Week 45 - 18th to 24th August

Monday 18th - day 296

This is our last day in Caithness, and it is definitely a place that has grown on us. We spent the morning doing the usual domestic catch ups, but by mid afternoon we were caught up and set off on our planned walk up to Duncansby Head to see the stacks, but we saw a lot more than we were expecting!
The weather was once again glorious as it has been all week – misty and grey in the morning but quickly improving to be sunny and bright for the rest of the day.

The walk was idyllic, as the sun warmed our backs we foraged for shells on the most fruitful shell beach we have played on yet.
With pockets bulging we moved on towards the lighthouse, but we were in for another thrill. Bobbing about in the water were a load of black blobs. We have got used to grabbing the binoculars to search for seals to find they were ducks or birds… but this time they were seals, dozens of them head out of the water, noses pointing out just enjoying the sun.
It was hard to leave them, having looked so long for them, but we wanted to get to the stacks. The cliff lines were very dramatic along the way; the rock was layers of red and brown, and very tall, with long narrow and deep inlets caused as deep fissures pulled the rocks apart. The Fulmars and Kittiwakes were happy though, as the ledges made lovely nesting places!
Last stop was to view the stacks, which would probably have looked more stunning with the morning sunlight on them, but they were still imposing enough to be a happy finale to a lovely afternoon – though to be accurate we did not make it back until gone eight, we were mooching about so much!

Tuesday 19th - day 297

On the move again, and heading back down south again. I am feeling sad that our Scottish tour is nearing its end, but hopefully there is a still lot to see, even if not so dramatic as the gorgeous west coast!
After an easy and relatively short journey we arrive at Brora, still in the highlands and about 50 miles north of Inverness (which may be where the nearest supermarket is to be found, if Yell.com is to be believed!)
After the usual moving and resettling jobs, we settle down to an early dinner and a walk along the beach – not bad eh!

Wednesday 20th - day 298

Again it seems that most of the country is under a rain cloud except us, it’s not hot enough to worry about sun burn, but it is bright enough to need sun glasses – pity I have just lost my third pair!!
We need to replenish the food cupboard, and after an extensive internet search, the best we can find is a Co-op in Tain, just beyond Dornoch, down on the Moray Firth. We decide to visit this lovely little city (small town with its own cathedral) then go in search of the Co-op.
What a lovely time we had there, it was a very busy little place, with a colourful High Street, street market, fancy shops and a cathedral with very impressive stained glass windows.
We wandered down through the market, and could not resist the Italian stall selling little Salamis, and the Dutch stall selling hard goats cheese – yum; but although the Baklava was tempting from the distance, on closer inspection there were too many wasps crawling over all the little pastries for them to remain tempting, so we passed!
The cathedral held our attention for a while. The windows were very intriguing, as most of the styles of stained glass was quite different in each window, ranging from a design by the “Morris and Co” team at the turn of the century to a very modern stylised etched glass window that had only been in place for a couple of years. There were a couple of plain spaces left, but at least one had been reserved by the family of a wealthy old lady, to commemorate her following her demise – best be prepared I think! These window dressings have all been paid for privately, (canny Scots) and as any frippery was condemned in the Kirk until 1900, they have had a busy century!
We could have stayed longer strolling through the streets, but we needed to move on to buy our dinner (plus seven more!) so it was off to the Co-op for us.

