The traveling teacher

I'm not going to lie, my choice to stay up late last night was not so much fun this morning! But, being the last day of the tour, I knew that I would have yet another overnight bus back to London coming up. We left Morag's Lodge (Fort Augustus, Loch Ness) and headed south towards Fort William in the hopes of spotting Ben Nevis, Scotland's highest peak. Although it is not an incredibly high peak, it is a dangerous one, claiming several lives due to the drastic changes in conditions (especially the fog). In the direction of Ben Nevis Commando Memorial Our first stop of the day was at the Commando Memorial, in the shadow of Ben Nevis and overlooking the Commando Training Depot established during World War II. The memorial commemorates the men of the Commando force that fought during WWII. Although Ben Nevis towers over the area, we could only see the base of the mountain, as there was a lot of cloud cover. River Pattack After a bit of a drive, we made our n...

I have not been very good at keeping up with my travels, so this is still from my trip to Scotland mid-September... Trees for Life Hazel tree Day 4 on the Haggis tour was a very busy one. We left our hostel near the shores of Loch Ness, and made our way to Trees For Life, "a conservation charity dedicated to the restoration of the Caledonian Forest." Here, our tour group participated in planting 2 native species of tree, a birch tree and a hazel tree. Due to time and manpower constraints, we were only able to plant 2 trees for the entire group. Many of us had hoped to plant a tree each (30 trees), but the time that it would take to dig all of the holes (the charity's volunteers pre-dig the ground) meant that it was not possible. It is something that the charity is keeping in mind, and we discovered that you can do trips specifically to plant trees. One of the volunteers was a year 2 (grade 2) teacher, who is also taking a year off to refresh himself after 20 year...

Day 3 brought us to the Fairy Pools, through Portree, up to the Old Man of Storr and along the Skye coastline to Kilt Rock and the Lealt falls. Sadly, at the end of the day, we had to cross back onto the mainland as we were expected in Loch Ness. Skye is full of different legends and myths, detailing stories of faeries and giants. I apologize for my story telling skills in advance, as I don't have quite the same knack of spinning the tales. If you would like to hear the stories, I encourage you to take your own trip, and hear them for yourselves! Fairy Pools This is one of the most beautiful areas that we went to! We headed out in the morning to try and beat the crowds. It was worth it, as we mostly had the pathway to ourselves, and we managed to complete most (at least half) of our walk before the skies let loose. The water is a beautiful green colour, and crystal clear. The fairy pools are set against the Black Cuillins, one of the mountain ranges here on the Isle of Skye. ...

Day 2 of the tour was just as busy as the first! Today was a highlight for many of us, as we were about to take the Jacobite Steam train over the Glenfinnan viaduct, best known for its role in the Harry Potter films as the Hogwarts express. Jacobite Steam Train The first thing we did this morning was drive to Fort William. The trip was routine. It was foggy, but we did get to practice the 'bridge song' that our guide Gillian had taught us. For those that are curious, every time that we went over a bridge, we were to sing "We're going over a bridge, we're going over a bridge, Aye we are, aye we are" on repeat until we were across. I must admit that I felt a bit silly singing this at the beginning, but it is such a catchy tune, that by the end (and even now) I was singing along more willingly (as opposed to begrudgingly). We didn't actually see much of Fort William, as we had to get to the train station to get situated in our carriages. Almost everyone ...

Today was the beginning of the adventure! Bibi and I managed to get breakfast (the Baxter hostel serves a hot breakfast of eggs and toast, with cereal, tea and coffee also available. The hostel is quite nice, I would recommend it) before making our way to the Haggis Adventures office on the Royal Mile. Once everyone was checked in, we loaded up our "Wild and Sexy" yellow bus and headed out of Edinburgh. One thing I noticed right away, is how distance is different here in the UK. I am used to driving long distances, and on a road-trip, "long" means 3 hours or more. Well, everything here is closer together, and I think the longest stretch we did on Day 1 was 1.5 hours. Not bad at all! Our drive today took us from Edinburgh to Oban, stopping at the Kelpies, the William Wallace Monument, past the Doune Castle (Monty Python fans will recognize the castle as the one in the Holy Grail) and through Glencoe. The Kelpies A short 45 minute drive had us arriving at ...