On to Spean Bridge

As you can see from the photograph, our Pauline likes Castles. This one was Dunstaffnage Castle And Chapel near to Connel and Pauline is striking a typical Blonde pose letting you know where the castle is. Well we had to get in at least one castle with so many fortifications throughout Scotland. This was quite a nice imposing Castle, but a tad too much building work going on for my liking. Plus Pauline thought that the wooden staircase was a bit scary and declined the ascent. After enjoying chocolate on the ramparts, we headed towards Spean Bridge, with a stop off at Fort William.

Distant Hills Guest House at Spean Bridge in Inverness-shire came in as a recommendation, and a good one at that! The accommodation and the owners were lovely. We were greeted with fresh coffee, tea and biscuits in the lounge. A tad up market from the last place we stayed at, as at that guest house guests did not appear to be welcome in the lounge. Strange I know, but sometimes people are unable to separate business from other activities. I have stayed in several lovely guest houses in and around Carmarthen and Kidwelly and what sets them up above the rest is that the guest feels as if he is integrated into the family. Distant Hills made the grade and Pauline and I were very pleased. Address: Spean Bridge, Inverness-shire. SatNav Postcode: PH34 4EU. Telephone: 01397 712452. Please mention the Blog if you make that call. Recommendation: It could be worth booking in advance on Laterooms.com as Distant Hills appears to be extremely popular.

But probably not as popular as Russell’s Bistro, a delightful truly up-market restaurant located just a few hundred yards along the road back towards the village. Wow, we were bowled over by the Service, cuisine and price point. This meal was astonishingly good value at only £75 for three superb courses, half a bottle of decent wine and the tip. A memorable experience enjoyed by one and all, more so as the maître d' likened me to Tom Jones. Well done matey, if only I could sing and then see the Rhondda one more time. Not one of Tom’s songs, but nevertheless a favourite Welsh ballad of yours truly. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I couldn’t sing for toffee, but I really did appreciate the compliment. Unfortunately for the other restaurants along our ‘Pauline isn’t cooking this week journey’, Russell’s was simply too good, too up-market and too cheap. Russell’s is probably my number one dining experience of all time. And you don’t get to be this size without dining out a lot. Address: Spean Bridge, Inverness-shire. SatNav Postcode: PH34 4EU. Telephone: 01397 712335. As with Distant Hills, please mention the Blog if you make that call. Recommendation: Definitely book in advance. Website: http://www.russellsrestaurant.co.uk/



I like military history almost as much as I like food and Spean Bridge was not to disappoint in that regard either. The local Hotel has quite a few images etc relating to the Commando units that trained in the area and we managed to visit the Commando Monument the very next day after popping into the Clan Cameron Museum. With one member of the Clan becoming a VC winner, visiting the Museum was also a must to do. A nice military, scenery, food, chilled out experience that was Spean Bridge. We now headed further north towards the real Highlands and probably in terms of scenery the highlights of the trip.

Easdale

The Tourist Info people suggested a trip to Easdale. This turned out to be a good choice. The stunning scenery was complimented by my first opportunity to enjoy the Scottish single track roads with passing points. This experience stood me in good stead for the long journey through the Highlands planned for later in the week. The scenery was enhanced slightly as we moved slowly over the Atlantic Bridge enroute to Easdale. Wow, we simply couldn't see beyond the bonnet of the car as we crept over the apex. Not a place for a recreational vehicle. Having driven past yet another Loch, the view of Easdale and the coast was stunning. Time for a short nap before heading into town. Now that is something that I did miss while in Ghana. It's nice to have a 15 minute break each day. It's the only way to turn off the brain and to relax the mind. Pauline and I got good at this throughout our week in Scotland. We simply pulled over and had a nap whenever we felt like it. I suppose that's the benefit of being on Holiday and moving at your own pace. A pace that suited me at this moment in my life.



Easdale was a delight. It was almost like stepping back in time. As you can see by the photograoh, Pauline had nabbed my windproof water resistant fleece and was nice and cosy for yet another boat trip. This time it was on the Seafari out of Easdale. A tad pricey, but hey ho. What the lady wants, the lady gets. The 2.5 hour trip lasted over 3 hours as the Skipper was customer rather than profit orientated. We were on our way back when another boat spotted three blue nosed dolphins so he turned around and headed back out, very kind of him. The Seafari included moving close to isolated bits of the headland. So I enjoyed watching the Brown Mountain goat high up on a rock, the pair of Scottish Sea Eagles and the four deer on a deserted cove as much as the other sea birds and our quest for the elusive Whale. The Whirlpool was fun as well, but although our boat could cruise at 25 knots and reach 40, the Whirlpool was still a bit scary and somewhere that I did not want to hang around too long. The seats of the ribbed boat were good fun as well, almost like sitting on a rocking horse. Albeit a very fast and turbulent one!

Oban

Day two at Connel meant that we had the opportunity to visit the nearest town. Oban like Accra is a coastal community. Fortunately, unlike Accra, the shore off Oban was calm. This meant that I could chance my arm with a boat trip. No mean feat for yours truly as I suffer from chronic sea sickness. We skipped the pleasure boat running from the Station Pier and instead took the more sturdy looking trawler type boat from the North Pier in Oban. That was a good choice, as the crew were friendly and a little old lady from the United States joined the trip. Lucky us, as this old dear has been visiting Oban for the last 25 years and provided an extremely informative commentary as the boat chugged across the bay. We learnt about the Watch Tower where the locals looked for signs of the Viking invaders. The lovers island where a very naughty girl got caste off in a small rowing boat on a stormy night by her husband. Mind you it was worse for her lover, as he got run through with a sword for his troubles. And we saw the monument that was erected in memory of some clever chap who made Oban what it is today.