Thursday 21st - day 299

Today, I think, is one of the rare times during our trip where we have been deluged by rain all day. So initially we took a relaxed attitude and rested, but as you can imagine this could not last, as it became obvious this was a most opportune moment to wash the caravan and remove the build up of road debris from the leading surface. Recently we had driven over some newly resurfaced road and had many tar splashes to contend with. Not just the usual wash here, but luckily we had some solvent left over from an earlier encounter with grease! Helen set to work with a will (I joined in a little later) and soon all the tar was removed and the clean, white and blemish free surface was restored. We ended up seriously soaked, but after a change of clothes and a cup of the old Earl Grey we are returned to our usual happy camper state.
By evening the rain had stopped enough for us to brave the great out doors. We took the back roads to Golspie, making a big loop through delightful countryside. We are apparently in the most isolated part of Scotland (Europe even, I read) with on average a population of six persons per mile! We must have been in that part, because over 30 odd miles our only company was a few cows, (or sheep) walking down the road, but the hills were purple with the heather in full flower, the burns were a torrential gush of frothy brackish water tumbling down the hills after all the rain, the air was crystal clear and we were once again revived.

Friday 22nd - day 300

The weather is looking a bit iffy again, but undaunted we set off, stomachs full of egg and bacon and picnic box bursting, to visit the Strathpeffer area.
Our first stop though is just down the road, to a Brora Emporium, selling local crafts, and we find some locally made “Bothy blankets”, a traditional blanket worn by shepherds out on the hills, and slept in during their nights rest in the hillside bothies. They are stunning, using local wool dyed in colours reminiscent of all the colours of Scotland, heather, moss, brackish water and clear sky, and they were made by a Brora man – so at £40 we bought two!! (A tartan blanket in Dornoch had cost £100).
Our next stop was to Dingwall, but it lacked enough charm to hold us so we moved on through the Victorian Spa town of Strathpeffer. We wanted to get to our picnic spot by now, so drove through, stopping at a Forestry Commission site on the shores of Loch Achilty. It was lovely and we were once again its only visitors – until the midges arrived (who said they were only a problem on the west coast!!!) There was nothing for it but to create heat - so we gathered enough bracken and twigs to light a bonfire. Unfortunately it had rained recently and although the gatherings were all dead, they were a bit soggy. Undaunted we continued, and with a little help from three sheets of newspaper to get things going (and a box of matches!) we lit ourselves a fire. I think that we probably smoked the beggars out rather than fried them initially but finally and rather smelly we sat down to our picnic – feeling very pleased with ourselves it has to be said And we had enough heat from the fire to sit there until 7.30, enjoying our peaceful surroundings. We had time for one last visit before returning back to the van, so we went to check out Rogie Falls. What a joy, we were so glad that we had taken the walk down to the suspension bridge to view these wild waters. We stood and watched as salmon tried to make the leap up river, but I could not imagine quite how they would fight their way up one of the six foot torrential water falls, where the pressure of the water flow would surely force them back down, but obviously they do!
We walked on a bit further but the light was now fading fast so after a bit of a discussion about whether or not we had crossed over the river twice, we retraced our steps while we could still see in front of us!

Saturday 23rd - day 301

Today was not our most successful of touring days, having so much enjoyed our surroundings yesterday; we tried a repeat pattern visiting Loch Shin the Falls there of. If we had not been so thrilled with seeing the leaping salmon at the Rogie Falls, we may have been more impressed by our visit to the Falls of Shin, but we had arrived at a family visitor centre, complete with crazy golf, playground and “gift shop” so were off to a poor start, but when we had to share the viewing point to watch the salmon along with 20 families shouting “did ya see um!” we had soon had enough! We drove on then to the loch hoping for a walk and a picnic spot but the scenery was a little dreary and there not being any place to stop on either side of the loch so we returned to little Loch Fleet at the mouth of the Dornoch Firth. We had got it right this time! We found our lovely spot by the water and very quickly had acquired enough dead wood to start a fire using only the minimal number of matches!! We then spent a very happy couple of hours poking the camp fire, turning the meat on the barbeque and watching the wading birds settle down to their tea as the tide ebbed away, I don’t think we have seen so many Curlews in one place, foraging along side the usual Oyster Catchers and Sandpipers. We sat until there was little left of the fire, then drove to the pier to see if we could drop a line as we had seen done earlier. Chris was chief fisherman tonight as I was on the phone. He worked stoically to master the poor quality equipment, but finally the reel broke and the mackerel were safe for yet another night!

