Following on from a colourful sunset yesterday, it's been a very cold, grey and damp day today, with lots of rain showers. Having looked at the weather forecast, we decided to stay put on the campsite and catch up with cleaning, tidying, phone calls and emails. As we'd spent a couple of hours hiking through... Continue Reading →
Ben More Coigach and Sgurr an Fhidhleir
The mountains nearby are stunning because, although not as high as the Scottish 'Munros', they rise dramatically from sea level, carved out of sandstone by glaciers. Today we climbed a wonderful ridge to Ben More Coigach (meaning big hill of Coigach) then headed up Sgurr an Fhidhleir (meaning peak of the fiddler). Having parked Molly... Continue Reading →
A leisurely day
Yesterday we found out that friends, Debbie and David, were going to be in Ullapool today. What are the chances of that?! We had a lazy morning as we waited for them to arrive, bumping into them when we left Tesco, having topped up our supplies. It was lovely to chat over a drink by... Continue Reading →
Travelling to Ullapool in search of LPG
So... today wasn't spent as planned, meandering along the north coast following the NC500, stopping to visit places we fancied. The LPG gas ran out yesterday so, to avoid having to rely on campsites for electric hook up for heating and having no cooker, we needed to find some. We assumed that we’d not filled... Continue Reading →
Noss Head, Duncansby Head and John o’Groats
The next leg of our trip was from Golspie to John o'Groats. Our first stop was Helmsdale harbour where we had breakfast. We'd then planned to stop at the Whaligoe Steps but the car park was full so we moved on to Noss Head. There, we walked to Castle Sinclair Girnigoe, which John found rather... Continue Reading →
Two walks: the Fyrish Monument and Ben Bhraggie
It's been a busy day! We left Inverness to start the North Coast 500, a scenic route around the north coast of Scotland and, because the sun is still shining, couldn't resist doing two interesting walks. Our first stop was Alness where we climbed through woodland to the Fyrish Monument (453 metres), which was built... Continue Reading →
Loch Morlich and Inverness
Once we'd had our cup of tea in bed today, we decided to drive round to Loch Morlich. We debated whether to cycle, swim or walk but, in the end, it was too cold for us to build the enthusiasm to do any of these. There was a new dusting of snow on the highest... Continue Reading →
Creag Dhubh and the Argyll Stone
I had a bad night's sleep and then didn't feel good when I awoke this morning. Nevertheless, John suggested I went out to take some photos with my camera while Loch an Eilein was calm. I'm glad he did. I think I got some lovely shots. We'd planned an 11 mile hike up Creag Dhubh... Continue Reading →
The Falls of Clyde
We woke up bright and early to sunshine. Perfect for our 12k walk along the banks of the River Clyde. The waterfalls were beautiful, as were the woodlands, and the birdsong that accompanied us all morning. The afternoon was spent driving to Loch an Eilein where we're staying tonight. It's a very pretty loch with... Continue Reading →
Scotland here we come!
We left home around lunchtime and made the 250ish mile journey to New Lanark in about 5 and a half hours, with one stop for a burger and coffee. We're staying in an aire at New Lanark World Heritage Site. This is a pretty 18th century mill village on the River Clyde. We've had a... Continue Reading →