8 August 2017:- What a pleasure it was to pack
up camp and leave in really good weather! We did not leave until I had made
several attempts to contact our youngest son, to check on the progress of his
partner who had undergone surgery overnight our time. Alas I had to be satisfied
with leaving a voice message and one never really knows whether the recipient
ever bothers to listen to these. Worse still, our internet here at Culloden
Moor is abysmal, and we may well be branded uncaring in-laws; this is not true!
We had checked out our exit
route from Banchory on several trips north into the countryside, having
realised there should be a better option than travelling back east to Aberdeen
and then up the A96 from there. From Banchory, we easily accessed B977 via a
short section of the A980, and drove through Echt, Dunecht near Castle Fraser,
and on north to Kintore where we joined the duel carriageway heading north-west.
Every day travelling about this
countryside has been a joy, but the pink rosebay willow-weed, the red rowan berries
and the golden harvest-ready corn were all the more beautiful in the sunshine.
While the miles were long, the
road was excellent on through Inverurie, Huntly, Keith and Elgan. The road which did reduce to a normal two way
highway at Inverurie, rose to heights where snow poles mark the roadside, and
ice is a common occurrence during the winter months, sheep graze the fields
where the grain does not grow, or the forest is not planted.
Soon after the zigzag route of
the main highway through Elgin, we pulled into a picnic bay, of which there had
been many all the way along, and passed our lunchtime spell, before proceeding
on through Forres and Nairn, then turning south to our camp here at Culloden
Moor.
The camp faces south with views
out over the moors and lower hills of the Cairngorm Mountains. From here we
will complete our three pronged exploration of these lovely Highland Mountains
and as I sat over the maps and tour guide literature during the afternoon while
the washing dried in the sunny breezes, I realised, yet again, that five
touring days around Inverness were never going to be enough.
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