Week 47 - 1st to 7th Sept

Monday 1st September - day 310

This is our last day in the Cairngorms, and we decided to take a tour up towards Tomintoul, but for some reason I wanted to visit Kingussie (in the opposite direction!) to see if I could remember it, which I couldn’t, so we retraced our steps to start the tour again!! We took the back roads on a windy tour stopping first to enjoy this lovely little spot called Pityoulish – which looked serene, but when I got out to take a photo the noise was almost overwhelming – it was the home of a hundred noisy Greylag Geese!!
Our next stop was the Boat of Garten (but that was only for a wee!) before heading for the Osprey Centre. We were disappointed to learn that the Ospreys had already flown, and were on their way to Africa for the winter, but we were treated to sight of three bouncy Red Squirrels chomping on nuts from one bird feeder, whilst half of Scotland’s Chaffinch population, plus some very cute Coal Tits ate from another nearby feeder.
They were all so charming that we lingered a while to watch them before continuing our tour.
We drove for a while over some spectacularly wild moorland, patched with Heather and Pine forest, which took us up to Leitch Ski Resort and beyond to overlook some stunning panoramic views of the Cairngorms in the distance. The moorland stretched ahead of us for miles without any sign of habitation, but suddenly there appeared this pristine white tall rectangular buiding, which we discovered as we got closer was Corgarff Castle – but its real impact was realised when it came into view as we rounded the top of the hill and looked down on it.
Tomintoul looked interesting enough to stop for a wander and a cuppa, before heading off to look for picnic spots.
We drove on a bit further, but as nothing looked so inviting as Loch Garten – where the Osprey Centre was, so we returned there to picnic in solitude, in a serene setting, by a loch made sparkly bright by the evening sun, amidst Larches and Silver Birches. We were met briefly by a man who was hoping to catch on film a glimpse of an Otter that he had seen playing near where we were sitting, so we also had a good look, but unfortunately we saw nothing. As the light faded our little slice of paradise was once again invaded by the wretched midges, so needless to say there was a bustle of packing and a scurrying back to the car, before they could do their worst!!

Tuesday 2nd - day 311

The week has just flown by, and we are off again, back to the west coast for 5 days before we set off for Ireland. We had not been able to visit Ardnamurchan or Mallaig on our previous stay in Oban, so hopefully we will be able to put that right this week.
We left Glenmore in brilliant sunshine, and after an easy and relatively short journey we were settling into Glencoe caravan site.
We are surrounded on all sides by magnificent mountains, which is great for everything except TV and radio reception, but at least we have the internet back this week!

Wednesday 3rd - day 312

We started the day well, with a lovely leisurely breakfast sat outside in glorious sunshine, looking out over a stunning landscape of craggy mountains, but I thought that the rest of today was going to be tedious and dull, as we had to spend the morning finalizing the detail of the removal day, storage etc and then we had to go into Fort William to see if we could organise an eye test for Chris, plus replace his boots. We were lucky with the latter, but not the former.
The good bit is that we seemed to whistle through our chores, which was just as well as the day remained gloriously sunny and warm, so we set off for an explore, first down by lovely Loch Leven, (unfortunately we did not have time to go as far as Kinlochleven, so we will just have to return!) and then down the old Glencoe Road until we reached the Clachaig Inn. Here we parked up, and went for a lovely stroll (we could only go slowly as his nibs has done his back in again) along the River Coe to a sparkly waterfall, before returning through the woods to the pub for a pint or three of back medicine.

Thursday 4th - day 313

Today was one of those glorious days, even lovelier than all the other lovely days – from start to finish. We had planned to go to Crieff to collect some sconces that we had commissioned and then spend the evening in Birnam watching the Blazing Fiddles do their thing, but had not expected so many delights along the way.
Our first joy was the glorious sunshine that greeted us, and meant that we could eat breakfast outside again – such a fab way to start the day!!!!!
Our second joy lasted hours as we drove through Glencoe and passed Rannoch Moor, the scenery was breath taking, and the views were crystal clear in the sun light, and we kept having to stop to soak in some new gloriousness!! (We did experience a small moment of disquiet when we were taking this photo, as we overheard a man telling a couple that he was cycling to John 0 Groats from Lands End where he had started about a week earlier. We worked out that he must have been cycling around 100 miles a day to cover the distance, oh boy – I had to assist Chris back to the car, as he was experiencing sympathetic buttock pains!
We arrived at Crieff by mid afternoon and decided to pick up the sconces before going for a wander. This was our third joy!
We were warmly greeted by Allan Craig the craftsman behind Arc Design in his studio, where he showed us the most beautiful copper sconces, which he had designed for us! We were blown away by his craftsmanship and the beautiful pieces that he created out of copper, pewter and semi precious stones. It was also just lovely to meet him, and we stayed chatting awhile before moving on for our brief wander and some tiffin.
Here we met another lovely couple – Crieff must be full of them – owners of the Stenhouse gallery and Coffee shop who also provided a very friendly welcome, and a delightfully prepared sandwich with extras (including a fruit salad).
We left Crieff to move on to Dunkeld and Birnam with the intention of enjoying a picnic tea before going to the concert. Our next joy came with the rain! Always just ahead of us as we were travelling, there was the most torrential downpour, but for us that meant the joy sitting just behind the most splendid rainbows all stongly defined colours, and at times showing the full arc, and at others reflecting itself so we saw two, and all set against a black sky illuminated from behind us by the glorious sun –fab, needless to say we kept stopping to take photos and so arrived in Birnam with only time to eat, rather than explore, which was sad as it also looked very interesting.
Unfortunately we had caught the rain up by now and there would definitely be no picnic, so it was a quick box of fish and chips before going to the Birnam Institute.
Our final joy of the day was “Blazin’ Fiddles” who nearly set their (all five of them) fiddles on fire with their enthusiasm and skill. They were superb – if a little parochial – we got the impression you were out if you did not come from the Highlands, and the English were definitely persona non grata!!! But the music was fab, and well worth going to, even if it meant driving back through mists, fog and deer on the road! So not getting back until 1.15 am – dirty stop outs!!

