The other day we took a trip across to the west coast of Scotland to see some old friends staying opposite Strome Castle on the outskirts of Lochcarron. It is a beautiful spot looking down the Loch towards Plockton, with the Cuillin ridge on Skye in the background. It is only 80 miles from Caravan 109 at Nairn Lochloy Holiday Park, and is easily done as a good day out.
We left around lunchtime and headed west around Inverness, and then across on the Ullapool road. Down through Achnasheen following the route of the railway, we got to Lochcarron in about an hour and a quarter. We decided to go to Applecross which is 18 miles from Lochcarron. Feeling peckish we stopped at the Kishorn Seafood Bar - a wonderful surprise and serving great seafood. Sitting outside eating our Squat Lobster sandwiches in the sunshine made us realise how much we miss the west coast.
The drive to Applecross is great fun - up over the Bealach na Ba (pass of the cattle). It is not for the faint hearted!!! The sun was shining and the views over Raasay towards Skye were fantastic. The single track road then snakes down the mountain and eventually ends up in Applecross. We went to the Walled Garden and Potting Shed which we last visited 8 years ago when it was just being started. It looks great now with a vibrant show of colour. We then took a drive round the coast to the south passing the well known Applecross Inn - great seafood here!
The main reason for our trip however was to see if we could find Beachcomber cottage, the location for Monty Hall's TV series a few months ago. We came across it about 3 miles north of Applecross on the Shieldaig road, looking stunningly secluded from the road above. We parked up and walked down to the seashore and the croft. You can go inside it and really imagine how he lived. You can even run up and down the sand dune he used to keep fit!!! The views out over the water were breathtaking and the sandy beach looked wonderful in the late afternoon sunshine.
There was a single Ringed Plover on the beach standing guard over the croft! Above there was an almightly fracas as a Great Skua flew overhead being mobbed by 2 Common Gulls. No sooner had they seen the Skua off than they had to turn their attention to a Raven looking for their nests.
We didn't really want to leave but had to get to Lochcarron for 6 o'clock. We stopped off at the Flower Tunnel for a cup of tea to whet our whistles and then retraced our steps back over the 'Pass of the Cows'.
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