Scotland Holiday - Cairn Gorm & Loch Ness July 2004 - page 2
On page 2 of our Scotland holiday we take a ride on the Cairn Gorm
Mountain Railway, have lunch in the Ptarmigan Restaurant and go to
Drumnadrochit to visit the Loch Ness Monster.
This is page two of three.
page 1 | page
2 | page 3
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This shot shows us relaxing in the conservatory back at the cottage after
an exciting day's touring. Well, Belinda relaxes while Mike checks
the brochures to plan our next day. See our website links to UK
cottage rental companies.
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Another task that seemed to fall to Mike was to get the wee log burning
fire going. Even in mid-summer we found the evenings chilly in
Scotland, must be because we're southerners coming from warmer
climes! Ock aye the noo!
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Day 3 in Scotland and we visited the Cairn Gorm Mountain and took a ride
on the funicular railway to the top. Belinda is seen here walking
towards the visitor centre.
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A Cairn Gorm Mountain Railway car is arrowed (Belinda is not arrowed!) as
it rises 462m over 1.8km towards the Top Station, the climatic equivalent
of 1,200km towards the Arctic.
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As one car rises, the other descends, just as well there's a passing point
at the halfway point then! At the top there's an exhibition all
about the Cairn Gorm Mountain, a viewing area and the Ptarmigan Restaurant
(where we had lunch).
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From the Cairn Gorm viewing area we were able to enjoy extensive views of
the Highland peaks and glens, several Lochs, the ski lift and lots of
noisy Chinese students taking photos. Then the mist, cloud and rain
moved in. Ock aye the noo!
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Mike here on the Cairn Gorm Mountain in Scotland with Glen More and Loch
Morlich about to get covered by the mist in the background. Despite
this, it was a breathtaking view.
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No visitor attraction is complete without the inevitable gift shop, this
is the 'Shop at the Top' on the Cairn Gorm Mountain. Belinda is in
there somewhere amongst the shoppers. Ock aye the noo!
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Back at the Base Station a Cairn Gorm Mountain railway car awaits more
passengers. The return trip cost £8, please check-out our UK
tourist links page for the Cairn Gorm Mountain website.
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We like to cook as well as eat out on our holidays, here we are back in
our cottage cooking Spag Bol. It was a lovely spacious cottage and
the kitchen had all mod cons, as they say.
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Now we're in the large lounge eating our meal. One thing we noticed
being so far north in Scotland was that it didn't get dark until after
11.00pm, at that time it would've been well dark back home in our native
Sussex.
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Another day and more touring. After a hearty breakfast for £1.49 at
Tescos in Inverness, we headed south alongside Loch Ness to Drumnadrochit
to find out about the Loch Ness Monster. Mike's seen here looking
out across the loch.
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It's behind you!! In Drumnadrochit we visited the Loch Ness 2000
attraction (£5.95) and learnt all about the monster legend, then took a
cruise on the loch. Remember to check out our Scotland
holiday video clips too!
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The wee cruise we took was from the Original Loch Ness Visitor Centre and
cost £8. We got a good commentary all the way from the man driving
the boat. This day was the best weather wise in Scotland, sunny and
warm.
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No sign of the monster yet then, maybe Mike's track record as a monster
slayer went before him and he (or she) was hiding.
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From the boat we got a good view of Urquhart Castle and heard all about it
from our cruise guide man who had on display a blurry photo he took of the
Loch Ness Monster!
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2 | page 3
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