After a nice evening at Hartfield House in Applecross, we left quite early to finish the NC500 back in Inverness and then head on to Loch Morlich to break up our journey home.

Once again the weather was superb, and we got some great views, especially heading over the Bealach Na Ba mountain road, with its hairpin bends, and stunning view over to Skye form the top.

We arrived at Loch Morlich campsite around 2pm, as we made a few stops en route for photos and to check out Rogie Falls.

There was a little snow on the campsite in places, and it is bloody cold! However, we still took our canoe out for a quick paddle on the loch. As we were trying to keep our feet dry this time, we took it in to shallow water without the fin and attempted to get on via a large flattish boulder, as there were no jetties to use. Well, our feet stayed dry, but steering it without the fin was nothing short of hilarious! We were spinning around in circles, and the wind has its own idea about where we were going!

On our return we finished setting up inside our tent, and were devastated to find that our electric blanket is caput! We had it all so well planned out for a cosy night, with our small fan heater and electric blanket on the airbed… talk about best laid plans! So we have popped in to the Pine Martin bar / restaurant next to the campsite for dinner (and some heat!) rather than cook. They sell hot water bottles, so we are thinking of buying one, it might be worth a try, and we can always use it when we wild camp too. Then hopefully between that and our small fan heater we will not freeze tonight! LOL! Watch this space for our final NC500 blog post tomorrow…

Woke up this morning to a beautiful sunrise, the views from our apartment are fabulous.

We were headed for Applecross today, with a vague plan to maybe do a wee canoe paddle, just depending on what the conditions were and if we found anywhere suitable.

It started off rather windy, around Gairloch and even over Loch Maree there were some white horses, so canoeing there wasn’t going to be comfortable. We settled for photo stops.

We made a short stop at Victoria Falls en route, they were nice but looking into the sun, so not great for photography, hence no photos posted as they weren’t very good.

On the rest of the drive the scenery just got more spectacular, especially the closer we got to Torridon. Then from there to Sheildag and on via the coastal route to Applecross village.

We had booked our stay in Hartfield House, once owned (or leased?) by Fairbridge Drake, which in a kind of roundabout way is how we met. A long story, but we just wanted to return there for nostalgic reasons, we both have many great memories from that time back in the late 1980’s. As a backpacker hostel, it now offers double rooms as well as the bunk rooms we were used to (the bunk rooms are much nicer now than they were back then, we had a wee “nosey”).

Prior to checking in, we had an early dinner at the Applecross Inn, which was very nice.

On our way there we saw a stag right by the loch side with the Cuillins on Skye in the background…

At the hostel, there are only 5 of us staying, and we spent the evening chatting to the other guests in the lounge. It was a nice change to have some company as we have mostly been in our “own place” on this trip.

Tomorrow, weather permitting, we hope to camp (finally!) at Loch Morlich, and possibly canoe in the bay here at Applecross before we leave (again weather permitting), as we didn’t end up getting the canoe out today.

Breakfast at our B&B this morning was amazing! So much choice and everything was just so tempting! Rosie, our Airbnb hostess was so nice and had really pushed the boat out for our breakfast! Please note, once our blog is complete, on our return home I will be writing up an NC500 page with links to all the amazing places we have stayed throughout our trip.

The weather was superb today, full sun all day. Driving from Ullapool to Aultbea (our stop for tonight) was stunning – all those mountains & beaches!

Just after Braemore Junction we stopped at Corrieshalloch Gorge. The gorge is approximately 1.5 kms long and 60 metres deep. There is a scary suspension bridge that goes over the gorge and a great viewing platform where you can view the 46 metre-high Falls of Measach. There is also a nice walk through the forest and to the Loch Broom viewpoint.

We went on a little past where we were staying (Aultbea) to Firemore beach (near Poolewe) as the bay / beach we hoped to canoe at (Mellon Udrigle) was just a little too choppy (for winter – ie. we would have got pretty wet from the waves getting in). However, it was also just a little too choppy at Firemore too, so we headed back to Aultbea to check in to our overnight self catering accommodation.

