Birds & Moving On

We had a lovely sleep in today, as it was a public holiday (not there, in Aus). A late breakfast which unfortuately stayed with me all day……I have no idea now why I ordered Kippers for breakfast. Kirsty did the almost full Scottish breakfast, including black pudding, but they forgot the eggs.

We then drove to Gairloch which is about an hour north from where we are, as the crow flies. Unfortuntely the road builders can’t build in straight lines, one or two mountains stop them. So it was east to start and then north.

The first part of the drive is single track road through a narrow glen following a burn (stream), and with all the rain it was flowing fast. The clouds were likewise moving fast over the peaks, and the sun made a few small appearances. It all added up to a spectacular view all the way to Loch Maree, where were turned north.

The road was then a lane each way, luxury ! When we arrived at Gairloch it was closed. They must work to Aussie holidays. To be fair, we arrived at the docks and given the wild weather, no wonder no-one was about. We decided a walk would clear our heads and we followed a sign that said “Beach 1 km”. As the path kept climbing we were perplexed as in our experience beaches are usually at sea level. It eventually emerged, we were on top of a headland looking down on a beach. We could see a carpark next to the beach. The next step was an easy decision, back track and drive.

We toured through Gairloch, which must be humming in Summer, surely it must, they have to do something there. We went to the visitors centre, got the slowest takeaway coffee in history, but Kirsty did score the much sort after Coffeee Cake. It was only OK, so the search continues.

Next stop was Shieldaig House, which is not at Sheildag (near Torridon), but near Gairloch. Very confusing. I had originally tried to stay here, but they couldn’t give us 4 nights. Boy, did we dodge a bullet. The House is a bit run down and small, and certainly doesn’t have the quality of The Torridon.

Anyway, we were here for the birds. A Falconery exhibition. There was the delightful Falconer and only us. We had over an hour on the front lawn of the hotel, beside the Loch, flying firstly a Harris Hawk called “Bennie” and then a Great Horned Owl called “Flash”. It was great fun and we both got to have the birds come to us to be fed on numerous occasions. The information about them was fascinating and informative. You quickly changed your view of these hunting machines from mean looking predators to soft, gentle souls, just looking for an easy feed.

We then re-traced out steps to Torridon with the usual changes in weather on the way, so no matter that you are re-tracing your steps, the view is completely different each time. We saw a classic example of the wild meets human, as a deer took shelter from the fierce wind beside a parked car.

We had our last dinner, started packing with heavy hearts. A great few days.

……AND MOVING ON

I’m cheating a bit here and running today into yesterdays blog. Today was mainly driving. It was an hour and a half to Inverness and then another hour and a half to our new home for 5 nights in Speyside, near Dufftown.

We stopped in Inverness for a couple of hours to shop for supplies and have a look around. We had never visted here before apart from a quick lunch stop many years ago. It is set on the River Ness, just before it enters the sea loch. It is a large provincial town with some lovely old buildings, but not a place you need to spent much time in.

We did stumble across the wonderful and “out there” book shop called Leakeys Bookshop. It is packed, and I mean packed, with second hand books arranged in categorys, but with no other arrangement. You just wander about reading titles until you may strike something of interest.

We then headed for Dufftown and our AirBnB tucked away in the country just south of the town. It is accessed by a dirt road, and is very isolated. It looks staight out on the ruins of Auchindoun, and castle 500 years old. It is sensational. Beautifully renovated with all mod cons, quiet and tranquil. Air bnb that is, not castle!! Perfect.