North West Scotland and Inverness

June 2006

Authors: Chris Cameron
Julie Dawson

Introduction

We enjoyed our 2005 trip to Ardnamurchan and our unplanned night in Inverness so much that we decided to explore another part of the North West Highlands. CC had visited this are several times since the mid-1970s and we opted for a couple of nights in Ullapool followed by a couple of nights in Durness to see two contrasting areas. The final night would be spent in Inverness.

Logistics

We flew with Easyjet from Bristol into Inverness, arriving mid-afternoon and got the return flight 6 days (5 nights) later. We hired a VW golf from Europcar who were as efficient as usual. [Tip – the Europcar depot is about a mile from the airport. They’ll pick you up but if there are several people waiting, then a couple of pounds in a taxi might save 30 minutes at pick up. Make sure the taxi driver understands that it’s the airport depot you want, though] 

Friday 2nd June 2006

We arrived on time in Inverness from Bristol. It was overcast and warm, and JD remembered that she hadn’t packed any waterproofs, so we took a quick detour into Inverness to pick up something suitable to keep the weather out.

It was an easy drive from Inverness to Ullapool with an annoying delay just north of the Kessock Bridge for roadworks. We had intended to stop on the way to look at the waterfall and Corrieshalloch Gorge but didn’t see the car park, so we booked in to the Ferry Boat Inn, overlooking Loch Broom. B&B for two here was 80 pounds per night and the room was charming with a lovely view and no television.

We unpacked (a bit) and then set off up the road to have a quick walk before dinner. We drove down the side road to Rhue where a lighthouse sits on a small promontory in the loch. CC had seen breeding Eider ducks there over a decade before and we were hoping to get some photos for the website. The wind had increased and the sea was quite choppy. We didn’t see any ducks but found a few Red-throated Divers out on the water, along with plenty of commoner birds. Photography was near enough impossible because of the wind and the fact that most birds were a long way off.

Dinner in the Ferry Boat Inn was pretty good and afterwards, with the wind having dropped and the cloud beginning to break up we decided to try and find the Corrieshalloch Gorge again. CC had a clear recollection of the location of this site, that he first visited in 1978, but we couldn’t locate it, so we gave up and went into Ullapool for a pint or two. CC had An Teallach bitter (heavy?) in the Ferry Boat Inn and then some odd but not unpleasant Spruce beer in The Ceilidh Place, and we ended up in the Seaforth Hotel where there was live music and a licence until 1 a.m.

Saturday 3rd June 2006

After a good breakfast (and a very comfortable bed), we decided that our vague plan to climb Stac Pollaidh, one of Scotland’s finest small mountains, was a non-starter. Cloud base was less than 500 feet and rain was a constant threat. Our fallback was a boat trip on the Summer Queen, along Loch Broom and around the Summer Isles. Despite the cloud and intermittent drizzle, there was no wind and the loch was millpond calm, so the boat trip was scheduled, with the only disappointment being that we would not stop on the only inhabited island, Tanera Mor, because of a family wedding.

It was a pleasant trip, with sightings of Atlantic Grey and Common Seals, Harbour Porpoises, one or two Bottle-nosed Dolphins and lots of seabirds, including about 15 Bonxies (Great Skuas). The views of the Summer Isles tended to be atmospheric, rather than stunning because of poor visibility and occasional showers but all in all it was not a bad substitute for the hill walk.

Back on land, after grabbing lunch from the chip shop – apparently awarded “Britain’s Best Takeaway” in 2005 (certainly if the King Scallop, chips and mushy peas was anything to go by it’s an accolade well deserved) we took a drive out to Reiff, west of Achiltibuie. This is one of the remote parts of Scotland and a truly beautiful area. We spent some time seawatching. For non-birders, seawatching is a fairly specialised form of bird watching where you take your telescope and sit on a cliff top or similarly elevated position and try to find some of the more interesting birds that can be seen out to sea – skuas, petrels and shearwaters are top targets in British waters. The west of Scotland is also made more interesting by the possibility of whales, sharks and dolphins. The mist meant that we didn’t see much, but JD did find the bleached skeleton of a whale, minus the head.