Our apartment is superb! And such good value, we can’t believe it. On top of that, as it happened, there was a good and very calm site very close by (Mellon Charles beach) where we took the canoe out for a short sunset paddle.

The views from here are beautiful, it was yet another excellent choice for an overnight stop. Our apartment is so spacious and has everything we could possibly want, including an electric blanket on the bed!

We left Lochinver this morning to head to Ullapool via Stac Pollaidh, a small(ish) hill walk that we were very keen to do. We drove the shorter single track road to get there, which in itself was really scenic.

There were a few cars at the Stac Pollaidh car park when we got there, and a few others doing the hike, so it’s obviously fairly popular in winter as well as summer. We found out why as the jaw dropping views started to open up to us!

The hike took us around 2 hours 45 mins, however we made loads of photo stops along the way though! It was easy hiking, steep in places, but an excellent path compared to the one for the Bone Caves. We were able to spend more time enjoying the views and less time watching our footing. We didn’t reach the true summit, but stopped where we felt comfortable before any scrambling began!

Continuing our drive onwards to Ullapool was also very scenic, and at one point we got a great view looking back to Stac Pollaidh from the roadside.

Tonight we are staying in a B&B in Ullapool, it is about a mile out of the town up on the “Braes” with the most fantastic view back towards Loch Broom (the loch which Ullapool sits in).

Our kind Airbnb hostess Rosie allowed us to bring back a fish supper from the town to eat in the dining / living room, which she kindly set up with candles for us!

Now we are in the lounge relaxing and writing this blog, and reliving another fantastic day…

We were surprised that we didn’t see any fireworks going off last night, it was calm and quiet. We relaxed in the hot tub and watched the stars.

I awoke early again to another lovely sunrise, as Paul continued sleeping. We have a full day here today and our only plans are to try to get out in the canoe again, preferably in one of the lovely bays.

After a cooked breakfast, we headed into Lochinver to get a couple of photos of the village, then on to Achmelvich and Clachtoll beaches to get some photos and fly the drone.

The drive to (and from) these beaches is beautiful, and at one point Paul stopped to feed some horses (he has a “thing” about feeding horses, and we keep a bag of apples in the car just for such opportunities).

At Achmelvich, as Paul was flying the drone, I went off looking for the “Hermit’s Castle”, which there is no real path to so you have to hunt around a bit to find it. More information on this odd little “castle” can be read here – https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/lochinver/hermitscastle/index.html

After Clachtoll, we decided to head back to Achmelvich for our canoe paddle. It’s a beautiful bay with a few small white sand beaches, and the main white sand beach that many say is the most beautiful in Scotland (and it is lovely, but we have our own favourites, although this would probably be in our top ten).

First I went out paddling on my own as Paul wanted some drone footage of us canoeing and there was no way I was going to let him send the drone off from the canoe, so I volunteered to go out myself while he shot some footage, sending the drone safely out from the beach.

Once done, Paul got in and we both headed out for a paddle around the bay. It was really nice, and very calm.

Back to our “Hideaway” for a quick shower and change, then a late lunch at the famous Lochinver Larder (famous for their pies). The “famous” pies were good, Paul gave his steak & ale pie a 10/10, my spiced butternut squash and sweet potato was probably about 7 or 8/10 (I personally prefer the pies at the equally famous “Apple Pie Eating House” in Ambleside). However, we did also take away an apple pie to share later for dessert (just about to tuck in to that now!)

For sunset we headed back to Clachtoll beach, which is probable one of the best spots for sunset around here. See what you think….

Hot tub time when we got back, apple pie now, then more hot tub time to follow…

We awoke early this morning to a stunning sunrise coming up behind the mountains Canisp and Suilvan.

Having made an early start and with the weather looking not bad, we decided to do the walk to the Bone Caves, and hopefully a wee canoe later on.

