Old and New England with Scotland.The cripples on tour.

[drron]

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Of course if we really were important we would have been able to have these doors opened and drive in-

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[drron]

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And the ballroom the only room you can view but of course no photos-the scooter can get in though-

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[drron]

And now the water garden designed by Prince Phillip in the 50s-

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And some of the old vehicles in the stables-

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Then we wnt down to the river Dee-

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Just to get a little philosophical this river does have a significance in the difference between the UK and Australia.To fish the salmon beats on this river in the Balmoral Estate will set you back 393 GBP per rod per week.And it is catch and release.Not for your average Joe Blow.

 

[drron]

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And this I guess is really and truly a Royal Mail Box-

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[drron]

We had a snack of Royal scones,jam and cream.Then it was time to say goodbye to balmoral.You will notice the grey clouds have now made their appearance-

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Going back we passed these fellows-

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Then there is this lovely bridge to negotiate-

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And then a real castle-Castle Corgaff from the 16th century.Balmoral of course is technically not a castle as never fortified so really a hunting lodge from the 19th century-

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Just past the castle we went up over a mile on a steep and winding section of road.At the top was this sign-

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But before us was this sight up to the ski area,Lecht ski centre-

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At the top was another 20% gradient sign.Le Tour should go through here!
But the view is great-

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[PointyEnd]

Thanks for the great (ongoing) report drron!! When I saw the 1 'o' clock gun it reminded of the noon day gun I used to hear in Cape Town which still fires to this day.
A quick question: do you travel with the title of Dr. on your boarding passes etc? A family member who was a Dr. always used to ask TA's to remove it as he was constantly asked to look at old ladies bunions & provide free diagnoses.
Hope you're having a great trip

 

[drron]

I always travel with drron on my BPs,hotel check ins etc.I have never found that I am asked to treat trivial things.Only on 3 occasions have I been asked to help on a plane.Two were not life threatening but serious problems,the other was life threatening but fortunately everything turned out well.

So a couple more shots from A939-

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However we were now going to Culloden closer to Inverness than Aviemore.An impressive rail bridge very close to Culloden-

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Now to the battlefield.This is a National Trust property so members of an Australian National Trust get free admission.First the battlefield from the English side

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And now from the Jacobite lines-

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A regiment from the Government force hid behind this brick wall.When the Jacobites retreated they inflicted heavy casualties.This regiment was the Duke of Argylls.So a high proportion of the casualties inflicted on the Scots was by the Scots.Four of the 16 government regiments were Scots.

 

[drron]

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The last picture is to the left of the Jacobite line.It was a bog on the day of battle.As well it was very windy and sleet was driving into the faces of the charging Jacobites.

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The site of the cottage used to treat the government wounded-not great treatment as in one regiment only 5% of the wounded survived their wounds.Though being a wounded Jacobite on the battlefield meant you were dispatched on being found.So much for English gentlemen.

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It was pretty obvious reading about the Jacobite rebellion that Bonnie Prince Charlie was not a great soldier.

 

[drron]

When we got back to Aviemore we had dinner at Ben McDuis.A sports bar.It was rated number 4 by Trip Advisor,now number 6.The food was OK.I had a highland platter with cheese,chutney,pate and smoked beef then the roast beef with Yorkshire pudding-the pudding being burnt.

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Mrsdrron had the steak and ale pie which didn't really impress her-

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[drron]

I should have said we arrived at Ben McDuis a few minutes after the Australia-Holland match started.A pity they could not hang on a little longer.They did impress the locals.
So Thursday arrived and things were back to normal.Grey cloud,wind and rain.So after breakfast including my usual haggis we decided to take it easy and just do a few things locally.When we were initially planning ths trip we did consider a day to John O'Groats but this was definitely not a day for that.So the first thing was to go to Gairngorm mountain.In English it is Blue Mountain.Today though the colour was grey.I went up on te funicular railway knowing it was not the greatest idea.Mrsdrron stayed down in the shop.So here we go-

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It is a ski resort in winter and still some snow left.We soon entered the clouds though-

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The perils of global warming.At the top they say you can see Ben Nevis-

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Which rock is it?However it is always comforting to know there are greater fools.If you want to walk at the top you have to take a guided walk.Obviously some had planned it for some time.As well as the cloud and rain it was blowing a gale up on top.Just the day for a scenic walk-

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Obviously I did not stop long a te top and was on the next funicular down-

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[drron]

You really do get a great view when descending on mountain railways-

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Finally got below the cloud line-

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Better views were seen on the way down in the car.As time went on the clouds were getting lower-

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[drron]

On your way to and from the mountain you pass Loch morlich which is a watersports centre and seeing it is summer that's what they were doing-

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A god view back up the mountain from here-

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Most of the land around here belongs to the Rothiemurchus Estate.So our next stop was their farm shop,gift shop and the Druie café.Here we had some delicious cakes and a nice hot cappuccino.If you were self catering their farm shop is a must.After that I dropped mrsdrron off at the Hilton And I went out to the Strathspey Osprey centre at Loch Garten.On the way I stopped at Loch Pityoulish-

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The area around the osprey centre is low Scottish firs and peat bogs.