Late in the afternoon we had a quick look at a map and discovered that the Corrieshalloch Gorge was still where CC remembered it, so we went for another look. We found it this time, but only by turning off the main road and driving a mile or so towards Dundonnell. The place has had a bit of an upgrade and the gorge is now approached from the south bank rather than the north. A wobbly suspension bridge hangs precariously over the falls and a short walk takes you to a viewing platform with a significant drop below. Probably not something for those who suffer from vertigo, but a spectacular sight. There were a few midges around, but they weren’t biting much.

We had dinner at The Caley Inn. More excellent scallops and a decent steak. The weather was definitely showing signs of improvement. We ended up sitting outside the Arch Inn with a pint or two at 11 p.m., when it was still light, watching a seal bob up and down in the mirror-like loch.

Sunday 4th June 2006

It was time to move on, so after another tasty breakfast we set off north. The weather was getting better by the minute so we stopped frequently along the way to take photos of coast and mountain scenery. We took the long, slow route via Lochinver and stopped late in the morning at the car park for the path to the Falls of Kirkaig. The two-mile walk to the falls passes through woods and rises gently to moors and hillsides before dropping steeply to the falls themselves. The closer you want to get to the water, the more likely you are to have to use your hands, but you can get excellent views from higher up. Continuing up the valley a few hundred yards takes you to a point where an excellent view of the mountains of Coigach can be seen with the magnificent sight of Suilven near at hand.

We couldn’t get a pub lunch in Lochinver (they’d stopped serving) but the Spar shop was open, so we put together a picnic and sat on the shore of Loch Assynt near Ardvreck Castle in gorgeous warm sunshine.

Durness calls itself the most north-westerly village in Scotland but it’s worth a look for far more than that. There’s an excellent website, www.durness.org that should help people decide if it’s a place they’d like to visit.

We reached our B&B in Durness at about 5 p.m. CC had visited the area several times before, usually camping in the lovely site at Sango Bay, but we chose a B&B a few miles outside the village, at Keodale, near the Cape Wrath ferry. The weather by this time was splendid, with virtually cloudless skies and barely a whisper of a breeze.

When we arrived at the B&B ( www.keoldalebungalow.co.uk ) we decided that we’d made a good choice. No en-suite rooms but quite spectacular views down the Kyle of Durness towards the mountains of Foinaven and Cranstackie.

After dropping our bags off we were straight out and explored a little. First stop was the cliffs above the beaches at Sango bay. These must be amongst the most beautiful beaches in the British Isles. They face north to the Atlantic Ocean and there’s no land between them and the North Pole, so the cold water and their remoteness means that there are seldom more than a few people on them. Next we went to Balnakiel, where a huge white sand beach faces west across the Kyle. We walked over the beach and on to Faraid Head, a broad promontory partly restricted to military use, where sheep and rabbits keep the grass short and cliffs and tall sand dunes separate smaller and ever more isolated beaches. Puffins and other sea birds breed on the cliffs and amongst the wild rabbits are small numbers of black ones, known locally as ministers.

With one eye on our stomachs we headed back to the Smoo Cave hotel for a satisfying evening meal and then drove around to Loch Eriboll, hoping to see an otter. We couldn’t find any, but the beauty of the Loch in the late evening was more than compensation enough. A brief look at the Smoo Cave was followed by a pint in the Sango Sands Oasis, no less, then for us, a reasonably early night.

Monday June 5th 2006

According to BBC’s “Country File” June 5^th is the day for good weather in the UK. Since records have been kept it has been consistently the very best day for dry, sunny weather and it’s one of the reasons why we chose this week for our holiday. We had a full agenda for the day and were out and about at 7:00 a.m., intending to get a bit of sea watching in before breakfast. We only got a few yards down the road before ripples in the Kyle prompted us to stop and reach for the binoculars. For the next 30 minutes we watched an adult otter as it made its way slowly along the shoreline, stopping to fish in rock pools or search for food under the seaweed.

There were plenty of waders around the water’s edge and as well as a small flock of Eiders there was an unexpected bonus in the form of half a dozen Whooper Swans.