Sunday 24th - day 302

We learned yesterday (when I phoned the camp site to check!) that it would cost an exorbitant amount for H&T to stay with us in Newtonmore, so we have spent most of the day booking another site. I think that we have done better though, as we will be right by Loch Morlich, and closer to the cycle routes!!!!
After a rather dull day spent pouring over books and web sites while the sun shone, we had completed most of the tasks so while the chicken legs were cooking, we went for a lovely long walk along the beach. Our only companions for most of the way were a Grey Seal, several Oyster Catchers, and hundreds of little Ringed Plovers and their young! However the best find of the evening was a fully intact 4 inch shell that we think had travelled far!

Week 44 - 11th to 17th August

Monday 11th - day 289

It is our last day in the Ullapool and the weather is again looking promising, so we decided to drive up to Lochinver and drive the circuit round to Eddrachillis bay.
Along the way though, it started to rain, and the clouds looked threatening as we passed by Loch Assynt. But this added to the rather mystical spectacle of the little islands on the loch, with silver trees, which had withered long since.

These little islands proved popular and a lot of folk came to take their photo while we were there, and I believe that they figured in Jessie M King’s (Glasgow Arts and Crafts movement) pictures a lot.
We moved on from there to Lochinver to buy a fishing rod – the expectation of catching our dinner was high!!!!!
We also wanted to see the very clever Highland Stoneware Shop, (who used their old broken pots to decorate the outside of their building – not bad eh!) to see if we could purchase one of their beautifully painted landscapes on ceramic, and to our joy we found a brooding scene of Loch Assynt, well we had to take it home!
And after a cuppa we set off to look for the perfect picnicking AND fishing spot. We found it at Clashnessie Bay, just before Eddrachillis.
We ate first, as the tide went out of this - yet another - dreamy little bay, all sandy, remote and visited by more Oyster Catchers than people!
By early evening we had the whole beach to ourselves, which was just as well as I was about to get my first fishing lesson.

It has to be said that we did not purchase the most expensive rod, but to say that the quality of the reel was not sufficient to keep the nylon line in place was an understatement, and we spent the next two hours not fishing - but rearranging string!!! Which was a bit frustrating as I could see the fish jumping- just not our way!!
Good job we had bought some food for our picnic in Ullapool then!
It was a very happy 2 hours even if unproductive, and Chris patiently gave me enough lessons to learn how to cast the line eventually, so once we have got the kit sorted we will be off – or something like that!
The sun was beginning to set as we left Clashnessie, and the drive round the rest of the peninsular was taken in the golden light of the pre- sunset. We reached the Drumbeg view point just as the sky was turning pink, and although we could not actually see the sun setting because of the hills in the way, we did enjoy the light that was cast all around us.
Needless to say the light was fading fast as we made the last leg of the journey, but this meant that we were able to observe the local youth as they came out to play – in the shape of several young stags with very handsome antlers, and several young doe running alongside them. At one point Chris stopped the car in time to come along side a young buck no more than 30 feet away, who turned calmly to stare at us for a while, before strolling on. He was magnificent, and we were gob smacked –this is just what we had been hoping to see – now to find those red squirrels!
Tuesday 12th - day 290

We are leaving Ullapool on a glorious day (and with not a little sadness!) to drive up the west coast to Durness.
All the way up the scenery was stunning, changing from dramatic to bleak but always beautiful.
Despite its very remoteness, we kept seeing new houses that were being built, miles from anywhere, and completely without neighbours, but set in spectacular landscapes – such is its appeal.
After a long slow drive, stopping many times on the single track road to let faster vehicles pass us, we arrived at our destination
We have decided to camp wild tonight, and were fortunate to find the perfect spot, overlooking a golden bay that would not have looked out of place in the Med!
We were excited at the thought of dining outside overlooking this “feast for the eyes”, in the golden light of the evening, but within two minutes half the midge population in Scotland had arrived, and with rather undignified speed we had retreated behind a closed door to view in safety!

