Coming home

Leaving Inverness on the Monday, I decided to drive out to Cawdor to visit Joan, one of the “lace ladies” who goes to Knoydart each year.  We had a cup of coffee together and caught up with some news before she had to go dog walking for a neighbour and I had to get on the road home.  It was too nice a day  to hurry, so I took some of the small roads south, through some pretty scenery, with eventual views of the Cairngorm group of mountains, still with some snow on, as we had seen the day before.  (The next day apparently, there was another big snow fall, so the ski-ing would be even better at Cairngorm).   I stopped at Dulsie Bridge, having driven across the Bridge before but never having seen it, and took the short walk  to the view point.  The present bridge was built in 1755, probably to replace an even older bridge and sits high over gorge of the River Findhorn.  Looking down on it is the old King’s House Inn, now a farmhouse, where Robert Burns is known to have spent a night on his tour of Scotland in 1787.

 

 

Leaving there I continued on my way to Carrbridge where the arch, all that remains of the old bridge over the river Dulnain after some extreme flooding back in the early 18oos, stands just to the side of the present road bridge.  The old bridge had been built originally as a coffin way in 1717, and served as a route over the river when it was in spate.

 

 

 

My journey continued down to Aviemore

 

with some beautiful views of the countryside en route, and I turned up the road to the ski centre,

 

 

  stopping by Loch Morlich to eat a very late “picnic” lunch bought in Carrbridge.  Here I could look across at Cairngorm and see where we had been the day before.

Eventually I got back to the A9, the main trunk road from north to south – not my favourite road, but the best way to continue the journey.  I by-passed Pitlochry this time and drove on to reach the Forth Road Bridge with the fabulous and famous Forth Bridge - the railway bridge – crossing alongside it.  Between the two on the southern shore , is the ancient interesting fishing village of Queensferry, but today I would miss it out and continue to the Edinburgh city by-pass, picking up the road to Peebles at its most southern point.

There’s a point on the road home where you drive round a right hand bend and suddenly the outlook of the southern highlands is spread in front of you.  I just love that view, and one of these days I must get a photo of it.  It means I’m home – well almost!  Just a few more miles and the parish church tower comes into view, still quite small in the distance, and then suddenly you are entering between the 30mile an hour speed limits of the town.  Home!  Always good to get back from wherever in the world you have been, and after however long a time you’ve been away – a day or a week – or even more!

Talk again soon.