Loch Ness and Lochinver
Thursday 27th – Friday 28th August 2021
We woke to another gorgeous blue sky, perfect for the scenic drive up to Lochinver for stage three of our Scottish road trip
Day 4
The day started with losing things, primarily the room key! We searched everywhere for it but ended up having to ask reception for the spare. We headed down for breakfast, once again not particularly great, finished packing (and found the missing key unlearn antibacterial wipe!) and checked out. Getting a bit of a bargain on the room costs due to the first night in the ‘cupboard’!
With the day ahead of us and no rush we decided to detour and headed towards Loch Ness. Beautiful scenery and relatively quiet roads meant it was a pleasant drive and as we approached Loch Ness we passed a great scenic stopping point, only Steve drove past it! With a bit of dodgy lay-by turning manoeuvring we got back, parked up and got some really great photos before continuing on to the new Loch Ness Exhibition.
The digital exhibition was pretty interesting but also rather odd as it was all about dis-proving the myth that is the Loch Ness monster! We learnt that Loch Ness is the largest body of water in the whole of the UK, containing more water than in all the lakes in England and Wales put together with a deepest point of around 230m. Sadly we also learnt that the Loch Ness monster isn’t real…but who really believes that, we all know the real truth!
Next we headed to Fort Augustus where we enjoyed fresh pasties from a bakery for lunch (Steve made a bit of a mess…) and saw the locks open for a number of boats to get through before heading down to the view point, where (after a fair amount of camera faffing) we got some lovely photos and did of course spot Nessie!
After an ice cream stop the road trip continued as we headed towards Lochinver. Very scenic, with a few photo stops and we arrived at the Albannach in relatively good time to enjoy a non-alcoholic aperitif over looking the garden…until the midges made us head back inside!
A quick freshen up and we headed up to Kylesku for dinner, the was sun setting as we drove making it even more scenic than on the way over a couple of hours earlier!
In comparison to the previous night the food was amazing with an absolutely delicious meal at the Kylesku Hotel – Steve going for the seafood platter which looked impressive but meant he really had to work hard for his food while Vikki enjoyed a nice easy to eat chicken confit!
Finished off with sticky toffee pudding, or as Steve would say stiffy potty pudding, and this was point we realised sharing pudding is probably a better idea instead of one each as Steve entered a food coma and was so full he actually couldn’t finish his beer!
Driving back in the dark we came across numerous deer and then finished up the day with beer, wine and couple of games of Quirkle.
Day 5
We woke up to yet another glorious blue sky, sunny morning and started the day off with coffee and breakfast outside enjoying the view – although it got so hot Steve had to retreat into the shade!
Due to Vikki enjoying the lazy start we packed up and set off slightly later than originally planned and headed to Achmelvich Bay.
Quick drive and we got to the beach, the car park seemed strangely busy but we snuck a space (well not quite a space but we didn’t block anyone in!). We headed off to the smaller, quieter, more secluded bay over the cliffs…only to discover it was busier than the other beach because there was a wedding, which also explained the busy car park!
No trip to the beach is complete without a paddle and considering the gorgeous weather it had to be done. Vikki enjoyed a lovely paddle, despite being caught out by wave while Steve didn’t enjoy it quite so much describing it as “an ice cream headache on my legs”!
Lots of photos, a bit of videoing with the amazing views, the gimble not turning off (or was that just pressing the wrong button??) and we headed back to the car to start our fourth and final part of the road trip.
