Highlands Calling
Pat takes the family to the Scottish Highlands
IT has been a bit of a damp squib when it comes to family holidays abroad in 2020. Rightly so too, we need to do what we have to do to strike that balance between the new normal versus Covid-19 infections and deaths. During the autumn half term, the lockdown
Gods smiled on us as the English and Scots could legally travel freely between their respective regions. I decided to cash in on my British Airways frequent flyer miles and booked three business class tickets to Inverness for a short break. I have seen more life in a morgue than I did on that day when we flew out from Heathrow terminal 5.
Once we landed in Scotland we were met by Craig Dutton from Wildtrax and he handed over the keys to a fully kitted Defender 110 TDCI to us. Wildtrax run a fleet of rental Land Rovers, actually most of them are Defenders. Despite the pandemic, they have had a good year. ‘‘During the height of summer and the school holidays most of our Defenders were out all of the time, when they did come in we would clean and prep them for the next happy customers. We can’t complain. There are some pretty remote places in northern Scotland. You can easily be 200 metres or more from the next human being,’’ comments Craig.
I have been to Scotland many times and the trip is all about my seven-year old son Isaac. Prior to departure I show him the ST&G’S Amazingly Adventure-filled Great British Map of Wonders. That is rather quite a mouthful. I like to call it the map of the funniest things to do in Britain. I show Isaac where the lovely Wildtrax cabins near Loch Ness are and tell him to draw up a list of all the things he would like to do in the highlands. This little exercise was all about teaching Isaac how to plan an adventure and then seeing it through. I would highly recommend the map if exploring any part of the UK with young ones. Unlike traditional maps this is more of an adventure travel guide with large doses of humour!
Much of the activity on the first day was centred around locating the fabled monster Nessie on Loch Ness, the largest body of fresh water in the UK. Isaac was so excited he could barely contain himself. We based
ourselves at Wildtrax’s Ancarraig Lodge, where our cabin was nestled in a private woodland. And yes it did have a log burner and was only 17 miles from Inverness! More importantly for Isaac, it was only three miles from the lakeside village of Drumnadrochit. Our first port of call in the village was the Loch Ness Centre and Exhibition, an excellent place to start. The centre has seven themed areas covering millions of years in history by using high tech multimedia presentations. The highlight for me was seeing the 20-foot yellow submarine used by adventurer Dan Taylor in the late sixties. It only had 7 horsepower and could travel at speeds of up to a whopping 8 miles per hour. Despite his best efforts Dan found nothing, except his bruised ego.
Our next stop was a walk around the grounds of the nearby Urquhart Castle, today it is a very impressive ruins and is right up there with the most photogenic castles in all of Scotland. Our final activity of the day was getting on the lake via a 90 minute boat tour. Our Scottish guide laid on the facts and sighting stories. Dark clouds moved in overhead while Isaac scoured the horizon and black water for anything suspicious. I am sorry to
report that we did not find Nessie so instead we purchased a sticker and a pair of socks from the tourist shop just to show we had been there.
Day two was my (and Isaac’s) favourite as we spent all of it at the Landmark Forest Adventure Park on the south end of the village of Carrbridge. What an unexpected little jewel of a find, thanks to our adventure map. Isaac loved the life-sized dinosaurs that roared and moved. Not once did I get bored during the 50 times we went on the water slide.
Our final day was a Defender day and we toured the Cairngorms National Park and all its natural attractions. Lunch was enjoyed in the bustling touristy town of Aviemore before we made our way back to the airport where Craig was waiting to take the Defender from us. It was the perfect short family fling in the Highlands, and the Wildtrax Defender and lodge package is the perfect way to explore this absolutely stunning part of Scotland.
WILDTRAX
For more details on hiring a Defender from them see www.wildtrax.com. I would recommend the lodge and Defender option, though I am planning a remote wild camping trip with them in 2021.
We don’t just write about Land Rovers: we live, breathe and spend all our wages on them…