Day 6: Adventures in Scotland
Day 6: Adventures in Scotland was another early morning. Fortunately it started with a delicious breakfast at Cairdeas B&B with gorgeous views of Loch Long. My aunt and I were going to need the sustenance!
We were in a hurry to get to Fort William and our Jacobite Steam Train journey to Mallaig. We also had the 1 hour Mallaig Wildlife Cruise booked.
If you have been following along on this wonderful Scotland adventure, you are probably wondering how day 6 will go differently than planned. Well, let’s just say that it seemed that everything conspired against us getting to the Fort William Transit station.
It felt like all of the slow traffic was on the road that morning. I would get past the slow vehicles only to be stopped by road work. And there was so much road work! Not long after we left the B&B I got a phone call. Because of the stormy weather the Mallaig Wildlife cruise was cancelled. That was a blessing in disguise because there were going to be even more delays. Just as I was thinking that we were going to get to the train on time, we got to the Laggan Swing Bridge. It was quite fascinating to watch the swing bridge in action, but there went almost 10 of our precious minutes. I did well plotting our GPS to the parking lot, but we definitely needed to hurry to make it for our train.
As soon as I parked I hurried to pay for parking while my aunt ran for the train station. You guessed it, she was running in the wrong direction. The closest pay station didn’t work so it took me longer to catch up. Once again all of the work on the destination posts came in handy as I realized that nothing looked right. I pulled up Google maps and we ran back in the right direction to the station. We could see our steam train leaving as we raced up to the ticket counter.
After a 15 minute marathon we were both red faced, glistening, and gasping! However, the kind ticket agent called to see if we would be able to ride back from Mallaig on the Jacobite steam train. Then he helped us get the ScotRail tickets we needed to get to Mallaig so we could ride back on the steam train and still enjoy our high tea.
As we were waiting for our ScotRail I realized that I left my water in the SUV. Having already been lost and not trusting my sense of direction, I used the Find My Apple Tag app to find the SUV. Would you believe that it was an easy 5 minute walk?
When I got back my aunt was talking to a really nice man who advised us to be the first ones on the ScotRail and to look for two window seats that didn’t have ‘Reserved’ signs on them.
We did exactly as he suggested and guess who our seat mates were?! That gentleman and his lovely wife! We had the best tour guides and traveling companions on our way to Mallaig. Once again what we thought was a disappointment ended up being a blessing from God that was something better! Come along with us from Fort William to Mallaig and back on the West Highland Line.
The Train Trips
Suidhe Viewpoint
After such a heart-poundingly exciting morning that included a fascinating ScotRail journey to Mallaig, we really enjoyed the relaxing return journey on the Jacobite Steam Train. By the way, the High Tea boxed lunch is huge! We had planned to stop in Fort Augustus for dinner, but it ended up being our lunch and dinner. Besides, it is about a 2 hour drive from the parking for Fort William Transit Station to our AirBnB on the River Ness. So the only stop we made was the Suidhe Viewpoint. It had glowing Google recommendations with comments like, “It’s a place where time dances with the elements.” How could we not stop, especially when it was on the way and had a designated pull off? Suidhe Viewpoint is a place that ignites your imagination with the surrounding beauty and the history that pours out of the hills.
Staying in the Old Town of Inverness
When I was searching for a place to stay in the Old Town of Inverness, I wanted something centrally located that was an easy walk to everything on our must see list. The Riverside AirBnB apartment had the required free parking, free WiFi, and free cancellation as well as laundry and these incredible views!
The End of the Day 6: Adventures in Scotland
Once again there had been a bit of a change from what I had planned and what we actually did by the end of the day 6: adventures in Scotland! There were a lot of stops on my spreadsheet but there wasn’t time for any on the way to Fort William.
We didn’t have the energy for all of the potential stops on the way to Inverness. Maybe if it had been bright sunshine instead of overcast we might have felt like sightseeing on the way to our AirBnB. However, isn’t that what makes a vacation memorable? The best memories come from living in the moment and looking, in gratitude, for each blessing that comes.
In spite of the momentary disappointments, this was another ‘Best Day Ever’ in Scotland. And if you think this was good, just wait till I share our day in Inverness!
