Saturday 7 September – Sunshine, birdsong and a Model T.

There was a strange object in the sky this morning. A local told us it was the sun. We didn’t believe her initially but as the day continued it too continued to beam rays of glorious semi-warmth down on us. We had indeed witnessed a rare appearance of the sun. Not a drop of rain all day.

A delicious breakfast was served to us as we sat overlooking the backyard of our B&B watching the local birds enjoying their breakfast too. Bertie the poodle joined us later for pats and cuddles then, after a quick stop at Betty and Norman's for a final farewell and photo, we hit the road for tonight’s destination of Invermoriston.

Our first stop was Fort William where we wandered the quaint main street stopping for a photo opportunity at the Model T Ford sculpture. The original car drove to the summit of Ben Nevis, Britain’s highest mountain in 1911 climbing into the heart of an ancient volcano. We also entered St Andrew’s Church, yet another old and beautiful church.

Back on the road and a spectacular drive through the rugged Highlands. We passed Ben and the other Nevises as well as many ramblers making their way along the mountain tracks. We stopped at a WWII Commando Memorial statue standing proud against a backdrop of dramatic mountains. We stopped briefly at the Thistle Stop café for lunch before driving along the shores of Loch Ness and arriving at Invermoriston – in the middle of Loch Ness country. We didn’t see Nessie but we had a lovely walk through the woodlands and came to a pretty waterfall that ran under the 1,000 year old Moriston Bridge. The River Moriston’s name means ‘river of waterfalls’. It tumbles from this point into Loch Ness.

We booked into our B&B, just fifty metres from our local, the Glenmoriston Arms Hotel, and after a bit of a rest we toddled down there for a delicious dinner that included a game terrine (pheasant, rabbit, partridge and venison) and pheasant wrapped in prosciutto.  We then wandered up to the local war graves cemetery and, as darkness fell, walked among the graves of those who died in campaigns including in India, Africa and World Wars I and II.