A lonely and dark train station...
Our ride!
The streets of Kensington
The Italian Gardens in Kensington Gardens
Go Swannies...!
The majestic Albert Hall
The room at Albert Hall where the Royal Family spends intermission.
The mural in the foyer of the Albert Hall
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace under stormy summer skies
The back yard of Buckingham Palace
Everyone has a lake in their back yard - right?
Walking through the woodlands of Hamstead Heath
Avenue of trees in the Heath
Getting out of the way of the Fun Run!
The view of the city from Parliament Hill
One of the many benches around the Heath
Kenwood House
A casualty from a past storm?
The town of Hamstead
The laneways of Hamstead
Lunch with old friends (Trudy and Matt)
The Entrance to Hampton Court
Base Court within Hampton Court
Some of the art in Hampton Court
Everyone needs a painted ceiling in their bedroom, right?
Fountain Court within Hampton Court
The alleyway to the kitchens of Hampton Court
Turning the roast by hand...
The Gardens of Hampton Court
The river Thames near Hampton Court
Hampton Court as seen from its back yard...
Fine Scottish produce...
Forecourt of Edinburgh Castle all set up for the Tattoo
View of Edinburgh from the Castle
The dungeons
The War Memorial at the top of the Castle
View of the forecourt from the top of the Castle
The queue to see the Scottish Crown Jewels
Exploring the Royal Mile
Kellie and Ros in Princess Street Gardens
Floral Clock in Princess Street Gardens
Edinburgh Castle from Princess Street Gardens
Selfie with the Castle!
Up the top of the Walter Scott Monument
Tim and Dave enjoying a pint in the old City
The house Tim Stayed in as a lad
Palace within Stirling Castle
The old section of Stirling Castles walls
The Great Hall - at it peak the whole castle would have been rendered this golden colour!
Inside the Great Hall
Stirling Castle walls
The Royal Palace in Stirling Castle
The Queens beadroom
Not the best day for sightseeing!
The Wallace Monument
View over Stirling from the Wallace Monument
Climbing down the spiral staircase of the Monument
The National Symbol of Scotland
The Falkirk Wheel
Roslyn Chapel
Roslyn Chapel with the different coloured sandstone used from the local area
Some Festival Jazz!
It's the band. The Clarinetist had had a few...
Modesty barrier on the fore deck which shielded the women from the wind and potential embarrassment of flying skirts!
Royal Yacht Brittania
Royal Royce on board
Private deck for the royals and their guests
Formal dining room
The Queen's private office
Formal lounge room where family and guests were entertained after dinner
Surgeon's Room
Feeding the birds
Wier along the Water of Leith
Haggis!
St Giles Cathedral
Inside St Giles Cathedral
The Palace of Holyroodhouse
Edinburgh Castle waiting for the Tattoo to begin
The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo
The Castle at night
Lights on the Castle
The Tattoo
Stars and Stripes on the Castle
The cast of the Tattoo
The Castle covered in tartan
Fireworks at the Tattoo
Holyrood Park
Arthurs Seat
Heather!
The view of Edinburgh from Arthurs Seat
Salisbury Crags
The old town of Edinburgh from Salisbury Crags
The Falls at Dochart
The Mill at Dochart
Selfie at the Falls
The Drivers Inn
??
Rail Bridge on the drive to Glasgow
The "Kelpies" by the road near Falkirk
Waiting for our new hotel.... grrrrr
The Clyde River at Glasgow
Exploring Glasgow
The View from Sgurr Finnisig-aig
Beautiful highland scenery
High above Fort William
Fort William
Trying "Irn-Bru", the Scottish soft drink.... I think they should stick to Whisky!
A wee dram?
Here's cheers to the Great Glen Way!
A misty start the the Great Glen Way...
Through the wildflowers...
Past old ruins...
Past some highland cattle...
To the beginning of the Caledonia Canal - Neptunes Staircase.
Along the Caledonia Canal
One of the Canals Aqueduct's - the canal over the top and the natural water course running below it.
The Girls doing their Duke of Edinburgh
One of the cottages along the Canal
Lunch by the side of the Canal
Walking the Caledonia Canal
Enjoying a quiet beer at the end of the days walk
A wee bit of drizzle on the Loch for the start of day 2
Some of the forest scenery
Typical Scottish hiking weather...?
Forest landscape
We walked right along the shoreline of the lochs in parts...
Coming down into Laggen Lochs
Laggen Locks
At dinner with a few of our friends that we have picked up along the way...!
Walking beside Loch Oich
At least they built the chimney to last...
The Great Glen Way track follows the decommissioned rail line
A glimpse of the sun (?)
The lock-keepers house at Kullochy Lock
The peaceful walk along the canal again
Another view of the Loch's
One of the many lock along the canal - most with a very quaint lock-keepers cottage
The walkers at one of the locks
River Lochy
Vistas along the canal
A cruise on Loch Ness
The mark on the side of Loch Ness where Nessie is supposed to have tried to escape but slid back down...
A BIG boat trying to get through the Locks at Fort Augustus
Rainbow over the town of Fort Augustus
And we're off for day 4...
The forest portions of the walk were other-worldly and beautiful
Moss covered forest setting
More forest
A waterfall around every corner
Fungus growing on the tree trunks
It was quite a steep climb to the "high road"
... but the views were worth it...
Wow (but a bit of rain)
Loch Ness far below
... and then the sun came out...
Real highland scenery
Spectcular
Mmmm, tasty!
Blue skies
Worth the climb for this view...
Starting our descent from the high road
Lunch half way down
Bridges at Invermoriston
Some carvings behind the local store
The Girls!
My Prreciousssss..... (LOTR joke!)
Tim got a new haircut!
Start of day 5
And we're off... a bit of a steep climb to start
Through the trees...
Decision time... Tim & Kellie decided on the high road, Roz & Dave decided on the low road
Moss covered trees
Just above the tree line
Beautiful wildflowers accompanied us for the whole walk
Scenery from the "high road"
Breath-taking
We never tire of the highland scenery
Selfie at the highest point of the "high road"
The Loch below
Heather and Loch Ness - what more could you want from a walk in the highlands?
The descent begins
Moss in the forest
The dinner venue
Another quiet beer...
The start of the last day...
Making our way out of Drumnadrochit
The blue posts that guided us throughout the walk
View of Urquart Castle as we left Drumnadrochit
Leaving the road we headed back through the trees
Never tire of the views
More forest
A steep climb through the forest
Up just above the treeline
The aptly named "Troll Bridge"
Majestic views of highland country for most of the day
More highland landscape
You really need a kilt to walk in this stuff!
Through a densly wooded section...
... to the Eco Cafe!
More of the highlands
"Braveheart" country
We expected Mel Gibson to ride along at any moment
Blue skies for most of today
We then entered the trees again
Someone had made a make-shift hut in the forest
Stopping for a rest and a snack on the way down
walking past old sections of wall
The town of Inverness... the end is in sight!
Walking through the suburbs of Inverness
Along the Caledonian Canal for the last time...
... along the river to the castle...
... to the finish!
Kellie fitbit told the story of the day...!
A photo (after our showers!) of the 4 of us with Bob & John
Eilean Donan Castle
Eilean Donan again...
Cairns by the side of the Loch...
... so we thought we should build one too!
View from the front of our hotel in Skye
Our hotel on Skye