Not much was seen from the cliff tops so we went back to the B&B for a splendid breakfast (really good porridge) and then strolled down the road to get the first ferry for the Cape Wrath bus.

The road to Cape Wrath was built to allow vehicular access for the construction of the lighthouse. It is not linked to the national road network and is accessed by a small boat, making the 5 minute trip across the Kyle. From the jetty you can catch the bus and enjoy the 40-minute drive, much of it across land actively used by NATO for live weapons practice, to the Cape. This is one of the wildest and least spoilt corners of the British Isles, despite the military activities. We passed a couple of pairs of Bonxies on the moors near to the road, presumably taking advantage of the absence of people from the area to establish their nest sites.

The weather at the Cape was wonderful – a phenomenon that probably happens on very few days each year and we used the 40 minutes to get some scenic photos and to try to find some of the alpine plants that occur at unusually low altitudes in this area. The cliff scenery and seascapes were particularly impressive. We didn’t have much luck with the alpines but we did get excellent views of a Bank Vole that was enjoying the sunshine on one of the dry stone walls near the lighthouse.

Back on the mainland, our next target was the Scottish Primrose, a plant that is quite common where it grows but which is found in a very few localities in North West Scotland and the Orkneys. Durness golf course is the place to find it and after a short while, that is precisely what we did. We found about four blooms of this small, delicate flower, but there was evidence that many more would be in flower before too long. A diver off shore looked rather like a juvenile Great Northern, but was too far away for us to be certain and we’d left the scope in the car.

We had a lateish lunch in the cafeteria in the Balnakiel Craft Village and then went to have a better look at the Smoo Cave, one of the major natural attractions of this part of the world. The cave is a huge natural opening at the end of a narrow, steep sided inlet, just east of Durness. CC first visited the cave in 1977 and his impression is that, for once, improvements made to allow access have been for the better. Walkways have been constructed that allow you to get a good look at the stream where it flows down a hole in the cave ceiling to become a waterfall as viewed from inside the cave. Another walkway in the entrance chamber allows access to the second chamber with its lake and, of course, waterfall. A torch is not needed in daylight and there’s a man with a boat who will take you for a look deeper inside the cave – an expedition that we would have taken, had we had an hour to spare.

Another target flower, Mountain Avens, a relative of strawberries, was found in profusion in the area around the cave. In addition, the cave is a known spot for finding ‘real’ Rock Doves. This formerly common and widespread species has been heavily affected by interbreeding with domestic pigeons and can be hard to find, but the birds enjoying the warmth and sunshine around the mouth of the cave, with their iridescent neck feather certainly looked the part. 

Given the continuing sunshine we decided to find a bench above Sango Bay and get the ‘scope out for a sea watch. Plenty of common seabirds were identified, but a short search produced some fins breaking the surface of the sea at the mouth of Sango Bay. We watched these for a while and were able to confirm that we were seeing a pod of Common Dolphins – about 30, probably more. They messed around in the mouth of the bay before eventually heading off west. The clear, calm weather and flat seas meant that we had superb views, despite that fact that the dolphins were quite some distance away. Sadly there was absolutely nobody about to share this with. We’d have gladly let any passers by have a look through the scope, but no one passed by.

After dinner at the Sango Sands Oasis (not bad, although the menu was a bit limited) we drove down to Balnakiel for the sunset. We’ve been lucky enough to see some exquisite sunsets over the years in places as diverse as the African bush, the Pacific coast of Central America, the Sahara Desert and the cliffs of Santorini. The sunset at Balnakiel probably beats all of the above. The colours were superb and there was just enough thin cloud around to add variety. The ruined church, the graveyard, the calm water with scattered rocks and the backdrop of low hills, coupled with the sound of waves lapping the shore and sheep settling down to a short period of darkness all combined to make a truly memorable experience.

To be honest, it lasts so long at this time of year that we didn’t even wait for the sun to dip below the horizon, and instead popped in to the Cape Wrath Hotel, next to our B&B for a late pint. A nice enough building but the bar is a bit soulless in a middle-class, fishing sort of a way. Worth a visit for the view, though.

