Loch Ness and the Scottish Highlands

Leaving Dundee, we had to decide whether to drive up to Loch Ness via Perth or via Aberdeen. On paper it looked as though the Aberdeen route was longer but since the road looked less windy and much wider, we took that option.

The however, drive took a lot longer than we expected because the road went through every single little town. Due to their age, traffic flow planning in British towns leaves much to be desired. There was a bottleneck of cars in almost every single one.

Finally, after driving for most of the day and seeing the origins of (what felt like) half the place names in Australia, we arrived at Inverness, the "capital" of the highlands, and the largest city this far north in Scotland.




Downtown Inverness


The river Ness

Finally, after a short drive South, we reached the banks of Loch Ness, one of the world's most well-known lakes. Loch Ness is Scotland's second-largest loch by surface area (after Loch Lomond) but is the largest single body of freshwater (by volume) in the whole of the United Kingdom. At its deepest point, Loch Ness is 230 metres - deep enough to submerge London's BT Tower. To give you an idea of how much water it holds, Loch Ness contains more freshwater than all the lakes in England and Wales combined.

The great depth and the murkiness of the water caused by peat has given rise to thousands of alleged of sightings of the legendary Loch Ness Monster, nicknamed "Nessie". We couldn't help feeling hopeful ourselves that something just might poke its head out of the water.


Mist over Loch Ness


We found Nessie!


The Loch Ness Centre attempts to explain away the Nessie sightings as pranks and wishful thinking. Still, an interesting visit


In this part of Scotland, signs are in both Gaelic and English (despite the fact that almost nobody can speak Gaelic anymore)


The banks of Loch Ness


Urquhart Castle, one of the largest strongholds of medieval Scotland. It's origins date back to as early as the 6th Century AD. Today, the majority of Nessie sightings occur near the castle.


The landscape is absolutely beautiful. Even photographs don't do it justice.


Our hostel. I (Nat) had to use my lawyer negotiation skills to get the price down, seriously!

Lochs abound in the highlands. Although not as famous, there are so many Lochs that can be equally as stunning. The next day we set off back down south.


Loch Lochy

We decided to take the scenic route. And let me tell you, boy was it scenic. We had to keep stopping by the side of the road to gawk at how beautiful the mountains were.


Aussies in the highlands


The dark brooding weather added to the dramatic effect as we drive


We don't even know the name of this peak


We couldn't help but imagine ourselves travelling back in time 1000 years - nothing much has changed!


Sally, Candice and I with our little rental car


Don't let my t-shirt fool you. It was freezing.


We accidentally set our timer to "video", making us look like idiots while we posed in the chilly highlands.

For much of the rest of our drive, we were enthralled by glens, fells and lochs - the natural beauty of Scotland. And that was only the beginning of our day, we still had Edinburgh to see!

For more photos of our time in the highlands, visit http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=52905&l=22d92&id=681501850