We even managed to catch sight of the Ferry running from Oban across to the Islands. Brilliant, as this particular Ferry is the star attraction on a television programme watched religiously by our grandson. "What's the story in Balamory" is a constant theme tune in our home. Well the ferry doesn't run to the fictitious Balamory, instead it plies its trade to the Tobermory community just across the bay from Oban that is the real life setting for what is after all a great childrens programme.

Well one exciting boat trip should have been enough. I'm not one for taking risks and we should have quit while we were ahead. Nevertheless we tucked into fish and chips sat down in the port. It was quite an expensive park bench as the fish and chips came in at £13 for the two of us. £7.50 for the boss and £5.50 for me. Well I know my plaice in the pecking order.

The sun shone through and we headed to the Tourist Information Office for inspiration

Dining in Connel

We stayed at aGuest House in Connel for two nights. The first of which was spent in the pleasant company of a young couple away for the weekend. Well, that’s what young couples do isn’t it? But when you get older your stamina increases and you make the break last a week. They were a lovely couple. She a nurse and he a rich farmer, he denied the richness of course, but we all know that you rarely meet a poor farmer. Well his recent holiday across Canada says it all. We met in the restaurant at the Oyster Inn Hotel in Connel near Oban. And we followed on from the excellent meal with a drink in the Ferryman’s Bar next door. Address: The Oyster Inn, Connel, by Oban, Argyll, SatNav Postcode: PA37 1PJ. Telephone: 01631 710666

It was a lovely evening. The food and service was excellent and the view was to die for. They sat Pauline and I side by side with a joint view through the extensive glazing out onto the Loch as the sun set. A perfect setting for dining, complete with excellent food, and for only the cost of a few pennies. We began with their Haggis Tricolour consisting of Layered Haggis, Neaps and Tatties served with a Whisky Cream and then parted on the main course via Pauline’s Chargrilled Scottish Rib-eye steak served with chips, mushrooms, onion rings and tomato. While I went for the ‘catch of the day’ consisting of a fillet of Haddock in an exquisite sauce containing butter, lemon and lime. My meal was superb, simply superb. But what we didn’t know at the time; was that this meal would be trumped later in the week. This was surprising really; as I would place the Oyster Inn at Connel, amongst my all time favourite dining experiences. And one that I would recommend to anyone heading to the West Coast of Scotland. It's touch and go whether or not the fish at the Oyster Inn was as good as the fish served by Jeffers and Tamara or the one that we had on the coast that hot, hot evening back in Ghana.

Connel? No Bennett… Roger Bennett

The journey between Loch Lomond and Connel was not without incident. The weather was atrocious with apparently a mini hurricane loitering around that part of Scotland. At one point driving the Volvo S60 D5, I thought that I was James Bond… for the duration of the 007 theme music pumping in my head, ‘da da dra da dra, da da daa, da da daaaaa… the Volvo aquaplaned.

‘Slow down’ shouts Pauline, I can’t I explain, none of the wheels are touching the ground. Thankfully for us, it was a straight line on a straight road with no oncoming traffic or sheep. It had to be 200 yards if it was a foot. Wow, film making must be really exciting!

We went to Scotland looking forward to seeing the many falls. No one explained that the waterfalls would appear at the side of the road as we drove through the evening to our first overnight destination. We spotted the bridge in the distance and pulled effortlessly onto the Guest House drive. The owner flashed us a glance and greeted me as I got out of the car. ‘Mr. Bond?’ she said, ‘no’ I replied, ‘Bennett, Roger Bennett’.

The long, long road ahead

We started our 8 a.m. journey with a stop off at our local petrol station for a natter with the owner and some goodies for the long, long road ahead. Our plan was to head towards North Wales, cross over and travel the M6 motorway up through England and stop off at West Moorland Service Station and Farm Shop for lunch. West Moorland is probably the or at least one of the best Service Stations in Britain. The weather was windy but dry and given that it was a Sunday we managed to make good time. Our first stop was not at West Moorland but at a roadside seller just north of Wrexham. Although it was windy, it was good to get out of the car. We had just come across a road traffic accident involving a car and a caravan over turned on the dual carriageway. We were one of the first at the scene and therefore were static for quite a while. So the bacon and black pudding sandwich and mug of tea a mile or so further on was a welcome treat. The strange thing was, we were getting tired before West Moorland and pulled over for a lunch break that Pauline had prepared before we reached that far north. Well rested after a nap and a bit of fresh air we pressed on to Loch Lomond. Well to be exact, the village of Luss on the west side of the Loch. A location that will be familiar to anyone who has watched the television series ‘Take the high road’. We always eat at the lovely Coach House Coffee Shop. Address: Loch Lomond, Luss, Alexandria, Dunbartonshire G83 8NN. Telephone: 01436 860341. Always a lovely treat and this time it was coffee and a cream scone for me and ice cream for Pauline. Mmmm yummy, and a great start to our holiday.