So yeah, it’s been a while since an update. I’m not sure why I didn’t feel motivated to continue onward from where I left off. Probably a combination of my memory starting to wane and also the desire to write about other things. Still, I’m here now, so let’s try and finish this bad boy off!
I’ve been going by memory for all of this as I didn’t take notes while I was actually on the trip. This is mainly because I’d actually never intended to write about it when I got back. I aimlessly threw out the suggestion about halfway through the trip and when it met with a favourable reaction, I felt compelled to start writing upon our return.
Should we ever go on a group holiday again, I think I’ll decide in advance whether I want to blog about it and plan accordingly.
Anyway, when we last left things Pete and Luc were off for a boat ride whilst Adam and Myself were off to find a local small shop to buy provisions. As previously mentioned, Luc had looked on his phone to find somewhere and there looked to be a shop somewhere within 15-20 minutes from the cottage. Luc was able to acquire us a post code and we were on our way.
We set off down the country road in the car and spied Luc and Pete making their way into the loch in the boat. The weather, which had been dry up to that point, looked in danger of turning soft as the clouds above were slowly starting to darken. Sure enough, after a few minute’s drive, the clouds begin to weep as we drove to our destination. I thought of Luc and Pete in the boat and hoped they had dressed appropriately.
I stuck “Know Your Enemy” by The Manic Street Preachers in my car as we negotiated the narrow roads to our destination. I had found my way to The Manic’s thanks in part to TV host and Scotland’s own Dominik Diamond. During my youth, I’d been a huge fan of the show “Gamesmaster”, which Dominik had hosted.
He’d also had a column in Smash Hits magazine, which my friends would sometimes bring into school. This column was ostensibly about video games, because that was kind of Dominik’s thing at the time, but he’d spend most of it talking about this new-fangled band called The Manic Street Preachers.
At the time, I was a bit young to truly grasp that kind of music, but the name always stuck in my mind and when I matured, I decided I best listen to them, as Dominik Diamond said they were good. I’m pleased to say that Dominik didn’t let me down. The Manic’s are not everyone’s cup of tea, which I happily accept, and some might find an album like “Know Your Enemy” hard to digest, but I love it. “Found that soul” is generally one of the best songs I’ve heard, as is “Intravenous Agonistic”
Adam had never heard the album before, so I decided to stick it on for the journey. He didn’t hate it or anything, but I sensed he wasn’t truly digging it, so we swapped it out for “Year of the Spider” by Cold. I’d first come across them when they did some music for the WWE and had decided to buy this album as a result. Adam had by chance also acquired this album at some point, so it was something we were both familiar and comfortable with.
It was around this time that we realised that this shop was a little longer than 15 minutes away. In fact, it was actually closer to 45 and was in fact not a corner shop, but a Morrison’s situated in town!
Ah Luc, got to love him haven’t you? To be fair, we should shoulder some of the blame for not crosschecking where the daft sod was sending us, but hey-ho. There wasn’t much more we could do at this point other than enjoy the drive, and enjoy it we did.
We finally pulled up to said Morrison’s and nipped in to buy the essentials (bread, milk, Irn Brue, Tea etc). We decided to pick up some Tartan Special as we figured it would be the last chance in a while that we would be able to buy some and, to be quite honest, I actually quite liked it and wanted some more. We also picked up some Scotch Meat Pies for the journey back the next day. I’ve always been a fan of these and felt it only right to pick some up.
With our purchases of Bru, Tartan and Pie, we must have looked like the biggest bunch of tourists who ever touristed, but I didn’t care at that point. I was buying this stuff because I liked it, not because I was on holiday. I’d happily buy all of it at home, and indeed I still pick up an Irn Bru now and then. Why wouldn’t I? It’s made out of girders so I hear!
With the shopping bought and the car fuelled up, Adam and I began our journey back to the cottage, with the light slowly starting to dwindle in The Highland sky. Knowing that the direct route to the cottage was out of bounds, we searched out an alternative path through the GPS. Thankfully, it came up trumps for us and took us back home via the banks of Loch Ness itself.
At first, we didn’t realise what the water to the right of the road was, but after mulling it over for a few moments, I declared to Adam “I think that’s Loch Ness you know”. We sat for a few moments more before Adam concurred that he felt the same.
A quick gander on the GPS’s map showed that we were indeed next to the famous Loch. I couldn’t believe our luck. We’d been planning to see the Loch before we left, but just hadn’t found time for it yet. I’d started to think we wouldn’t get a look, but here we were now coming across it in an act of pure chance. It felt like a bonus level on a video game or an Easter Egg on a DVD.
With light ebbing away over the misty hills, the Loch looked simply majestic. I wanted to pull over and have a more detailed look, but it was getting late and we’d already been out for almost an hour longer than we’d planned. Adam took the chance to take a few pictures of his phone. I told him that we had to come back tomorrow and take account of the place in more detail.
After passing The Loch, I came to the reassuring conclusion that I recognised where we were and knew we weren’t far from the cottage. At this point though, the mist that had been on the hills above Loch Ness was now sinking even lower to cover the windy roads that Adam and I were traversing. I slowed the car down as precaution. My view wasn’t completely obscured, but I wasn’t taking any chances. We were still a good distance from the cottage on foot and I didn’t think we’d get a prompt response from the AA should an accident take place so high up.
Thankfully, we made it back in one piece and returned to the cottage expecting a telling off from a hungry Luc and Pete. As luck would have it, the two were blissfully unaware of how long we’d been and were still cavorting in the boat.
Upon Pete and Luc’s return, we regaled them of our journey and I started work on dinner, curry with rice and Naan Bread. Pete’s eyes lit up when we told him of passing The Loch and he declared an interest to see it himself the next day. I repeated my desire to also return. It was decided then that our journey home would detour past the famous Loch. The excitement was palpable.
We ate relatively late due to our combined excursions. The curry turned out reasonably well but sadly I forgot about The Naan Breads and they weren’t burnt to a veritable crisp. No buys.
With it being our last night, Pete had planned something special unbeknownst to Adam and Luc. What it was, I shall describe in the next chapter.
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