Not raining this morning looking out the window over the Caley Marina to the distant mountains the sky is grey with patches of blue sky and looking the other way over the bay of Beauty Firth to Moray Firth out to sea it looks a little clearer. Seems we have a resident couple of seals bobbing up and down by the shoreline in clear view of our motorhome. Lovely to watch them with the beautiful view of hills in the background and a very impressive cable-stayed Kessock bridge across the Beauly Firth, an inlet of the Moray Firth.

Decided to take a quick wander through the city of Inverness the largest city and the cultural capital of the Scottish Highlands, first stop was the Hall of Names to trace back where are surnames originated from which was very interesting, mine are Scottish (Dad) and Irish (Mum) and Richard is English (both parents). Strolled up the Pedestrian Street looking at the old building before walking up to the clifftop to the Inverness Castle, which sits on a cliff overlooking the River Ness. The red sandstone structure was built in 1836 by architect William Burn and it is built on the site of an 11th-century defensive structure. The city has a lot to offer but we have seen enough old cathedrals, markets, lakes, waterfalls and old buildings.

We have a long drive ahead of us to Killin with a stop at Pitlochry taking the A9 dual carriage motorway. The views most of the way were pine trees or birch trees either side of the carriageway, mountains, lots of logging and planting of pines, the odd wind turbines, sheep and cattle grazing, glimpses of many lochs, rivers, marshlands, small villages as we wind up and down many mountains through valleys or glens travelling by the Cairngorms National Park till Killercrankie.

Lots of mounted speed cameras on the motorway (they average your speed before booking you) so we had to watch our speed as there was a long section of roadworks between Kincraig and Kingussie where the speed limit was 40mph terrible with lots of traffic on the road for a Sunday plus it was very windy making driving difficult. Thankfully the rain held off at one time the clouds looked threatening over the high summits but we were winding through valleys of barren countryside in another direction. The rivers especially River Garry look very dry, the rain in Skye must not have reached this part of Scotland, no water cascading of the mountains or rapid flowing brooks here.

Finally reached Pitlochry a beautiful picturesque town a real tourist destination and very busy. A good spot to have a Sunday roast lunch but we were in no luck the only pub with a roast doesn’t accept Visa or Debit Cards and we didn’t have enough cash (emergency funds). With lunch off the table and on the advice of some campers from the carpark we took a drive to see the Pitlochry Hydroelectric Dam and Fish Ladder. Walked over the 100 year old suspension foot bridge to the little historical village of Port-na-craig (only the 19th century homes are still there) past the famously renowned Pitlochry Festival Theatre, which looks so out of place such a modern building in a quaint old town.

The view of the River Tummel and the dam is very impressive. The dam was constructed between 1947 and 1951 damming up the River Tummel to form Loch Faskally some 5km in length. This became a massive problem and it was necessary to create a way for the 5,000+ salmon each year to pass upstream. The ladder as it is known is 310 metres in length and has 34 pools, 3 of which are resting pools. There are two viewing windows, side by side looking into 2 pools; these enable you to observe the salmon using the ladder but it is not salmon season. A very enjoyable and informative experience at the dam.

Change of directions now on the A827 to Killin as we follow the River Tay with views of crops of grain and green vegetables, sheep and cattle grazing glimpses of the river through the lush green canopy of trees winding down and up the mountainside. Had a surprise passing through the large town of Aberfedy lots of very old and newer models of tractors coming in the other direction must be a show or fair on. Picturesque scenery of Loch Tay travelling high up on the mountainside looking down the coming down to the beautiful village of Kenmore with boats on the loch then driving through scrub marshland with sheep and cattle grazing before coming back to driving along the Loch Tay till we finally reached Killin in the late afternoon.

Not finding anywhere to wild camp we pulled into the Caravan and Motorhome Club site of Maragowan to send the night a good long hot shower, chemical toilet dump which is needed and fresh water. Tired and worn out we enjoyed a beautiful roast beef, vegies and Yorkshire pudding at the Bridge of Lochy Hotel just down the road before turning in for the night.