Our first brief stop after crossing the border into Scotland was Loch Lomond.

We stretched our legs at Luss…

..and tried on some tartan caps.

After which we continued our journey on to the Bridge of Orchy

Our accomodation for the next couple of nights was the hotel, so we made our way up the steps. For more about the hotel see https://www.bridgeoforchy.co.uk/

After checking in we tried out the huge bed…

Nye wanted to see the bridge that Bridge of Orchy is named after, so we set out in the rain to find it. It crosses over The River Orchy…

The mountains behind us were barely visible in the mist and clouds.

You may know I am fond of a full English breakfast. Scottish breakfasts are very yummy too, there would normally be an egg but I didn’t feel like eggs when I ordered! Nye opted for scrambled eggs with smoked salmon.

The humans went out to walk some of The West Highland Way. We stayed in the hotel and watched the clouds go by from the bedroom window.

After leaving Bridge of Orchy we stopped briefly at Glen Coe Visitor Centre after driving through some amazing scenery. The clouds and rain had blown away for a while and we could see the mountains in all their glory.

At Glen Coe Visitor Centre the Scottish National Trust have recreated a typical turf and creel house. We were fortunate to get there just before a coach party of humans arrived! Read more about it here: https://www.nts.org.uk/visit/places/glencoe/highlights/turf-and-creel-house

We had a few minutes peace inside by the fire before lots of tourists appeared.

We said ‘Hello’ to a highland cow before making our way back to the car quite quickly as the sunshine had brought out the midges.

After stopping at Fort William for the humans to collect food, and then driving through more wonderful scenery and across the Skye Bridge we arrived on the Isle of Skye. After travelling past more mountains and lochs and some small towns we finally reached the holiday home where we would stay for the following week at Storr Lochs.

It was a rather splendid cabin overlooking the sea. See more about it here https://www.thebayskye.co.uk/

The cabin was very nice inside, and the humans very quickly cooked a meal for us.

We spent quite a while just looking at the view….

Our first outing on Skye was to The Skye Museum of Rural Life. There are lots of croft cottages there set up to show how humans used to live years ago.

We had a peep through the window in one croft cottage before going in.

It looked very cosy inside.

The Crofters didn’t say much though!

The thatch on the cottages was held in place by very large pebbles.

Crofters often used half of the cottage to house a cow in order to get milk.

We were hoping perhaps a human might push us around in the wheelbarrow, but it didn’t happen….

Here we are inside the Blacksmith’s cottage.  You may notice the enormous bellows to the left of Nye. The bellows pumped air into the furnace, increasing the heat and oxygen supply to the fire and helped to shape the metal. It must have been very hot work.

We also visited the Post Office and General Store.

The Weaver’s cottage was also very interesting…

There were humans of all nationalities at the museum and it was getting quite busy, so after having a look inside all the crofter’s cottages we left to visit another place. Too many humans are a problem sometimes as they accidently end up in my photographs!

Our next destination was to have a look at some interesting mounds known as ‘The Fairy Glen’.

The Fairy Glen is a geological wonder consisting of a group of conical hills that look man-made but are, in fact, remnants of an ancient landslip. We decided to climb to the top of one of the mounds.

There was a splendid view at the top of the other mounds along with crofter’s cottages in the distance.

On arriving back at the cabin we enjoyed some Scottish shortbread biscuits on the deck.

We were able to see The Old Man of Storr from our deck, but only when he wasn’t covered in cloud. The Old Man is on the Trotternish Ridge which was formed over 600 million years ago by a massive landslip. He is visible in the photo below behind us. The humans tried to walk up to see The Old Man close up, but the conditions were too foggy so they came back down again.

We set up the binoculars to get a better look….

The Old Man looked quite eerie with all the mist drifting around.

On the longest day, the summer solstice, we got up very early to see the sun rise. In Scotland in summer they have about an hour longer of daylight than we do in Bristol. The island in the sea is called Raasay. You may notice a pipe and a small concrete building. We were staying right next to the Storr Lochs hydro electric plant, built in 1952 and upgraded in 2017. It is one of the smallest hydro schemes in Scotland but apparently if there is a problem with electricity supplies from the mainland, this small plant keeps the lights on in Skye.

