Caledonian Canal to Banavie & Glenfinnan by train

Today turned out to be a perfect day for photographers, with rain, sunshine and dramatic skies.

The ship sailed up the 5 locks at Fort Augustus, through a further two locks to reach the highest point of the Caledonian Canal at Loch Oich. It was downhill from then on, via Laggan locks and Loch Lochy. All complemented by talks and commentary by the Lindblad/National Geographic staff. At Gairlochy our coach collected us for our short bus trip to Glenfinnan. This is one of the most beautiful spots in Scotland, craggy mountains frame Loch Shiel, punctuated in the middle by a monument. This commemorates the rising of the standard by Bonnie Prince Charlie and depicts one of the Highlanders.

A small exhibition tells the story of the beginning of the ’45, there is a National Trust Shop and a café with lovely cakes. After a nature walk with Ian Bullock we drove for 3 minutes to the train station and boarded our train to Banavie, crossing the Glenfinnan Viaduct. This was the first large structure to be built with concrete and earned its engineer Robert McAlpine the nickname Concrete Bob. Nowadays it is known through the Harry Potter movie, as the Hogwarts Express travels across it.

Back in Banavie some of us set off on a walk along the canal, whilst some of us used the opportunity to read or rest with views of Ben Nevis. After dinner we were entertained by Kirsty and Chris, two excellent musicians offering us a wide variety of Scottish Music.

Diddle dee dee diddle dee dee di diddle diddle dee!!!