Day 9: Fort William - Inverness

Bit of an odd last day as it felt like we were gearing up for the journey home all day. We made the mistake of driving by the incredibly busy Loch Ness instead of taking the longer route through the Cairngorns. As quickly as possible, we passed through the tourist procession along the North side of the lake and went round the South side for a more peaceful experience. We stopped for lunch on the loch's shores then had a walk along the driftwood-strewn beach and through the forests. It was a much more relaxed way to end our trip. On the way back to Inverness, we called to see my friend Helen who was visiting her parents with her family and had a lovely interlude of tea, cake and a bit of wedding talk which was lovely, and made it feel like the day actually happened! After saying goodbye to Enid (our hire car), we stocked up on M&S goodies, had the longest meal in Pizza Express to shelter from the rain, then went to settle in to our sleeper train. We got to the buffet car in time to take a seat with a wine to watch the beautiful Scottish landscape slip past the window.