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Published: September 12th 2011
The August Bank Holiday provided a great opportunity to head up to the West Coast - coupled with the offer of accommodation in Nick (Zogs) and Ceci's new "Swiss Chalet" and an excellent deal on flights for the 3 of us the decision was made. We left very early on the Thursday morning which effectively gave us 5 days and 4 nights away - a proper break. Only having to take 2 days precious holiday was a real bonus too.
A taxi to the airport, an easy Easy Jet flight (free speedy boarding courtesy of Heidi) and swift car hire at Glasgow airport, meant that having left home at 0500hrs we were in Glen Coe surrounded by mountains for lunch! A breakfast bap with views to die for was devoured and Heidi had had her first (and definitely not last) taste of the mountains!
The sun was out and the West coast was going to be at its best for our arrival, only another 20 minutes driving we made straight for
Linnhe Marina to catch up with Nick - secretly hoping that he wouldn't be too busy so we could go out on
a boat!
Luckily our plan worked and after a quick cup of tea we went to drop off our gear at the chalet before heading out to Lismore in the speed boat.
Loch Linnhe was like a mill pond, we saw seals, porpoises, a sea eagle (in the distance), and visited Coeffin Castle on Lismore.
My first visit here was over 15 years ago on a break from University with Nick and another uni friend - in all those 15 years it felt as though nothing had change! When you are sitting in a boat cruising to a beautiful island you don't have a care in the world!
If only every day could be like that! The highlight of the boat trip was putting Heidi into a baby life jacket. She was not sure what it was and didn't really like it to begin with but was soon enjoying the ride - especially when we held her above the parapet of the boat and she could feel the breeze in her hair!
That got her close to Nick's beard which she found far more interesting than the scenery or the boat ride! Perhaps Sally should
Scallops
About an hour after we'd "shelled" them - or "Scalloped" them?stop shaving to provide Heidi with more distractions at home?
Back at the Marina Nick put the boats to bed while Nick G prepared supper - fresh scallops, from Loch to pan in a matter of minutes! We must have had about 50 - a present from a fishing buddy of Nick's - cooked simply with white wine, onions, garlic and bacon. A very decadent meal for us but pretty normal if your friends are fishermen!
We all had a good catch up followed by an early night and slept very well - total silence and darkness. Heidi took well to her new surrounds and we were all very comfortable. Nick is not short of good ideas, one is a cure to insomnia – any visit to the Highlands would cure that!
The weather the next day was a bit unsure. Nick's favourite saying is that if you don't like the weather up there then wait 20 minutes and it will change.
The sun was shining on Loch Linnhe but we had decided to go north towards Mallaig to seek out some beaches for the day. The drive there was spectacular
as usual, the weather was awful around Fort William and then all of a sudden the sun came out and stayed with us for the rest of the day.
We had a quick stop in Arisaig having chased the Hogwarts Express all the way from Fort William which was fun. We picked up a coffee and picnic and then found the beach near Morar where beautiful white sands, crystal clear waters awaited us - and hardly anybody was in site! We put Heidi in the back pack and made out way to a little rocky outcrop for lunch. Almost getting cut off by the tide coming in we had a fun afternoon messing around on the beach - although neither of us were brave enough to go in for a dip.
Wanting to see a bit more we drove down Loch Morar - the deepest freshwater loch in Scotland? We arrived at a famous bridge from University days - I used to go up to Scotland with friends each Easter and one year one of the guys (Goochy) was carrying too much beer in their rucksack. He slipped on a wooden bridge outside of
the car park and broke his leg – having walked no further than a few steps!
We still managed to get him to our destination by boat and only realised his leg was broken when it went purple over the next few days - at least the beer wasn't wasted and Andy managed a few days of R&R!
We went on to Mallaig for an ice cream and to look at the fishing boats. There doesn’t appear to be much there, the aquarium has closed down and there don’t appear to be many fishing boats left. They mainly fish for prawns now – pretty much all of which are exported to Spain!
Heidi liked her ice cream, getting moat of it around her face rather than eating it – and getting very upset when we tried to eat it ourselves!
Beef stew awaited our return and we all had another great nights sleep.
The weather was certainly on our side the next day and the five of us had great fun on Easdale Island – south of Oban off Shiel Island.
We visited a quirky gift shop while waiting for the ferry where some
Heidi
Arisaig of the stock must still be there from the 70’s as has the owner!
While waiting for the ferry we all had a delicious lunch overlooking the sea, prawns, mussels, dressed crab – just normal fare for the West Coast!
Easdale Island is a former slate mining community and the old quarry's litter the island, but are now full of sea water. It was so hot we were nearly tempted into having a quick dip but had all forgotten our costumes. Instead we watched a group of kids jump from the cliffs (much higher than we would have ever attempted) into the deep water.
We then sat at the top of the island trying to look out for whales and enjoyed the 360 degree views, sailing boats flew passed with spinnakers flying we could have stayed there for the rest of the day!
There are no cars on the island and access is by boat only. All of the residents have their own wheel barrows at the harbour to take luggage and provisions from their own boats or the ferry - quite sweet really – a very quirky place with lovely old workers cottages and away from the hustle
and bustle of the remainder of the West Coast!
Before heading back to Appin we stopped off at a village fete where Sally won a raffle prize of fresh vegetables and Ceci bought her weight in pottery. I did think we were going to get lynched as Sally managed to pick her own ticket out when asked to help with the draw! The rest of the raffle was quite funny (or maybe you had to be there) one lady seemed to win just about everything – only to ask for re-draws each time as she had either donated the prize or was tee-total and had won whisky or wine!
Over the "bridge over the Atlantic" and a brief stop/walk to the “fairy bridge” and beautiful waterfalls near Loch Creran - where Sally's Great Great Grandparents were born and lived - we were back for another filling meal - Spanish omelet - and you guessed it –
a good nights sleep. Day 4 of our adventure was going to be a long one. The weather was not great but regardless we decided we had to make the most of it and
made a bee line for the Island of Mull.
Rather than take the ferry from Oban (£80) we drove a round about route through amazing scenery and two shorter ferry rides later we were on Mull.
We headed straight for Tobermory – the famous coloured harbour for lunch. Slightly disappointed as we had planned to eat Michelin star fish and chips but the van but it was closed! Undeterred we decided to go even further into Mull and try for the Island of Iona! 2 more hours of driving around dramatic coast lines and yet another ferry we made it. The island has a long history (which I won’t repeat here), suffice to say it was very pretty but we had really pushed ourselves and didn’t really have time to do it justice. Next time we’ll plan to stay there as on a nice day you could be anywhere – it really is a tropical island!
Our last day was fairly relaxed. We had time for one last coffee at the marina, Sally go to play in the boats again while I collected the scallop shells so we could make a mobile with them back
at home.
We said our goodbyes and slowly made our way back to Glasgow, stopping at Inverary for lunch and Loch Lomand for a walk before dropping the car off and flying home.
As usual we had a fantastic time up in Appin and its environs – thanks Nick and Ceci.
No doubt we’ll be up with you again soon (if we’re invited) and hope to reciprocate in Harpenden one day soon – although we can’t promise scallops, mountains, boat rides, or beaches!!
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