station for 15 minutes and were off again at 11:20.

Arrived in Mallaig at 12:25.  We have until 13:50 to have lunch and check out the town.

Lois & I both bought Calamari and chips and sat outside the cafe to eat them.  The chip serving was massive. There were a couple of teens there and one of the girls was swooped by a seagull and dropped her feed of fish and chips. As both Lois and I couldn't finish our meal, we donated the chips to the young girl and then after she had finished her meal another seagull flew over and dropped bird poo on her.  I had a packet of disinfectant wipes, so she used a few of them to clean the mess up.  She had a good attitude and thought it was a great story to tell her school friends.

We were all picked up by Angus and were then driven to the Glenfinnan visitor centre. Arrived there at 2:25pm. so we had plenty of time to walk to a view point and waited until the train came through at 3:15ish. Managed to get a video of it. We then walked back to the bus and departed for the hotel at 3:30ish.

We passed through Fort William around 4pm.  The Neptunes Staircase is less than 5 minutes away.  The weather today has again been lovely Brilliant sunshine most of the time.  Still a cool wind blowing but if you get out of the wind, with the sun shining, its perfect.

For the most part, the scenery is spectacular.  Unfortunately you can't see it as much as we would like, because the trees keep blocking the view from the road.

We made a quick stop at the Glencoe Visitors Centre, before continuing on back to the hotel, where we arrived at 5:20.

Dinner was at 7pm tonight and I didn't take any photos of it. :)

After dinner we had a Whisky tasting and my preference is the Highland Whisky from Kirkwall. :)

Will try and get some photos posted tonight before going to bed.  We depart here tomorrow, heading to Inverness.

EDITED: 6,518 steps today.

 

Saturday 6th July - Sailing to the vibrant Isle of Mull

I had a very sound sleep and didn’t wake until 6am. Showered & had difficulty changing the flow from the bath tap to the shower head. I still couldn’t work out why the photos were not updating on the computer from iCloud  and google wasn’t being helpful at all. I wasn’t feeling especially hungry, so gave breakfast a miss. 

Richard came knocking on my door about 7:45, thinking that I might have overslept. 

I went down at 8am and found out that I needed to fill in the dinner menu for tonight. Went to take a photo of it and realised that I had left my phone in my room, so back I went.

We all boarded the bus around 8:15 on our way to Oban.  We hopped on a ferry from Oban, that took us to the Isle of Mull. When we arrived there, we re-borded the coach and were driver to Tobermory. Spent some leisure time there and quite a few had lunch while here.

We departed Tobermory, which is the capital, or 'main town' of Mull and returned to our hotel, the Kingshouse Hotel ,via the Fishnish - Lochaline ferry, the Ardnamurchan Peninsula and the Corran ferry.  As I lost my notes about what we did today, I can't remember what the timings were.

I have uploaded photos for the 6th, now that my iCloud problem sees to be fixed.

EDITED.  8,733 steps today

Friday 5th July. Edinburgh to Glencoe

 5:30am.  I was in bed by 10pm last night but have a bit of an upset tummy, so didn't sleep very soundly.  I eventually got up at 4am and stayed up. I'm looking forward to our 2 train rides today. I guess I'll be able to write notes along the way and just drop them into the blog at the next hotel.

I didn't say anything yesterday about the other people on the tour.  There are 16 of us and I have only met 3 of the others so far.  Richard Hare is the TD and he was saying that it's a mix of Australians, New Zealanders, Americans and a couple from England.   

I have now met them all but can't remember all the names.  From the USA there is Terry & Steve, Cheryl & Mike, Janine & Joe and Joanne & Chuck. Owin and John from the UK, Mana & Perry, Kate & Hubby,  NZ, Lois from Perth & me.

