Bracklinn Falls

Our apartment continues to spring surprises.  W was awake, I was dozing, this morning, at about 0630, when a loud buzzing noise disturbed us.  It appeared to be coming from the gas boiler, and gradually settled over about 10 minutes.  Presumably a foible of the plumbing in this elderly building - we'll see if it recurs tomorrow, and if it does, we'll ask the hotel to check it out.

After that rather early start, we breakfasted, then drove to Callander, where we planned to pick up info about local walks at the Tourist Information Centre - except that it was closed.  We stopped for a cuppa and loo break at a tourist shop, picked up some leaflets, and bought a book of walks.

We decided on a circular walk via Bracklinn Falls, but on arriving at the car park discovered that the bridge over the falls had been removed.  So instead opted for the easy "there and back again" version.  Which was just as well, as we only just made it back to the car before being hit by the second sharp shower of the day.  I had enjoyed a bit of scrambling to get into a position to take this photo.

After this, we had lunch at a rather lovely hotel, during which the rain eased off again.  But it was still quite threatening, so we opted to stay in the car for the rest of the afternoon and enjoyed a leisurely drive through the Trossachs, skirting Loch Venachar, Loch Achray and Lake of Mentieth.  The bluebells were spectacular in places.

Back in Dunblane, we queued to use the car charger at Tescos.  And this evening we've watched Springwatch, which is partly coming from Mull - will we be fortunate enough to see otters, Sea Eagles and Golden Eagles next week?