Back from a Scottish sojourn

//Back from a Scottish sojourn

My blog updates have been thin on the ground this week because I have been visiting remote parts of Scotland where internet access was as limited as the government’s spending plans.
Turns out two of my destinations, though hundreds of miles apart, are linked by failed attempts to cash in on the North Sea oil boom of the 1970s. At Portavadie, at the tip of the Cowal Peninsula on the west coast, a dock created to build rigs – but never used – has been converted into a yacht marina with some luxurious apartments where I stayed one night. And at Nigg Bay, across from my hotel in the village of Cromarty in the north-east, a similar facility is used for de-commissioning redundant rigs rather than building new ones.
IMG_5209.jpgThe week was not entirely free of cruise ships. As the rain eased and the mist cleared from the Cromarty Firth on Thursday afternoon, I could see AIDAaura (above) berthed at Invergordon. And yesterday morning I opened my bedroom curtains to see sister ship AIADluna (below) sailing past one of those redundant rigs on her way into the port. So that’s more than 3,000 German cruise passengers who got a taste of Scottish summer weather over the two days.
IMG_5230.jpgThe Invergordon cruise calendar shows that Saga Pearl II was also in port on Friday, but I’ll have to take their word for it – nothing was visible through the mist.
IMG_5092.jpgThe main reason for my journey so far north was to see the lively population of bottlenose dolphins in the Moray Firth, and despite the weather, I was not disappointed. Look closely to the right of the crowd of dolphin watchers gathered on the beach at Chanonry Point, and a black fin shows just how close to land the creatures swim here.
IMG_5310.jpgFinally, one of the pictures that made my long journey worthwhile – a mother dolphin almost seems to be ticking off her calf for its boisterous behaviour.
No such remonstrations for me, please. Normal service should be resumed next week.

By | 2017-06-15T16:00:24+00:00 17 July 2010|Cruise Destinations|0 Comments

About the Author:

John Honeywell is a travel writer specialising in cruise ships and cruise travel. Winner of CLIA UK's Contribution to Cruise award 2017.

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