So, I have returned from my holidays! Did you miss me? My sister is still visiting so I’m not entirely back but I’m getting all my photos uploaded to Flickr.
The first part of my holiday was a couple of days in Boat of Garten in the Highlands, near to Aviemore and the Cairngorms. It was mostly for larks and because I got a good deal from 5pm. I had a pretty great time apart from the loss of Angel Bunny and the completely ridiculous bus service. I almost take back everything bad I’ve said about FirstBus – at least they don’t make you wait THREE HOURS between buses. The steam railway wasn’t running yet either – with 3 trains a day, that’s almost as good as the bus service…
I had planned a day trip up Cairngorm (the sixth highest mountain in the UK) but the weather changed and by the time I got there I had a lovely view of some fog, plus 100mph winds at the summit meant no funicular trains. Luckily, my dad was coming to pick me up the next day so we went back and had much better weather, though it was still scarily windy at the top. I barely made it out of the door before fearing the loss of my hat and/or glasses. Great views from the cafe at the top though, but sadly with very little snow for the time of year. The little train was like a very slow rollercoaster – almost vertical at some points!
Other than Cairngorm and wandering around some lovely scenery in Boat of Garten, I didn’t really do a whole lot, which was a nice change for me. If you ever find yourself in Aviemore I can recommend the Mountain Cafe which had lovely soup and a bewildering array of amazing home baking. You may find it hard to spot in a street made up of 40% cafes and 40% mountain gear stores, but it’s the only place that’s a cafe AND a mountain gear store.
