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Fort William

Sunday, June 16, 2024

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Fort William

The view out the front door of our house.

Fort William

The difference a day can make. This was the view the day we arrived...

Fort William

And the next day.

Fort William
Fort William

The Jacobite steam train in Mallaig.

Fort William

These rhododendrons are everywhere in the Highlands. It was sad to find out that they're actually an invasive species.

Fort William

A blur as the night train passes outside the window.

Fort William

Yachts on the way down Neptune's Staircase.

Fort William
Fort William

The bottom of the staircase. The road and railway bridges have to swung out of the way to let boats through.

Fort William
Ben Nevis
Fort William

A carpet of ferns in Glen Nevis.

Fort William
Mossy moss
Fort William

Glen Nevis was really beautiful.

We spent four nights at a lovely house on the shore of Loch Eil, a short distance from Fort William. The house was built on the footprint of an older railway cabin and is positioned right beside the railway line to Mallaig. A few Scotrail trains go past each day, but the main attraction is the Jacobite steam train. 

We took a very wet trip out to Mallaig one day. The town felt quite grim but that was most likely down to the weather. The scenery is harshly beautiful. It's quite a touristy spot being the midway point for passengers on the Jacobite, and the fish and chip prices were surprisingly high. It's been a bit of a shock getting used to UK prices again. 

The next day the weather was much nicer and we had a walk along the Great Glen canal and Neptune's Staircase - the longest set of locks in the UK. We even saw an otter swimming in the canal. Following that we took a cruise in Loch Eil where we saw seals and surprise fighter jets. We had a great clear view of Ben Nevis (the highest mountain in the UK) which supposedly is covered in cloud 340 days of the year!