For some reason the photos that I took today are showing on the phone but not on the laptop, so I won't be posting any photos tonight. Once I work out what I have done wrong, I'll post them on Flickr then.  For now, I'm off to bed.            Oh only 5,274 steps today. :)

Thursday 4th July. Free time in Edinburgh before joining the Travelmarvel tour

I went to bed last night around 9:30pm. Slept soundly until the phone rang just after 5am. As the sun was shiningI decided to get up there and then, as I was planning on going for a walk up Calton Hill again but this time at my pace and to take photos of a couple of the monuments that we could only see in the distance last night. First up up had some breakfast.  It didn't included it, when I made the booking but yesterday I decided that I'd have a continental breakfast, instead of trying to find a cafe open early in the morning.

Went for my walk around 7:30ish. There were quite a few people out and about. Locals walking their dogs and I assume other visitors, as a few of them were also taking photos.  After breakfast I then went walking again.  Checked out where the hotel is when we get back to Edinburgh and where the hotel is that I'll be transferring to after the tour finishes.  About a 4 minute walk, so happy with that too.  This mornings' walk took me all of about 2 minutes from the Parliament House Hotel, to Apex Waterloo Place. I knew I couldn't check in but they have stored my luggage.  I also found out that there will be a meet and great with the TD at 4pm, who is a Mr Richard Hare.

 I also took a walk to Holyrood Palace, as I'm visiting there on the 13th.  That is about a 15 minute walk from the hotel that I'll be staying at. I visited a few souvenir shops along the Royal Mile and on North and South Bridges.

The sky became very overcast, very quickly, so I went to Waverly Mall to have a bite to eat.  By the time I went back up onto the street, the rain had finished and the sky was sunny again.  Walked back to the hotel and a room was ready, so have spend some time writing part of this up and uploaded some photos to Flickr.

We are meeting our TD, Richard Hare, at 4 this afternoon and he will give us some more detail about what is happening with our luggage, where dinner is tonight and what is happening tomorrow.

Its now almost 10pm and I'm heading for bed.  Off to Glasgow in the train tomorrow morning, then on to Glencoe via the West Highland Line. Photos posted on Flickr.    Night all.  

Edited to say that I walked 14,452 steps today.

Getting There. 2 July to 3 July

Tuesday 2 July 2024

This is a rather longish post, as I had nothing else to distract me, on my way to Edinburgh.  I doubt that any others will be this long. :)

I was awake at 4am and after tossing & turning until 6am, decided to get up. Shower etc and have breakfast.

Bill was up about an hour later and rather than hang around the house, I asked him to take me out to the Airport around 7:40. My booked flight,  QF1434, was due for departure at 10:30am.

When I checked in I asked if there were any earlier flights to Sydney and could I be booked onto one of them. Yes there was and it was a jet, not a dash8, so I was booked onto QF1504 which was departing at 08:40. Lift off was at 08:56 ish. Around 09:15 the pilot made the announcement that because of the weather in Sydney, we were put in a holding pattern which meant that our flight won’t be landing until 10ish. I’m fine with that and am even more glad that I managed to get on an earlier flight out of Canberra because I’m assuming that later flights would also be delayed.  Some photos that I won't be putting on Flickr.

We landed at 10am. I was off the plane and on a bus to the international terminal in about 10/15 minutes. Arrived there and was through security etc and in Aspire’s “The House” lounge by about 10:50. 

Plenty of time before my next flight at 2:40 pm

Had a small bite to eat around midday and a glass of bubbly with the food.

I then just people and plane watched. Just before 1pm a BA plane was pulled to, what I assume is gate 53, which is where my flight is departing from.

Once I saw that the gate had opened, I left the lounge and walked to the gate. After about a 5 to 10 minute or so wait they started calling people forward to board the plane in various order. Families & less mobile people first. Then group 1, group 2 etc. I was in group 2 and once we entered the hallways leading to the plane, the previous groups were waiting. After about 2 or 3 minutes, the doors were opened and we all then proceeded to board.

My seat 6K is a backwards facing seat. I’ve sat in these before and it doesn’t worry me at all. There was a young woman, Clair, sitting in the seat next to me (forward facing) who offered to swap, if my seat made me feel funny. Apparently some people have a problem with the backwards seats.

