SCOTLAND DISCOVERIES (Part Two) and More

Beech Trees

Besides the Wildlife Park and the Muir of Ord Golf Course we also “discovered” Fort George.  

Fort George Entrance

We’d seen the fort often from Fortrose & Rosemarkie GC which is directly across the Moray Firth from the fort and we’d driven by the signpost to the fort probably a dozen times over the years, but we’d never visited the site.

Fort George is a working army base.

Cannons to the right of me….

The fort, located just outside Nairn and only 11 miles northeast of Inverness, was completed in 1769 and was built as the ultimate defense against further Jacobite (Catholic followers of the Stuarts) uprisings after the defeat of Bonnie Prince Charlie at Culloden in 1745.  The name Fort George comes from Gaelic An Gearasten meaning “the Garrison.”  The fort has been continuously used as a garrison since being built.  

The Armory

In fact, it is the only ancient property of Historic Scotland (a trust) still functioning as intended, a working army barracks.  The fort is currently home to the Queen’s Highlanders and I wandered amongst the barracks and armory buildings and looked for dolphins in the firth from the fort’s viewpoints.  Through binoculars and telephoto camera lenses we could watch golfers at Fortrose across the water.  

The Chanonry Point Lighthouse with the Inverness Bridge in background from Fort George.

At the fort we met three senior gentlemen who had been stationed together at Fort George sixty-three years earlier (1951). 

This was their first visit since their army years.  One commented at the entrance, “It still looks the same.”  

As the men started their tour, two pipers piped the orders in front of the HQ offices.

Again, we wish we’d stopped before as our friend Marcia had suggested.

A MODERN DAY MOLLY MALONE

Nairn Harbour

As we wandered from the boats harboured at Nairn toward the tearoom recommended by the Harbour Master, we noticed a van with its back doors open displaying an array of fresh seafood.  It was the local fish monger making his rounds.  

Modern Molly's Wheelbarrow

People came to the van, selected their fish, and went home with dinner ready for the pot.

We chatted with the traveling merchant.  He used to be an army piper (he would have been one piping the orders of the day at Fort George), 

but now brings fresh fish to the locals two or three times a week.  We had a look at his products and selected an Arbroath Smokie (haddock smoked at Arbroath on Scotland’s east coast) and some brown crab claws for our dinner--direct from a modern day Molly Malone.

ONE OF THE BEST 9-HOLE COURSES WE’VE EVER PLAYED

It’s the most northerly golf course on mainland Britain and it is one of the best small courses we’ve ever played.  

Anne walking up to the first tee at Durness GC.

Durness GC rivals St Medan in the south of Scotland along the Solway Firth, St Fillans in the Highland hills of central Scotland, and Cruit Island in County Donegal, Ireland on the Irish Sea for interesting golf shots and quality oif the layout.  

Starting up the second hole with Balnakeil Bay behind.

On a good day it surpasses all of the them for beautiful and spectacular views.

Built in 1988 on the raised ancient dunes on the southwest side of Balnakeil Bay on the Pentalnd Firth (the meeting of the North Atlantic and the North Sea), Durness GC is not only a testing track but is testing to get to as well.  

Hit down to the green at the third.

From Ullapool on Scotland’s northwest coast Durness is more than 70 miles of mostly single-track road.  From Inverness at the edge of the Moray Firth (in the center of the north) Durness is more than 80 miles with at least half of it single-track road.  It is probably the most isolated course on the mainland.  

Looking back at the fairway of the sixth which goes around the loch.

I tee off at the eighth.

That isolation is part of the charm of Durness GC.  Several other qualities help make the course great.  The challenges are many: blind shots (drives and approaches), almost constant wind, heavy marram (dune grass) rough, strategic bunkers, a loch to play around or over, and the ocean is in play on the last two holes.  For such an out-of-the-way track the course is kept in excellent condition. 

Anne teeing off at the eighth.

The variety of the holes is another attraction--they play uphill, downhill, around hills, and around and over loch and sea. the views from the course are without rival.  When you’re not viewing the nearby mountains (not necessarily tall but still dramatic) you are viewing the sea, Balnakeil Bay and Beach backed by an expanse of bracken, fern, and marram covered dunes. a final charm of Durness GC is its friendly members and players.

On the final hole you hit over the crashing waves and avoid three bunkers to find the green.

