Scottish Tour Guide's Blog

Snow Capped Mountains, Harris, Scotland

 This morning, we departed our lodgings at Tarbert, Harris and headed north to Isle of Lewis passing en-route through some stunning scenery entailing mountains topped with an overnight covering snow which reflected nicely in the sunlight. The tour progressed as follows:

• First destination was the new (founded 2008) whisky distillery known as Abhainn Dearg at Carnish on the west of Lewis which is at the end of a long and narrow road with no obvious signage. We eventually found the site and on second attempt were provided with a visit to the distillery operations and a sample of the new, three year old single malt.Interestingly, this distillery is close to the site where the set of famous Viking era carved chessmen were found buried on the beach area. We made some purchases of this unique and limited availability single malt.
• Next to the famous prehistoric, standing stone site at Callanish.
• Next to the Gearrannan Black Houses, a former community of traditionally built stone houses with thatched roofs. This site provides a tangible link with traditional island lifestyle of fairly recent times.
• Next to the Carloway Broch, a former high status dwelling with a history dating back perhaps some 2000 years.
• Next to Shawbost and a water powered mill and kiln dating from the Norse or Viking era, about 1200 years ago.
• Next to the Blackhouse Museum (former island house) where we learned more about the use of peat for fuel and toured the museum with authentic sights and smells from a bygone era.
• Finally, we returned to Tarbert in readiness for our departure for Skye in the morning. 

Dram of Whisky at Abhainn Dearg Distillery, Scotland

Inside Abhainn Dearg Distillery, Isle of Lewis, Scotland

Outdoor Boy Band, Isle of Lewis, Scotland

Prehistoric Stone Circle at Callanish, Scotland

Gearrannan Black House Village, Isle of Lewis, Scotland

Carloway Broch, Lewis, Scotland

Norse Mill and Kiln, Lewis, Scotland

This morning, our tour commenced in Fort Augustus in the Scottish Highlands. After departing our lodgings we headed north, tracking Loch Ness, with first stop at the scenic Invermoriston Falls.

Invermoriston Falls, Great Glen, Scotland

Next, continuing north for about 20 mins we arrived at Castle Urquhart, an excellent spot to view Loch Ness. Today, there was a medieval event in process at the Castle.

Castle Urquhart, Loch Ness, Scotland

Next we continued north to Inverness, Capital of the Highlands. Here guests shopped for clan tartans at Highland House of Fraser and then we had lunch.

River Ness, Inverness, Scotland

Next across the Moray Firth to Fortrose and Chanonry Point where we hoped to view dolphins but, sadly, they failed to show up.

Next we headed west to Muir of Ord where we stopped to photograph the Free Church of Urray, important in the family’s history.

Free Church of Scotland, Urray, Scotland

Next to nearby Glen Ord Distillery where we joined a tour lasting about 1 hour to learn about the making of Scotch whisky from malting and mashing through to fermentation, distillation and maturation. Glen Ord produces the Singleton brand which is aimed at the Far East market.A sizable distillery, producing about 5.0m litres p.a.

Tour Group at Glen Ord Distillery, Scotland

Next to a small village named Marybank where, with assistance from a very helpful local resident, we found our objective of a ruined cottage, formerly the home of an ancestor. We spent some time here taking photographs.

Mackay Cottage, Marybank, Scotland

Mackay Cottage, Marybank, Scotland

Finally, we moved on to Dingwall  and lodgings for the night at  Tulloch Castle Hotel, the main part of which dates from the 16th century.

Tulloch Castle Hotel, Dingwall, Scotland

Overall, a successful day with all objectives met.