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Published: September 18th 2011
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Waking this morning we caught a glimpse of some promising sunlight on the light clouds as the sun was rising. How the spirits rose at such a sight. But we have learnt on this part of the trip that you have to treasure each moment because they don’t always last.
We stayed the night in a delightful B & B with a wonderful hostess. At breakfast we met our fellow guests, two couples from Grenoble in France. It was great to chat and compare travel experiences with fellow travellers. After farewells all round we stopped briefly in the town centre of Ullapool, the scene of last night’s umbrella disaster. This morning the wind was no better but there was no rain, yet. Our Great Grandmother came from this area so we wandered around the local old cemetery for a glimpse of any familiar names. Perhaps it was the wrong cemetery or there were no headstones as our search proved fruitless.
Our hostess recommended a visit to the Corrieshalloch Gorge but the wind was strong, temperatures were chilling and it started to rain. This set the pattern for the day. Just when we thought it was brightening up another shower would descend
on us driven by strong winds.
By the time we reached Aultbea on Loch Ewe we were ready for something warm. Today was proving to be one of our coldest days of the entire trip. The hotel had a very nice soup: roasted capsicum, sweet potato and tomato. Around the walls of the lounge were pictures of naval ships. Over time Loch Ewe has been host to ships preparing for a convoy trip to Russia in WWII and more recently naval exercises.
The drive took us through terrain that consisted of exposed rounded rocks, high cliff faces, following loch shore lines or climbing out of valleys only to drop into the next. The now familiar sight of heather, bracken and yellowing foliage of trees was everywhere. Many of the roads were single lanes with very regular passing places. On several occasions we found ourselves sending secret messages to fellow travellers with our headlights. We believe the message went something like this: “You go”, “No, you go”, “No, you go”. Eventually we went and hoped they didn’t. Each passing manoeuvre was followed by a friendly smile and a wave. Timing was everything and if both cars arrived at the passing place
at the same time then the journey proceeded unimpeded. As we drove through Torridon taking photos of highland cattle we realised we were surrounded by rhododrendons growing wild along both sides of the road. It must be quite a sight in the spring.
Wind and rain continued almost to our destination at Broadford on the Isle of Skye. As we approached Skye the cloud cover thinned and the sun made brief appearances. Perhaps tomorrow we will get the sunny weather we have been promised. We thought checking into our hotel was going to be a formality. The receptionist disappeared and the duty manager appeared. He introduced himself and shook our hands. We began to wonder whether we had won a special upgrade, or had been charged the wrong tariff. No, the sad news was the boiler was not working and we could not stay. Oh. Not to worry, the booking had been transferred to another hotel with a view of the harbour and the Skye Bridge. So we are in a hotel with three tour groups and the other refugees from the hotel we had originally booked.
Tomorrow we begin two days of exploring Skye and hope for sun and
warmth, sun and warmth.
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