Wednesday 13th - day 291

We have woken to another glorious day, and determined to make the most of our wild camp experience we take our breakfast outside! Fortunately the midges don’t bother us as we are sitting in full sun, and there is enough breeze to push them away!
We have decided to spend until mid afternoon exploring the area, before making the final leg of the journey to John O Groats.
I think that we should have stayed for days as there was so much to see in this bright and busy little place. The first stop was to check out Smoo Cave, famed for its part in Viking history apparently. Chris returned there later in the day to join a tour going into the caves but I had seen enough!
We next went to Faraid Head with thoughts of walking the length of this beautiful beach, but with so much to see, needed to keep going so moved on to Balnakeil Craft village – a very strange place!
Several artists, including (Lotte Globb) had years ago moved to a group of abandoned concrete, flat roofed Nissan huts, and turned them into their workshops and homes. It had become a colourful array of potters, print makers, artists and wood turners businesses, and had a strangely vibrant feel to it – all except that is the “Bistro” where we made the mistake of going in search of lunch!
We felt it our duty to support their work of course and left with a colourful teapot!
It was gone 3.30pm, when we returned to hitch up the caravan, and although John O Groats was only 77 miles away it was 7.30pm when we arrived, what with stopping to let faster vehicles pass (again) along the single track roads, we never seemed to go any faster than 25 mph. This was great while the views were lovely, but by Bettyhill the scenery dulled right down to uninspiring moorland. I am glad we made the stop at Durness, and won’t be here long!

Thursday 14th - day 292

We spent the morning catching up on admin, but in the afternoon went to explore the coast line west of John O Groats. We had lovely warm sunny weather for our walk, but unlike the west coast it just doesn’t have any of the charms or prosperity. House after house was empty and derelict. From the campsite we look out to the little island of Stroma, which looks like it was once well populated, but through the binoculars it looked like every house was empty and most were just stone shells. Though we did see some new buildings going up on the mainland, so there must be some hope!
We enjoyed a couple of hours much needed leg stretch in the sun, but compared to some of the walks we have enjoyed this did not cut the mustard!

Friday 15th - day 293

It looked like we were in for a rainy day, so we hid in the caravan all morning, catching up with admin as usual, - the blog takes for ever to do, and Chris has to exercise all patience in compressing and uploading all the photos (glad that is his job!!)
However by early afternoon the sun was beginning to struggle through so we set off for a visit to the Castle of Mey – the Queen Mothers holiday place, and then on to Dunnet Head – Britain’s most northerly point.
We had a brilliant time at the Castle of Mey, as the helpful guides there told us lots of interesting stories about the real personage of the late Queen Mother.
We learned that she had bought it as a ruin in 1952, whilst staying with friends following the death of the King, and it was the only private residence bought in her name. She went to local auctions to furnish it, and used local tradesmen to install mains water and electricity (She was popular with the locals because it meant they got these services too!) We heard that she only drank champagne with her meal, she liked to watch Dads Army on TV, and that each retiring Equerry had to give her a silly gift! She stayed there for three weeks in August, and about ten days in October, taking with her a team of 16 servants – including 3 chefs!
You can tell we were listening!
We had a lovely spot of Tiffin in the newly opened visitor centre, followed by a walk round the glorious gardens. I get quite excited now when I see a healthy veg plot, I do hope that the enthusiasm remains long enough to start our own.
From there we went to have a look out from the most northern point, and stopped at the lighthouse.
Here we met another character. I had been busy peering through the windows of the buildings that surrounded the lighthouse, when I realised that there was life inside, and as one young hippy emerged from one of them, I was intrigued enough to ask about the musical - and recording -equipment that I had spotted. He very kindly told us that it was a popular venue for gigs, only available though to those in the know! But we obviously didn’t look that decrepit though as he invited us to join him beyond the safety barrier of the gate that read “KEEP OUT DANGEROUS” to do a spot of bird watching. I think we might have failed him when we didn’t immediately follow his observations about a William Blake poem!
But he was a joy to spend a bit of time with, before we headed back to sort out plans for an overnight trip to Orkney.