After reading about this walk, I had hoped we would get favourable weather to be able to do it. Inside the “Bone Caves” were found the bones of bears, reindeer, wolves, Arctic fox, lynx etc that once roamed these lands, the bones are thousands of years old, and even a fragment of a polar bear’s skull was found!
The walk is relatively easy, though the ground can be very muddy and uneven, but there is little physical effort involved. It took is about 2 hours including exploring the caves, photo stops and a quite drone flight. Below some photos from the Bone Caves walk…

Before we even arrived at the car park for the Bone Caves walk (the car park is about 4.5 kms after Inchnadamph), we stopped at Ardveck Castle, which was built in the 15th century by the Macleod clan. It stands on a stunning spot on the banks of Loch Assynt.

After our morning “adventures” we came back to make some lunch before heading out again to canoe. The harbour area of Lochinver looked so calm and peaceful this morning that we decided to see if the harbour staff would allow us to launch our inflatable canoe from where the yachts were berthed. We were told this was no problem, so we managed a lovely little paddle around the harbour area without even getting our feet wet!

The weather for tomorrow looks excellent, so we may venture out to one of the beaches (our first choice if favourable is Achmelvich) to see of we can do another wee canoe trip.

We’re now back “home” and ready to cook dinner. We checked the hot tub and it is now 39 degrees (yippee!) so hot tub time later. Unfortunately it will just be an outdoor hot bath as the jets aren’t working (we’ve not had much luck!) but at least it’s hot! If we had to choose, we’d obviously rather it was hot without jets than cold with jets. We reported it to the owner, who asked his father to check it out – he thinks the pump needs replaced and is trying to sort out a replacement, but we said if this means it needs emptied first, could they just wait until we have checked out so we can at least use it as a hot outdoor bath tonight and tomorrow.

This morning there was no doubt in our minds that we did the right thing by deciding not to camp last night. We were so comfy and cosy as the wind and rain battered around outside. On waking it was still the same.

After we left we went to Balnakeil beach, probably the most stunning beach in Durness, and one of the most beautiful beaches we have seen anywhere. It was still gorgeous even in the overcast weather, and thankfully it was a bit more sheltered, so Paul managed to get some drone footage.

Onwards to Sango Sands to see what we missed by not camping there. It was lovely, but jeez oh, the wind! Not only would our tent not have stood up to it, it’s almost certain we wouldn’t have been able to put it up anyway!

The drive from Durness to Lochinver was stunning. We had done this a few years ago, before the road became the NC500, so we knew it would be amazing. We did a short detour to Kinlochbervie and Oldshoremore beach – wow! Stunning drive and beautiful secluded beach. The famous Sandwood Bay is not far from here, the car park was a couple of miles further on. However, to reach Sandwood Bay it is around a 4 mile walk in and out, you can’t drive any closer. As the weather was pretty rough still, we were more than happy to just leave after seeing Oldshoremore beach.

Continuing the drive was so beautiful, it didn’t matter that the weather wasn’t good, although as you will see from the photos, they could have been better. The overcast sky seems to have lender a grey/blue tinge to many of them. I have managed to use HDR to enhance some of them.

We took the route via Drumbeg, a very stunning route on a single track road, with some stunning sea views and then some beautiful beaches as you near Lochinver.

Finally, arriving in Lochinver (well Baddidarroch to be precise, just next to Lochinver) at our “Hideaway” where we are spending the next 3 nights. Our original plan had been for 2 nights here, but we changed plans since we only stayed one night in Durness. The hot tub here did have a fair bit to do with this decision! However, on arrival it was cold! Only 16 degrees… they must have changed the water… Paul checked again about 6pm it was up to 22 degrees, now we only hope it will get to 36/37 before we go to bed, so we can use it tonight!

We really enjoyed our stay last night at Dunnet Bay Escapes and were relieved to have made it back to the mainland, as apparently there was more disruption and cancellations on the ferries again today!

This morning we got to see the view which we missed last night after arriving in the dark. It was beautiful, looking over to the beach.

Breakfast was superb with so many options. We both had porridge, followed by a full Scottish breakfast for Paul and smoked salmon with mashed avocado and poached egg on sourdough toast for me.

As we were leaving we spoke to another couple who had camped in Durness last night and had their tent literally blown down! We knew the forecast was bad, and this gave us the push we needed to abandon our camping plan and book a lovely little “pod” right next to Durness with a full kitchen and bathroom, and more important very warm and cosy (and it won’t be blown away!)

