This is a view of Stac Pollaidh (polly) taken from the road to Achiltibuie.
Kinbrylie Diary Page June 2011
Well here we are in June already. The weather would have us believe it is March, but I am sure it will improve soon. As promised, last time, I have the photos from our last trip to Ullapool. Unfortunately the weather was not as kind to us as it had been in April and we suffered from very high wind and heavy showers but we did have some sunny spells.
This is a view of Stac Pollaidh (polly) taken from the road to Achiltibuie.
Looking west towards Ben More Coigach as a shower approaches
Stac Pollaidh with a wonderful show of gorse in the foreground.
A little closer to Stac Pollaidh and a view of the winding road ahead during one
of the sunny spells.
Looking a little to the west and Loch Lurgainn.
Heading west towards Achiltibuie, a beautiful, sandy beach at Enard bay.
And a great lunch at Summer Isles Hotel in Achiltibuie. Well worth a
visit, if not for the scenery then definitely for the food.
Hamish and Heather pose for a photo. My name for them, as I thought it
suited them. Obviously used to being photographed, note the pose!!
With Tanera Mor, the largest of the Summer Isles in the background, the "coos"
are still posing.
Looking SSW towards the hills around Dundonnell.
Heading NW looking back at the village of Achiltibuie.
The pier from which the boat leaves for Tanera Mor.
If you look very carefully, move your screen around and squint your eyes, you
will see under the white fluffly clouds, the Isle of Lewis across the Minch.
This is the land mass, not the ferry that was in last months page. Oh how
we love to confuse you all, naming our boats after our Islands!!
Looking towards Suilven and Canisp on our way towards Lochinver.
Back to reality, Ewen came with us and as we only have a two berth caravan, and
the weather was bad, we pitched his tent in our awning.
And, here are my boys relaxing after a hard day of sightseeing.
Well folks, that was our trip to Ullapool. We have since been to Aberdeen to visit our grandson and in between all we have been busy with the B & B and I have managed to do as much as I can in the polytunnel which has provided us with a few nice salads and some veg already. The hanging baskets are almost ready to go outside and I hope they will be OK as all the plants have been grown from seed at home.
On Friday we are off, with the Mini, for the annual International Autoecosse Trans-Scottish Challenge Rally. I will take the camera and hope to get some great photos as we will be travelling approx 400 miles of very varied parts of Scotland. I will endeavour to persuade the driver (Don) to stop so I can show you some more reasons why you should visit our fantastic country.
See you all next time.
Back again.
Last weekend my cousin came to stay and we took him out both days for runs that are easy to reach from here. The first day, we went to the Island of Skye via Fort William, Mallaig and across the Sound of Sleat, on the ferry, to Armadale. Round the west of Skye to Dunvegan and back to Portree, then south to Kyleakin and over the bridge. On Sunday we went east to Dufftown and travelled on the Keith/Dufftown railway. After travelling on over the Cabrach to Rhynie and across Strathdon, over the Lecht to Grantown on the A939 and back to Nairn.
This weeks photographs are of our trip to Skye.
This is a photo of Ben Nevis taken from the Commando Memorial just north of
Spean Bridge.
This is a view of Loch Eil, the railway line in the foreground is the one on
which the famous Jacobite train runs. It is the Fort William to Mallaig
line.
This photo was taken at Glenfinnan, the head of Loch Sheil. The column is
a monument at the location where Prince Charles Edward Stuart raised his
standard to rally the Jacobites at the beginning of the 1745 rising.
This is the famous Glenfinnan Viaduct now known for its role in the "Harry
Potter" films. The "Royal Scotsman" a luxury train, obligingly crossed as
I was taking the photograph. They were heading back to Fort William.
Heading north west on the costal road between Arisaig and Mallaig you catch a
glimpse of the mountains on the Island of Rhum and just at the left of the photo
you can see the flat top of the Island of Eigg.
Fishing boats tied up in the harbour at Mallaig.
The Mallaig to Armadale ferry "Coruisk" approaches the pier.
We are on board and waiting for the other cars, buses, motorhomes etc to embark,
Pulling away from the pier we look back at the town of Mallaig and some of its
fishing fleet.
As we pass by the end of the pier we look down on the statue of a fisherman
holding the hand of a little girl as he points towards the sea.
You can clearly see the islands of Rhum and Eigg in the distance as we cross the
Sound of Sleat
and behind us Loch Nevis and the hills of Knoydart peninsula.
The crossing takes 30 minutes and so there is enough time for a coffee and
sandwich in the warmth of the cafe lounge. We could even watch Andy Murray
playing his semi final match at Queens if we had wanted to.
This large yacht sailed up the sound towards Kyle of Lochalsh where we later saw
her at anchor for the evening.
Arriving at Armadale pier you have a really good view of the ruin of Armadale
Castle and the Clan Donald centre. Well worth a visit if just for the
gardens alone.
As we left Armadale and headed towards Dunvegan, the weather deteriorated and the mist came down so I could not take any decent photograps of that part of our journey.
After driving round by Dunvegan and back Portree we headed back towards
Broadford and the Skye bridge. This photo was taken at Sconser looking
across the sound to the Island of Raasay
Further on we stopped to take a photo of Glamaig
Bla Bheinn
and Loch Ainort with the Island of Scalpay in the background.
From Broadford looking towards Kyle of Lochalsh, the sun had at last appeared
and was lighting up the distant mountains.
Across the bay from Broadford lies the village of Breakish
In the distance slightly to the left of centre you can just make out the shape
of the bridge connecting Skye to the mainland.
And from Broadford looking due north.
Then it was time to have something to eat and head home. Skye is a comfortable drive from here and if you were to leave a little earlier than we did then it is quite easy to see most of the Island in one day.
The next day we headed east and travelled to Dufftown to visit the Keith to Railway but more about that trip next time.
See you soon.