Slowing down

We have been on the canal for 3 days now. It has forced us to slow down and enjoy the ride. It's nice to have no tide or strong winds to bother about. The landscape is idyllic - mountains shrouded in cloud, overhanging trees draped in moss, deer grazing and families of ducks. At each lock we come to we are greeted by a friendly lock keeper - always happy to chat, they come from all walks of life. Although the locks are all hydraulic these days they were once manually operated. The old mechanisms still remain as do the lovely old lock keepers' cottages - reminiscent of the Bridgekeepers Cottage on the Forth & Clyde canal where I grew up.

Last night, after a very rainy trip up the flight of locks, we moored up at Fort Augustus. Being at the western end of Loch Ness it is extremely touristy and certainly not the highlight of this trip! The shops and pubs have a captive audience of people willing to pay for bad service, mediocre food and the odd tacky souvenir. Having said that we had a fantastic meal at the Lovat Arms Hotel. The place was recommended by the skipper of Blueberry of Lorne who we met in the locks the previous day.

This morning we woke to more torrential rain. After picking up some supplies we headed on up the canal. Just ahead was the Lord of the Glen, a luxury cruise ship that tours the Great Glen and the West coast. It was a pretty tight fit in the locks. When we got to the next lock the lock keeper was just finishing his breakfast. Apparently every time the Lord of the Glen passes through the chef hands him a full Scottish breakfast for his trouble! We are now waiting to get through the Cullochy lock and into Loch Oich. Unfortunately it is lunch time so nothing much is happenning!

And here we are entering Loch Oich


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