We didn’t go everywhere with the humans as long walks aren’t really our thing, but we joined them on their trip to Dunvegan Castle. The Castle has been occupied by the same family, the MacLeods, for 800 years. For more information see: https://www.dunvegancastle.com/

There is a seal colony in Dunvegan Loch, we like seals so were very keen to go out on a boat to see some of them.

We climbed into the clinker boat and waited for the skipper to start the engine.

The problem with trips to see wildlife is that sometimes the wildlife may be elsewhere! The skipper was very pleased to finally spot one seal on the rocks…

Here is a close up of the seal, who was due soon to have a baby seal.

After going back to the castle we explored the gardens. Here we are sat on the Dunvegan Pebble, which took us by surprise as it goes round and round like a roundabout.

We had a little rest in a rather strange chair…

I made sure that Nye didn’t get too close to the water as he has been known to fall in.

In the garden museum I found some ancient gardening tools. This bear sized contraption was used to trim the edges of lawns.

There was lots of catmint growing in the knot garden. The weather is very unpredictable on Skye, so it must be a difficult environment for gardeners.

We found a waterfall in the water garden…

Also some interesting purple cones on a Korean Fir tree.

In the woodland garden we found an old Elm tree with a two bear sized hole in it….

Nye was very useful (he has a strong head) and helped me look through the window in this tree stump for a photograph…

The tractor made from logs was intended for human children, but we enjoyed sitting in it.

On the way back to the cabin, after driving through Portee we came across some more highland cows, so stopped to say ‘Hello’ to them…

Back at the cabin the following day, the Black Face sheep had all settled right outside our bedroom window. There are lots of sheep on Skye, the black faced ones are very hardy and able to tolerate all winds and weathers.

We also saw this sheep everytime we went out:

When it was time to go home the sun was shining very brightly and got us all up very early. We had a lovely time on Skye, but had to start the journey back towards England.

Our next destination was Loch Ness, where we had booked a B&B for a couple of nights. Nessie the Loch Ness monster has been living with us in Bristol for as long as I remember, but we thought she might like to return to her home so decided to set her free on the shores of Loch Ness.

We said our goodbyes as she headed for the water….

After leaving Nessie in the Loch it was check in time at Balachladaich B&B. For details see https://www.lochnessbedbreakfast.co.uk

The B&B was on the shores of Loch Ness, so as soon as we arrived we went down to the beach to see if we could spot Nessie swimming around. To our surprise she emerged from the water…

Nessie said she wanted to stay with us, and come back to Bristol with us.

Nye gave Nessie a big hug…

…then we took Nessie back up to our room at the B&B.

The breakfast was continental style, which was good for me as my tummy cannot cope with too many full Scottish breakfasts!

The weather was getting a bit warmer so it was necessary to try on our midge protection gear, but fortunately we didn’t need to wear it.

One of the highlights of our time in the Scottish Highlands was walking alpacas. Right next door to the B&B is Loch Ness Alpacas, where humans (and sometimes bears) can take an alpaca on a trek along the shores of the loch. For more details see https://www.lochnessalpacas.co.uk/

We walked 8 year old Apollo, a very gentle and well trained alpaca.

Thirteen alpacas live at Loch Ness Alpacas, these guys greeted us at the end of the walk. They roam freely in a big field which includes the shoreline, and sometimes go into the Loch for a paddle.

We enjoyed Loch Ness but had to move on to our last Scottish stopover in Moffat, where we spent the night in a coaching inn built in 1792, The Balmoral.

The Old Stables were situated in a courtyard behind the hotel, and we stayed in a one of the ‘cottages’ in the stable.

We were delighted to find a large box of chocolates waiting for us inside!

In the morning I enjoyed another cooked breakfast while Nye opted for a bacon sandwich (he doesn’t eat quite as much as me). We discussed the lovely holiday that had nearly ended.

We didn’t drive all the way from Moffat back to Bristol, but stopped again in Manchester for a few days, and on the way to Scotland we stopped in Grassmere.

We are very fortunate bears to be able to travel with our humans to such lovely places. Scotland is well worth visiting but it is a very long way from Bristol!

Horace the Alresford Bear 30/6/2024