Friday 5th - day 314

Fab, it is sunny again, better than the weather warnings that the south west have been getting! (tee hee!)
We had a slow start this morning after our late night, but once we were going we caught the Corren ferry to take the road to Ardnamurchan Point.
It always takes me by surprise just how long it takes us to get anywhere, and this was no exception as it took us over two hours to drive the 44 miles – mind you we did stop ridiculously often to take more photos – I’ m beginning to feel sorry for the editor!!!
The road that ran along side Loch Sunnart was very interesting, the scenery was stunning, especially as the tide was out, revealing the seaweeds golden hues, and the road weaved through some lush greenery and Oak woods. It was a very popular route on a sunny day like today, which was interesting as after Salen it was single track with passing places (which also impeded progress!)
We had a moment’s wobble when we realised that we were a long way from the ferry, without knowing what time the last ride was, and with not enough petrol to take us round Loch Eil!
Kilchoan provided all the answers, we found out that the last ferry was at 9.20 pm and yes we could buy petrol at £1.35 per litre for diesel (ouch) but fully prepared on all counts we set off again for the lighthouse.
Wow, the views from there were spectacular, with views over to Mull and Skye.
We spent a while there before making the return journey, looking forward to a smoother ride back as most of the tourists had left ahead of us(!) but alas, we were departing as a whole gaggle of “seasoned” bikers were making their way to the peninsular for a weekend pow wow (so we decided!) and were not interested in slowing to use the passing places. We saw the whites of their eyes a few times before we reached our supper spot!
We stopped at a lovely spot by the loch called Camas Thoras, where we sat and watched the sky turn pink and the tops of the hills light up before they were plunged into gloom. We are getting to be a dab hand at these picnics and once again we ate well – what would we do without those tin barbeques!

Saturday 6th - day 315

The weather is fortunately glorious again - unlike most of the rest of the UK, which seems to under water, particularly Morpeth, which hit the headlines because of flooding! After days of being without contact with the outside world we are back in tune to discover that there is a deep sense of gloom coming across the radio 4 airwaves at the dreadful summer weather, praise the Lord that we were in Scotland!!!
Well this is our last day in the Highlands, and after stopping at Morrisons in Fort William to stock up in readiness for the boys joining us we drove down Loch Eil to Mallaig. We were really interested in the white sands of Morar (or rather I was!) where we were going to picnic, but first we went for a wander and a cup tea in this busy fishing port, stopping for a moment to watch the seals being fed from a trawler.
Opposite the beach at Morar is the loch of the same name, and we wanted to explore there also. How glad we were that we did, it was just beautiful, reminiscent of Cumbria with its green craggy hills, soft green woodland and its streams tumbling over mossy stones.
It was a picture of paradise and so tempting in the glorious sunshine that we parked up and walked through the woods down to the loch, and sat for a while, just enjoying the gentle lapping of the water, the peaceful air and the warm sun on our faces.
Of course we stayed a little too long there as always, and by the time we had found somewhere to park by the white sands, and gathered enough kindling to light a fire it was approaching sunset!
Consequently we didn’t spend as much time as I would have liked exploring the famous white sands, but we found a sheltered spot overlooking the bay, and Captain Eveready built us the best bonfire yet to keep us warm while we barbequed our fresh mackerel and corn on the cob!
We sat by our blazing fire until it was too dark to see our surroundings, and just as we were about to dampen down the glowing embers so that we could move on, we saw a young couple struggling to get their fire going so we were pleased to pass it on to them, rather than let it go out!
Once again we arrived home too late to bother that there is no radio or TV signal in Glenoce!

Sunday 7th - day 316

Very sadly, we are leaving Glencoe today, we have enjoyed the wildness and freedom of Scotland so much, and I hope that we can hang on to its refreshing memories for a long time to come.
But today we are in for a full day of travelling, all the way to Stranraer for a nights stop over before we board the ferry for Northern Ireland.
After several wrong turns, a diversion and a long wait for tea at a Brewers Fayre (yuk) we arrived at Stranraer at 7.15pm, but we settled in quickly and though very sad to be leaving our Scottish leg of the tour, are beginning to turn our minds to our trip to Ireland.