Durness is not easy to get to nor easy to play, but it is a course I would love to play every day. 

DISCOVERING SCOTLAND (Part One)

The Great Glen from the A9, the main north-south road in Scotland.

The edge of the Highland on the way to Aberfeldy.

Why are you back in Scotland?  Haven’t you seen enough?  No, we haven’t seen it all yet.  And this trip is proving that we are correct about not seeing it all yet.  We are traveling in familiar areas, but we are finding (discovering) new things.  In this post I’ll tell you about two places that we’ve passed dozens of times and never stopped at--one is a tourist attraction that we thought would be hokey but isn’t, and the other is a golf course we thought would be boring but isn’t.  I’ll end with some of our favorite photos so far from this trip.

Pallas's Cat from Central Asia.

       First, we have passed by the Highland Wildlife Park in Kincraig, between Kingussie and Aviemore in the Cairngorm National Park, every time we’ve stayed in Aviemore (the Highlands) and that’s about 15 times.  We thought it was similar to the safari park in central Scotland that’s rather dreadful.  

The head of a male Capercaillie, the largest of the grouse family and very endangered--only about 200 are left in the wild.

Since we had time, we decided to give it a go.  We found out that the park opened in 1972 and along with the Edinburgh Zoo is run by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland.  The 200 acre facility houses 40 different species of cold climate animal, most of which are endangered, and contains about 200 individual animals.  

The Scottish Wildcat, about the size of a very large house cat.

There are a couple of drive-thru areas (the safari park concept) and several walking trails, as well as three cafes, a gift shop, and picnic areas.

Some kind of goose, but I couldn't find out what kind.

The park participates in two different levels of breeding programs, the most important being the breeding of European Endangered species.  We are no experts, but to us the animals all seemed well cared for.

The second of our finds was a golf course we’d driven by several times and thought it looked rather unexciting.  

Anne tee's off on the 7th hole at Muir of Ord.  The hole's name is Braid, the favorite of the designer.

But since we were in the area and had played most of the other courses nearby we thought we’d stop at Muir of Ord Golf Course in Muir of Ord, a little northwest of Inverness.  When I booked the course I found out it was designed by James Braid, 

The tiny green at the 3rd at Muir of Ord, only about 14 paces across.

a famous Scottish designer of more than 400 golf courses.  We like Braid’s design work so suddenly had higher hopes about Muir of Ord.  The course designed in 1875 was anything but uninteresting.  It has some challenging holes and is in good shape.  

A downhill par three at Muir of Ord, backed by lovely farmland.

Definitely not easy, Muir of Ord GC was fun to play and we came off the course wishing we’d played it before.  It will be one of the courses we’ll go back to when in the area.

Besides these two “finds” we keep discovering other new things in familiar places and some of those will be in DISCOVERING SCOTLAND (Part Two).  Until the next post here are some of our photo favorites from this trip. 

Clava Cairns, tombs from about 4000 BC.

We also serve who wait for our masters outside the tearoom.

Two standing stones at Clava Cairns with the road in between.

The River Luineag in the Cairngorm National Park.

Fall 2014: Scotland

       Since arriving in Scotland on September 8 we have enjoyed some lovely weather and played five rounds of golf already.  What we haven't had time for is much touring; therefore, not much photography.  Our trip will get more visually interesting after next week when we head to the Highlands and then the far northwest corner of Scotland and out to the Isle of Skye.  In the meantime, here are a few items to share--with a few photos of interest.

Ryder Cup Flag Raising

       St Fillans GC, where we are members, has received some money from the local promoters for the Ryder Cup matches between the US team and the European team (held at Gleneagles GC later in the month).  Some of the money was used for two new flag poles for the club.  I was there the day after the poles were installed and the club manager, Gordon, asked me to represent the American team while he represented the European team.  This was the first flag raising on the new poles.  

After our mini ceremony I went down to the local bookmaker shop, Ladbroook, and placed a £40 pound wager on the Americans to win at 7/4 odds.  Go USA!

Doors, Perth

Shrooms on the Golf Course

Photo Rant

In Canmore, Alberta, Canada we wandered into a photographer’s gallery to look at his photos.  They were quite good.  His very nice images were mostly wildlife and landscapes well-mounted and framed.  But along with the photos on the wall and in the display cases were signs: “No Digital or Photoshop Images,” “All Images from Film,” “No Digital Used.”

