Sunday 31st March 2024

We woke to beautiful sunshine, so after a light breakfast (yogurt and granola) we pulled on our walking gear again and headed out towards Neptune’s Staircase.

We walked along the other side of the river, which brought us out into a slightly residential/light industrial area which is Lochaber, after crossing the A82 we followed the Great Glen Way towards Neptune’s Staircase.

It was sunny and quite warm (well, this is Scotland at the end of the March, so 12C), it took about an hour and a half to get there, and it was pretty quiet when we arrived.

It’s impressive, how quickly it brings boats up 19m within such a short distance (0.4Km) the locks are tightly stacked, we didn’t see any boats passing through, but it’s still an impressive sight.

We got a quick pint in the Lochy with some peanuts and crisps and sat outside, it wasn’t particularly warm out of the sun, but it was still a nice experience so early in the year.

We walked back via the A830 which passes another site that we wanted to visit (Ben Nevis Holiday Park) and then down the A82, again, lots of motorhomes and campervans on the roads.

We continued into the centre of Fort William, and looked for food, The Geographer is the top-rated restaurant in town, but it was closed and we were really hungry by this point so we popped over to the Ben Nevis Bar, the food was good enough, not as tasty as some places we’ve eaten recently, but still good pub food, no doubt helped by a pint of Belhaven Black…

After the late lunch, we headed back to the site via a detour up as far as the Ben Nevis Inn (hmmm, there’s a theme here?) by accident, and down the hill in the late afternoon sunshine.

Back to the van to rehydrate and read a bit.

We didn’t make the toasties after all, we were full after our lunch, so we read and watched a bit of TV before passing out after our time in the sun.

Really enjoyed the walk today in the sun.