Saturday 22nd April, W8D2

 Since I'm now in Drumnadrochit, shore of Loch Ness, I should start with this cool toilets sign in Fiddlers Restaurant 

 

So I left my hosts and old friends Clem and Rosalind in Colbokie, hoping it won't be another 10 years before we meet again. I'm afraid Clem and I (Ros was more sensible) had had another late session setting the world to rights, and again for me it was lights-out at 3am. The drive to Drum (as locals call it) was just over an hour, cross country avoiding Inverness, and I had a bowl of soup at the Fiddlers, mostly to use their WiFi to search for sites for the night. There is a campsite not far away, but I liked the look of a car park by the old cemetery with access to woodland walking that might or might not lead to Loch Ness. Meanwhile there were stalls on the green selling all the usual range of locally made products, where I bought some gifts to take home. 

I found the cemetery and large car park, very secluded at the end of a long lane, and the entrance  to the woodland known as The Cover.

The walk was ideal for me, being flat and pleasantly shaded, alongside a tinkling stream. There were a small number of  family groups, a couple with dogs, and I had a happy hour's stroll to the far end, beyond which sadly one can only access the Loch by wading through a shallow stream, which I declined to do. Shame. Nevertheless the walk was just right, and encouraged me to stop and write, continuing my 'stalled' novel, begun at last year's woodland retreat in Galloway. Small steps, but the first real effort this holiday. 

I had a wander round the old cemetery, some it (as often) designated as Commonwealth War Graves. I had met an interesting couple at the market stalls (living in Nairn) with unusual contacts in common (such as Betteshanger Rugby Club), and the wife passed me as I was siting by the path in the woods, writing, and she invited me to join them for dinner at Fiddlers this evening, where we discovered all sorts of other fun connections, like South Africa. And we did share a really good meal (mine was venison stroganoff with a dram of fine malt, of which the bar has a rich collection.) Then back to the cemetery for what I'm pretty sure will be a quiet night with no noisy neighbours.

Night night.