We had a nice breakfast at our B&B this morning and then packed and had our host take a picture of us with the mountains in the background. The bill for the night came to £50.
We then went for a short stroll on a walking path in Kingraig. We went to an old church and graveyard, along Lock Insh, and down a farmers driveway. His cows were quite interested in us.
Next, we went to the Highland Wildlife Park. For £16, we were able to drive around and walk around a lot of native Scottish wildlife in nearly natural habitats. We saw European bison, elk (moose), sheep), wild horses, deer, otter, lynx, wild cats, pole cats, owls, and (my favorite) wolves. We took lots of pictures. The gift shop had wildlife t-shirts from The Mountain, a t-shirt shop in Keene, NH, where we work.
After a drive the country (B roads or less), we ended up at Inverdruie/Rothiemurchus for lunch. I had a venison burger while Sarah had a sandwich she loved and some soup. After lunch, we took a 3 mile walk through the woods and countryside. The highlights of the walk were watching two highland cattle butting heads in a field and the ruins of a castle on a small island in the loch.
Throughout the day, the same weather pattern continued: sunny for a while and then rainy for a while. But it rarely poured.
On the way up to Inverness, we stopped to see the old stone bridge from the 1600 or 1700s in Carrbridge. Later I stopped to photograph a railroad bridge near Tomatin crossing the Findhorn Rriver. Just as we got to Inverness, we saw the most intense rainbow I have seen in a long time.
Then the frustration started! While Inverness is much smaller than Edinburgh, it’s still a city. I have never been one for driving in any city – let alone a city where they drive on the other side of the road and I don’t have a good map of it. After much effort trying to find a particular B&B, we ended up near a Travelodge hotel/motel. I think there are only two in the entire Highlands. A room much like an American motel cost £60.
We had a little trouble finding our way back into town for dinner – and much trouble finding a place to eat. There were several choices but few that seemed right. There was even a McDonald’s. We ended up at an Indian restaurant for a curry. We easily found her way back to the motel – much to my surprise.
