Linda & Andrew: Scotland: It's guid ti hae yir cog out whan it rains kail

There's always something incredibly special about seeing something in the flesh for the first time. Perhaps something that you've known about for a long time, from childhood even, something that you've seen pictures of in books or on TV or in films, something that you feel as though you already know intimately. For me these occasions are always something to get excited about and I can make myself quite ill with impatience and the unbearable anticipation of peeling back my eyes to finally see 'it' in front of me. Will it be as good as I've always thought?, as big as I'd always believed?, as awesome as I've been told it is?, as magical as I've always hoped it would be?, and "oh no.. what if it's all a big let down..?" Well... I'll share with you that this big guy was really one of those things for me; Ben Nevis.

I've seen the highest mountain in England and the highest one in Wales, I've seen the highest one in Northen Ireland, I've been part way up the tallest one in Italy, and France, and Switzerland, and I've flown around the highest one in Norway, and I've been lucky enough to see many more 'biggest' ones but never have I seen the tallest one in Scotland, the tallest one in fact in the whole of the British Isles. So how cheesed off was I when we couldn't see even a hint of it from our hotel, or from Glen Coe, or from Fort William or in fact from anywhere on our side of the loch. So we had to travel to a place called Corpach around the other side of Loch Linnhe so that we could see him. We parked up at the foot of the Caledonian Canal (more of that later) just to get a glimpse. Well, it was worth the wait and it is worth the effort as we enjoyed the view shown above. Another of life's little ambitions ticked off on the list but how good would it be to actully go up there...? Hmmmm... That gives me an idea!

Well, there's only one way to find out and that's to go over and do it! Rest assured that we didn't lose our minds like some people and pay a visit to the outdoor shop and kit ourselves out with ice-picks and crampons, oh yes... they we're all there, in our hotel, shaking from having nearly died that day. No, we did the sensible (ok, TOG-like) thing and took the Gondola cable car up Mount Aonach Mor to the Nevis Range ski resort so we could get a least a flavour of what it's like. So... what was it like? Well.... It was bloody freezing!

Yet it is actually very beautiful and the weather kindly took a short break, enough to give us an amazing view over Loch Linnhe and the surrounding glens, Bens and Munroes, some of which were apprarently up to 20 miles away (according to one of those panoramic 'you-are-here' bronze view map thingys). We were even treated to a fresh fall of snow which was really exciting as we watched all of the brave souls getting dragged further up the mountain by a fast moving bin lid on a stick between their legs, and then skiing and snowboarding down, some gracefully and skilfully, and some disgracefully and pitifully, which provided us with a little voyeristic enjoyment, but OH MY GOD! It was SO COLD!!!.

It was great to be knee-deep in fresh snow, it was wonderful to be amidst the falling flurry and it was truly awesome to see the views out in the sub-zero refrigerated air and then warm ourselves up inside the Snow Goose restaurant with a hot coffee and then send postcards from the highest postbox in the British Isles, but best of all, absolutely best of ALL, was yet another fulfilment of a life long ambition for me, and I couldn't quite believe that for the first time in my life that I was face to face with these little boys and girls who danced around and around, just feet in front of us like some scheduled performance of a ballet; Snow Buntings!!

They are genuinely a scarce breeding species in the UK, only in Scotland now for many years, and only a few (literally) recorded pairs making them an RSPB 'Amber List' species which means that there are less than 300 in total, at less than 10 known sites in the entire country. They are just gorgeous and they were quite clearly comfortable with the hoards of aliens tramping around them in huge rigid plastic boots, Michelin Man suits and deep sea diving masks as they came back time and time again to scavenge the dander and detritus of cheese sandwiches and bacon rolls; Lovely!

Forgive my indulgence with these little chaps but it has genuinely been one of my lifetime ambitions to see them since being in the YOC (Young Ornithologist Club) as a child! Precious, precious moments indeed.

Bloody cold though! (did I mention that already?) So, after a couple of hours we decided to start our descent and we hustled into the cable car to ride down the mountain. Once again the views were spectacular and the 15 minute journey passed dissapointingly in no time.

Time for a little more history along the way to our lunch destination which was so far out of the way that we only just made it...

The journey kept stalling continually to take in that monument and this waterfall, those deer, that buzzard, and that famous viaduct above which featured in the Harry Potter film 'Prisoner of Azkaban' when the car flew alongside the Hogwarts Express. Directly opposite the bridge is this incredibly special view of the Glenfinnan Monument which, in my opinion, is the most tasteful coalescence of natural beauty and manmade architecture I have ever seen.

The Glenfinnan Monument is set at the head of Loch Shiel and was built in 1815 to commemorate the Jacobites, who fought and fell during the 1745 uprising. Prince Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) raised his standard and rallied his clansmen for battle on the 19th August 1745 which marked the start of his campaign to restore the exiled Stuarts to the throne. The Glenfinnan Monument was designed by James Gillespie Graham and erected by Alexander Macdonald of Glenaladale some years later.

Loch Shiel reaches out long into the horizon before your eyes, veiled on both sides by steep craggy snow-topped mountains which have remained completely unchanged and unspoilt since the events that made the place historic, and after reading the testimonies on and around the monument we couldn't help but wonder how it must have looked and sounded when it was swarming with more than a thousand enraged highlanders all those years ago.

We eventually set off towards Glenuig again passing through even more stunning scenery and resisting many occasions to stop and point and go "wow!" and take pictures and film and well, you know how it can be, but we had a deadline to meet... Lunch! Then, however, we came across this view below and we just had to pull over and get out to drink it all in and wonder quite genuinely how we could possibly still be on the mainland of the United Kingdom.

This view from Roshven looks out over the Sound of Arisaig and the clarity and colour of the sea makes you pinch yourself. As you can see the skies were clear and despite the slightest of zephyrs coming at us we had a wee stroll along the sandy beach, with me wearing just a tee-shirt quite comfortably and a picnicking family nearby quite unblieveably chasing their pet spaniel into the water wearing just swimsuits.