Woodbank House, Balloch

Again a sunny mornings drive down, this time down to Oban and then across to Balloch (Loch Lomond.)  Back to the same site we went to on the first night.  Not much choice in this area.

We revisit the old derilict house adjacent to the campsite and read up about its sad recent history of neglect.  Woodbank house, Balloch (Grade A listed) has stood empty after two fires in the 1980's and the owner refusing to sell or carry out their legal obligation to maintain the property.

The roof and floors have all fallen in and the back wall has been demolished and it is evident that recent work has been carried out around the site.

It looks like finally Woodbank House will be saved by the local council and turned in to a leasure/ Tourist information centre as it is adjacent tourist complex at Loch Lomond Shores.

Read more about the history of Woodbank House here

End of the holiday

Up early for our last Scottish dog walk of this trip, we walk the shores of Loch Lomond and up the estary to Balloch.

Back to the van to get everyone up as we have get the van back to Glasgow by 10am.

Chemical toilet emptied, grey water emptied, left over food dumped and the van cleaned up ready for return.

A short 30 mins drive back to an industrial estate adjacent to Glasgow airport, we safely deliver the van back to Andy our contact at Open Roads Scotland all in one piece!

Andy gives us a lift back to Queens Street, Glasgow to catch the train over to Edinburgh and then back to Stevenage.

Woody waiting for the train at Queen's St Station

At Edinburgh station Woody attracts a lot of attention.  We are 2 hours early, but have already spent a hour with Woody's fan club.  They are everywhere!

An hour to spare, so on to the first class lounge for crisps, biscuits and refreshments.

Curry, sun and time for reflection

Woke up to sun breaking over the Trelee bay and woody and I headed out to explore.  There is a tower on the distance, but have been told you need a key to gain access.

Time for a few observations.
The locals are friendly and always say hi, which is nice.

Most Scottish dogs are not so friendly and seem very aggressive.  Been told several times to keep Woody away as their dog does not like other dogs.

Views and scenery has been fantastic!  Better than I expected.

Scottish beer.  Excellent selection and quality of craft beers.  Only had one twice. - 7 Giraffes and no Tennant's or Brew dog.

Campsites
On the whole have been pretty good.  If facilities have been average, the location has made up for that.

Customer service and facilities
Scotland has a way to go on this front.  We did have some great customer service, but on the whole, it was not brilliant.

Silversands to Benderloch

We head back towards Fort William in the sun and decide to take the cable car up Ben Nevis.

Lucky for us, three old biddies (on a coach trip) had got group tickets, but didn't fancy going up to the top and hand over the three tickets to Tess.  This meant we only had to buy one ticket. (Saved us about £30!)

Woody was not impressed with the cable car and didn't want to get in.  I had to man handle him in and he sat shaking the whole way to the top.

Once on top (not the very top, just the ski station) we head off on a walk across the snow and avoiding skiers to a vantage point to take a few photos.  It was a bit nippy, so not long before Tess and the boys do a 'U' turn and head for the cafe.  Woody and I carried on to grab a few photos of the views.  As the weather was good, visibility wasn't too bad and I could see all the way back to Skye and the Cuillins.

Back to cafe, only to find dogs not welcome, so Woods and I sat outside for a bit before we got the cable car back down again.

Once south of Fort William, the weather changed for the worse and showered turned to rain as we arrived at our campsite (Seaview).

The site is immaculate and very neat with lots of nice touches.  Including frozen home made curries in a freezer. Yum, can't wait to try one!

Ferry to Maliag

As we leave Skye, the sun is out and we have a nice relaxing drive in the sun across skye to Portree and then down to Armadal and the ferry to Malaig, leaving just a short drive to our Silversands campsite.

We stop for more photos of the Cuillins.  I will miss this view.

At Armadal we board the ferry. £23 all in, van and all of us, for a 30 mins crossing.

At Malaig the steam train used in Harry Potter runs along the line to Fort William.

We just manage to get the last pitch at Silversands and although we are not waterside, we still have a fantastic view across the sea back to Skye.  Again the Cuillins stand out majestically against the the dramatic sky.

Joey and Ben are brave enough to go in the sea for a swim.  There are Otters in this area, but we are not lucky enough to see any.

Bye bye Nessie

The 17 miles from Foyer south to Fort Augustus was full of cyclists, pretty fit cyclists, as the route is undulating and very scenic.

Once at At Augustus, we fill up with diesel and supplies and drive North to Invermoriston and turn left along the A887 (A87).  Again we are blessed with good weather and dramatic scenery.

Over the Skye bridge and we witnessed a police car stop on the A87 and perform a 8 point turn, to give chase to a bus!  (It reminded me of that Scottish film - Restless Natives, where two kids on a Suzuki GP100 turn into modern day Robin Hoods).
Anyway we see the Police car stop the bus. But what happens after is anyone's guess.

On to Skye via the bridge and lunch at a cafe in Dunvegan.  Venison salad for me and toasted sandwiches for the others.

The campsite is at the other end of the village and most expensive yet at £39 for the night.  Pitch is right on the waters edge we views down to the castle and back to the village.

One thing about Skye, is that the skyscapes dominate the dramtic scenery. Constantly changing and always demanding your attention.

Dunvegan, is a bit a shanty town, that sits on the estery.  Village shop, multiple B&Bs, oldest Island bakery and a dodgy looking museum.

In the morning Woody and I take in a circular village walk, which gives fantastic views back to the Cuillins.

On to Skye

It seemed a shame to leave Loch Ness as both weather and views are fantastic.

Up and out at 7am, Woody and I off for our last explore of the area.  We head down to out disused Alcan aluminium foil factory.

We then go further along the Loch shore to the new hydro electric station, before heading up hill to Foyers.

Two more spots of red squirrels, although my attempt to capture and image of them leaves a lot to be desired...

Spot the squirrel competition!

The hillside woods are a delight to walk through at this time of the morning.  I can imagine in the summer it would be busy around here.

The above photo shows the upper derilict bridge across to lower Foyers and the new bridge at the bottom, that leads to the campsite.

Access to the shore during victorian times was via paddle steamer.  The adventurous tourists would then scramble up the hillside to see the falls. In those days, there would have been much more water cascading over 165ft fall.  The flow of water being reduced by the building of the hydro-electric generating station, to supply power to the Aluminium smelting works in 1894.