encouraged to rent out the whole
complex over the weekend. spending the night in the neighbouring Edwardian villages or the romantic lochside summerhouse. The Lodge, Loch Goil. www.thelodge-scotland.com
Sunbathe under a
palm tree
Plockton. a compact coastal village overlooking Skye. is jammed right on the Gulf Stream. allowing varieties of tropical flora seldom seen outside the Botanical Gardens to flourish. It can be quite a surreal place to spend time in. particularly when the lights and sounds of the Skye Music Festival drift over the water. Plockton is currently best- known as the home of Hamish Macbeth. but the village also deputised for creepy. culty Summerisle in the original film version of The Wirkw‘man. Don‘t try and recreate the al fresco fornication scene if you want to stay on good terms with the locals. www.p|ockton.com
Learn the secrets of a masterchef Okay. you probably won‘t get a
one-to-one with the man himself
unless you‘re feeling particularly flush. but a day-long workshop at the Nick Nairn Cook School will leave you chopping. slicing and sauteing with Michelin-worthy llair. After a morning of demonstrations
and taste sessions. pupils try their
hands at starters. which they cook and eat themselves with some very carefully selected wine. The process is then repeated for the
main course. by which point everything could have gone a bit Keith Floyd. Do be careful with that cleaver. Those wanting to go the whole (spit-roasted?) hog can make a night of it at the nearby Lake Hotel in Port of Menteith — the award—winning kitchen is an occasional haunt for the chefs from the Cook School and Nairn himself. Nick Nairn Cook School, Port Of Menteith. www.nicknairn cookschool.com
Go eyeball-to-eyeball with a red squirrel ()h. stop screaming that you wanna go faster: the original Scottish theme park is all about natural thrills. The Landmark Forest Adventure Park. which started out as a red squirrel sanctuary in the great Scottish pine forest. has been around for almost 40 years now. The adventure playground and grimly-signposted maze have been favourites of generations of ankle- biters. but the 7m high Treetop Trail and the new white—knuckle plummet of the Skydive (pictured above) keeps things interesting for older thrill-seekers too.
Landmark Forest Adventure Park, Carrbridge, lnverness- shire. www.landmark- centre.co.uk
Pay homage to Barbara Cartland
Princess Diana‘s late. lamented step-grandmother used to keep a hunting lodge near Helmsdale. where her biggest fan. Nancy Sinclair. opened her kitsch fantasia of a restaurant in tribute to her idol. The walls of La Mirage. which has variously laid claim to the best fish and chips in the Highlands. Scotland and liurope. are bedecked with pictures of Sinclair and (‘artland and the brilliant. crazily cluttered decor features a pufferlish lamp. extensive use of pink neon and a dummy dressed as an American policeman. Of course it does.
www.lamirage.org
The coast of Uist offers the finest sea kayaking in the world, and is the perfect place to get close to its population
of dolphins, whales, otters, seals and eagles.
Barra
Castlebay
Berneray .,
24 routes. Thousands of Caledonian MacBraynewaves
Caledonian MacBrayne and (‘ale are trading names of CalMa< Ferries Ltd.
www.calmac.co.uk
7—2l .Jun 2007 THE LIST 95