We free camped at Firemore Beach near Inverasdale last night on Loch Ewe. Although the weather was atrocious we managed a dry walk with the pooches at sunset. There were another four vans in the lay-by with us. As we retreated to the warmth of Helga, three cars of ‘young uns’ turned up. They proceeded to pitch tents near the beach. The cold didn’t seem to bother them as they partied hard well into the night!
This morning dawned bright and sunny. Hurrah. Mrs Slaw got the shorts out for the first time this holiday! With the sun shining on the wet beach, glistening from the receding tide, we saw the stunning beauty it is famed for. Glorious deep red sand (Mrs Slaw was cursing this later in the day when cleaning Helga 😬)
Another lazy morning ensued before we set off for the next leg. We drove around the shores of Loch Ewe heading north and could clearly see Firemore Beach in the distance. We passed through Aultbea with its Russian Arctic Convoy Exhibition Centre. There is so much to see and do in this area. Our measly two weeks will not do it justice and we shall most definitely return. We enjoyed another stunning drive taking in mountains, lochs and glens. The mountain ranges looming over us, their peaks lost in the cloud. Very reminiscent of our time driving through the canyons in America (apart from the cloud) We followed Loch Broom and arrived at today’s first activity.
Mrs Slaw made good use of the website http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk when planning this trip. Today we visited Corrieshalloc Gorge; a slot gorge with an extremely narrow and steep sided chasm. We did the longer walk which took in the suspension bridge over the gorge. Mrs Slaw read the blurb to Slaw about how it was built in 1874. Slaw worryingly noted that the sign states a maximum of 6 people! The Falls of Measach were spectacular; cascading 45 metres to the river below. We visited the viewing platform a bit further along, then retraced our steps along the bridge and took the longer route back. This gave a lovely view back to Loch Broom.
Ullapool was our next stop. It’s the biggest town we have come across on the NC500 so far. A Tesco, Boots, lots of lovely gift shops and the place of our second activity today. The Seafood Shack! Famous for being voted the 2017 best street food vendor in the UK; apparently an absolute must to visit if you are in the area. Mrs Slaw had been salivating about this since we decided to ‘do’ the NC500. We arrived about 3pm and although they had only been trading a couple of hours and were open for another five hours, they had already sold out of scallops and langoustine 😢 Mrs Slaw is a MASSIVE seafood fan. What a disappointment! Oh well, tempura haddock wrap with lemon mayo it was then. It was delicious. The batter so light and crispy and what a change from our usual fish and chips. Mrs Slaw did her usual trick; split mayo all down her shorts. Clean on and now oily stains on the front 🤦🏻♀️ We finished off our sojourn in Ullapool with a walk around the harbour and an ice cream before the last leg up to the campsite.
Tonight is our first ‘proper’ campsite. We’re not classing The Wee Campsite as a ‘proper’ one due to being sardined in and no facilities for motorhomes other than electric on the pitch. We’re staying at Ardmair just north of Ullapool. Last night there was an amazing sunset! Mrs Slaw saw it all over Facebook. Mr and Mrs Slaw settled into their comfy reclining chairs with a Moretti outside Helga. The temperature started to drop. Shorts changed to long trousers. It dropped further. Coats on. Next, out came the fleece blankets. We gave in and took Prince William and the Cottingham Cowgirl for a stroll on the beach in the hope that the sun might just appear out of the clouds and give us a sunset. No such luck; the sun stayed firmly behind the clouds. Oh well, the shorts did come out today; let’s see what tomorrow brings 👍🏻
lifebythelaw 