Fort Augustus to Laggan Locks
After exploring the small town of Fort Augustus, some of us set off with Carol to visit the local Rare Breeds Park, with various types of sheep, cattle and goats.
The more energetic walk was the cemetery walk with Konia. This takes in some varied scenery and as the name suggests, a cemetery. Some of the graves date to the 18th century and have beautifully carved head stones – there is also a very good friend of Robert Burns, the Scottish poet, buried here, John Anderson (My Jo).
After lunch there is another hike on offer, this time with Carol from Fort Augustus to Kytra lock, along the tow path. It’s a real joy to be walking on this warm and dry day, mystical clouds low on the hill sides.
The ship catches up with the walkers at Kytra lock and sails on to Cullochy lock, where some very hardy walkers head for the 6 mile hike to Laggan locks with Brian and Carol. Meanwhile Larry is leading the kayakers from Loch Oich to Laggan, through gorgeous Laggan Avenue and Konia is doing the commentary on the ship.
The Lord of the Glens sails from Cullochy across Loch Oich, the high point of the journey (highest point of the canal anyway at 106 ft above sea level), past the ruin of Invergarry Castle and the Well of the Seven Heads. The scenery gets even more stunning when in Laggan Avenue, as in this man-made section of the canal the trees reach right down to the banks of the canal. A magical spot, only seen by boat, not from the road!
After some exploring at the Laggan – where you can walk all around the ship without getting your feet wet – as the ship is tied up in one of the locks and after dinner, Larry takes us all for a drink to the floating pub next door for a dram (that used to be a measure for whisky of about 1/3 of a pint, now considerably less…) – sláinte mhath!!! (Gaelic for good health.)
After exploring the small town of Fort Augustus, some of us set off with Carol to visit the local Rare Breeds Park, with various types of sheep, cattle and goats.
The more energetic walk was the cemetery walk with Konia. This takes in some varied scenery and as the name suggests, a cemetery. Some of the graves date to the 18th century and have beautifully carved head stones – there is also a very good friend of Robert Burns, the Scottish poet, buried here, John Anderson (My Jo).
After lunch there is another hike on offer, this time with Carol from Fort Augustus to Kytra lock, along the tow path. It’s a real joy to be walking on this warm and dry day, mystical clouds low on the hill sides.
The ship catches up with the walkers at Kytra lock and sails on to Cullochy lock, where some very hardy walkers head for the 6 mile hike to Laggan locks with Brian and Carol. Meanwhile Larry is leading the kayakers from Loch Oich to Laggan, through gorgeous Laggan Avenue and Konia is doing the commentary on the ship.
The Lord of the Glens sails from Cullochy across Loch Oich, the high point of the journey (highest point of the canal anyway at 106 ft above sea level), past the ruin of Invergarry Castle and the Well of the Seven Heads. The scenery gets even more stunning when in Laggan Avenue, as in this man-made section of the canal the trees reach right down to the banks of the canal. A magical spot, only seen by boat, not from the road!
After some exploring at the Laggan – where you can walk all around the ship without getting your feet wet – as the ship is tied up in one of the locks and after dinner, Larry takes us all for a drink to the floating pub next door for a dram (that used to be a measure for whisky of about 1/3 of a pint, now considerably less…) – sláinte mhath!!! (Gaelic for good health.)
