SEARCHING FOR NESSIE

My final installment of my trip to Scotland! Welcome.

We spent the remainder of our time in the Highlands in the Isle of Skye, searching for Nessie along Loch Ness, and eventually making our way to Inverness. By this time we were very comfortable with our fellow travel buddies making the journey that much more enjoyable. 

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^ kilt rock falls, one of the many filming destinations of Game of Thrones

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You can be overwhelmed with the beauty of a place at times. This was definitely the case with Scotland. You imagine the Scottish countryside as lush, green, and foggy {at least I did}. And that’s exactly what I received.  A lot of it reminded me of New Zealand, bringing me back a few years to another time and place. It was such a familiar feeling to be in a stuffy tour bus, turning corners {quite quickly} to lay my eyes upon stunning landscapes, surrounded by strangers who quickly became friends. 

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^ highland cattle are some of the cutest animals in my opinion! they are so shaggy and have such individuality

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We spent a lot of the ride this day traveling along the edge of Loch Ness searching for ‘Nessie’ {the Loch Ness monster}. I didn’t see her, but legend has it she’s roamed the water of this loch for 1,500 years. In the Summer months you are able to take a boat ride along the loch and look for this mystical creature. 

Also, for all that don’t know, ‘loch’ simply means a body of water. There is a loch we passed through named ‘Loch Lochy’, but we were corrected by Dave and told that it does not in fact translate to ‘body of water, body of watery’. Though it has remained my favorite loch ever since.  

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And then, I almost fell off the cliffs of Scotland… twice. Above was the aftermath, though, it really doesn’t do it justice once the mud dried {on both sides of my legs} and I started to feel the pain. 

I was innocently walking along the {clearly} muddy cliffs of Scotland. You can also {clearly} see the edge of the cliffs and the ocean behind me. Suddenly, as I was walking along the path with Sarah in my view, I was no longer on my feet. It was as if someone had literally come up behind me with a stick and whipped my legs out from underneath me. Straight on my arse. 

Then I turned around to stop from laughing and while 100% stationary, slipped again. Right. On. My. Arse. At this point we couldn’t contain ourselves and the tears started flowing from laughter. I hadn’t felt the slightest ounce of pain at this point. Given this was displayed rather publicly in a tourist location with the 50 other travelers on our tour bus, and the random tourists on holiday. There wasn’t much else to do but laugh.

So that’s just what we did.

For hours, and days, and still now Sarah will text me with, ‘Remember that time you fell. Almost of a cliff in Scotland. Twice?’

I don’t think I will forget it any time soon.

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^ we also stopped over in a vibrant town of Portree to have a wander 

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When we made our way to Inverness to end our day. Despite the trouble getting into our hostel, we all went out for some dinner and drinks. Matthea, Sarah, Baron, and myself all opted for Thai food. It was DELICIOUS! It was Baron’s birthday so we killed two wine bottles before making our way to the Scottish pub.

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We met up with the rest of the group, Dave the tour guide, and some more Aussies. There was a two-man Scottish band playing live music. We drank and danced the night away. There were all age groups on the dance floor, teaching us all of the traditional dances. 

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This concludes my travels around Scotland! 

I had a great time, with even greater company. I will never forget the stories and laughs I shared with these wonderful human beings. We have all promised to keep in touch and I already stalk them all on social media. It’s fabulous. 

And now, this song finally makes sense to me:

Ye’ll tak’ the high road and I’ll tak the low road 
And I’ll be in Scotland afore ye 
But me and my true love will never meet again 
On the bonny, bonny banks of Loch Lomond

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