Tuesday 6th June 2006

Corncrakes are an endangered species, primarily due to habitat loss and changing methods of farming. In the British Isles they are restricted to a handful of areas in the Ireland and the Scottish Highlands and Islands. Durness is one of the very few places where they breed on the mainland. CC had heard them near Balnakiel in the mid 1990s so we decided to take a morning walk to see if we could track any down. We found Arctic Terns on Loch Caladail but no Corncrakes were in evidence. We mitigated our disappointment with the thought of our impending breakfast back at the guest house. 

We decided to more or less drive straight through to Inverness, where we’d booked in to the Wetherlodge for the night and we stopped a few times for photos, to admire a group of Red Deer Stags outside Inchnadamph and to have a quick look at the Knockan Cliff visitor centre. We made quite good time and continued to Aviemore where we bought some haggis, black pudding and chips at Smiffy’s. We drove down to Rothiemurchus with these and ate them at the side of Loch Morlich, with half of them going to the Mallards and Black-headed Gulls.

Target birds in the area were Osprey (one seen at the junction with the A9 between Aviemore and Carrbridge), Crested Tit and Crossbill (of whatever species they’re supposed to be at the minute.). We set of on a path into the woods but diverted onto the Loch Morlich path because of lots of noise from tree felling. We didn’t find either the Crested Tits or the Crossbills, which was a bit of a surprise, but it was a nice stroll and we managed to get a photograph of a Green Hairstreak Butterfly, which was one we needed for the website.

Continuing up the road, we arrived in the late afternoon at the start of the Cairngorm Mountain Railway, which had shut well before we got there. We had a quick look around for any mountain bird species (we didn’t find any) and took a few photos, then headed back, passing a Golden Eagle near Glen Findhorn at almost the exact same spot where we saw a Goshawk last year.

Back to Inverness for the evening, where we managed to find a free parking space (overnight until 8 a.m.) right outside the Wetherlodge. We were quite looking forward to Inverness. We stayed there last year because we missed our flight – and managed to win back the price of our B&B and more on the city’s pub trivia machines. We had our first pint downstairs, in Wetherspoons, were we were rather surprised to find one of the best meals of the holiday. The ‘specials’ board was advertising Rib-eye Steak on a bed of Haggis and Seafood Paella. Haggis twice in a day seemed a bit excessive … but we were in Scotland. The meals were really, really good. The steak was properly rare – although we seem to be getting better at rare steak in the UK – and the paella was properly Spanish. After this we were well set up for a tour of city centre pubs where we didn’t make as much profit as last year, but still got back to the hotel with more money than when we left. As small cities go, Inverness has quite a lot to offer for a short stay.

Wednesday 7th June 2006

Our last morning was going to start with a look for the Bottle-nosed Dolphins that are now a major feature of trips to the area and we crossed the bridge (traffic not too bad) and drove to Chanonry Point, considered to be one of the best places to see the dolphins from. We didn’t have to wait long. Within 10 minutes a single dolphin appeared and drifted slowly west, towards Inverness. Soon after, three more put in an appearance, presumably a mother and a well-developed calf and another adult that was loosely associated with them. We watched them for a couple of hours and they put on a show to beat any captive dolphins, leaping clear of the water, jumping over each other, beating their tails on the surface etc.

As we had a couple of hours to go, we then drove through to Rosemarkie and had a stroll in the Fairy Glen, a very pretty streamside walk that deserved more than the 40 minutes we allowed it. CC came close to falling in the stream whilst crossing the ‘stepping stone’ tyres, whilst JD took the sensible precaution of climbing back up to the road and crossing on the bridge.

A delay for roadworks east of Inverness followed by a very smooth return of the hire car and we were back at the airport only just after the check-in opened.. The flight was 10 minutes early in Bristol.

Conclusion

This was a rather good break. We didn’t do all that well with birds, missing several of our target species, but the landscapes and the weather and the fact that we hardly saw any midges more than made up for that. We probably won’t make it back to the Highlands in 2007, but for 2008 we’re struggling to choose between Mull, the Outer Hebrides and the Cairngorms.