Day 39 - Loch Ness, Scotland
Monday 22nd September, 2025 - Isle of Skye - Loch Ness, Scotland
Late morning out of bed again, not having to rush for tours or long drives is very relaxing. Slight hiccup last night, Graeme had a hot shower before bed, but by the time Tania got in it was certainly not hot water. This morning we failed to get any hot water in the kitchen sink to wash dishes. We dutifully reported this to Anne our host, she apologised and said there had been trouble with our pod's hot water in the past. Later in the day, she contacted us to say the hot water unit had been turned off, the switch was located near the container with the marshmallows, which Tania had got out the last night and must have accidentally turned off our unit !
We drove onto Fort Augustus arriving at 15:00, in plenty of time for our booked cruise. There were tourists everywhere, obviously a very popular stop and many of them were lining the canal to see the lock system working as 4 boats were coming down the water way. A nearby plaque stated the Caledonian ship canal was initially constructed early 1800s, is 96.5 km long and 33.5m wide, crosses Scotland and connects the North and Irish Seas. There are 28 locks in total, each 55m long and 12m wide and here in Fort Augustus there are a series of 5 locks with part of the road being a swing bridge to allow the boats to exit into Loch Ness. It was interesting watching the process slowly repeat itself as the boats moved down stream through the locks.
Our cruise departed right on time, it was the last scheduled cruise for the day. Luckily there were not many passengers on board so we could move quite freely to all parts of the boat to enjoy the scenery and commentary. We were sure we would get a sighting of Nessie, and as I was clicking away I got the above photo ... I'll leave it to your interpretation, but It is pretty compelling!
A quick stop at the SPAR supermarket in town before leaving for our accommodation at Invermoriston. Arriving at around 17:45, we were warmly welcomed by our host, shown to our room, and told to observe the birds and squirrel feeding right from our bedroom window! And what a show it was ... literally dozens of birds, two pheasant and 4 or 5 red squirrels came out to feed. Amazing.
We enjoyed chicken Kiev and spicy rice for dinner.