Manky Monkey Motors

hi,
Andy has asked me to post these up as his internet is not good.

 " I'm staying in Fort William for a couple of days. I'd forgotten how much I love the mountains."

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We were discussing Scotland yesterday. He did well to go home and then get so far into Scotland. Very atmospheric piccies.  8)

Can't see Nessie though!

JJ  :)

That's 'cos it's Loch Linne   ;)

That little house looks like the one in Spain I'm after ? ;D  dramatic but bleak ? If you find any holes bring em back for me Andy.. ;)

Isn't the house a 'Boffie' , available to all walkers to hide from the weather and overnight safety ?

nawww,,,its MMM,s new head quarters

I stand corrected. I was mixing up Fort William with Fort Augustus. Both lovely places to visit. I stayed in Drumnadrochit and to get there I passed by the isolated Commando Memorial which is surrounded by breathtaking scenery. The memorial itself is just stunning and I thought made even more moving by its location.

Quite envious Andy.

JJ  :)

more pics from andy.

"Eilean Donan Castle -the one on all the shortbread tins."

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/\ I had that view for several hours while trying to fix my fuel pump :( :)

 ;D ;D ;D

That castle - with the bridge - is so ridiculously picturesque it's hard to believe it's real!

Was your car upside down ? :-\

Looks like Sherpa Tensing is have a nice time in the Mountains.

If he's at Eilean Donan, he could go visit Charlie hot rod in Staffin on the isle of Skye ...............

Not tense at all -very relaxed.
I can't reduce photos on my phone to post here, (now I know how annoying that is!), so posted them on my FaceBook profile.
The castle's real -they're all over the place but most are really fortified houses. The main building has 2 thicknesses of stone wall with staircases running inside them. It was used as a location for the first Highlander film.
I recognise Charlie's name but have never met him. Iceman lives a few miles from the hotel, in Lochaber but, typically, isn't home this week.
Last day tomorrow so depending on the weather I may catch the ferry over to Mull. Some beautiful beaches there, plus the port of Tobermory.

Found them now Andy, just getting Tinypic links for them!

Looks nice and peaceful there Andy. I got to go there next year on the Trike for a tour round 8)

so your going here andy?

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Llamas!
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Glenfinnan Viaduct -as seen in the first Harry Potter film.
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Hogwarts Express?
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That last one is a truly fabulous picture!

Just found a few more but I've lost the will to live - only way I can do it is upload them to TinyPic, but my thingummyjig keeps crashing...... sorry folks!

Ha.ha..iv found where Andy keeps hiding all the Holes ? :o

Thanks Bobbi. The church of St Finnan at Glenfinnan. The original steeple bell's on display outside. I was there a few years ago with an old girlfriend &, being the idiot I am, I tapped the side of it. It produced the loudest, most resonant, booming, doom laden BONNGGG I've ever heard, that echoed way off down the valley.
-Oh Gawd, no, ssshhh!
I expected hordes of Clansmen to emerge from the forests -
The bell of St Finnan is only to be rung when Scotland is in dire peril. We've awoken from our slumber to fight again.
-bugger.
It's fenced off now.

Yup, Tobermory's where they filmed Balamory & the houses along the harbour side really are all painted different colours.
It's always full of kids looking for the TV characters, while their parents look for Wombles :)

Whats with the piles of rocks?     Some stunning scenery there buddy.

Nice pictures, i hope you had a nice break.

FERGY,, looks dead  :'( :'(

there called Cairn's

Aye, Cairns. They're memorials. People make them to remember friends & family, kinda like a gravestone. Sometimes they put a token of some sort inside, a ring or a brooch or even a glove.
Trouble is, like a lot of that kind of thing, it's become trendy with tourists -like clipping padlocks on bridges, (seen a lot of those here). The cairns weren't there when I first visited, maybe 15 years ago.
Might be done sincerely & the cairns look cool, but it's still not much better than graffiti to me.

Nice sunny morning here but very windy, so I'll give the ferry to Mull a miss & go & look at Loch Ness instead. :)

HERE ,,NESSIE,,NESSIE,,

lovely pics Andy :)

A lady here told me if ever in oop norf, go to the singing sands?


http://www.wildlochaber.com/ardnamurchan/walking/kentra-bay-and-singing-sands

Kentra bay?

