We travelled from Windemere to the hamlet of Gelston, which is two miles from Castle Douglas. It was from here that we visited Kirkbean, Preston Mill, Kirkcudbright, and Kirkpatrick Durham so that Patricia could acquaint herself with the environment in which her ancestors used to live- refer to Family History.

Central Scotland

Stirling

It was a comfortable drive of 200 km from Castle Douglas to Stirling where we spent the afternoon visiting the historic castle, which was the focal point for many battles, particularly during the 13th and 14th century Wars of Independence. Later on the castle became the favourite royal residence of many of the Stuart Monarchs.

Stirling Castle stands perched atop a defunct volcano, at the head of the Firth of Forth. It commands superb views of the town and across the surrounding plains from the Forth Valley to the Trossachs. A guide gave us a brief history of the castle and took us to see The Palace, the Chapel Royal and the Great Parliament Hall, which all reflect magnificent renaissance architecture , with a strong French influence. We were fortunate to see the recently restored Great Parliament Hall and especially the timbered roof, which is an authentic representation of the original.

In the King’s Old Building we visited the Regimental Museum of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, which traces the history of this famous regiment from 1794 to the present. Patricia was so intent on looking at the various displays that she found herself locked inside the museum after closing time and was then a little concerned to find the lights being turned off. To her embarrassement she had to be escorted out! She said with a smile that her young escort was quite charming.

As we started to head north and leave the outskirts of Stirling, we looked to our right and upwards to catch a final glimpse of the castle, and in the distance we could see the bare mountain peaks of the Highlands. This was a somewhat dramatic hint that we were heading towards the scenic region of Loch Lomond.

Loch Lomond

The beauty of Loch Lomond provided us with a stunning introduction to the Highlands. The loch is the largest single island waterway in the UK, having an area of 27.52 square miles and more than 37 islands. Our road took us north and followed the contour of the lake. To our right the tree lined hills sloped away from the road, and on the other side of the lake we observed the mountains with their bare rocky slopes and peaks. At the lower levels and above the tree-line the sunshine, when it broke through the clouds, highlighted the brown and green colors of the stunted bushes, and the total scene was overlayed with blue, gold and grey tones. Regarding this scene, a brochure described Loch Lomond as "...an area of breathtaking beauty and diversity". We were so captivated by the lake that we extended our journey from Tarbet to the furthest point of the lake at Ardlui.

Highlands

For this part of our tour we put away our almost worn out Heritage Pass and turned our attention to learning about the history of Scotland and experiencing the scenic delights of the Scottish Highlands.

In Victoria we appreciate and have experienced the natural beauty of the Dandenongs Ranges, the Grampians and Wilson Promontory, and the alpine regions which extend into New South Wales. Thus, we were looking forward to viewing the Highlands scenery of which we had heard so much.

Inveraray

We stayed over-night at the picturesque small town of Inveraray (18th century) which is located on the tidal Loch Fyne. Our accommodation was at The Old Rectory, a quaint old establishment with a modern, light-filled dining room. Prior to dinner we walked around the town and along the esplanade. For dinner we found a delightful and friendly home-cooking style restaurant which was located in a basement in a side street. This was a welcome relief to our normal habit of dining in a pub or restaurant.

We passed up the opportunity to visit the nearby attractive castle. At this stage of the tour we felt that we had had enough exposure to stately homes, ruins and castles.

Glencoe

During our drive from Inveraray to Glencoe we passed by the Sound of Jura, Firth of Lorne and Loch Linnhe. We decided to drive to the small village at Port Appin which looks out to the long island of Lismore and beyond it to the lonely hills of Kingairloch. The day’s scenery was quite spectacular for it included some of the most striking seascapes, mountains, forests and moorland scenery in the Western Highlands.

Our B and B accommodation at Glencoe was located on the slopes of a hill from where we could look down to the village and at the surrounding hills which rise up to be embraced by a backdrop of mountains. We were so impressed with afternoon tea at the popular Mrs Matheson’s Tea Rooms that we booked a table for dinner. That was the second and last time during the tour that we enjoyed home-cooking.

On the morning of our departure for Inverness, we visited the site of the infamous massacre of 1692. The visitor centre for The National Trust for Scotland is located in a beautiful glen, with steeply sloping hills which are devoid of trees and covered here and there with stunted mountain shrubs. The rain and low-lying mist added to the natural beauty of what is known historically as the "Weeping Glen".

Glenfinnan

On a rather casual drive to Inverness, we diverted from the main road just out of Fort William to visit the Glenfinnan Monument. This was erected to commemorate those who fought and died for the Jacobite cause. The monument and the visitors centre are situated amidst superb scenery at the head of Loch Shiel. It was here that Bonny Prince Charlie rowed up the loch in 1745 and campaigned to put his father on the British throne. This initiative was to end disastrously the following year at Culloden. We learned more about that when we visited the Culloden battle field which is near Inverness. The story of Glenfinnan was revealed to us when we visited the nearby visitor centre.

Inverness

We did not see any good reason to visit the town of Inverness. We stayed at the Tigh Na Creachan B and B which is located at Balloch and belongs to Terry and Marion, who made us feel very much at home.

