After a late night last night due to our attendance at the Scottish Night Out in the Pitlochry town hall, we awoke to heavy rain. Just what we needed as we were traveling to Inverness, our next stop on our Scottish adventure.
We had breakfast, packed and we were away by 10am taking the A9 which would take us all the way to our destination.
We stopped en route to have a look at Blair Castle which stands in its grounds near the village of Blair Atholl, Perthshire in Scotland. It is the ancestral home of the Clan Murray and was historically the seat of their chief, the Duke of Atholl though the current (12th) Duke, Bruce Murray, lives in South Africa. The castle stands in Glen Garry, and commands a strategic position on the A9 which is the main route through the central Scottish Highlands.
We took a couple of pictures of these fierce looking horned bulls then continued through the Cairngorm National Park past the Grampions and the Cairgorm Mountains. On the A9 we travelled through the Pass of Drumochter and the road was very smooth and fast. Just the sort of road the Top Gear team could use although the speed limit is 60mph (100kph). This is the main mountain pass between the northern and southern central Scottish Highlands.
The countryside was mostly covered in heather and the patchy clouds variously produced dappled sunshine and then rain.across the mountains and glens. Beautiful.
We saw a sign for the Highland Wildlife Park at Kingcraig, Kingussie, Inverness-shire so decided to visit.
The park was not dissimilar to Monarto Zoo in South Australia and we we able to see many of the animals from our car wandering in their large enclosures.
In an enclosure of several acres there were two Polar Bears playing in a muddy pool and they were scheduled to be fed at 1.15pm so we found a spot at the fence to watch the action. At this time they were quite a distance away and at about 1.10pm they made their way up the hill to where we were positioned to await the arrival of the keeper.
Whilst waiting they were getting stuck into each other trying to claim territory as the keeper was due to arrive. Many of the children present were quite distressed at seeing a couple of 600kg bears going toe to toe.
When the keeper arrived to feed them they began to concentrate on the food rather than trying to kill each other.
Entry to the park cost £10 each for and they had quite a wide range of animals, a restaurant and gift shop.
After our visit we headed off down the A9 to our destination at Inverness which is at the head of the Moray Firth and just north of Loch Ness (of monster fame).
We are spending 5 nights at the Travelodge hotel here.
We had breakfast, packed and we were away by 10am taking the A9 which would take us all the way to our destination.
We stopped en route to have a look at Blair Castle which stands in its grounds near the village of Blair Atholl, Perthshire in Scotland. It is the ancestral home of the Clan Murray and was historically the seat of their chief, the Duke of Atholl though the current (12th) Duke, Bruce Murray, lives in South Africa. The castle stands in Glen Garry, and commands a strategic position on the A9 which is the main route through the central Scottish Highlands.
We took a couple of pictures of these fierce looking horned bulls then continued through the Cairngorm National Park past the Grampions and the Cairgorm Mountains. On the A9 we travelled through the Pass of Drumochter and the road was very smooth and fast. Just the sort of road the Top Gear team could use although the speed limit is 60mph (100kph). This is the main mountain pass between the northern and southern central Scottish Highlands.
The countryside was mostly covered in heather and the patchy clouds variously produced dappled sunshine and then rain.across the mountains and glens. Beautiful.
We saw a sign for the Highland Wildlife Park at Kingcraig, Kingussie, Inverness-shire so decided to visit.
The park was not dissimilar to Monarto Zoo in South Australia and we we able to see many of the animals from our car wandering in their large enclosures.
In an enclosure of several acres there were two Polar Bears playing in a muddy pool and they were scheduled to be fed at 1.15pm so we found a spot at the fence to watch the action. At this time they were quite a distance away and at about 1.10pm they made their way up the hill to where we were positioned to await the arrival of the keeper.
Whilst waiting they were getting stuck into each other trying to claim territory as the keeper was due to arrive. Many of the children present were quite distressed at seeing a couple of 600kg bears going toe to toe.
When the keeper arrived to feed them they began to concentrate on the food rather than trying to kill each other.
Entry to the park cost £10 each for and they had quite a wide range of animals, a restaurant and gift shop.
After our visit we headed off down the A9 to our destination at Inverness which is at the head of the Moray Firth and just north of Loch Ness (of monster fame).
We are spending 5 nights at the Travelodge hotel here.
Red Squirrel outside the Pitlochry Hotel
This is the high point on the A9 at 1508 feet.
A cashmere jumper thingy for £495 ($A800). Mick said "No!"
$800. You must be joking.
A Waterfall Jacket, what the hell is that? £695.95 ($A1120). Mick said "No!"
A Scottish Wildcat
The white dot in the middle of the picture is snow! It is left over from last winter!
Quite amazing to see Polar Bears without ice floes and seals to chase. This must have been the way they survived the Roman times warm period on Earth.
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