In late July we headed to Scotland for 5 days. We stayed with our family friends, Jill and Colin McColl in Fort Augusta. Fort Augusta sits just at the bottom of Lochness which is about a 45 minute drive from Inverness. We had a great time, so much of the scenery reminded us of the South Island and the weather reminded me even more of Invercargill. We literally had 4 seasons in one day, most days. Over our time there we visited may spots, including heading south to Fort William & Glencoe, East to Avimore and all the way west to the Isle of Skye.
You can never be too old to take advantage of this little gem it seems.
A top the Cairngorms mountain range- a popular skiing location just out of Avimore.
The highest red telephone box in the UK- what better time for Nadia to check in with Donna
The little wooden fences is how they collect all their snow- if they don't have fences the snow tends to just get blown off the mountain.
The Fanicular railway up the mountain.
The Foyers waterfall
Above- Plokton- A little off the beaten path to get to (literally a beaten path for a road!) but well worth it once getting there, you are greeted by a quaint little town with a splendid little bay.
The beach on the Loch just out of Avimore in the Cairngorn National Park - it was a pity for these optimistic beach goers that within 50 minutes of this picture being taken there was horizontal rain practically blowing them off the beach. But hey they were probably prepared, becauseas we learnt, that's a typical Scottish day.
A lovely night out with Jill & Colin at the local pub in Fort Augusta.
The Highland cattle (Kyloe) are not shy. I spent much of my time honking on the horn to try and move these beasts along- it seems the Scots don't really believe in fences so it is not unusual to see the wild life just parked up on the road.
Dalwhinnie Distillery- if I was a whiskey man this would be my drop. 
Above- On the east coast of the Trotternish peninsula on the Isle of Skye Kilt rock and waterfall.
The gravestone of Flora MacDonald right at the top of the isle of Skye just out of Kilmuir- to say the road around the top was dicey would be a huge understatement, it was only one lane for 95% of it and you had to just pull in to little bays to let traffic through or go off road, this included the tourist buses up there!
Above - Portree on the Isle of Skye - generally regarded as the capital of the Totternish Peninsula on the Isle of Skye.
In the western highlands lies Eilean Donan Castle which was originally build in the 13th century by the vikings, demolished in the 1700's and then rebuilt in the 1920's. 
Just out of Spean Bridge lies the war memorial dedicated to the fallen commandos who died during the second world war. The hills that lie behind is Ben Nevis the tallest mountain in the UK.
The monument at Glenfinnan has an unknown Scottish highlander on its top and is dedicated to the Jacobite rising. Directly behind this lies the Glenfinnan viaduct which is famous for featuring in the Harry Potter films.
So much lush greenery in Scotland!
One of the walks we went on took us into the hills of Glencoe which once up high enough gave great views of the valley.
Above- Walking around Glencoe and overlooking the island cemetery where many of the MacDonald clan are buried.
Our rental car - the Ford Focus was so good at dodging sheep, cows & other cars it has inspired me to looking into buying one.
Above- nestled on the shores of Loch ness lies Urquhart castle.
This was as close as we got to spotting the Loch ness monster- hilarious exhibition centre though.
Above Inverness- This is a great place to fly into as it is accessible to all parts of the Highlands.
The draw....
It was not Venus' day as she was out played by Pironkova, much to the crowds delight who were definately backing the under dog. The other womens quarterfinal we watched was against 2 relatively unknowns, neither of whom could stop Serena Williams from winning the Wimbeldon title.
