Sun 08 May - Lots To See, Little To Say

Driving day again today, on down to Ullapool - if only to get wifi. Managed just about here in Scourie - there was a very weak BT Fon which I could occassionally access for long enough to log in and do about 30 secs worth of upload before being dropped. When I say occassionally I mean twice in about 30 attempts! Phone signal is weird, my 3 network phone shows great voice signal strength but not a glimmer of data. Liz gets neither but round at Handa yesterday she got both - on an island offshore and only on tiny areas on the island when she got line of sight of some mast.

I digress, the route today is simple, a straight run down the scenic route A road to Ullapool no more than 50 miles away, with a little diversion to Lochinver and the Assynt vistors centre for information on the Golden and White-Tailed Eagles in the area.

Lochinver can be approached from 2 directions but to do the circular route means taking the single-track northern road, the map showing more arrows than at Little Big Horn. We'll just take the better southern road in and back-track out. Stunning, stunning scenary all the way.

This is a Geopark of international significance, which means it does have some stunning rock, and lots of it, in great big high mountainous lumps too, with lochs and tarns speckling the roadside and cascading waterfalls adding to the sense of picturesque. Only downside is the overcast, dull weather meaning poor light for any photos. So we don't try. Well, apart from this one:



Very interesting tourist centre at Lochinver, not just the usual leaflets and attempt to sell overpriced marmalde and tartan wearing teddy bears but a proper museum, with exhibits on the geology and wildlife of the area and also the history of the crofters who must have endured terrible hardships just to eke out a living. And not even owning their tiny croft, but tenants to the landlord laird society. In 1992 the Sutherland dynasty came to an end and it looked like the crofts would be sold piecemeal to various property speculating concerns, so the tenants launched a huge campaign to raise the money and now the land, at last is owned by the people who farm it.

On towards Ullapool, a large bird flaps briefly in front of us. Was it big enough to be an eagle, or just a buzzard? Who knows, it was just a glimpse, too short to even attempt such simple discriminatory identification. It didn't even hang round long enough for an emergency stop and leap out of the car :-(
Park up at Ullapool for the night. Wander down the CAMRA approved hotel for dinner, pizza and wifi. Luxury!