Not heard of those Archie, but I've been to Ardnamurchan Point, the most Westerly point in Scotland. There's a lighthouse there with a huge old fog horn outside. Saw Minkey Whales there.
Posted a few more snaps on FaceBook today but can't post them here from my phone. I didn't realise how much I needed a break. Only 3 days but it's been great. Heading home tomorrow.

I can't believe what you have packed in over such a short period, let alone getting there and back! 

Drove up the side of Loch Ness yesterday, looped around the top at Inverness, then back down the other side, past the site of the Battle of Colloden.
This morning I was accompanied out of the Highlands by the Jacobite steam train, running right alongside the road through Glen Orchy. Its' Summer season ended yesterday so it must be heading wherever steam trains migrate to for the Winter. I caught up with it at the tiny little station at Upper Tyndrum. No one there but the driver, the fireman, the guard & me. Steam mixing with Highland mist. Magical.
A couple of hours ago I was enjoying a leisurely lunch, sitting outside the Squid & Whale in old Glasgow city in glorious sunshine. Now I'm grabbing a quick drink at the restaraunt of the Clans -McDonalds, at a service station near Kendal in the Lake District. Home by late evening.
Could someone copy a few photos from my FaceBook page & post them here please.

One & a half thousand miles in 3 days :)

Wears ya out mate ? You'll need a break when you get back ?
I made sure I cleaned up after the other monkeys left the party ? Oops ! :-\

More of Andy's pics......

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And the darned Adobe whatsit has crashed again - later folks!

See you made some new friends, Andy!!............................... ;D

Safely home.

Welcome Back. must have been lonely up in Scotland no people just live stock

Should of got you to grab a fresh Haggis and drop if off to me on the way back down :P :P  They are so much better if purchased up there!
Looks like you had a good time :)

A bit slow of the mark with this one but I hope you had a nice time (the pictures looked good) if near Glasgow next time PM me and pop in for tea. Andy

Was that cow in a field next to a cafe and largish car park ?

Andy, you're the second one to say I should've dropped in! (Iceman lives in Lochabar).
Kev, the Highland Coo was at the side of the old Military road that runs down the East side of Loch Ness, (little windy B road that passes through several tiny villages on the way back down to Fort Augustus).
Yeah, had a great time. Felt like a proper holiday even though it was only 3 or 4 days. Glad I went. I deliberately didn't take a camera cos I wanted to just enjoy it, rather than seeing it all through a camera lens. Just took a few snaps on my phone.
One tank of fuel in my little diesel Fiesta got me all the way there, (550 miles), & the same back again, so about 45 quid each way, plus about 400 miles of touring about while I was there. I splashed out on a decent hotel, but even with a pub meal each evening, I did the lot for a weeks wages. There were definitely more tourists about than on previous visits but the place is big enough to find some space to yourself with no trouble at all. Thoroughly recommended.
-Manky mcMonkey.

glad you had a great relaxing time.

Good time of year when most of the holidaymakers have gone, we had one night in Beer in Devon and it was lovely, not many people about except the ones that belong there!  Glad you enjoyed your break!

I always go in October. After the tourists & midges have gone but before the Winter weather arrives.

I've travelled that road many times in my competitive days, some time it was great sometimes it was a miserable dark wet trip. Remember coming out of Inverness and you climb a big hill. Air cooled camper 4 up with boards on the roof, 15mph flat out into a headwind. ;D

Andy - really sorry that I missed you. I will send down your award from the Scottish Tourist Board - you really sell the place. I love living here, there is so much space, the scenery's lovely, there are so many hidden places ( ie beaches ) and no speed cameras! Mind you, the roads are crap and the scenery so lovely that you don't want to go too fast ...
If any MMM is planning a trip up this way then please let me know and I'll give you some pointers to places off the tourist path.Serious.
Your timing was impeccable Andy, it snowed on Sat. evening. I'll post some pics once I work out how to do it!
May the Frogs be with you. Tom

Hiya, yeah, I notice you're home again now I'm safely South of the border  :P
My 6th or 7th holiday there & still love it as much as the first time. I was going to nip over to the Isle of Mull, but just ran out of time. Some beautiful beaches over there.
I'll be back!

