Tour Time (22nd July)

Both of our travel alarm clocks are rubbish and are now in the rubbish - but luckily we still fell out of bed(s) in time to make the start of our Scottish tour at 8:15am. The Haggis tour company is ultimately owned by Contiki, so you'd expect the majority of people to be 18-35 and typically English, American or Australian. This prediction was pretty spot on except that the Kiwis outnumbered all comers and the Americans were strangely absent (perhaps they were disguised as the Canadians??)... in our observation it was the people that didn't fall into these general majorities that tended to be the tools on the trip - but perhaps some of our grumbles about this will need to be sensored in subsequent blogs. Anyway - the scenery on the start of the tour is pretty unspectacular as we leave the city, although the making or breaking of any tour are the drivers/guides and Chris and Dan turn out to be totally awesome. Although some of their stories definitely stretch and sometimes break the truth - their enthusiasm and energy is brilliant. As we pass the Fourth Bridge (which crosses the Fourth Firth) early on, we are told the story of the young worker who fell down one of the support columns and broke both legs. They couldn't get anyone down to pull him out and it was too expensive to cut the column to free him from the bottom - so the solution was to send him down some dinner laced with poison to solve the problem. His skeleton is still inside the column today. The stories told by the Haggis crew are varied and numerous... maybe one day we should google their authenticity! A brief stop near the Dunkeld Cathedral was nice, although I'm sure it won't be the most impressive cathedral we see on our trip. The rumour is that if a woman touches the tomb of the promiscuous "Wolf of Badeooch" she'll fall instantly pregnant. Sorry Dave - but you'll be gutted to see just how close she came! Shona DID touch the key stone at Balnuaran of Clava, although she didn't feel as drawn into the ground within this prehistoric cemetery as the rumour told her she may do. Our first visit to Loch Ness was brief and mostly involved Scotland's tackiest gift shop... but more would come from Loch Ness in following days. Urquhart Castle has a ridiculous admission price - so the Haggis policy is to not pay - but to take sneaky photos from the wall of the carpark at the top of the hill! Seems like a good plan - and would have been if Shona hadn't torn her jeans getting up on the wall, which would have made the show R18 if she didn't have her top to tie around her waist! Luckily the next stop had a gift shop where new pants could be bought. That night we had an authentic kilt and weapon demonstration, dinner at the hostel and a concert by a local musician to digest... not a bad wee evening in Fort Augusta really!