I don’t know about you, but if you have ever binged watch a TV show with Mark, there is always an episode in every series where he just frustratingly “Mmmms” at the end of it and says “filler episode”. That is the end of his disapproving commentary. This is the episode that has not really moved the story line along at all, you learned something about the characters you didn’t care about and nothing dramatic or deadly  happened. Today has been one of those days. It was grey when we left Fort Augustus, possibly one of the greatest tourist traps in all of Scotland and headed out along the canal tow path.

It was still grey when we had to stand in the wet air until the bridge opened to let the tiniest boat through from Loch Oich later this morning.

At that point we admitted defeat and having learned our lesson, we put our rain ponchos on. When we bought these on Amazon we decided we didn’t want the traditional black/dark blue/khaki, we would go for the ones that looked like a burnt orange kind of colour. Something that would stand out a little from the norm.

Oh we stand out for sure….

We kept walking through the grey of Invergarry, remarking at the significant progress made by the Invergarry Station Project to rebuild the station as a museum. The visitors’ centre in particular looked as busy as the train line had been when it was in service.

This train line was built at a cost of £350,000 in 1903 by people who had money to build, but not run it. It made no money at all for the three years it ran, as the villages it served were “sparsely inhabited” and so it was sold for £27,000 in 1906.

In February 2012 a preservation society was formed and “archaeological digs have confirmed the site of the toilets, including a cistern from the ladies and the position of the water columns and one pump house. The underpass has been painted and the surrounding area cleared ready for the installation of a notice board.” The Invergarry Station Project enjoys the support of the local community and seven other professional organisations. “It is hoped the museum will attract interest from the general public as well as rail enthusiasts.”

Given that it is now well over a hundred years after they gave up running the line because it had no passengers and the villages here are still “sparsely inhabited”, I have no idea where they think all these rail enthusiasts are coming from.

The latest news from 1 July 2014 includes the fact that “An Inverness firm have agreed to construct a replica signal cabin at cost. A replica Invergarry Station sign is also currently under construction.”

Oh, but be still my beating heart, all their hard work is so worth it. While there are people starving and dying avoidably in the world, we would surely miss this exquisite treat for the eyes.

We carried on, unfortunately car dodging on the A82 again in the continuously grey weather for the last 5km. Gripping the safety barrier while crunching the smashed remains of a clipped wing mirror underfoot and being sprayed by a lorry speeding within a metre of us at 60 miles an hour feels a little less risky when we are at least visible from space in neon orange ponchos.

Finally we reached possibly the most quaint hotel in the whole of Scotland, the Corriegour Lodge Hotel. The sign outside the door seemed to have been written expressly for us in order of preference:

Most importantly the other signs on the door seem to indicate that this is not a shrine to battered and deep fried food.

We are now installed in the lounge as that is where the fire is, but there is also a whisky lounge we have ventured into long enough to get drinks. The hotel is open to guests only, so we have ordered our venison haunch for supper and are happy watching the weather outside.

The dolls by the front door I feel may be watching us in our sleep later though…..