Day 42 - Dingwall, Aviemore, Pitlochry, Bridgend on Lintrathen, Scotland
Thursday 25th September, 2025 - Bridgend on Lintrathen, Scotland
After another nice breakfast at Garfield House we were on the road by 9:00 am. First stop was Aviemore, we were looking for a jacket for Graeme at a Trespass store which had been on special at other stores in Ireland and Scotland, but not in his size. This store had the style and size, but it was not on special - so we passed !
Back on the road to Pitlochry, where we had identified the Salmon Ladder as an interesting stop to explore. Next to the hydro electricity plant was a series of pens set up to allow salmon to navigate upstream, past the dam wall to lay their eggs. Getting there was interesting. Google maps took us to the Pitlochry Festival Theatre which just happened to have a performance about to start, so it was very busy with cars coming into the car park. We were directed to a parking spot by an attendant, but we realised that it was for the pending performance, so we opted out and tried to find our way to another car park. If we had originally followed Google maps down an adjourning road, there was no car park available. We followed our noses and eventually parked in the town centre, followed a walking trail which took us back over a pedestrian suspension bridge, back past the Festival Theatre, past the salmon ladder and over the dam wall back into the town. What a nice looped walk.
We understood that our accommodation for the next 2 nights at Bridgend on Lintrathen was "out in the middle of nowhere" ! In preparation, we went to the super market in Pitlochry, bought some supplies for dinner, and then set off for our one hour drive to Bridgend. 45 minutes of this drive was on the longest stretch of winding single lane roads, the narrowest we had been on so far in Scotland. Often blind corners, narrow bridge crossings and high roadside vegetation, we had to stop numerous times for oncoming traffic to pass. At one spot we happened on a huge gathering of pheasants, hundreds of them all about us as we drove through. To be fair, although it was a taxing drive for Tania, we did see more wild life on this drive than anywhere else in Scotland. Pheasant, deer, highland cows, geese, ducks and sheep.
We arrived at our accommodation at 17:45, no one there to greet us, but a note on a blackboard welcoming us and directing us to our room. The room was very small, but warm. There was a "free", help yourself continental breakfast available in a share kitchen area and a share lounge room. A good breakfast staple for us whilst travelling, we made ourselves a bircher using the yoghurt, apple and apple juice supplied. The kitchen gear we always carry with us has again been very handy throughout the holiday.
