Tuesday 21st, day 19

 Disabled shower at FiveRoads. Beautiful sunny morning, only occasional light shower. Aiming for Inverness, but a day of diversions.

First to Reikee Linn Falls on the Isla river for a walk I'd read about, and there had my first surprise encounter of the day. A delightful chance meeting with Ashley and Sam, when I parked next to their campervan. In fact, I wouldn’t have found the best track to the Falls without Sam’s directions. Donning my new walking boots for their first proper walk, I followed a rough path through light forest, with the sound of the water roaring off to one side, and reached a spot to enjoy views of the impressive torrent.

As an extra treat, a red squirrel stopped on the track and stared at me. On the way back as I crossed the narrow  old stone bridge I saw Ashley bathing in the water (wearing a wetsuit, mind) and back at our vehicles, Sam asked if I had eaten (no) and invited me aboard for a bacon bagel. The bagel was delicious, and we chatted a while in their van, which is largely self-built, with a main bed and a bunk for their kids, 4 and 9, and a woodburning stove. They live in the area and love the sea and countryside, making frequent trips with the children. Such a heartwarming experience with this friendly and welcoming couple.

A mile up the road was Peel Farm, where I had a coffee and bought a couple of fruit scones and a tiny pot of 'Fairy Jelly', containing cranberries and flecks of silver (which I saved until teatime at the next camp). The small town of Alyth on the way back from my diversions is not memorable. (By contrast, one well-known local place is Kirriemuir, the legendary site of a dance which was attended by a couple of dozen young ladies from Inverness, some of you may recall 😱) 

The road through the Cairngorms was beautiful in the afternoon sunlight. There were only slivers of snow remaining on the mountain sides, and the actual temperature recorded in the van was 14 degrees!

I bypassed several distilleries (please note, Paul and Jill) but had to stop for diesel (honest, it was the last one for 50 miles) in a tiny settlement which by chance was next to the Dalwhinnie Distillery. That was the site of my second pleasant surprise of the day. In my discussion with whisky expert Robert about the different expressions of their product, I mentioned that I was brought up in Glasgow. To cut a long story short, he was born in the Orchard Park Hotel, which used to be a nursing home, and in the Sixties was a weekly drinking spot for me and the Cloughs, and the place where we composed the scripts for our youth fellowship pantomimes. Oh yes it was!

As I write this, I'm comfortably parked in my next stop, Torvean, close to the Inverness end of the Caledonian Canal, where in 2012 I had berthed Vega for the winter and returned down south with Cate to continue her treatment. Memories of all kinds here. 😪 And that time we went to Hootenanny for the music, as we were always hunting for live music, but for now I happen to know that other music venues are also available... And indeed there were, including the Highlander...slainte!