Saturday 16th - day 294

We are up with the alarm at 7am this morning to be ready for the ferry to take us to St Margaret’s Hope for the start of our two day tour round Orkney.
The weather is a little bleak to start with, but apart from the wind (which stays with us for the whole trip) improves quickly.
Our first stop is to visit the little Italian Church built by the Italian prisoners of war in the 2nd world war. They needed to build for themselves a place of worship to remind them of home, and they gained the necessary permissions to use the limited resources available to them to
build their own church, and using concrete, paint and imagination they created this, pretty impressive really, considering their lack of resources!
We left there to try for a tour round the east of the island, but it lacked charm so we moved to on to Kirkwall, which was much more appeal.
Before we got there though we spotted a sign, saying “Mine How – Iron Age site” which we decided to investigate; on arrival we found a tin hut (no loos!) hiding a young assistant (presumably with a camel bladder) who introduces us to Mine How. In her tin hut was a display with photos of the Time Team who came to investigate the earthworks in 2002, and for the princely sum of £3.50 each we were given hard hats and invited to view the chambers. What we visited was a narrow steep set of thirty some steps illuminated by tube lighting, (like that bought at Christmas) wound round the flimsy hand rail, taking us straight down into the ground to a tiny but fully formed chamber with side chamber. There was just enough room for both of us to stand there, and look up at the stair case we had descended down – just as well we could not come down with the Health and Safety Exec!
Kirkwall was a very busy and confident town, with lots of interesting (and expensive) shops, but the highlight was the visit to the beautiful cathedral, which as a bonus was holding a flower festival, and the already glorious colours of the pink stone were a lovely back cloth to the many flower displays.
After a cuppa and wander we went in search of our lodgings for the night. We had booked into a B&B charging £29 pp, so were not sure to expect! Not only were we not disappointed, we were seriously impressed. The standard was of a posh hotel, with all the mod cons, services and cleanliness we could hope for (it had only been open for a year, so we were getting all the benefits!) We couldn’t have done better if we had checked out all the hotels I’m sure, and the host and hostess were the cherry on the cake!
After a snooze, we went back into town in search of supper, and found a passable meal at the local hostelry (I think that I was less impressed than Chris) but we were fed and watered and after a stroll round the harbour to settle our full tums we returned to our B&B for an early night.
Sunday 17th - day 295

