Jacobite Chew Chew!

So, one of the reasons for us being back in Fort William was to go on the Jacobite steam railway - voted the best railway journey in the work in 2009 and 2010. It would be rude not to, quite frankly. However, the very nature of this popular tourist activity means that you need to either book your tickets months ahead or turn up at stupid-o-clock in the morning and hope that there are some tickets available on the day.

We bounced out of bed very early (for us, bearing in mind we were on holiday) and drove direct to the station, where I jumped out and stood in a queue for about 20 minutes with other people alslo looking hopeful. We got the tickets, and then had breakfast in the station cafe before boarding the train.

Unsurprisingly it was raining for the first part of the journey, so we didn't really get to see the stunning scenery, including the amazing series of locks at Neptune's ladder. But I did stick my head out of the train window to take a shot of us going over the Glenfinnan viaduct. It's an authentic arrangement of raindrops on the lens...

The train took us all the way to Mallaig, where we had a lunch break and watched a very tame seal in the harbour. Then back on board and we chuffed through the highlands all the way back to Fort William. What a cracking day out.

And then we headed south, past Ballachulish and pitched up just north of Oban, with yet another sea-view - we're getting quite used to these.