Scotland May Half Term – Part 3

Tuesday morning saw us saying a reluctant goodbye to Glen Nevis Holiday Park and Fort William. We were heading North, to Clachtoll, which is about 40 miles north of Ullapool. The journey was due to take us about 5 hours as the direct route is still smallish roads ( not duelled). As it happens It took us more like 8 as we stopped for a few picture stops en route! Our first stop was a detour off the A82 towards the Glen Garry viewpoint, always a favourite of ours for a quick cuppa and slab of tablet.

We followed that road back round to Loch Ness, stopping at an additional view point just after the Glen Garry one- with a fab view but also lots of what looked like to us, self built Japanese Shinto shrines. We are unsure if the hill is believed to be a sacred place- maybe someone reading this can fill us in!

Next stop was near to Urquart Castle on Loch Ness, then Corrieshalloch Gorge near to Ullapool, which is where we had lunch before going down (again) to see the 300 ft gorge, billed as the largest in Britain. We’ve been several times before, and I can report that despite me getting across the viewing bridge, I am still terrified of it!

By this point it was nearing 4pm and we still had to get to Ullapool for some fresh supplies, before heading the further hour onto Clachtoll. It was foot down time, and by 5.30pm we were passing Ardvreck Castle, only half an hour from Clachtoll and somewhere we’d passed 3 times and never stopped at. For future reference this looks a fab place to wild camp. We had a play with the drone camera and the SLR.

 

We made the final approach to Clachtoll along a single track mountain pass (although it’s large enough for a caravan if you travel from Ullapool direction and have nerves of steel). You pass Lochinver and descend into the tiny oasis of heaven, known to us as Clachtoll Bay. We were booked onto Clachtoll Beach caravan site for 3 nights- it was £20 pn for a fully serviced pitch and we were lucky as ours was right on the front over looking the beach.

The campsite is in a tiny hamlet although there is a small beach shop stocking essentials and the campsite has free wifi although we struggled to get it strong enough to download or upload the blog. There is also an immaculately clean shower block and the ladies even had GhD hair straighteners!

We had a BBQ however despite it being glorious sunshine, it was very drafty and too cold to sit outside so moved inside to eat- however we could still enjoy the view from Bluebell. The joys of a motorhome eh? I felt sorry for those in tents.

Next day and somehow it was still sunny! Perfect for our day up at Stoer lighthouse and the Old man of Stoer sea stack. We drove the ten minute journey from campsite as it was uphill and also chilly still, so we wanted a warm base to whale watch. On arrival we were directed to park up the top by the lighthouse and we were thrilled. We were sure we had the best view in the world!

 

 

 

Again, we’ve been here before 6 years ago, but enjoyed the cliff walk to see the impressive stack nonetheless. We also enjoyed watching bluebell get smaller and smaller, and larger and larger on the way back! We can see why he’s called the old man, don’t you think he has character?!

 

 

 

After our walk (4 miles) Keith got the chairs out and I cooked the most amazing lunch I’ve ever cooked- I know that sounds big headed but trust me, it was yum. We had steak and Stilton wraps, from my camping cookbook. They were so delicious – made with sandwich steak which was about £3 from Morrisons. Yum. Terrible pic, cos I was itching to try it as at this point Keith was making all sorts of appreciative noises!

we sat for an hour or two whale and dolphin watching but didn’t spot anything, I think it was a bit rough at sea. We did see an artic skua though.

 

We headed back to the campsite for 4pm as it was Wednesday and the fishmonger was due to visit the site.

Bang in 4:30 he arrived and attracted a large queue (us included). We stocked up with fresh mussels, scallops, smoked haddock and prawns – all for £12- and that evening after a pre dinner stroll, I cooked us a delicious seafood linguine. Yum

Thursday arrived and we had a lay in. The weather had turned, and although it wasn’t raining, it was grey and gloomy, so we decided to have a work from the motorhome morning, preparing invoices and timetables for our return to work. After a large brunch we loaded up a geocaching location nearby and took a stroll stumbling upon a secret beach!

We had a good chill as we decided to attempt the drive back to Norfolk in one day the following day, as we had a gig to perform at on Satirday night and we didn’t want to get caught up in end of half term traffic the following day. We left Clachtoll at 06:30 as quietly as we could, which was fun, not, and set off on the 650 mile journey. Actually, it was a really good journey, we split the driving into strict 4 hour slots. All went well until we hit the A1 and then we got stuck for 3 hours, moving a grad total of 7 miles! There was a nasty accident which resulted in the road in front of us being closed. Still, with the delay we still made it home before 11pm, in total a 16.5 hour journey. We were tired but satisfied and had had such an amazing week! I bet we will never be that lucky in Scotland again. Oh, and not one midge bite. We survived armidgeddon.

I will do a seperate post about our experience using the Co Pilot iPhone satnav , otherwise known as Colin, another day, so keep your eye out.

Hope you’ve enjoyed reading our Scottish adventures

Until next time, which possibly will be our 4 week Germany trip in August.

Lx