I have a problem with this “elitist” attitude.  Digital in today’s photography is not a dirty word.  Photoshop should not be either.  To make an implied claim that images are better because they come from film, rather than memory, is a false claim.  The “film is better” claim comes from the assumption that it is more natural or realistic than images from digital.  Wrong.  

The images in this particular photographer’s gallery are manipulated images just as images which come from a digital memory chip.  How are film and digital photographs manipulated?  First, the photographer chooses which film to use.  Kodak, Fuji, Ilford and other brands have individual reproduction characteristics.  Some are softer, some more contrasty, some shift to the blue.  Kodachrome has a different color profile from Ektachrome--both from Kodak.

Image by Ansel Adams

Second, most photographers (film and digital) use filters (UV, polarizer, neutral density, etc.) on their lenses which change, enhance, or distort natural colors.

Image by Edward Weston

Third, digital photographs are manipulated on computers with special programs, such as Photoshop which some professionals such as Annie Liebowitz have called “today’s darkroom.”  Film is also manipulated in the darkroom through developing, use of filters, burning and dodging to change light values.  Photographers like Ansel Adams and Edward Weston spent hours working in the the darkroom to get their prints to turn out just the way they wanted--not necessarily to simulate the reality of the scene.  That’s photographic manipulation.

Too much manipulation?

Granted, all manipulative techniques can be overdone or abused, but that’s what art is about.  And some art we love and some we hate.  Don’t let a photographer play the “Purer than Thou” card just because they choose to use the medium of film rather than digital memory.  

Pony, Comrie Village

Window, Burleigh Castle

YES/NO, The Scottish Election

September 18 is the VOTE--an historic day.  That’s the day Scotland votes for independence or to remain a part of the United Kingdom.  A YES vote will start a eightteen month propcess ending with Scotland being the world’s newest nation--the first nation established since the breakup of Yugoslavia.   But according to the NO campaign, a YES will be the beginning of a severe recession (the D-word has even been used) in Scotland and perhaps all of the UK.  For myself, a Scotophile, the lead up to the vote has been quite interesting.  As a former debate and argumentation teacher the campaigns have been a study in propaganda/persuasion techniques.

The YES campaign literature relies heavily upon emotional appeal--remember Mel Gibson’s William Wallace (Braveheart) yelling “Freedom!” as his entrails are ripped out.  Plenty of stories and anecdotes about how a YES vote will save my aged mother from the ravages of London’s money policies.  These are mixed with arguments of 

The YES campaign at a Crieff street market.

“could...would...should” become “will” with a YES vote without much in the way of real plans to accomplish goals.

The NO campaign which is far less vocal--although getting more so as the polls tighten--spouts London policy, London economists, and London politicos which, of course, are given very little credibility except by those who believe the 300 year old union should remain intact. 

A NO campaigner happy with the latest polls.

The NO campaign presents evidence from business and banks with very little thought given to the emotional intensity of those seeking dis-union.

One very astute young lady we know summed up the debate this way: “My heart says to vote YES, but my head tells me to vote NO.  I don’t know what I’m going to do.” My own take on the election campaigns  is that they have already become divisive and that Scotland will take a long time to recover from which ever way the vote goes.

Vale of Leven GC, Alexandria

We had lunch in Scotland's oldest licensed pub, The Clachan Inn, Drymen.

Canadian Road Trip, Part Two

Photos in this post are some of the best from the trip and do not necessarily relate to the Bad or the Ugly part of our trip.

Banff

Butterfly

THE BAD AND THE UGLY

The best thing about the “bad” of the trip was that nothing was terrible.  It was bad that we had to go to three different garages to get a two-minute fix, but there were other negatives as well.  

In Canada we traveled through five different Canadian national parks (Kootenay, Banff, Yoho, Glacier, and Revelstroke).  There were wonderful sights to see in all the parks, but only Kootenay and Banff National Parks were really tourist friendly.  In Yoho, Glacier, and Revelstroke we could see dramatic views (mountains, waterfalls, rivers) but there was no place for the casual tourist to stop and see the sights.  

Mountain in Revelstroke Nat'l Park from roadside.