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They have a lot of feeders out to attract the smaller birds-

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The osprey story next.

 

[Princess Fiona]

Thoroughly enjoying your TR, especially the photos. Making me feel quite homesick at times (but in a good way )
Keep them coming

 

[drron]

Thanks Princess.
Now to the ospreys.This is a fascinating story.They became extinct in the UK in 1916 due to loss of habitat and egg collection.Then in 1954 a Scandinavian pair of ospreys decided to stop here at Strathspey.They were persistent.Their eggs were stolen for the first 4 years.In 1958 the nest was guarded by volunteers and the first successful births occurred.In 1959 it was decided to make this place a public viewing place.Controversial at the time but as more people became aware it has worked wonderfully.There are now at least 300 breeding pairs in the UK.Scottish birds were relocated to England in 1996 and early this century fledglings from England started nesting in Wales.
So back to Strathspey.The mother on the nest whilst dad sits in a nearby tree until he is told to go fishing again.

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Then a chick makes an appearance-

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Now you may have noticed a camera in those shots so these are pictures from the webcam-

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You can watch it here-they leave early August-
The RSPB: Loch Garten: Live video webcam

Now the trout of the area is the brown trout but the fish they are feeding on is a rainbow trout.So they know where the male is fishing.Just north of Aviemore is Loch Vaa and the fishing society there stocked it with rainbow trout.Further evidence is the society is now called the Osprey Fishing School.
So if you enjoy nature this is a highly recommended visit.

 

[drron]

The osprey centre is right by Loch Garten which if it was a fine day would be a great place for a picnic-

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That night we had our best meal in Aviemore.When we visited the Druie café they had the menu for One Pot Borrowed who take over the café on Thusday,Friday and Saturday nights.Only 3 appetisers,3 mains and 3 desserts.But it sounded OK.It was much better than that.We shared a traditional and hot smoked salmon entrée-

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Excellent.I then had the quail breasts with tatties on a bed of mixed veggies and a scotch broth-

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Close to perfection.Mrsdrron had the scallops with asparagus and fennel-

She loved it.And the asparagus was much better than that in the Concorde room 3 days later.She then had a rhubarb crème brulee and I had a cherry and almond tart-

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I love a good tart!It was rated by TA as number 2 restaurant in Aviemore.It is now number 1.
It certainly has my seal of approval.Unfortunately this was our last night in Aviemore so a follow up visit was not possible.The wines were also much more reasonably priced than our other meals in Scotland.It cost 78.50GBP but was good value.

 

[drron]

Friday and time to drive to Aberdeen and our last night in Scotland.We drive up to A941.This section of the drive has multiple whisky distilleries including Glenfiddich and Glenfarclas as well as the majors such as Chivas,Dewars and Diageo.However I am not a whisky drinker so kept driving.The drive so far follows the river Spey.Then it was onto A920.Saw a sign for Pict Stones so detoured down a very narrow dead end road to a church where the stones were found but now displayed in the enclosed porch to keep them out of the weather-

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Then down A96 right to the HGI Aberdeen City.Central to shopping and a short walk to the old town.Still a scaled down HGI-

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The HGI also has a Nick Nairn restaurant and as we enjoyed the one at Dunblane we ate there.Also 500 bonus points for eating here.few diners for a Friday night but the food was enjoyable.Mrsdrron started the night with the scallops and pork belly but hold the black pudding.She then had what was described as a daube of beef with mustard mash,fried beef short rib on onions and parsnips-

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The beef turned out to be a beef cheek.Very tender and tasty.She enjoyed both dishes.I had the Cullen skink-a chowder with haddock and potatoes.It was good.Then I had the lamb rump and fried lamb shoulder in a Scottish broth-very good.

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So once again we did enjoy the Nick Nairn inspired food.We were too full for desserts.With a glass of Villa Maria SB and a pint of Bitter and Twisted Ale-70GBP.

 

[drron]

As usual after unpacking I did my walk of the city.So a few random shots of the architecture-

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[drron]

Monument to the Gordon Highlanders called by Winston Churchill the finest regiment in the world-

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And yet more buildings-

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[drron]

Now the street where the HGI is and our view-

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