Day 20,

we were up early and away,

 and as we drove snow topped peaks started to appear, 

 and this is where we were going,

  to Glenshee ski area,

some of the many ski lifts here,

 the business part of the ski lift,

 we had a walk around,

 the area was remarkably quiet,

 if the size of the car park is anything to go by it must be packed in the season,

 we bought a non-ski pass, so up we went,

and took a video, or two, it is a good job you can not hear Diana's voice in the first one, but when you see the look on her face I think you will be able to work out the words!

in this one we are back on terra firma, so all is well,

 the non-ski pass takes you some way up,

 but nowhere near the top,

 that is for skiers only,

 but even at this level it looks a long way down,

 whilst here I took a few pictures looking along the valley,

 and of some of the other slopes,

 unfortunately,

 it was a bit too early for many of the Alpine flowers to be out,

 the business end of the first ski lift, skiers make their way from this one to the next lifts to go further up,

 this strange machine made an appearance, it was amazing to see the slopes that it could climb,

 there is an observation room/cafe at this level, it gave a us a chance to warm up,

 before going outside again,

 for a few more pictures,

 the cafe in the background,

 then it was Steve and Kai's turn,

 to have a few snaps taken,

 the sky started to clear, it had been grey all morning,

 so a jump for joy,

 we decided to make our way back to the restaurant, but walked instead of taking the ski lift, so we saw this melt water pool,

 which we did not see on the way up,

 the water trickling down this small gully,

 we were by now about a third of the way down,

 looking back uphill to the cafe,

 there was a slight problem,

 the nearer we got to the bottom,

 the steeper the slope became,

 so steep in fact it was difficult not to slip over,

 as Diana demonstrated!

 we made our way to the car park,

 and found that the gully we saw earlier ran along the bottom of the car park,

 on the road again, lucky we took some pictures early,

 as everywhere we looked,

 low cloud was rolling in,

 but just occasionally the sun broke through,

 we soon left Glenshee behind us,

 passing many small farms on the way,

 sometime later the rain started,

 we stopped at the Ralia Cafe in Newtonmore, that is a visitor center,

 for a coffee and a cake,

 back on the road we made good time,

 and reached our next hotel for the evening,

 the Loch Ness Country House Hotel at Dunain Park,

the hotel is surrounded by 6 acres of gardens and woodland, and is 3 miles from Inverness Castle, and 4 miles from both Loch Ness and Inverness railway station,

the rooms were huge,

and well laid out,

each room also had a study,

with a lovely view of the garden,

we decided to explore,

the staircase reminded me of my flat in Beckenham,

the lounge,

and bar,

there was in fact a second lounge,

with an impressive fireplace,

a quick look at the garden,

and then we decided to go for a drive,

and in no time,

we were driving past Loch Ness,

that almost seemed to disappear in the mist,

we kept looking for Nessie,

but today she was a no show,

we tuned back to the hotel, but stopped here to book a table for our evening meal, but it was closed for the winter,

so we called into the Loch Ness House Beefeater instead,

and what a meal we had,

Steve and Kai,

with us as well,

Diana and myself decided to share the dessert, 

which was just as well as it was huge, meal over we returned to the hotel for a good nights rest, we had another early start in the morning.