From Canmore to Kelowna after leaving Banff National Park we drove for hours without finding a single worthwhile viewpoint even though there had been plenty to see.  

Mad Hatter at street market in Canmore.

Just to prove I was there, too.

  In Canmore we also had a very negative eating experience.  For lunch our first full day in Canmore we tried to eat at the popular Grizzly Paw Brewery where we’d eaten before and knew it should be good.  

Grizzly Paw

First, they told us the wait for an inside seat would only be five minute (outside was much more).  Fifteen minutes later they came to show us to our upstairs behind the fireplace table.  Ten minutes later they took our drink and food order.  We got our water and my one soda within a couple of minutes, but that was the last we saw of our waitress.  Thirty minutes after we had ordered (forty minutes after we’d been seated) I call the waitress over to find out about our food.  She apologized and said that when they’re busy (and they were) the average wait was twenty minutes.  I pointed out we’d already waited thirty.  She said she’d check on our meals.  Ten minutes later she brought us a small chip and dip tray appetizer and said it’d be a while before our lunch (two simple sandwiches) would be ready.  I said that was unacceptable and that we’d go somewhere else.  “I’ll pay for my soda, but then we’re leaving,” I told her.  She huffed and said she’d bring my drink bill.  A couple minutes later she showed up with our bill for $4.20 for one cream soda.  I paid with a $20 and when she came back she said,  “Here’s your change.”  She put down three fives.  Do the math.  Thankfully that was the only really negative eating experience of the trip.  

Osprey with Fish

Another Bad was due to poor timing.  We hadn’t realized that we’d be coming home on a Canadian three-day weekend which even Canadians couldn’t tell us what was being celebrated--probably similar to Bank Holidays in the UK.  This meant that when we left Kelowna on a Monday morning driving Highway 5, a lovely four-lane road which goes up and up and up it was terribly crowded.  What made the drive bad was that it was a high speed road (70-75 mph) and it was practically bumper-to-bumper for all 120 km.  This was some of the most stressful driving I’ve ever done.  You see, Canadians look at a  posted speed sign and think it’s the minimum speed rather than maximum.  Pickups pulling thirty foot trailers were whizzing by us uphill at 90 one after another.  It got better later in the day, but worse as well.  The speed of the roads dropped to 60 mph which meant everyone was going 75, only this time on two-lane curvy roads bumper-to-bumper. Then it all stopped.  Forty miles from Vancouver we hit stop-and-go traffic which would stretch all the way to Vancouver.  Thankfully, we got off that highway twenty-five miles short of Vancouver.  That was definitely a Bad driving day.

Waterfall near Canmore

Lake in Kootenay Nat'l Park

Lots of Good, a little Bad, and one Ugly.  Jim Morrison may have said that “people are strange,” but on this trip people were Ugly!  As much as I want to consider myself to be above prejudice or stereotyping, I keep finding examples and experiences which push me in that direction.  As we were standing in line for an ice cream at the School Bus Ice Cream shop in Canmore, a lady unceremoniously shoved her way in front of the gentleman in front of us.  Anne said loudly to him, “I thought you were next.”  

School Bus Ice Cream--even wedding parties queue up for the ice cream.

He said in a very British accent, “I thought so, too.”  The lady never flinched. Hearing her accent when she ordered he said, “The Germans are like that.”  We did have a pleasant conversation with the Brit as we waited in the queue.  At Lake Morraine we noticed Asian tourists who crowded in front of others to take their photos, Middle-eastern tourists being pushy and rude, and Southeast Asian tourists who were oblivious to everyone else.  On the trail through Johnston Canyon I was pushed and shoved as I tried to take a picture by an Indian family hurrying to beat others to the view points.  At the overlook to the falls as a number of us photographers were working hard to stay out of each others way, an Asian family pushed through, stood in front of all of us, and wouldn’t move after they took their pictures.   Seeing example after example of these “ugly” tourists certainly makes it hard not show some cultural bias--and that in itself is an Ugly feeling.  Every once in a while in Scotland we see examples of “the Ugly American,” but more often we are seeing others as Ugly Tourists.

Lake Reflection near Canmore

Baker Creek, Banff Nat'l Park

Our summer Road Trip to Canada was truly great.  And the Good far outweighed the Bad or the Ugly. 

Next: The next post will come from Scotland, if the Icelandic volcano doesn't change our trip.