Return to Edinburgh

Leaving Wick
Another day dawns, but truth be said, the memory of the visit to Orkney still rings in my head. Upon returning to the mainland, we stayed the night in the most delightful MacKays (pronounced maceyes) Hotel in the town of Wick. Of the hostelries in which we had stayed to this point, MacKays was far and away the best. Our host was genuinely delighted to see us even stopping in the restaurant to inquire as to our well being. Dinner was in the hotel's little bistro that fronts on the shortest street in the world, Ebenezer Place and, of course, the address is No. 1. (This is verifiable in Guiness' Book of World Records.) Our room was lovely and overlooked the River Wick. I would urge anyone traveling to this area to book MacKays, you will not be disappointed.

Before leaving the lovely town of Wick, I must share with you a thought that I have shared in my The Wick War Memorial The Good MacKays Hotel and No. 1 Ebenezer Place previous journeys. Just across the street from the good McKay's stood the local memorial to those locals who had fallen in the two World Wars. A detailed listing by unit and rank is inscribed in bronze. I have found this to be common throughout my travels in Britain as well as in Australia. I believe that this is generally brought about because of their proximity to the wars, the theater being virtually their back yards. For those familiar with the movie, “We Were Soldiers”, the haunting tune sung (“...lay me doon, in the cold, cold groond...”) as they initially take to their “war steeds” is “Sgt. MacKenzie”. This song recounts the death of Sgt. Charles Edward MacKenzie, a member of the Seaforth Highlanders, in the Great War. The Seaforth Highlanders originated in this area in Caithness and many MacKenzies' names appear on the memorial, but no Sargent by that name.

We arose somewhat latter on this day, around 9am, our lack of sleep having caught up with us. But, as usual, we had yet miles to go and sights to see. So, breaking fast and taking leave of our host, we began the all day journey back south to Edinburgh. Once again we set out on the trusty A9 (though we were bound to not repeat the detour from Dunkeld to Perth). Unlike our storied stay on the Orkneys, this day had once again reverted to rain. As we made our way south with the North Sea to our starboard, we were in good spirits for we looked forward to joining our friends and family in Edinburgh. And possibly more than that, to turn the driving over to Mr. Barry Austin, a man of unsurpassed skill.

We had but two stops planned on this leg, Blair Castle, home of Clan Murray and the only remaining privately standing army, the Atholl Highlanders, and then a side jaunt by Loch Tay and Ben Lawers. As we motored southward, we encountered many bikers who somehow felt compelled to ride along this windy stretch of roadway on a chilly, windy day wearing, for the most part, nothing more than a coat of paint! I must say, driving on the left is challenge enough, but given the addition of moving, living targets makes it much the more difficult. However, eventually we did come to Blair Castle in the small town with the lovely name of Blair Atholl where we stopped for a brief bite to eat (the only bad food I have had here in Scotland), some shopping and one picture.

We quickly left Blair Castle turning once again south on the trusty A9 through the Pass of Killiecrankie until we reached the A827 at Ballinluig. Up to this point we had been retracing our route originally taken in the dark northward upon my arrival. It is unfortunate that we had to travel in the dark on that forsaken night for the scenes as we passed through the Spey River Valley and then over the Grampian Mountains were truly magnificent. Even though we once more traveled in a continuing rain, I was again struck by the beauty of this land and reminded of why I continue to return to Scotland.

We finally exited the A9 at Ballinluig several miles north of Dunkeld and Perth and thus proceeded on the A827 along the Tay River until we came to the small burgh of Aberfeldy. We made this detour for one reason, the “Loch Tay Boat Song”, a song about a boatman on Loch Tay that has an unrequited love for his “Nighean ruadh” (his red haired lass). And the song tells how her beauty is known “...from Killin to Aberfeldy...”. So we have come to see the Loch Tay, the towns of Killin and Aberfeldy and, also, the local mountain of Ben Lawers (in Scottish dialect, Ben refers to “Mountain” much as Loch to Lake).

Unfortunately, as we left Aberfeldy, the rains became steadily worse until it was not possible to get even one picture of the fabled Loch and mountain. So we continued on through Killin until we struck the A84 and then proceeded south towards Stirling. This took us through the town of Callandar, another site from the “Tramps and Hawkers” ballad. At this point, we decided that we had time to make one more side trip to see one of what has been described as one of the major engineering feats of our times – the Falkirk Wheel.

Now, the Falkirk Wheel is a contraption that was built in 2002 rather than replace the lock system connecting the Forth and Clyde Canal and the Union Canal. In order to make the elevation transition of 79 feet from one canal to the other, the wheel was constructed. The wheel consists of two “buckets” suspended on either end of a rotating arm that pivots in the middle. Picture one bucket in the higher position and one in the lower. A vessel sails into either or both of the buckets (not the same vessel of course) and the arm then rotates about the pivot raising the lower bucket, complete with vessel, to the upper position and visa versa.

Unfortunately, I had expected something on a much grander scale. I was under the impression that this “engineering marvel” transported ships of some importance up and down. I now realize that it's main purpose is to transport tourists on small boats from one level to the next. However, the engineering principles are sound, it is certainly a marvel.

After this end to what had been some of the most enjoyable several days of my life, it was time for us to leave our trusty automobile, a Saab, and return to the life of being chauffeured from place to place. So bidding adieu to the Falkirk Wheel, we motored on to the Edinburgh Marriott Hotel and so ended the first part of our adventure. Eleven days still remain and we were anxious to start the next phase.