30 July 2014
Accommodation – Aiden House B&B
Weather – rain and drizzle all day with sun from 5.30pm to
8pm
Temperature – low of 12 degrees – high of 18 degrees
Today we left the beautiful Isle of Skye and headed to the
top of Scotland. The weather was poor so
it was a good day to get a long drive in.
We followed the Wester Ross Coast Road which became a single
track road for a few kilometres. The
countryside was barren, sparse and dotted with very few sheep. The road turned out to be a good one after a few
kilometres of the single lane road.
It became a passing parade of rolling hills, heather and
lochs and we paused for the occasional photo.
There were very few villages on the way.
It took us three hours to reach Ullapool, a small fishing village on Loch
Broom. Boats leave here for the Outer
Hebrides. The village provides free
parking which was a novelty and we wandered down to the port with our wet
weather gear. We found a great pub, the
Ferry Boat Inn, on the waterfront and had a hearty meal of clam soup and panini
followed by sticky toffee pudding. The
cooler weather brings on the appetite!
Bleak, bleak, bleak....Loch Broom with Ullapool in the distance.
Ardvreck Castle - the ruined castle built in 1659.
We did a little more souvenir shopping for the grandchildren
and then we were off north again. Just
out of Ullapool is a lovely small village on a beach – Ardmaire Bay. The temperature plummeted to 12 degrees and
the mountains remained shrouded in cloud.
Just outside Inchadamph on Loch Assynt is the ruined castle of
Ardvreck. The 17th century castle built by the McLeod family is situated
on a grassy islet with a thin peninsular.
Twenty minutes out of Durness we went down to a single lane
with the now common ‘passing lanes’.
People are very courteous and hold back and wave as we go past.
We arrived at Durness and what a real treat this little place
is. Our B&B overlooks magnificent
cliffs, rolling ocean, sheep in the field and hopping rabbits! What a view from our bedroom window.
I don't think I want to leave here!
The weather was starting to brighten so we drove down to the
beach to the west of Durness. Balnakeil
Beach is a wide sandy beach with a path which can be followed around to Faraid Headland. An old church built in the early 1600’s sits
above the beach and is partially covered with ivy. New and old headstones dot the grounds
surrounding the old church.
The old church of Balnakeil. It was built in the early 1600's and houses an old tomb.
The wide sandy beach of Balnakeil.....at last sunshine and it showed off the beach at its best.
It was on to the fascinating Smoo Cave on the
eastern side of Durness. The freshwater
outlet to the sea is particularly beautiful between the cliffs. The cave’s history can be traced back to the
Vikings and a midden of shells can be seen at the entrance of the cave. A forceful waterfall drops from above and
feeds into a stream out to the ocean.
Looking from the cave out to sea.
The waterfall had a lot of force due to the heavy downpours over a few days.
Looking back to Smoo Cave from the hilltop walk.
It was time for dinner and we followed our host’s advice and
went to the Smoo Cave Pub just up the road from the cave. I tried the haggis scotch egg with mashed
neeps and potato. It was really
delicious as the scotch egg had been deep fried. I think I’ll need a cholesterol check when I
get back after today’s calorific intake!!
Dinner!
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