Scotland 2022 - Day 13: Fort William

The summation of today in the words of Forrest is "it was really fun but also really wet and cold!"

So today was another 'Plan Z' day after our train trip on the Jacobite was cancelled due to the train strike.  We had looked into several alternatives but eventually settled on the Treasures of the Earth museum (which had originally been on the schedule for yesterday before the change of plan for that day) and a boat trip out of Fort William.  After our many cancelled boat trips on this holiday we did debate whether we should risk it again but decided to go for it and so booked up the remaining trip with availability over breakfast this morning.

Today was also the day we said goodbye to our travel companions.  They have the long drive back to the Czech Republic ahead of them so needed to start heading south to catch their ferry across to mainland Europe tomorrow.  It can be a bit daunting planning a holiday with another family and even more so when they live in a different country, making planning meetings more difficult but I feel this holiday went really well.  The kids got on brilliantly and seemed to enjoy playing with each other.  There was many an exchange of information, Harry Potter one way and Jurassic Park/World the other, that was met with polite if not always enthusiastic interest and it was lovely seeing the youngest ones also starting to interact much more with Paloma switching between the boys and Emma as her playmates.  We have already tentatively started talking about next year so watch this space for 2023!

After the goodbyes, the first stop for us today was Treasures of the Earth, a private collection of crystals, gemstones and fossils situated in a former Catholic church in Corpach just down the road from where we were staying.  We had a lazy breakfast and departure so got there for mid-morning.  We weren't sure exactly what the museum was but knew that "pretty stones" would entertain one child and "fossils" the other so surely it must be a win win.  And it was.  The museum is chiefly made up of various displays of rocks and minerals with brief information boards.  The kids loved the glowing rocks under ultra-violet light and Forrest was kept suitably interested in the various fossils as well. The last of Nanny J and Grandad J's holiday money was then dispensed with in the gift shop before we headed off to Fort William, just another 10 minutes down the road.

We still had a bit of time to kill before our boat trip, so while Matt cooked lunch parked up in the West End Car Park me and the kids went hunting for our final Heiland Coo of the trip.  There should also have been one in Portland on the Isle of Skye but that had been taken away for cosmetic repair after being sadly vandalised and this one had also lost a horn (honestly not by Paloma despite her threatening looking "walking stick").

After a quick sort out of the van trying to get a bit prepared for hand over tomorrow morning we headed out in the first sunshine of the day to catch the boat.  The trip itself with Cruise Loch Linnhe wasn't exactly what we had been looking for as it primarily focused on seals and Forrest still had his heart set on white tailed "sea" eagles but we thought the trip in itself would be fun enough to make up for any lack of animal sightings.  For the first hour the sun shone and the very informative "skipper in training" kept the kids and us entertained.

Then the rain came back and the wind whipped the top level of the boat that we were on and it became a bit much for Paloma so we moved down to the lower level outdoor seating.  As we approached Seal Island myself and Forrest popped back up to the top level just in time to beat the crowds and after warning everyone to be silent so as not to disturb the seals, they carefully manoeuvred the boat closer to the island.

Whilst we had seen the seals near our campsite earlier in the trip it was nothing compared to seeing this many that close up.

The boat then started to make its way back and we treated the kids to a hot chocolate from the onboard galley and as we pulled into Fort William the rain started to come down harder.

After a quick change into dry clothes we then had the long drive back along Loch Ness and to the outskirts of Inverness.  We are staying tonight at the same campsite where the motorhome hire company is based so we should be set for the handover tomorrow morning.  Having eaten the cupboards dry we also treated ourselves to another takeaway pizza from the onsite cabin. 

Blogged by Amber.