Ardnamurchan

Friday was the better of our two days in Fort William so we picked that day to travel over to Ardnamurchan. The only feasible way to get over to there is via the Corran Ferry (about ten miles down the road from Fort William). Once across Loch Linnhe, there is still a forty five mile drive; a thirty five mile section of which is on single track roads with passing places. Strontian marks the end of normal roads and the start of the single track roads so we stopped off for a break there.

The worst section of road is from a village called Salen on Loch Sunart to The Natural History Centre at Glenmore which I should imagine was about ten miles in length and pure driving hell with one blind bend after another. The Natural History Centre really is a godsend or rather the cafe there is. We had a lovely coffee each and some breakfast. For the first time in my entire life I had beans on toast topped with cheese and how I loved it.

Suitably refreshed we left Loch Sunart and started to head inland, first stopping off at the fantastic viewpoint over looking Camas nan Geall and Ben Haint which once was a volcano. The viewpoint also gives a grand view across to The Isle of Mull. The next section of the road to Kilchoan circumnavigates Ben Haint which again adds a fair few miles on to the trip but the scenery more than makes up for it.

Finally we saw the signpost for Ardnamurchan Lighthouse and Sanna Bay and as we didn't have the time to visit both places, we turned off on to a single track road to Sanna. Fifteen minutes later we pulled in to the car park, got our camera gear out and headed off through the dunes to the beach.

Sanna Bay doesn't let you down in any way shape or form, the photos are proof of that. We couldn't have hoped for better weather either as we had plenty of blue skies and a nice accompanying breeze which really blew the cobwebs off. We stayed there for quite a while, exploring both beaches. Sal did her usual beach combing and collected lots of little shells whilst I spent most of my time looking for dolphins out in the bay. We were unlucky though, I think the weather was a bit too wild for them to come too close to land.

We came back a slightly different way. At Salen we headed northwards past Loch Moidart to a tiny settlement called Glenuig where we intended calling for a pint but the inn was closed due to the covid-19 pandemic. The last part of our route was on good fast roads. We followed the shore of Loch Ailort and then joined The Road to the Isles which we had been on the previous day.

We had a table booked in the hotel restaurant again and were a bit pushed for time so we couldn't stop off at Glenfinnan, I think Sal must be destined never to visit the Harry Potter railway viaduct or the Jacobite Memorial but then again there is always next year!

It had been a long day but a very enjoyable one and the evening was finished off very nicely with a mighty fine meal at The Nevis Bank Hotel.