We visited Fort George which is one of the best examples of an 18th century artillery fortification in Europe, and proceeded from there to look at the neat little village of Beauly . We did not find Cawdor Castle, the 14th century home of the Thane of Cawdor, to be very interesting. We were disappointed not to receive an informative pamphlet to assist our tour of the castle. We declined the invitation to buy a rather expensive guide book. If cathedrals, which charge low entry fees can provide informative pamphlets then why can’t the owners of this castle, who charge a lot more, do likewise? The castle was rather gloomy inside: poor lighting made it difficult to appreciate the tapestries and paintings. Perhaps we had seen so many castles during our tour that we were now getting a wee bit bored with castles and their paraphernalia.

Our history tour continued at the visitors centre of The National Trust for Scotland, Culloden. We looked at an informative display and attended an audio-visual presentation, which detailed how Bonny Prince Charlie was defeated in 1746, and 1200 highlanders were slaughtered in just over an hour. The defeat sounded the death knell of the old clan system. Adjacent to the centre is the moors where the battle was fought.

Of the scenic tours we did in the Inverness region, the anti-clockwise tour of Loch Ness was the most significant. As we drove around the loch we came to a parking spot where to our surprise we were confronted with the magnificent sight of a Scotsman dressed in a kilt and playing his bagpipes. We stopped to listen and then I took a photo of Patricia and the piper. After this surprise entertainment we proceeded to look at the ruins of Urquhart Castle.

As we continued our circuit, we stopped for a short while at Fort Augustus where we visited a museum which explained the history and workings of the Caledonian Canal that is built into the side of a gently sloping hill and leads into Loch Ness. For a lunch spot we parked on top of a hill and took in a panoramic view of Loch Ness.

On our last night at the B and B, we, along with "ole Bill" the Canadian, were the guests of our hosts Terry and Marion, who cooked us a tasty dinner of roast-beef and vegetables. Later in the evening Terry gave an entertaining rendition of Frank Sinatra: Patricia joined in and did a song and dance routine with "Frank". This was a terrific way to end our car tour. Thanks Terry and Marion.

On a quiet Sunday morning we motored leisurely to Edinburgh airport where we returned our hire-car. The scenic drive was very much a summary of what we had seen in the Highlands. A significant feature was the snow capped mountain peaks which kept us company for quite a while.

Edinburgh

For travelling to and from our B and B to Edinburgh, we bought a Day Saver ticket. At the Tourist Information Centre we collected an excellent brochure on places to visit, things to see and do in and around Edinburgh. We took advantage of the Centre's cheap Internet service to send our latest news to family and friends.

We spent two days exploring Edinburgh at a relaxed pace. We visited the Edinburgh Castle; St. Giles' Cathedral; Canongate Tolbooth (The People’s Story); the Scottish Museum; and walked the Royal Mile.

We made use of a portable audio-commentary in order to explore the historic Edinburgh Castle, which stands atop a volcanic hill that rises abruptly from the city’s centre. This castle, like that at Stirling, was the site of many a battle between the English and the Scots. The castle last saw action in 1745, and the current structure of the castle dates from about that time. Its importance as a Scottish symbol lies in the fact that it houses the Scottish Crown Regalia: crown: sceptre; sword of state, and the Stone of Destiny. The State Apartments, which include Mary Queen of Scots bedroom, the French prison, St. Margaret's Chapel, and the Scottish National War Memorial, were other aspects which interested us. From the castle you get good views of the old and new towns, and outlying areas.

The Royal Mile is the major road in the old town. It is a fascinating street lined with historic building where, from time to time, we would enter an archway and narrow lane to see more old buildings and courtyards. At the end of one day’s tour we enjoyed a tasty meal at a quaint old inn just down from the castle.

Prior to wandering around St. Giles' Cathedral, which embodies 1000 years of history and is the mother church of world presbyterianism, we sat and listened to a choir of Canadian secondary-school children. The beauty of their singing was enhanced by the acoustics of the cathedral. Inside and near the entrance is a life-size statue of John Knox, who was minister of St. Giles' Cathedral from 1559 to 1572. It was from this cathedral that John Knox launched the Scottish Reformation, and soon after forced Mary Queen of Scots into exile. A modern addition is the Thistle Chapel which was built in 1909-11 for the Knights of the Most Ancient Order of the Thistle. The chapel honours some of the greatest Scots of the last 300 years. We were impressed with the artistry of the magnificent stonework and the carved Gothic-style stalls which have canopies topped with the helms and arms of the 16 knights

The People’s Story is housed on the Golden Mile in a 16th century building. This museum honours the workers who built Edinburgh and tells the story of ordinary people in Edinburgh from the 18th century to the present. It was interesting to note that there are strong parallels between the social and political developments in Edinburgh and Australia. After this visit we went next door and had a look at the elaborate grave of Adam Smith, the author of The Wealth of Nations.

But for the recommendation of a resident at our guest house we wouldn’t have visited the Scottish museum, which had been opened in 1998 and exhibits the variety and richness of Scotland’s long and vibrant history. We were very impressed with the modern architectural style of the building and how it blends in with the adjacent old museum. It was ironic to find that we did not have enough time to explore all of the museum.

At the conclusion of the second day we randomly selected a bus in Princes Street and did a return journey to the outskirts of the city. We sat at the front and on the top of a double-decker bus and observed the changes in architecture and living styles as the bus proceeded on its journey. At the city-end we observed and compared the architecture of the Old Town and that of the the Georgian and Victorian architecture of the New Town. As we moved away from the city we entered a completely different world of congested tenements occupied by the working classes.