After a comfortable night and a lovely long sleep we are ready for a day of serious history!
We didn’t make quite the punctual departure that we had hoped for, as first we got talking to a couple of women who were visiting, and discovered that one of them was the American Consul in Edinburgh and knew Garry (Chris’s brother)!
On departure we also got talking to the hostess (who was responsible for cooking us a first class breakfast) to learn that she was an Orchadian, born and bred, and that she lived next door to her brother and near her parents. The latter came every day for coffee, and the father would not celebrate Christmas anywhere else but her house – along with all 18 members of the family. She seemed to like it, but I was glazing over with the thought of it!
Finally we set off and our first stop was to book our tour to see “Maeshowe”, a very impressive Neolithic burial chamber, and whilst we were waiting to start that we drove down the road to check out Branhouse - the remains of a Neolithic village, and the four remaining standing stones of Stenness. It was hard to get my head round the history, but it was obvious that Orkney had been a busy, populated and prosperous place some 5000 years ago. “Maeshow” was something else. We went in with a tour guide, and had to enter through a low passage way. The architecture of the chamber was fascinating considering its age, and the complete lack of technology, and presumably too many other examples of building. But they had moved huge slabs of stone – weighing over 9 tonnes in some cases to create this masterpiece. But it did not end there! 4,200 years later (?600 AD) Viking invaders used it to shelter in and left enough Rune graffiti to tell their own tale – such as “Blodgart (or some such) wrote this at a high level” which was written above our heads! And then there were we in 2008 AD standing looking at it – it blew the mind a bit!
From there we went to visit the stones of Brodgar, another and more impressive stone circle, some how linked to Stenness and Maeshow.
Along with five coach loads of Americans we walked round (not the highlight of the tour for me!) but it was a spectacle to be sure.
We left there for Skara Brae via Yesnaby, which gets a mention for being of geological significance.
We learned here that Orkney had apparently started off near the equator, but we could not quite work out how it had moved so far north! The cliffs though were fantastically interesting, if only we understood how it had all happened, although they did look like they would be falling back into the sea any moment now.
By the time we got to Skara Brae, the five coach loads had already landed – no point stopping or a cup of tea then! We tried to avoid them as best we could but ten in the replica house was a bit much, so we moved on.
We let them do their thing before walking round the ancient village. It was a fabulous experience, so much history preserved because they used stone for everything, so you could see the layout of their houses, their cupboards, beds and fire places. It was truly amazing to think these relics had been preserved for 5000 years - they made his nibs look quite young!
Our ferry was departing from Stromness at 16.45, and even with a quick get away, we did not have enough time to really visit this lovely town whose High Street was also like something out of the history books!
As we left on the ferry Chris was already planning a return trip!

Week 43 - 4th to 10th Aug

Monday 4th - day 282

Another slow start, due to bad weather, well that is our excuse and we are sticking to it! As has been typical all this week, by lunch time the clouds were lifting. We had said that if the clouds were high enough we would try the Kishorn Pass again, but the distance was too far, and the clouds still too low to risk it, so we headed back towards Skye to visit Dunvegan and the west side of the island.
We were hungry by the time we arrived, and having packed only a cold supper went in search of food. We saw a sign saying “Oldest Bakery in Skye” and assuming that it held all the charms of its pronouncement we entered. It didn’t take long to register the plastic table cloths and heavy odours, but it took a little while to really register the level of filth, the kitchen was dark brown, floor to ceiling!! The cutlery was fairly dodgy, and Chris’s cup went back, but fortunately the food looked presentable and my jacket potato tasted quite reasonable, though Chris’s steakwich looked a little suspect it has to be said. We tried not to think about our surroundings, ate as quickly as we could and left, hoping that we would not soon feel ill! But surprisingly (and happily) there were no ill effects!
We were of course too late to look round the castle, but the grounds were open til 8pm, so we enjoyed a leisurely walk round some lovely gardens, and strolled by another lovely loch side, until it was time to move on round the island in search of our next meal stop!
We stopped at a view point overlooking the wide panorama of the coastline across to the Cuillins, which were now uncapped, and there in all their glory. We enjoyed a slightly warmer and midge free al fresco supper, and felt satiated in every way as we returned to the car for our last lingering looks across glorious Skye, before making the journey back home.

Tuesday 5th - day 283

After a week of miserable mornings we have woken to glorious sunshine, but we are leaving Sheil Bridge today for Ullapool, still it is a good day for travelling! And as we left we were able to see the peaks of the five sisters that had been missing all week!
After an easy 2 1/2 hour drive across country we arrived in Ardmair Point. The site overlooks the sea, and faces the sun, and looks absolutely splendid in the glorious afternoon light.Once we had settled in we took a bottle of Pesada Del Rey, a bottle of olives, two chairs and a fork, and went and settled ourselves on the beach, bliss. We only left it to return for a plate of roast lamb!

