Day17: Invergordon-Quest for Nessie

We dock in Invergordon early this morning at 7 am.

I have booked Alastair Cunningham for our guide today and when he looked at the port website last night it said we wouldn’t dock until 8 am, so we waited on the dock for half hour until he got there. Other than that, we had a perfect day in another Scotland port. I headed out in my down jacket today because Greenock a few days ago started out pretty cool. Jacket felt good until about noon then it was shirt sleeves the rest of the afternoon. We start out with a visit to Culloden Battlefield before the visitor’s center opens and have the battlefield to ourselves while Alastair tell us the story of the battle which took place there.

 We then go down the road a short way to Clava Cairns to see the stone mounds dating from 300 BC. It is very interesting to hear some of the theories about their existance and how the alignment of stones could have been used as a calendar for planting because of the way some of the stones line up with the sun and certain stones line up perfectly with the winter solstice.

Photo stop at an aqueduct built in the late 1800’s

Next up is a visit to Cawdor Castle and gardens. This castle is still lived in by descendants of the original Cawdor family but open for visits during the summer. We have lunch after touring the castle then roam around the gardens which are stunning.

Apple tree in the garden and Harry tries one out

There is a couple in authentic Scottish Highland dress out front that let you try on clothes and show you how to use the weapons from the day. Niall and Melissa of our cruise critic gang participate and have great fun. They are such a cute, fun loving couple.

Upon leaving the castle we travel through some scenic highlands to reach Urquhart Castle situated on the shores of Loch Ness. We look very hard trying to spot the Loch Ness monster to no avail. We have a look around the castle ruins and I am able to find the Douglas tartan scarves in the gift shop.

Another scenic drive takes us to the town of Beauly where we have a quick look around then back to the ship.

A pipes and drum band of young people give us a great send off from port.

We see a lot of barley fields today and some being harvested. As we are sailing out of port, here is one they are harvesting right now. This part of Scotland has a lot of farmland.

It was a very nice day!