The next day it was time to move onto our next destination, the tiny village of Dornie on Loch Long near The Kyle of Lochalsh. We had quite a bit of time before we could check in so we took a slight detour in order to get there. Today it was pouring with rain and it was incredible to compare places we’d been yesterday in such glorious weather! How lucky we had been.
The route took us back up to Appin and then onto Fort William where I had hoped to get at least a glimpse of Ben Nevis. However, it was all covered in cloud and the town itself is full of nasty looking carbuncles. Our stop here was for the world famous Marks and Spencer foodhalls on the Retail park. It was a fine experience with visitor toilets and cafe. We re- stocked our supplies as we weren’t sure when or where we’d find civilisation again.
We then drove along various lochs which I pointed out to Jane as we whizzed past. She seemed little interested as now the Sleepy Bears had turned into Grumpy ones. Loch Lochy and then our detour to Loch Ness at Fort Augustus. Here we had to wait to cross the Caledonian Canal as the locks were opened to let boats through. We parked up and walked along to the viewpoint. Hmm well at least the rain had finally stopped and we watched as people took their large rental cruisers out onto the loch. Like campervans on water- looked quite appealing.
We wandered along by the flight of locks and into a few of the tourist shops. It was really quite busy here but cuter than Fort William.
Next we drove a little further along Loch Ness (no sign of anything) before turning off onto the A87 at Invermoriston. There are apparently some good waterfalls here but unfortunately I got a bit confused in some roadworks so we drove straight past. Up through the pine forests we now drove on a very good straight road with no-one else on it. Our next stop was the Redburn Cafe which was somewhere along this road. Why on earth would anyone open a cafe up here when no-one drives past? I’d found it in Trip Advisor #1 cafe in Glen Moriston. No wonder. Mind you apart from the attractive menu it also offered a bonus of some photogenic Highland Cattle. We went inside out of the pouring rain and it was lovely. A very nice couple running it and just us and one other very quiet couple eating a piece of cake.
We went full on traditional cafe for a wet afternoon – ham, egg n chips, cullen skink x 2 and a sarnie and Jane had a baked spud. The apple pie looked particularly good but we resisted. I enquired as to the whereabouts of the wee coos. They were just across the road in the field and so off we went to say hello. We soon found Misty and Nessie who came to the fence to greet us – thinking we’d bought a £1 bag of food for them at the cafe. Unlucky coos. They were lovely and obliged us with a nice photoshoot.
Then we were on our way again with another 50 minute drive over to Dornie. As we left the forests and drove down to sea-level the scenery changed considerably. Now we were driving through huge, dramatic mountains and I think we could even see over to Skye for the first time. The mountains were a really odd colour up here caused by the grass covering them. Orange-Green is the only way to describe it.
We arrived at our new little cottage Camuslongart right by the lochside. It is absolutely perfect with beautiful views across the mirror like loch. We are right at the end of the lane and it’s incredibly peaceful. The sunroom looks out over the water so its a great place to see the wildlife without getting wet. Of course we are all hoping for otters!
Yesterday we ventured out to nearby Plockton reasonably early as rain was forecast by 2pm. The sun actually shone for us and when we arrived it was like we were the only ones in the place. The tide was in and we wandered about taking in the breath- taking beauty at every turn.
By 12-30 it was pouring ahead of schedule so we visited the small gift shop and then got back in the steamed up car. Now the tide was out, there were more visitors and it was all a bit gloomy. We left feeling rather smug and decided to head back to our cosy cottage for a relaxing afternoon. I decided to try to paint the view over the loch with my oils. Very enjoyable trying to capture the changing light but it still needs a bit of work.
As it got a bit darker I spotted a nice flock of birds and got the binocs out for a closer view. They were just seagulls but as I looked down I spotted a head moving in the water. The others spotted it too and we agreed that it was a seal because it just bobbed its head down and was gone. Otters, on the other hand, dive head first followed by their tail (thank you Andrew for this tip). He didn’t resurface but it was nice we came to greet us.
The evening closed with a curry courtesy of Joyce and a game of Yahtzee. All very 1976 reminiscent – well maybe not so much the curry.
Where shall we go to next? 