No we haven't been eaten by the Loch Ness Monster. The prefix "Inver" can mean "mouth" as in mouth of a river or where a river leads into the sea, a lake or a loch. Therefore Inverness is the town at the mouth of the River Ness where it leads out of Loch Ness.Last weekend we booked a cheap backpackers for a night in Inverness. The quick trip involved four hours driving there, through Perth, and five hours driving home, via Glen Coe. But boy was the scenery worth it!! We were absolutely spoilt with the weather. Every time we got out of the car the rain/hail/snow stopped whilst we looked around, only to begin again once the journey continued.
After terrific burgers in Perth (almost as good as the ones in North Melbourne at Burger Republic) we followed the A9 north into Perthshire, passing two fairytale castles.
Alice, a radiographer at Crosshouse, had recommended a lovely walk at The Hermitage and the sun came out as we pulled into the car park.
We had great fun with the camera (sorry Jono, we're still learning the manual functions). The Hermitage was apparently a leisure park in the 18th century, You can still visit a cave, built two centuries ago, that was built as a shelter from the harsh weather. Within the grounds you can also see Britains tallest tree (a Douglas-fir), standing at 59 metres.
The River Braan was absolutely gushing, hinting at the conditions we were headed for further up in the Highlands.
On Saturday evening we tasted the gastronomic delights of the Highlands. Greg tried Wild Pigeon and Jane ate Scallops (perhaps they weren't so highlandish - do scallops live in lakes?). Our backpackers was an absolute gem. The room had stunning views across the river to the Cathedral and the Castle could be seen out the side window. 
The sun was shining on Sunday morning while we hunted for our compulsory breakfast coffee. It was nowhere to be found. Brunch has definately not caught on in Britain. We took some more snaps of the castle and bridge before heading down the road to hunt Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster. 
No the big green thing is not the monster...
Entry to Urquhart Castle (at £7 each!) was a out of our price range so we happily took our pictures over the fence. Hmmmm... have we done this before at a famous British sightseeing attraction?
The road ahead was spectacular. Although the top of the mountains were often covered in misty clouds, the sun poked through to reveal snow-capped peaks.
We saw Ben Nevis in all its snow-covered glory. It's the UK's highest mountain reaching 1,344 metres. 
Then the sun shone again as we passed through Glen Coe, a beautiful valley not unlike the Gap on Dunloe in Ireland which we walked through last year. Glen Coe is also one of Scotland's popular skiing and hill-walking areas. There were plenty of cars parked beside the road as we drove by despite the snow falling outside.
We did brave the icy wind for a few quick snaps.
The last two hours of our weekend journey finally delivered the 
sight we'd been waiting for: Highland Cattle, or as Beck calls them "Hairy Cows". Following several U-turns on the A82 we arranged a good viewing point and finished off the storage space on our camera with pictures of the darling beasts. Does anyone know their purpose apart from being lovely to look at? Are they for beef mainly or just improving Scottish tourism?
After terrific burgers in Perth (almost as good as the ones in North Melbourne at Burger Republic) we followed the A9 north into Perthshire, passing two fairytale castles.
Alice, a radiographer at Crosshouse, had recommended a lovely walk at The Hermitage and the sun came out as we pulled into the car park.
We had great fun with the camera (sorry Jono, we're still learning the manual functions). The Hermitage was apparently a leisure park in the 18th century, You can still visit a cave, built two centuries ago, that was built as a shelter from the harsh weather. Within the grounds you can also see Britains tallest tree (a Douglas-fir), standing at 59 metres.
The River Braan was absolutely gushing, hinting at the conditions we were headed for further up in the Highlands.
On Saturday evening we tasted the gastronomic delights of the Highlands. Greg tried Wild Pigeon and Jane ate Scallops (perhaps they weren't so highlandish - do scallops live in lakes?). Our backpackers was an absolute gem. The room had stunning views across the river to the Cathedral and the Castle could be seen out the side window. 
The sun was shining on Sunday morning while we hunted for our compulsory breakfast coffee. It was nowhere to be found. Brunch has definately not caught on in Britain. We took some more snaps of the castle and bridge before heading down the road to hunt Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster. 
No the big green thing is not the monster...
Entry to Urquhart Castle (at £7 each!) was a out of our price range so we happily took our pictures over the fence. Hmmmm... have we done this before at a famous British sightseeing attraction?
The road ahead was spectacular. Although the top of the mountains were often covered in misty clouds, the sun poked through to reveal snow-capped peaks.
We saw Ben Nevis in all its snow-covered glory. It's the UK's highest mountain reaching 1,344 metres. 
Then the sun shone again as we passed through Glen Coe, a beautiful valley not unlike the Gap on Dunloe in Ireland which we walked through last year. Glen Coe is also one of Scotland's popular skiing and hill-walking areas. There were plenty of cars parked beside the road as we drove by despite the snow falling outside.
We did brave the icy wind for a few quick snaps.
The last two hours of our weekend journey finally delivered the 
sight we'd been waiting for: Highland Cattle, or as Beck calls them "Hairy Cows". Following several U-turns on the A82 we arranged a good viewing point and finished off the storage space on our camera with pictures of the darling beasts. Does anyone know their purpose apart from being lovely to look at? Are they for beef mainly or just improving Scottish tourism?
