We are getting ready to fly back to Gatwick from Inverness. We have had a nice time in Scotland visiting my brother and it was a great pleasure meeting his girlfriend’s family, who were an extremely friendly bunch.

Despite forecasts the weather has been good allowing us to go to Loch Ness which is not far outside Inverness, the highlight being a real sighting of Nessie of which I have posted a photograph on my Facebook profile.

We also visited a castle (Claire likes castles), went shopping (Claire likes Accessorize) and went to a kilt makers where I managed to get a small sample of tartan fabric, the pattern of which would have been worn by my ‘Crichton’ ancestors, for my family history records.

I would not have been able to travel back to the south of the UK without bagging at least a couple of trig points up in Scotland. Yesterday Claire and I went on a ramble in search of three trigs, the first Dun Garbh we had to abandon mission due to the terrain being a little too steep for a ‘country stroll’. The second trig at Clune Wood was very easy, and admittedly bagged beside the road, however I think we redeemed this lazy claim after bagging Creag A Chlachain, although not a very high trig it was one huge endurance test climbing through thick heather and battling with swarms of flies buzzing round our heads, I am not kidding when I say at times our vision was impaired by these little flying beasts.

As lovely as it is and as sad we are to leave, I do not think we will be moving up to Scotland, it would be a bit of a commute to work!

“By the beard of Zeus” –Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)