Pushback was at 2:50. Lift off just before 3pm.

A snack & drink were delivered around 3:45 pm 

and the flight attendants have also taken the orders for a light meal.

I opted for the Smoked Salmon starter

 and the Pan Fried Gnocchi for the main.

Drink & snack finished by 4:15 Sydney time, just as our pre-ordered meal arrived.

That was finished by 5pm and I opted not to have dessert or cheese and bickies, as I was feeling very full.

5:10pm and we are flying over the Simpson Desert.

I have the screen on flight mode at that moment.

I decided to watch a movie. Wicked Little Letters. It was really enjoyable. 

It’s now 7:15pm Sydney time and still 3.5hrs until we get to Singapore. I’m back watching the flight path. Just about to fly over Mt Lyell on the WA coast. 

Around 9:15 the seat belt signs came on because of turbulence then I noticed that the plane had climbed from 38,000 ft to 40,000. Signs stayed on but the ride was much smoother.

I didn’t note the time when we landed, but I did have time to walk to the general area near the next departure gate, find my passport & boarding pass for the next flight & join the queue to head back to the same plane, which departed at 22:35 Singapore time. 

I’m not having any supper & once we are airborne I plan on going to sleep. Airborne at 22:50.  Didn't check my steps on my pedometer.

Wednesday July 3 2024

The flight to London is around 13 hours. As soon as the lights were dimmed I tried to sleep. I’m sure that I did get some but tossed and turned a fair bit. The first time I checked, there was still 8 hours until landing. Have been resting my eyes with the seat reclined and now only 3 hours to go. 

The plane finally landed around 4:34am UK time. I made my way to the correct departure point. The gate for the flight to Edinburgh won’t be listed until about 7:45am, for an 8:35am departure, so I found my way to the BA lounge and sat watching the activities down on the ground.

Around 7:45 the departure time came up, so I started walking to the gate. A18, at the far end of Terminal 5. I had a leisurly stroll to the gate and they started boarding about 5 minutes later. 3A was the seat. The flight eventually departed at 8:57 and landed at 10:04am The pilot announced during the flight that it was cloudy, windy and showery in Edinburgh, with an expected max temp of 12c.  Sounds like Canberra. :)

Luggage was on carousel 10 but just before the bags came out, it stopped.  Seems that they had a mechanical problem and eventually the bags started coming out after about 20 minutes.

Grabbed my suitcase and exited, heading for the taxi stands.  The first guys takes your details, as in where are you going to, how many of you, your name and the approx cost.  You then walk along where the taxi's are parked and whoever wants the job, calls out your name and Bob's your uncle.  My driver was a chatty Scot, who has friends in Australia. He had trouble hearing me and I had trouble hearing him, so when we came to a standstill at light, he suggested that I nip into the front passenger seat and I did.  He has a grand-daughter who lives in Sydney and he's planning on visiting her next year some time.  We had a pleasant chat on the way to the hotel. £38.00 and he was happy to break a £50.00.

I arrived at the hotel shortly before midday and they had a room ready for me, so I was really pleased about that.  Unpacked a couple of things, had a shower and then went walking to see where I have to meet the guide for my The Dark Side Walking Tour.  I eventually found it and I'm glad that I went looking during the day, as I would have missed getting there on time, if I hadn't.

At the moment, my pedometer is sitting 0n 20,683 steps.  I'll update this post tonight after I've finished the walk,

Met the guide about 6:15pm and there was a group of about 20 of us. The Dark Side tour is all about the 16th century and the murderous, nasty things that went on  in Edinburgh during that time. It was quite enjoyable. Had a rain shower when we were in one of the cemeteries and a very small sprinkling when we were on Calton Hill and then rain solidly for about 4 or 5 minutes after the tour was finished.

Some photos from tonight.

 In the High Street

A view from Calton Hill

The Dugald Stewart Monument on top of Calton Hill.

That's it for today.  Pedometer now reading 28,957 steps.

Hopefully I'll sleep like a baby tonight.

6 weeks to go