Wednesday 6th - day 284

Unfortunately we have to spend the day organising details like removal quotes and inventories for our new tenants, boring but necessary. It also has to said that it is quite nice to have a day at base in the midst of all these miles of Scottish touring! We did though need some supplies so popped into Ullapool before the shops closed. I had a very distant memory of Ullapool being dingy, cold and wet, but not so, it was thriving. There was an abundance of serious craft shops, smart cafes and an eclectic pub/gallery/bookshop/hotel, outside of which was a sign saying “Excellent Trad music” here tonight. Well that was a sign not to be ignored so at 8.30pm we returned to the Ceilidh Place to hear Bruce Macgregor and Mark Clements of the Blazing Fiddles (plus guest from Co Clare, who played a blazing squeeze box!) absolutely rock the rafters. They were fabulous, so good they got a standing ovation, led unknowingly by my husband who stood to take their photo!!
He had a good night, as on his way to get our intermission drinks from the bar he snuck out to get a shot of the sky at dusk as well - glorious!

Thursday 7th - day 285

Well, the “red sky at night” theory proved right today, we have had lovely weather for our trip to the road to the Summer Isles and a walk round Achnahaird Point.
We drove the long cul-de-sac, past Loch Lurgainn, and Stac Pollaidh. I had few memories of this little mountain, but whatever I thought I had remembered, I was wrong!! It is an “island” mountain, as it stands alone, but I thought it had a flat top, but in fact it was as craggy as the Cuillins, just not so majestic!
We drove on to the long beach at Achnahaird, past a camp site that had twin axle touring caravans in situ – and we are concerned about driving up to Durness on the coastal road, which looks twice as wide on the map!
We parked up by the beach, and took the path up to the headland. It was very reminiscent of the Cornish coastal route, except that off the path the ground was very boggy. We searched in vain for a glimpse of a Sea Eagle, but only saw Seagulls!
Back at the car park we carried on down the path to the beach. There was a strongish wind, which made it a bit cool, but it was fabulous, with wide golden sands and sparkly blue sea, and one family were enjoying it all to themselves (except when we turned up!)
Our next stop was to take the road to Achiltibuie, which offers the best views of the summer Isles, but before we got there, we came over a summit on the road and saw this!
The picnic box was full of goodies ready to go on the barbeque, we just needed somewhere lovely to set up, so off we went in search of a sunny spot, which was out of the wind!
We found the perfect spot back at Loch Lurgainn, and sat in splendid isolation, until 3 cyclists came to the next bay along, and set up their tents, before going for their evening wash in the loch, but we were far enough apart to keep their modesty in tact – just!
We were on the case as well, determined to stay warm and midge free, I lit my first camp fire, using the local dead wood and a match - and guess what, it burst into life, and stayed warm until we left. The chef set up the barbeque next to the fire and we were able to use both to keep the food warm – which made one of us particularly happy! We feasted on the food and the view, until the fire was too cool to dissuade the midges. Finally, smelling strongly of burned fire wood we drove home in the most golden light which ended in a glorious sunset.

Friday 8th - day 286

We went south of Ullapool today, after popping into Boots for more Midge bite soother cream! Chris had also heard that North face will be replacing his worn out walking boots, which was good news, so we went to have a coffee in the “Frigate Coffee House” overlooking the harbour, very nice too!
We planned to drive over to Gairloch, some 57 miles away. The bad news was that we would spend much of the lovely day in the car, but the good news was that we were again in for a treat with the views along the way.
Our first stop was however a little disappointing. Years ago I had visited Corrieshalloch Gorge, and had a memory of a wild, ferocious, deep and beautiful waterfall, but the lack of recent rain, and the presence of 3 coach loads of Spanish tourists, all queuing to pass along the suspension bridge, 6 persons at a time, made the whole expedition a long and disappointing affair!
Our next stop was Gruinard Bay, where we decided to stay and enjoy the wide golden beach, so with picnic box and blanket in hand we found a quiet spot to sit and enjoy the view. After a lovely lunch and a little recovery period(!) we decided to take a little exercise, as you can see Chris took to it like a duck to water!
Finally we decided to move on to check out Gairloch, we passed through yet more spectacular scenery, too big to really be able to capture its majestic splendour on film, to arrive at our destination by early evening. Gairloch was a lovely little whitewashed town overlooking the sea, but we didn’t stop as we wanted to get to the end of the peninsular. We never made it to the end though as we passed an interesting camp site, where the tents were all set up amongst the sand dunes, beyond which was one of the longest and most inviting sandy beaches we’ve seen – called, interestingly – Big Sands! We drove down to park the car amidst the dunes overlooking the beach, with thoughts of strolling down the sands after our pot of tea. However as we sat there in the car, we watched people midge swatting as if it were an Olympic sport, and some were using specialist equipment – a green netting over their heads, so I chickened out of the stroll, I have been bitten enough already! Finally we made our way back home, past countless motorhomes and several tents who were enjoying the joys of camping wild in Scotland- and it is making me think……