After departing we visited Dunnet Head and then re-stocked our food and drinks in the Tesco in Thurso.

The drive along the North coast was stunning, even in overcast weather (luckily not much rain until we had arrived and were in our pod!) It would be nice to also see this stretch in sunny weather, but you can’t choose your forecast, so perhaps another time.

Finally, just before Durness, we went in to the Smoo Cave, which is a large combined sea & freshwater cave. Lots of information here – https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/durness/smoocave/index.html

Now we are settled and chilling out with some wine, ready to cook up some Thai curry. So glad we chose not to camp as it’s totally wild out there right now!

So last night we found out that both Pentland Ferries (who we are due to sail with) and Northlink (the only other ferry company who sail to the mainland) had their sailings for today “under review” except for the 9am Northlink one, which was unavailable to book on-line.

We got up early to check for updates only to find that our sailing has been cancelled due to gale force winds and the tides. It turned out that the 9am Northlink one did sail, so we could have booked that one had it been available to book, however by the time we found out it was sailing it was too late for us to get there in time to check in even if there had been spaces.

Pentland have now booked us on the 5pm sailing, but it is still “under review” and they probably won’t know till this afternoon if it will be going. The 4.45pm Northlink one is also “under review” however they said they should know by around 11am if it is going or not. If we find out that it is, we shall book it while there are spaces and get a refund from Pentland. Then at least we should know we are getting back and can also let our next B&B know.

Meantime, I have been in touch with the next B&B to ask if they can swop our booking to tomorrow night if we get stuck on Orkney. She has been very helpful and I am keeping her updated. If we do get stuck it’s unlikely that we can extend our stay in our lovely holiday home as there are guests due to arrive later (if their ferry doesn’t get cancelled). As its all a bit up in the air just now, so I think we will have to just check out as planned, although the owner says she will let us know if / when she hears back from her next guests.

Luckily we had a bit of contingency built into our plans, as we planned to camp for 2 nights in Durness. However, we have found out that the campsite has closed although you can still camp for £9 with water and electric, but no showers or toilets etc will be open (there are public toilets near the campsite however). Because of this, we had decided to probably make it just a one night stay, so we have a spare night to “play” with if we do get stuck in Orkney.

More later…

The 5pm Pentland crossing also got cancelled, however Northlink are still sailing at 4.45pm so we booked that crossing and Pentland are refunding us. The sea swells, according to a website Paul checked, are about 3.6 metres and it’s “blowing a hoolie”, so I think we will need sick bags, but hopefully we will get there!

Update…

Finally the weather broke today. It started pretty overcast and by mid morning the rain was on and it was quite windy. We decided nevertheless that we would get into our wetsuits and go out in the canoe, the plan was to canoe just off Aikerness beach, then change to dry clothes and go to the Highland Park Distillery for a tour.

So we put our wetsuits on and packed the canoe into the car. As we drove the rain got heavier. By the time we got to Aikerness beach (at high tide) we realised that canoeing might be just a bit dangerous for novices like us. So we took our “almost did it” photo and then wriggled out of our wetsuits (inside the car, as the toilets were locked and it was raining outside) and into clean dry clothes.

Since we were so close to the Broch of Gurness, we decided to drive the short road along the coast to it. Jeez oh, the potholes! So far we have found the roads in Orkney to be excellent, but this was like a farm track as you can see from the photo.

Canoe trip now abandoned we continued to the distillery for a very informative tour. A nice bonus was the free whisky tasting glasses that we got to keep!

Back at our lodge we found out that the ferries for tomorrow (when we are due to go back to the mainland) are “under review” meaning it’s possible (likely?) our ferry could be cancelled or disrupted. Much as we love it here, we are now keen to continue the rest of our trip on the NC500, so we are keeping our fingers crossed for tomorrow. I have sent some emails off for contingency planning and checked out if the pods in Kirkwall are available tomorrow should we need them (they are, but I really hope we don’t need them).