I leapt out of my sleeping bag like a man possessed this morning at 6:30am hell-bent on getting to the showers before anyone else. If I was to give this camp factory one more go I was going to do it right or not at all. I even remembered to bring a change of underwear, such was my laser-like focus and crystal clarity of mind. Woe betood anyone who got in my way.
I should say though for the record that the showers here are *not as good as* those at the Rings farm. These are push button ones like you get at swimming pools, do not detach from the wall, and kind of dribble rather than spray. Or at least that’s the case in the men’s toilets. Didn’t try the women’s ones.
But I didn’t care: they were warm, wet and did the job. Although they did kind of spray water into my shoes which I thought I’d placed out of harm’s way but obviously had not.
Feeling guilty about stealing the French family’s spot last night I asked them this morning if they used CampingGaz canisters and had they said yes I’d have given them my one, but alas they, like me, were of the threaded variety.
I was in two minds this morning about whether to stay or go, as I usually go swimming on a Sunday morning and have a very productive work-coffee in Costa afterwards, but in the end decided I may as well make the most of it and maybe drive back first thing tomorrow. So after breakfast I packed all my stuff in my backpack and went off by foot in a bid to find a cafe with WiFi to upload some blog in the nearby village of Dunkeld. As it happened I turned left rather than right out the gates and ended up on a path to the Hermitage. But I was fine with that. That’s the adventure. Carrying a heavy backpack for no reason is good for your heart. It’s what the marines do to train. Being dumber was making me a better man.
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| Ossian's Pool |
The hermitage, or to put it more accurately, the summer house love nest, was built by some guy called Ossian who wanted a place to get a way from the humdrum fickleness of life and instead enjoy the thrum of the nearby waterfall.
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| Footbridge across the Braan |
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| The Hermitage |
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| View of the Falls from the Hermitage balcony |
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| Ossian's Cave |
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| Ossian's cinnamon donut and latte |
I photo'd the heck out of the waterfall, the hermitage, the little bridge, the totem pole, and several varieties of birds that fluttered around the coffee and donuts stand looking for crumbs. Then I made my way back to the campsite for a well-deserved rest, and to reconsider my back-pack carryinig priorities.
After some lunch (no doubt consisting of a ham, cheese and mayo bagel) I set off with nothing but my camera, phone and wallet (and clothes of course) on a quest to photo the hell out of Dunkeld, a (what turned out to be) under-rated village in the middle of no-where.
I walked lightly along a road of trees and caravans, and for a while everywhere I pointed my camera to snap something interesting there was a hidden fisher-person somewhere in the picture.
You go under the A9 never sure you are going in the right direction of Dunkeld, but consistently reminded and reassured of where you’ve been, as arrows pointing back to the hermitage abound, in case you’d forgotten.
You pass a community orchard offering free fruit, cross a large bridge over what can only be the River Tay, and see a popular riverside restaurant bordered by twinkling lights, and lunch is decided. It’s all owned by the nearby Atholl Hotel, you are told, and the kitchen will be open shortly, please have a drink and sit anywhere while you peruse the menu.
You must be a bird watcher, bets the barman, here to catch a glimpse of the osprey. She should be back from her trip to Africa shortly. Actually, you reply, my lens is not good enough for such wildlife photography. But, thanks anyway, I’ll keep an eye out.
You order a ginger ale and take up a table that could seat six, right next to the river, and choose some lunch. A pepperoni pizza jumps out at you amid the fish and the burgers, and you settle down to wait, spotting a hen night in the cordoned off area. You think about snapping some secret pics of the hilarity but remember your lens is not good enough for capturing such wildlife…
The pizza arrives and goes down very well. One of the best pizzas ever, in fact. Keeping mayo handy for dipping the crusts in at the end is a strategic play in your favour.
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| Almost as good as Yesbar's Four Seasons Pizza? |
Fed and watered, you hit the town with your camera locked and loaded.
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| If you plant your green cap antlers now they'll be sprouting by autumn |
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| It's all in the framing |
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| Spot the fisher-person 1 (beginner) |
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| Spot the fisher-person 2 (advanced) |
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| Bridge over not so troubled water - the Tay |
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| Exceptional benches |
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| The clock tower of Dunkeld Cathedral |
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| The breathtaking stained glass and altar of Dunkeld Church |
Camp Day 5: The Journey Home
