Roadtripping in the Highlands

A view of the Highlands
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I spent my first few days in Scotland lounging around Laura's apartment, watching her Skyplus (the UK version of digital cable) and generally luxurating in the fact that I was once again in a country where people spoke a language I understood...well, mostly. My sole sight-seeing effort during those first days was a quick tour of the Royal Britannia, the Queen's old yacht. The highlight of that tour for me was the fact that the ship came with an alarm system to warn the crew if a man became stuck in the fridge. Now I may be wrong but I would think that it might be a tad easier (not to mention safer) to just put a handle on the inside of the fridge, rather than install some kind of intricate warning system...I may write to the Queen to suggest it for future yachts though.

A view of Eilean Donan Castle
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After a few days of relaxing, I was ready to hit the road. So Laura and I rented a wee Peugeot Corsa, which we named Bob, and set off for a roadtrip through the Highlands. We headed from Edinburgh, up past Loch Ness, to Inverness. I am sad to report that Loch Ness and I did not agree. It rained most of the time we were driving along the Loch, and I never got to see the monster. I blame it on the rain (and now you will have Milli Vanilli in your head all day, just like me). Anyway, I tried to convince Laura to jump into the Loch and splash around a bit, to compensate for the lack of a true Loch Ness monster sighting, but she politely declined. In all seriousness though, the drive along the Caledonian Canal and the lochs up to Inverness was gorgeous.

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From Inverness, we headed into the Highlands. We drove up to the north of Scotland, to a village called Durness (and by village, I mean about a dozen or so houses in one area) and then drove along the Northern coast before turning to head down the Western coast to Ullapool. Along the way, we discovered that Bob had some issues with hills - i.e., I generally could've run up them faster than he drove up them, a problem in the Highlands which, as you may have guessed, are a wee hillly. But otherwise, Bob did great. And Laura didn't do too shabby driving either (for reasons that should be clear, I was not allowed to drive on this portion of our trip). A good chunk of the roads past Inverness are single track roads...that is, a single lane road that serves traffic going both ways. There are passing places along the way that you have to pull into when you encounter oncoming traffic, making it a slightly more adventurous roadtrip than I've gone on before.

The Harry Potter rail bridge
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In all seriousness, though, the drive through the northern and western Highlands was absolutely breathtaking. Laura and I joked that we should have created a drinking game, where we did a shot everytime we said "wow" or "look at that cute cottage" or "amazing." From desolate barren hills to gorgeous sandy beaches with crystal blue water (who would have thought in Scotland - I mean, you could've sworn you were in the Carribean at some points...well, except for the fact that the water temperature was freezing) to green wooded forests, there was always something new to wow at. The game would have been great, but in the end, given that Laura's sobrietry was key to our surviving the roadtrip, we never actually played the game.

The sign from the Royal Britannia
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We stayed two nights in Ullapool, the first place we had seen with a traffic light since we left Inverness. It was a cute little fishing village. We took a wildlife boat cruise and visited the Summer Isles, stopping for a bit at the lone island with inhabitants - a whopping nine people. Unfortunately, the only wildlife we saw was a seal in the harbor that we caught sight of while we were waiting to board the boat...so the wildlife part of the ride was a bust but the trip was still fun. Cold and windy as heck, but fun. From Ullapool, we drove down the Western coast to Plockton, a tiny but absurdly cute village. To get there, you drove down what had to have been the longest driveway ever (they claimed it was a road - but I think its really more accurate to say it was the a 15 mile driveway to the village). It was well worth it though. From Plockton, we drove past the Eilean Donan castle (the castle that is in the new movie Made to Honor, if any one has seen that) and then on to Glenfinnan, where the famous rail bridge used in Harry Potter is located. It was our film day I guess.  Not to sound redundant, but the scenery was gorgeous...Laura and I would have passed out drunk somewhere around Durness if we had played our drinking game.

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Finally, we made it to Oban, where we managed to just catch the last sets of the Nadal v. Federer final at Wimbledon. (Wimbledon, as I quickly found out, is a national obsession here...its like a polite and more socially accepted form of crack for British people). Laura, unfortunately, had to go back to work so she and Bob headed back to Edinburgh. I am staying a couple more nights in Oban, to see the sights and take a tour of some of the islands off the coast. I am hoping to see a Puffin. I keep trying but the clever things keep hiding.