The summation of the day is a much needed quiet afternoon!
Today started with around 10 miles of retracing our steps away from Achmelvich Beach back to where the A837 and A894 intersect close to Ardvreck Castle. Yesterday we had actually deviated away from the NC500 route to take in the Wailing Widow falls so arrived at Achmelvich heading along the NC500 clockwise, so it was good to be back on our anticlockwise trajectory. When researching the route to take the consensus was that anticlockwise was best as it starts along the better quality roads of the east coast up from Inverness to Wick and Thurso, so by the time you reach the single lane 'A' roads of the far north and west coast, driving the motorhome would be more second nature. There's also the opinion that the west is best for the scenery, so it leaves this part to the end.
After a few days on single lane roads with passing places, today was actually mainly on roads wide enough for two vehicles to pass without too many issues. They're far from wide roads, more like a traditional B roads down south in England. That said, our travel companions had a wing mirror coming together with a van going the other way that wanted too much of the road and unfortunately their mirror glass and housing were damaged, so they will be looking for a replacement before the long drive back to the Czech Republic next weekend.
Our first stop today was at Tesco in Ullapool to restock on a few supplies. We've only got the van for another four nights after today so this should be the final need for a supermarket shop. We also topped up the diesel. The motorhome is averaging around 25 miles to the gallon on these roads, so it's quite a thirsty vehicle. Once away from Ullapool we travelled for around another 20 minutes to Corrieshalloch Gorge, our first stop of interest and not necessity!
Corrieshalloch Gorge is a National Trust for Scotland site and comprises of a suspension bridge over the gorge, a viewing platform, plus a circular walk taking in some of the surroundings. We did all three and at all times you're up high at the top of the mile long canyon. We had expected the walk to be similar to that at
Partnachklamm Gorge in Germany where you get to be down low with the water, however watching the water crashing down the Falls of Measach from the suspension bridge was as close as you could get. It was still certainly worth a visit, but didn't take up as much of the day as we had planned.
So it was back in the van for the 45 minute drive to our next overnight location, Gruinard Bay Caravan Park and Camping located right on the shores of Gruinard Bay. After servicing the motorhome (emptying the chemical waste and grey water and filling up on fresh water), we parked up at our pitch overlooking the bay. The tide was out and we could see a number of seals resting on the rocks, however when Forrest and Matty got a little too close for their liking (although still a considerable distance away) they decided to head elsewhere.
The site here has lovely facilities with almost brand new toilet and shower blocks, and has other small touches such as a picnic table next to each motorhome pitch that was ideal for lunch.
We had a lazy afternoon whilst the kids played on in the rocks on the foreshore and there was even time for me to have a little snooze sitting in the driver's seat of the van! By the time we closed down the van for the night ready for the kid's bedtime the water was all the way in and whilst I didn't see it myself, a seal was playing in the bay just in front of where we're parked.
Tomorrow we continue heading south with a boat trip planned (an addition to the schedule after the cancellation earlier in the holiday) and after 8-nights with our friends, we'll be going our seperate ways for a few days before meeting up again in Fort William on Wednesday night.
Blogged by Matt.
