Highlands and Islands In a Week part 4
The downside of @ having to return to work was missing bosies but the upside was that I got to have two duvets on my bed at night. I slept with more warmth. Speaking of sleep, I am reminded of the tale @ told everyone at breakfast on the Monday morning...
Apparently I was snoring like a kitten (must have been something to do with the clear mountain air!) and in the middle of a snore I whispered "that one that one that one and that one"... Much analysis took place over whether I was choosing new homes or dreaming I was back in the Fiddler's looking at the whisky selection...
So Tuesday shaped up to be less of a touring day and more of a let's go to places where the dead are buried day. We started off with a looksee in Inverness where I managed to resist buying lots of yarn and failed to resist buying a book in the Tourist Info Centre.
With Dad having formed a vague and malleable plan, we departed and drove over the Kessock Bridge to explore the North Kessock Dolphin and Seal Centre. It's currently run by the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society who are a fantastic organisation - they keep me up to date with the life of the Moray Dolphin I adopted, Rainbow, and they are advocates for whales and dolphins worldwide. Here is what they have to say about the concept of swimming with dolphins.
We discovered that the centre at North Kessock is seasonal and March is not between June and September, so we satisfied ourselves with some of the info boards in the carpark and took a walk down to the shore of the firth. There is a point there that is known for seal and dolphin sightings - most frequently when the tide is coming in and the fish get confused between the salty sea water and the fresh river water. The tide was very definitely going out but we did see a shag and some very large black backed gulls.
We crossed the bridge again and turned the Roomster in the general direction of Culloden Moor. The weather was acting out though and we decided to pass on and visit Clava Cairns and see if we could find a non rain environment.
You may or may not know my love of things ancient, well Clava Cairns fits that bill. I couldn't decide whether to hug the stones or the trees. The collection of burial cairns is set in an old beech wood and some of those trees are very old and wise. Had it not been bitterly cold, I think Mum and I would have been still there after sunset communing with the energy of the stones. I love that she is as tuned into that as I am 
This is the north east passage grave which is surrounded by a stone circle. Under the grass there is also cairn work and the whole thing is quite impressive despite the fact that the top part of the cairn, which would have enclosed the central chamber, is now missing. You can walk inside and look for the stones with cup and ring marks.
Mum and I both liked the energies of this stone
The trees were planted in Victorian times - apparently the locals thought the cairns were a Druid temple and felt they needed some trees. But what trees they are now...
Suitably inspired and also chilled to the bone, we returned to Culloden Moor. The weather was still "Culloden Weather" as I call it - driech, dark, wet and brooding. We decided that tramping about on the moor in the rain was not a fanciable idea so we opted for some fine soup in the exemplary new visitor centre.
Now the new Culloden Visitor Centre opens officially in June I believe and they are still seeking people whose ancestors fought at the battle. So far they have a few folk who have come forward with family links to the Jacobites, but no-one has yet claimed Redcoats in their ancestry - funny that.
You can visit the centre as it seems to be fully operational - certainly they were happy to charge the rather steep £10 entrance fee. I'm still not clear whether you can still access the battlefield itself without paying for the visitor centre, I hope so - but I would recommend one visit at least inside. Mum and I were especially moved by the "immersion cinema" which was quite an experience. Basically you stand in a room with a film projected onto each wall that places you on the moor right in the middle of the battle - it didn't feel like a re-enactment and I was quite speechless and teary. It is a sad thing to walk back out into the 21st Century and look at the historical battle maps and realise that nothing much has changed - different locations, different "sides", different weapons, more butchered people.
Scotland's future is currently a political battle rather than a bloody one, although democracy still seems as much of a distant pipe dream as it did in the 45..
Culloden Monument
The Culloden Battlefield - in some ways it is amazing that this piece of land garners more protection from developers than SSSIs may ever have. It is a place of conflict, death, high emotions and historical significance. It is also a place of legend - touted as the last battle between the Scots and the English, it is more realistic to call it a battle between Jacobites and the Government (Scots fought in redcoats too and some families had people on both sides).
You can see that in the time it took us to eat our delicious soup the weather had moved to the other end of the scale.
Following our sombre walk around the moor Mum and I returned to the Roomster - Dad had baulked at the £10 fee and opted to take the GemmaDog for a wander. We meandered our way past Inverness and decided on a more cheerful stop at Moniack Castle Winery. It didn't take us long to sample our way through their wares and I wondered if would dream about their shoppe and utter "that one that one that one and that one"... I can heartily recommend the Whisky and Ginger Liqueur, the Moniack Mead and the Wild Garlic Sauce just not in the same glass.
Afterwards we followed the signposts to Corrimony to see the Bronze Age Chambered Cairn. This is a place I want to return to - not least because I want to explore the RSPB nature reserve and see some of the rare black grouse. On this day however, we settled for rooting about the ancients stones.
Corrimony Cairn is similar in design to the cairns at Clava, the difference being that the passage entrance is preserved which gives you a feel of what it was like to crawl inside the cairn. The capstone is also still present, although it has been moved back to open up the central chamber to the elements.
We crawled in...
Gemma flew...
To round off our day we took a drive up Glen Affric and were yet again stunned by the beauty of the landscape. I suggested that we come back the next day and explore, on foot, the forest footpaths - I was getting antsy about sitting in the car so much! I also added Glen Affric to the list of *places we could live*.
On the way down the glen we spotted a lone stag grazing near the road. He was very generous and allowed me to get out of the car and stand near him (camera clicking wildly) for about 10 minutes.
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Tags: ancient monuments, beasties, culloden, family, highlands and islands, Scotland, stone circles, travel, trees
RIP Gemma
Your entire description of that trip is just spell-binding. I feel like I’ve been along on the journey. Wonderful!
omg, thank you thank you thank you…what an amazing and lovely post!
Taexalia,
I’ve really enjoyed reading your adventures!! AAAhh its makes me want to hop on a plane and beg your dad, mum, you, and @ to take me on a tour…
The pictures are amazing too…but then again, they always are amazing!
Sweet Twin,
I wanted to wait until I could savor “our” journey and that’s exactly what I’ve done this morning!
The change in weather is just fascinating to me and more so thru your eyes!! The pictures of all of the animals are stunning….my favorite is the mountain goat.
I would love to visit the cairns with you someday. There’s something that draws me to cemetaries here, especially old ones…to read tombstones, to acknowledge, to stand and be with the people buried there….I can’t really explain it, but my hunch is you know.
Thanks for this wonderful journey!
Much love and bosies,
Prairie Star