Kim & Al go far, far away: Fort William & Mallaig

High street, Fort William

Ben, our host at Invernevis B&B, Fort William is a great chap, letting us check in late last evening due to train delays. He was really apologetic about many things including the weather and he was really keen to make sure his guests are really well looked after. He must have seen many visitors who like to moan about every little thing.

Today we walked around town. The weather was to hit a maximum of 13 degrees and showers. Not too bad, we have good waterproof gear on. Fort William is a town of about 10,000 in population and is popular with outdoorsy types as it is close to Ben Nevis, Aonach Mor and other mountains worth hiking. It is situated next to a great big sea loch so extremely scenic all around. Listening to Mountains, by Biffy Clyro - Scottish rock band, makes much more sense around these parts. https://youtu.be/NfzwM4pdyxU

View from our B&B

Fort William town centre

Chapel

Gift shop

In the afternoon, we had booked a steam train ride that leaves Fort William for a 2 hour journey to Mallaig, a fishing port near the Isle of Skye. This is our chance to geek out due to the railway being used for filming for the Harry Potter films. The Glenfinnian viaduct is quite famous also for being on the Scottish 10 pound note. Also in one of the lochs we went past, they filmed the scene for Dumbledore's tomb. Incredible.

The Jacobite, splendid

Once at Mallaig, it was sunny and beautiful. We walked around a little bit and then decided to hop on a Western Isles Cruises boat to check out the little bit of ocean between the mainland and the Isle of Skye (unfortunately didn't get to Skye this time 'round). We spotted some seals on some rocks before the weather came across with some decent rain, hail and wind.

We retreated to inside the deck where there are seats and windows to look out of. We were informed that the toilet was under the deck and as we descended the stairs, we discovered another seating area and a bar! We promptly ordered a local single malt each - Ben Nevis distillers' edition. A fine example of a highland malt whisky. We got chatting to one of the other travellers also enjoying a dram. He was a Scot who had moved to Nottingham and had gone back to his roots to visit family and to do a little sightseeing too. Lovely bloke.

The storm passed fairly quickly and we returned to Mallaig in time for the train journey back to Fort William. Pub meal that night at the Ben Nevis Bar was hearty, cheap and so good, we dined there the next night also.