Saturday 9th - day 287

The whole of the UK is under a heavy rain cloud today, which gave us a good excuse to stay in, just what we needed I think! We did not quite do nothing though, I had bought a highlighting kit rather than pay for the services of a hairdresser, and lovely Vidal Minton spent two hours pulling my hair through a bonnet. I had encouraged him – many times- to grab clumps, not wisps, and when I washed off the dye, the effect was blond …….. all over!!

Good job it is not red like the last time, but it can hardly be described as highlights now! Oh dear! We decided to eat at the Seafood Bar in Ullapool – a combination of saving petrol and hairdressing money had made us feel affluent – and headed off to town to show off my bright barnet!!!
The restaurant was full with a one hour waiting list, so we went upstairs to their Tapas Bar, and enjoyed a selection of small fishy dishes and Haggis, lovely.
To help dinner settle, we took a stroll round the harbour and beyond as the sky was now clear and the evening fresh and dry.

Sunday 10th - day 288

Hallelujah, the lovely weather is back with us, which is just as well as we touring again today, down to Torridon (some 160 miles round trip!). But it was so worth it. Unfortunately there are no short cuts down these long valleys, and scenic routes and we had to make the return trip past Gruinard and Gairloch, so just as well they were so worth seeing again!
We drove past Loch Maree and down Torridon Glen on the look out for Deer or Eagles, and we saw neither (actually we did see several deer - one of which crossed the road in front of us, but on the way home) but at one of the many stops to look at the view, we saw two birds of prey land by the river quite close to us, and fortunately they stayed long enough for us to identify them as a pair of Goshawks, which are apparently quite rare.
The landscape was stunning and very atmospheric as dark clouds scurried across the craggy mountain tops. There had been rain in the Glen, but it was over as we drove through, and by the time we had wound our way up and over the last spectacular hill pass to reach Diabaig our final destination, the sun was shining, making the sea very sparkly. We sat overlooking the beautiful little harbour round which a cluster of pretty whitewashed houses were settled, to drink our tea. Having sat for too long we took a stroll along the front, and although we were truly miles from anywhere, in a little hamlet that will be quickly cut off in the snow, there was a lot of activity on the water, as a couple of boats came in while we were there, and several young people, in wet suits, were having fun diving off the harbour wall. It all felt a bit bizarre really, and I could not quite get to grips with how people would manage to earn a living or even live their lives so far from anything. Still they were living in a truly beautiful spot, whatever the challenges.
We had as usual packed the picnic box, and on making our return to the car decided to look out for the next perfect stop. If only we had known how quickly we found it we wouldn’t have stopped for tea!
We had to zigzag back out of the village up the steep sided hill, which had provided the beautiful views on our arrival, but we were unprepared for the panorama facing the opposite direction as we reached the top, and someone had kindly put a picnic table out for us, so we just had to make use of it!
The evening light glowed across the loch and over the mountains, and we sat, in splendid isolation, and enjoyed this magnificence all to ourselves.
There was just enough wind to prevent the midges from bothering us, which was a bonus, and we sat until ready to make the two and a half hour journey back.