Adventures in the Highlands Part 4

After our picnic Andy suggested it might be a good idea to set off on our return journey, reminding us that we had no window and how quickly the temperature drops in the Highlands.

Leaving behind the Tesco car park, which incidentally was surrounded completely by snow covered mountains....if only all Tesco car parks had similar backdrops shopping might not be such a boring task. We set off back to Muir of Ord where we've been based.

It's amazing how different the same road can look going the opposite way. Despite Andys warnings about the temperature, he couldn't resist taking a quick detour to somewhere else he thought might be suitable for a park up.Wow, this one is what dreams are made from. The layby overlooked a huge gorge which stretched on for miles, we could even see in the distance the sea and Ullapool, it was like being on top of the world !! Of course this was another photo opportunity that just couldn't be missed, but Mel decided to stay put in the cab and carry on snacking lol. As there were a couple of benches overlooking this huge gorge I couldn't resist suggesting that Andy sit on one so I could take a photo of him surverying his kingdom...which he couldn't refuse of course lol.

Then back on the road again, where I was lucky enough to see more stags. Apparently they come further down the mountain sides as the day goes on. I spotted one lone one which seemed further down but it was on Andys side, so I took a chance and took a photo across the cab of the van and into the sunlight into the bargain. Although I didn;t get the stag I did get a rather nice photo of Andy which I'll include in todays photo's.

Next it was my turn to ask for a detour, I had spotted somewhere on our way to Ullapool that I was keen to take a closer look at. I think it was called Black River ? Whatever it was called it was gorgeous, and the water did in fact look black. Fast running water tumbled down over large rocks into the distance, dissapearing under a bridge. Making my way back to the car park I went and used the poshest loo's I've ever seen in my life !! They were like log cabins and completely lined in pine wood too ...it's doesn't take much to keep me happy does it lol.

Then once more back on to the road to make our way back to yard, with only two days left of my week left. Doesn't time fly when you're having fun.

Adventures in the Highlands Part 3

Reluctantly after we'd taken loads of photo's it was time to jump back in the horsebox and carry on our journey to Ullapool.

I really didn't know which way to look first there was so many stunning scenes to see. Little streams with icy cold water rushing past snow covered rocks. More icicles where the winter sun had melted the snow and then frozen it again. Pine tree boughs bent low with the weight of the snow. Then as I was drinking in all these fabulous sights *CRASH*. A lorry driving past us had pulled out to pass some parked up cars, and had hit Andys rear view mirror with such force that the mirror smashed into drivers window and shattered it into hundreds of pieces. It was nothing short of a miracle that Andy, who took the brunt of the shattering glass only got one cut on his ear, it could have been so much worse. Andy jumped out the horsebox only to see the lorry driver dissapearing into the distance. None of us managed to see what company owned the lorry because it happened so quickly, but I'm pretty sure the driver would have gone back to his bosses with a story of how someone had hit him and carried on driving !!!

Annoyed that the driver hadn't stopped Andy drove on to the nearest layby, but grateful that none of us had got more than a scratch. Once parked up at the layby we all started picking up the shattered glass, I was furthest away from the window but there was even glass in my handbag on the floor, and I had a cut on my foot where the glass had hit me. Resourceful as ever Andy dissapeared into the back of the horsebox and came back clutching a replacement mirror, which he'd found previously while rummaging around in the scrap yard. Ten minutes later the mirror was fixed on and we were off on our travels again, fresh mountains air blasting through the missing window.Andy remarking " Ochhhh its all part of the adventure !! "

The journey on continued on with even more stunning scenery, it was like looking at real life Christmas cards, and much to my delight even more stags dotted on the landscape. Eventually we reached Ullapool, a lovely little seaside village. We parked up in a Tesco's car park and while Mel and I got out to do a bit of shopping, Andy jumped into the back of the horsebox to checkout what the signal was like for his laptop. He was well chuffed to find there was a great one, and decided that this would be a perfect place to come once a week if there was a bad signal wherever they parked up next time.