"We often forget to say that the best niches are those castles." Pierre Palmade

Wednesday 16 August we leave again Glasgow and take the road of Alva where we cross the path of two other backpackers : Aquitaine my cousins. They returned two weeks on the west coast of Scotland and we share the good tips - in fact pipes, they also confirm us that we had already noticed, noted in a previous article by Ronnix : there is no fountain here, even fewer drain points.

After a last morning with my sister, we set out for the city of Perth and its county : Perthshire. It's a town where Monsieur thought we could go to see the Scottish "Olympic" games – Highland Games – but got the dates mixed up. We still sleep there, in the middle of Kinnoull Hill Woodland Park.

The next day, at Perth Library, we locate on a map all the events planned for the Highland Games, which take place from May to September across the whole of Scotland and not just in the Highland region. Some are free, others cost a few pounds to enter – between £1 and £9. We set our sights on those of Drumnadrochit the 26 August, which gives us time to go north through the Angus region and the county of Aberdeen – Aberdeenshire, at the eastern foot of the Grampian Mountains.

The A9 takes us to Dunkeld and Loch Lowes where we spend the night after observing pheasants and other birds..

On Saturday 19 we drive towards the village of Kirrimuir, following the course of the Lunan Burn for a while, we cross the Scottish countryside. All campaigns are a bit similar, gentle hills crisscrossed with crops, cows, Sheep, pigs, horses… The difference here is the size of the cross houses, often long and very low, to wonder if they do not bump into each other when entering their house or if they are very small.

Arrived at Kirrimuir, we thought we spotted a laundromat but it’s a dry cleaners – and yet another puzzle, to be able to apply their exorbitant prices, £10-£15, do laundry chains prevent the installation of self-service laundry ?

We go our way and land in a parking lot where stands the statue of Bon Scott – lead singer of the Australian hard-rock band AC DC, whose grave we had visited and seen another statue in australia. Semi-plaisantant je demande à Monsieur si Bon Scott est né ici.

" – On est à Kirrimuir ?
– Bah… oui ! »
On voit que le pilote a une confiance totalement aveugle en sa co-pilote 🙂 il la laisse guide.
" – Ah ! Je me disais bien que ce nom me rappelait quelque chose, Bon Scott est né ici ! »

De son regard de bronze il surveille ce parking où il est permis de rester 72h et possédant des WC publics. Nous nous baladons un instant dans les ruelles dont il a foulé les pavés étant enfant. Sa famille a ensuite émigré en Australie, à Melbourne puis à Fremantle. Il rejoindra les frères Young en septembre 1974, cinq mois après sort High Voltage, le premier album du groupe AC DC.

But we don't stay there and head into the Eastern Cairngorms National Park in search of Glen Clova. With the valleys of Prosen, Isla, Lethnot et Esk, Clova is part of the Angus Glen, valleys formed by ice – the last glacier having melted ago 10 000 year old. We get lost with pleasure in the hollow of Prosen where hills covered with purple flowers shine under the sun after the rain, dotted with the green of conifers, birches, oaks and beeches.

Return to an intersection, this time taking the path to Clova, accompanied by pheasants, rabbits, crows, perhaps a few buzzards or peregrine falcons in the distance and the sidelong glance of a red squirrel. The road at the bottom of Glen Clova makes a loop and we find a small area before the Gella Bridge where we spend the night next to the South Esk river which has its source in the Grampian Mountains to go to throw itself into the North Sea at Montrose. It is one of the eight rivers, in Scotland, of the Atlantic salmon conservation project, the Nature 2000 Program.

On Sunday we meet the east coast and stop at the ruins of Dunnottar Castle. Despite a dark moment in its history – it is here, among others, que William Wallace mit le feu à une chapelle remplie de soldats des envahisseurs anglais – je vois enfin l’Écosse à laquelle je m’attendais : sous une couche nuageuse, de vieilles pierres s’élèvent sur des côtes abruptes, paysage baigné du son de la cornemuse… bon et celui des touristes dominicaux ! La visite du château est payante – £7 – mais rien que la balade autour vaut le coup d’œil gratuit 😉 !

Le soir nous trouve à Mill of Muchalls où, si nous ne trouvons pas de moulin, nous nous installons presque dans un champ et dormons en compagnie des vaches.

La semaine prochaine nous vous emmenons sur la côte nord la plus au sud et aux jeux Olympictes ! 😀

A tous mes amis fans d’ AC DC, un pèlerinage s’offre à vous… Fremantle en Australie, où vous pouvez vous recueillir sur la tombe de mon homonyme Bon Scot, suivi d’une visite de Kirrimuir et de son parking en passant par le Cherry Bar de Melbourne où le groupe fit ses débuts 🙂 Il faut faire vite car plus vous attendez, plus il y aura de tombes à visiter !

It’s a long way to the top (if you wanna rock’n roll) est une oran mor !

Pas la quintessence de l’Écosse, la côte est, vivement les Highlands et ses magnifiques paysages (not, not, pas vu 😉 ).