Wigtwizzle - Norman Smith's Travel Blog.: north west highlands

Showing posts with label north west highlands. Show all posts

Mellon Udrigle

A cloudier day as we made our way to Mellon Udrigle beach which sits at the far end of the Laide Peninsula and looks Northeast across Loch Gruniard towards the hills of Coigach.

This is another place when the weather constantly changes and no two visits are the same. Even though it was cloudy, we could still see as far as Suilvan and the Coigach hills.

Mellon Udrigle

Across Loch Gruinard

The Coigach Hills from Mellon Udrigle

Suilvan from Mellon Udrigle

Mellon Udrigle

A distant An Teallach

Hills of Coigach from Mellon Udrigle

Back up in the North West Highlands for our yearly holiday. We couldn't find any suitable accommodation in the Gairloch Area so we booked three nights at The Loch Maree Hotel and then moved on to Balmacara which is near The Kyle of Lochalsh. I thought this would be a good opportunity to let Sal visit The Isle of Skye.

These shots are from our first full day. The first two photos were taken from outside our hotel. The dark foreboding photo of the Loch is taken from above Poolewe as we made our way to Mellon Charles and The Aroma Cafe. We learned that this would be our last visit there as they were selling up and converting the whole building in to a luxury holiday let. Such a shame as a visit there used to be one of the highlights of our holiday but I can understand why.

Firemore Beach on the Loch Ewe peninsula was magnificent as usual, it is one of the hidden gems of the area. It is very rare you meet anyone on the vast sands, I think there may have been a couple walking their dogs the day we went but no-one else in sight for as far as the eye can see.

After a rest back at the hotel, we had a drive out to Opinon Beach in the evening. I love this beach with its views across The Minch to The Isle of Skye and The Hebrides. No two visits are ever the same.

Loch Maree

Loch Ewe from Melon Charles

Firemore Beach

Opinon

Opinon Beach

The Two Mellons and Gairloch Museum

A day out to the finest cafe in the area and then the finest beach...what more could one ask for?

Whenever we are up this way, we always go to The Perfume Factory at Melon Charles, mainly for the coffee and cake. It is not easy to get to but is well worth the effort, being beautifully situated on the edge of Loch Ewe and also having magnificent views all round, weather permitting. I've had some drenching here in the past and came very close to one this day but, experience had given me just a good enough head start to get back to the car in time.

It was then just a short drive up the coast to Melon Udrigle which, I think, is everyone's favourite beach in this area. The views up to The Summer Isles and Coigach and across to An Teallach are simple superb, as is the beach itself and the clear blue waters.

The weather was perfect for photography as well. All around there seemed to be dark brooding squalls but miraculously, we managed to steer clear of them. On our way back to the car I could see one approaching and unfortunately, it was a race we lost but compared to some of the previous drenchings I've had in these parts, this one was relatively mild!

It had been our intention to visit Gruinard Bay as well but the rain looked to have set in for the day so, after sitting in the car for a wee while waiting for it to brighten, we decided to call it a draw and head back to Badachro. One good thing to come out of our early departure was that it gave us the chance to visit the Museum at Gairloch.

Gairloch Museum is located in a converted nuclear bunker with galleries showcasing the history, culture and natural heritage of the beautiful area of the North West Highlands. Displays include the original lens from Rubh Re lighthouse which we visited the previous year, a replica croft house showing how people used to live and an interactive gallery about the area's natural world, midges and all!

Add to that a cafe and what more could you ask for?

Melon Charles

Loch Ewe from Melon Charles

Melon Charles

Viewpoint Melon Charles

Distant hills of Coigach

Melon Udrigle

Sand dunes, Melon Udrigle

Loch Gruinard

Over The Bealach na Goaithe to Diabaig

This day turned out to be the sunniest day of the holiday so we specifically picked it for going through Torridon and over The Bealach na Goaithe to Diabaig.

Thankfully the Torridon Stores cafe was open this year, so we had a coffee each and sat on one of the benches outside which was no imposition as the view is fantastic. They also made us two excellent tuna sandwiches to take away with us.

The narrow road to Diabaig followed the right hand side of Loch Torridon before rising up in a series of zig-zags to a pass named Bealach na Gaoithe which is Gaelic for The Pass of the Wind. The views back across Upper Loch Torridon and over to Applecross were stunning and this year, with the weather being fine we got to take some fantastic photos.

The road then continued towards Loch Daibaigas Airde where we had even more superb albeit terrifying views. If you are afraid of heights then I'd recommend not to look down to the Loch as it is far, far below the road and it looks a pretty sheer drop. The rest of the journey down to Lower Diabaig though was very pleasant, apart from us picking bin emptying day for our journey. The one thing you don't want to come across on these roads is a massive refuge truck!

Lower Diabaig consisted of a lovely collection of cottages dotted on the hill-side and alongside the road which eventually led down to the pier. There was lots more evidence that, in the past, it had been quite a busy fishing village and I think a few locals still fish from there but it is mainly oyster fishing. There were old fishing huts boarded up and also one or two run down cottages that were just screaming out for a bit of restoration, it was such a shame.

There was also a shipwreck just offshore called The Dayspring which broke its moorings during a hurricane in 2005 and ended up in the bay. Each time I visit there seems to be less and less remaining which I should imagine bears testament to the weather and storms this area often gets. It still makes for a cracking photo though.

There's no way out of Lower Diabaig other than the way you come in so we retraced our footsteps all the way back to Badachro, stopping at the top ofthe Bealach to eat our sandwiches.

A path does lead from Lower Diabaig along the coast to Red Point, a distance of some 8 miles and then Red Point is only 5.5 miles from Badachro but unfortunately the road journey is some 40 miles! In good weather it is the most beautiful 40 miles