Journey No 30
Saturday, 25th June to Thursday 30th June 2016
This journey covered 6 days, 1,034 km / 646 miles.
Our route was Carrick Castle, Argyll via Lochaber to Wester Ross & Sutherland in the North West of Scotland via Fort William, Spean Bridge, Kyle of Lochalsh, Dornie, Ardnaff, Stromeferry, Plockton, Strathcarron, Kishorn, Shieldaig, Torridon, Kinlochewe, Gairloch, Poolewe, Aultbea, Dundonnell, Braemore, Ullapool, Ardmair, Knockan, Inchnadamph (667 km / 417 miles in 5 1/2 days) and then back via Ullapool, Contin, Muir of Ord, Beauly, Drumnadrochit, Fort William and home to Carrick Castle, Argyll (367 km / 229 miles in 1/2 a day).
Saturday 25th June 2016
Our first stop was at the WW II Commando Memorial at Spean Bridge with great views over the Nevis Range of Mountains with Ben Nevis towering above Fort William. (Refuelled in Fort William with 36.7 ltr diesel / £40.00 – 126,410 km). We then drove up to Glen Shiel for the night after visiting the 1719 Battlefield area in Glen Shiel.
Sunday 26th June 2016
Kyle of Lochalsh was our next stop before going back to Dornie to visit Eilean Donan Castle that was well worth the visit.
Following our visit to Dornie we drove up to Ardnaff where we spent the night with a lovely view over Loch Carron.
Monday 27th June 2016
We next went to Stromeferry where we caught the train back to Kyle of Lochalsh for a 30 minute stay before returning on the same train to Plockton. It was a fair walk from the station to Plockton village where we had lunch before returning a couple of hours later on the train back to Stromeferry. You may well ask, why take the train when you have a motorhome? Well, the train travels right alongside Loch Carron with some lovely views that you would only get from the train… We were not impressed with Plockton.
We then drove on north stopping at Attadale for a photo stop and onwards through Kishorn, Strathcarron, Shieldaig and Torridon before stopping at Kinlochewe to visit the visitor centre there. Our overnight stop was on the shores of Loch Maree.
Tuesday 28th June 2016
We left Loch Maree calling into Charlestown, the port of Gairloch on the way up to Inverewe Gardens run by the National Trust for Scotland which was definitely one of the highlights of our holiday. The below photographs hardly describe the gardens at Inverewe – you’ll just have to visit them yourselves to enjoy them too!
After spending a few hours at Inverewe Gardens we headed north again, stopping at Gruinard Bay for a walk on the sands,
That night we stopped by Badcaul above Little Loch Broom
Wednesday 29th June 2016
Our next stop was at Corrieshalloch Gorge by Braemore.
We then drove to Ullapool, did some shopping at Tesco and then drove further north to Knockan Crag by Elphin in Sutherland. (667 km / 417 miles in 5 1/2 days from Carrick Castle to Inchnadamph). We refuelled in Ullapool with 42 ltr diesel costing £49.00 (126764 km).
Knockan Crag was a very interesting place as the geology was very different with the older rocks over the newer rocks. The history of Scotland was shown from when it was at the south pole to its move up past the equator to American and finally joining with England.
Thursday 30th June 2016
We had about a seven mile round trip walk to these caves where an underground river ran through them.
With the weather deteriorating and heavy rain forecast for the afternoon we decided to head home from Inchnadamph via Ullapool, Contin, Muir of Ord, Beauly, Drumnadrochit, Fort William and home to Carrick Castle, Argyll (367 km / 229 miles in 1/2 a day).
We refuelled in Fort William with 32.5 ltr diesel costing £36.00 (127028 km)
We enjoyed the journey north visiting many places mainly in Wester Ross and enjoying the amazing views. We intend to continue our journey north next from Sutherland up to the north coast of Scotland maybe in the autumn. Total cost of fuel for the week was £125.
Total mileage for the trip: 1,034 km / 646 miles.
Total mileage in our ownership: 16,696 km / 10,435 miles.
Total mileage to date: 127,172 km / 79,483 miles.
