On Mar 25, 2013, at 1:20 PM, Piers Hemy wrote:
> (and I can vouch for your cousin-in-law's whisky
> business, I remember a very pleasant afternoon there!) (but there is no 'e'
> in Scotch whisky).
I knew that. My fingers got tangled. I hate it when that happens. Or maybe it
was autocorrect. Yeah, that's it. I'll blame it on autocorrect.
> But logistics are also well worth considering - how many weeks will you
> have? The most important single hint I can offer is that, because of the
> geography, it is not feasible to explore much of the west coast by driving
> along it - there are simply too many (very large) inlets. If you want to see
> Lochinver, Sand, Raasay, Skye, Islay and points between, you will almost
> certainly find yourself based in or around Inverness. Which is on the
> Eastern side! Inverness is not called "the hub of the highlands" by chance.
Plan is for two weeks, exclusive of travel, if Joan can pull it off. I
understand about the inlets. If you look at a map of Maine, you'll see that
from Portland on, the state is a series of peninsulas. From Pemaquid Point I
could damn near hit Boothbay Harbor with a rock, but it takes more than an hour
to drive. I hadn't thought about basing in a place like Inverness. Right now
we're charmed by a cozy little crofty place on Mull. Rents by the week. I have
no objection to spending a lot of time in one place, and then more time in
another, and saving the rest for a return trip, if we should be so lucky. But
the more I read, the more north I want to go, up where all the neolithic stuff
is. I can imagine wandering around those standing stones in the late twilight.
Shivers me timbers just to think about it.
> I will assume that you can decide for yourself whether the cultural and
> commercial attractions of Edinburgh and Glasgow are worth a look, how much
> time to spend there.
At the moment we're planning to ignore both places, except that we'll fly in
and out of one of them. We both arrived independently at the conclusion that
it's natural splendor we want as opposed to cultural splendor. I plan to get my
doses of Scots culture at an assortment of pubs. I would like to spend some
time in Edinburgh at some point, particularly to see the Tattoo, but that's not
in the cards for this trip.
> The issue is the scenic and historic bits elsewhere,
> and how to get to them. Inverness is about four hours from Edinburgh (by
> rail or road), and from Inverness you could get to any of Peterhead, Huntly,
> Lochinver, Sand, Raasay and Skye in a day - you could even get there and
> back, but without stopping for long. I hope that helps to orient you when
> you look at a map, as you might otherwise jump to the wrong conclusions
> based on straight-line distances.
I did notice there seems to be a rather complex network of ferries among the
various sets of islands, and I wonder if we could make our way up the coast
that way. At the moment, the loose plan is to spend about a week on Mull and
Skye, and then head north for the next week. I'm not sure where exactly we'll
light, but I do know my preference is to see more in a micro environment than
try to macro my way across a landscape. It might be two weeks in the Hebrides
and call it a holiday. I like to sit and contemplate. I like to knock back a
pint or so. I like to take long walks in remote locations, and, as I mentioned,
I'm seriously considering taking the D800 with me on this one and trying to do
some real photography. That's to be determined.
> Another issue is how to get here - there are international airports in
> Scotland at Edinburgh and Glasgow, as well as Aberdeen, all with direct
> flights from Heathrow, and Inverness with flights from Gatwick. If you want
> to make the most of the time available, fly as far north as you can.
> Aberdeen has the widest choice of flights, and would allow you to take in
> Huntly and Peterhead on the way out to the west coast.
My wife is hot on the idea of flying Icelandic Air, and I'm not opposed. I
would like to avoid London and connecting flights from there. Taking a train
from Edinburgh or Glasgow north seems like a workable idea, with car rental in
a place like Inverness instead of one of the larger cities. That said, the
drive from Glasgow to Isle of Mull is about 130 miles, which even on narrow
roads doesn't seem like a hard day's work to me.
> Amsterdam is also a hub to use to get to Aberdeen or Inverness.
Hadn't thought about that.
>
> I wouldn't say there is much to choose between May and September as regards
> weather, daylight or midges, I think it's safe to assume the weather cannot
> be depended upon, but the midges can - although location can be a
> significant determinant of the latter, and where we are - the midges aren't
> (and there is cause:effect at play there). Assume that the west coast will
> be blighted, the east coast not. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highland_midge
> has a couple of useful links (but it's too soon in the year for them to be
> live) but remember that it's just a nuisance. I assume I don't need to tell
> you about the tick, which can be very much more serious
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyme_disease#United_Kingdom
Midges don't worry me. We have black flies, which sound similar, and while they
tend to taper off in late June, they are supplanted by a particularly vicious
mosquito which stays active until late August, early September. And we have the
Lyme tick here, too. I didn't realize you had it there, but I know a bunch of
anti-tick strategies. I just have to remember to employ them.
> Please feel free to ask for more specific stuff (offlist?) as plans develop.
Will do! Thanks!
--Bob
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