DIDN'T WE JUST LOVAT IN FORT AUGUSTUS

Once again it was time for us to go away for the weekend in November. This time we were off to Fort Augustus in what must have been the mildest and driest spell of autumn weather we have had for some time. Unfortunately, due to a serious sports impact injury I was unable to take part in the Saturday walk. I went to the football instead. I would have enjoyed limping along on the walk more, I think. Anyway, I soon got to Fort Augustus and quickly made my way to the Bothy Bar where I heard all about the walk and what follows is based on that discussion, so it is all true.

Whilst it was a bit dull to start with they soon got started walking through the woods and all seemed to be going well........

...................until Dave seemed to wander off the beaten track and soon they were all lost. Those of you who read the last post on the blog will realise that this is becoming all too common.

Back to the map - three women and a retired planner - not much hope of an agreed way forward there, I think.

Soon they were all experts at pointing in different directions!

At least the view was worthwhile.

Given his experience in being lost, Hugh was appointed chief navigator.

The result was that they immediately ended up going in completely opposite directions as you can see from the photo above.

At that point Auntie Maureen decided that they should all have a little quiet time and a sweetie.

Then they took some more time to stop and stare at the notice board which was illustrating a dress worn by Madonna as you can see more clearly from the close up below.

Well Ann thought it was funny!

Eventually, they made it back to the hotel for some well earned rest and refreshment.

This is Dave sitting by the fire reading the Daily Star and fulminating at the state of the world and, in particular, the education system since he retired.

Soon, he gets hopping mad at the views expressed by Mandy on page three.

He gets so mad that he even disturbs genteel Janet at her preprandial sherry - quite a large one too!

Nothing can interrupt Charlie's enjoyment of his drink, though. 

Charlie starts to tell everyone about Dave's moment of madness and Hugh can barely contain his excitement. Nobody knows who invited the man from Del Monte along, but he seemed to enjoy himself. Of course you cannot see his right hand and that may explain why he enjoyed himself and why Sue was getting the gin down as fast as possible!

Soon it was time for our meal which was served in very elegant surroundings and, it must be said, the food and drink more than matched them. Unfortunately, the behaviour of some dinosaurs fell well short of what the occasion demanded.

Firstly Jimmy said Grace - 1-2-3 tuck in! That set the tone for the rest of the evening.

Everyone decided that they had to have a very close look at what Charlie was eating.

Hugh and Pam didn't fall asleep in the soup, but it was pretty close!

Neil and Ann thoroughly enjoyed my inability to decide which knife and fork to use - there was more than one of each in the place setting and Sharon wasn't nearby to tell me what to do.

Then Dave found where the wine had been hidden.

Then he showed it to everyone and some even got a drink.

Ann was one of those.

The next day dawned despite the hilarity of the day before.

And very nice it was too, although it did start to rain just as we were about to get in the cars to go to the Sunday walk.

But that didn't deter Jimmy, who decided that anything Fred Astaire could do, he would make a poor attempt at. Anyway we soon got going down to the side of the River through the woods, along the helpfully constructed path.

We came across this interesting sign. I always thought that the hole point of a net was that it had wholes in it!

And sure enough this one did - lots of them.

It was very pleasant walking through the late autumn woods down to the river.

And here is the river.

A river like this is, of course, an ideal habitat for Cinclus cinclus, which I am sure you all know. Anyway there he is on top of the rock in the river - honest!

Now this is interesting. This is an overflow from the Caledonian Canal into the River Awe - what about that? Damned clever in the olden days, weren't they. I just didn't think that the canal would need an overflow, but I guess without it the boats would have floated over the side and into the river, which wouldn't have been too clever.

Soon we reached the end of the riverside section and Jacque needed a drink after her dalliance with the grape and grain the night before.

You can see what Hugh though of someone who would drink out of a river that we had just seen dead salmon floating down.

Jacque's stomach soon realises the error of her ways.

Just to prove that I did manage the Sunday walk despite my severe impact injury - here I am looking quite the country gent.

Then we were soon heading back to the cars after a most enjoyable walk.

All in all a fabulous time was had by everyone and it was widely thought we should go back again soon. Well done to the Smiths and the Marwicks for the organisation and to the Blacks for the reconnaissance of the routes.