Finally got the use of my laptop back -no internet connection where I live, so I've got a Wi-Fi dongle thingy with limited data allowance each month -so here's the snaps of Loch Ness.
Very eerie place. Only the 2nd deepest loch in Scotland, (755 feet & 23 miles long), but the high peat content in the local soil makes the waters unusually dark & mysterious. It's easy to imagine something big lurking in the depths.

One minute the water's dead flat calm, then the wind blows ripples across it & you could almost mistake them for the dark hump of ...who knows what.

Sunken yacht on the West shore.

Very spooky Scooby Doo boat too.

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Loch Ness was also the scene of John Cobb's doomed water speed record attempt in 1952.

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The Falls of Foyers. 165 feet tall & a bit scary when you're perched on the edge of a rock beside them.
One Victorian aristocrat was so frightened of the slippery, muddy descent through the woods to see the "thundering mist that rose through the trees" that he immediately gave the huge sum of £5 to launch a fund for a safer set of steps for visitors. A local civil engineer raised the rest of the 45 pounds needed to complete the work. The flow was once much faster, but an aluminium smelting plant, built at the turn of the last century, diverted some of it's power.
It's still a bit scary.

Highland reservoir, supplying water to Glasgow. It comes right up to the road's edge -no fences or warnings. I wonder how many unwary motorists have ended up in there in the dark or fog.

The Jacobite steam train heading South through the Highlands as I was driving home.
I'd passed it earlier, then spotted a British Rail sign at the side of the road  & decided to pull in at the station to watch it go by. The road quickly became an incredibly steep, twisting climb, barely wider than my car, through the trees & just as I was thinking I'd better try & turn back, it opened out into a tiny carpark that wouldn't hold more than half a dozen cars. A tunnel under the track led up to the rail station. "Upper Tyndrum" is a tiny little station perched among the pine trees, with mist shrouded mountains all around. The buildings were all locked & there wasn't a soul in sight. The platform tapered down to the single track & I could've walked right onto it. I knew the train was at least 10 minutes behind me, so stood there, listening to the birds & the breeze in the tree tops. So peaceful.
20 minutes went by & no sign of the train. Maybe it'd stopped somewhere else? Maybe it'd taken another route? Ah well, at least I'd finished my holiday with a sighting of it in full steam thundering through the glens. Half an hour of standing by myself on a deserted platform & I decided it was time to get going. But wait -did I just catch the sound of something clanking in the distance? Suddenly there it was -a big black loco chugging around the side of the hillside, enveloped in steam & mist. I'm no train spotter, but I do love the sight & sound of traction engines & steam trains & I had this one all to myself.

It rolled into the station, towing 10 West Coast carriages & came to a gentle stop beside me. No passengers on board, just the driver, firemen & guard. Strangely, no-one spoke to me -they just smiled & stood waiting for the track signal to change. All a bit surreal. 

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A few moments later, with a blast of the whistle, they were underway again, chugging off into the distance.

A "helper" diesel at the back of the train. A 1960s Type 37 if I'm not mistaken. Only about 40 of them left in service now -O.K, maybe I'm a little bit of a train spotter.

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And they were gone.
I stood alone again on the platform, just me & the breeze & the mountains & the mist. It felt kinda odd -did that just happen? I had a nasty feeling I was going to pull into a petrol station further down the road & mention to the guy at the pump that I'd just seen the steam train at Tyndrum station & he'd give me a puzzled look & say "Tyndrum? There haven't been any trains there for 50 years. Not since the midnight express derailed & plunged down the hillside, killing the driver, the fireman & the guard". -Aaaarrrggghhh!!!
A wonderful couple of days in the hills. Next year I'm going back in my truck.  :)

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Can I do my Farr joke now?

Farr.

Farr, far away.

Harr, ha, ha!!
Can't believe I drove 20 miles out of my way for that.
Totally worth it.  ;D

You definately, definately, needed to get back to the workshop ............ TRAIN spotting!!    REALLY??????  ;D ;D ;D

 :P

Eeeek I had that feeling just reading your description, before you said that!  Anything could happen in the scotch mist............

beautiful place scotland , going there myself in december , nice photos andy ..