West Coast Wanders

Our long promised trip to the other side of the country took place in a superb weather window. It was only a short break - just 2 nights - and we were just planning to have a little look around.

We left Banchory fairly promptly on Tuesday morning. There was a little bit of mist on Deeside but it was lifting as we headed further inland - at least until we approached Inverness, where there was a fairly thick Moray Firth haar. After crossing the Kessock Bridge we figured it was time for a short break, so we pulled in to the mart on the outskirts of Dingwall, where a cafe was advertised. It was very much a mart workers cafe - very functional, but it hit the spot as far as we were concerned. Jo thought it would be nice to take a photo beside the mart's signature statues:

Jo insisted on doing it again as she had stood in front of the dog:

The drive from there through to Plockton was fairly straight-forward, apart from the last few miles which were along a very narrow winding single track road - a small taste of things to come. The haar around Inverness had turned in to brilliant sunshine and the thermometer steadily rose to 26 C as we ventured further west.

We were booked in to the Plockton Inn - the Hotel was full. It was lunchtime when we arrived and the place was heaving so we decided to take a walk around the village and then head off to get some fuel.

The tide was out so we were able to walk across to the mini island where there were a number of seats conveniently located:

We completed a mini loop round the village, starting with the beach and coming back via the main street:

Thirsty work needed a quick pint on the decking of Plockton Hotel and then we jumped in the car and headed for the nearest fuel station at Kyle of Lochalsh - not exactly the cheapest fuel in Scotland. We couldn't then pass up the opportunity of crossing the adjacent bridge over to Skye and popped in to Kyleakin for a quick ice cream and a photo of the bridge:

Back in Plockton, our room was ready and soon it was time for dinner in their fine, but casual, seafood restaurant. A band was playing in the bar that night and we listened for a while before retiring.

Our next overnight stay was in Torridon but we planned to go there on a fairly circuitous route via Applecross, accessing it over the Bealloch na Ba hill route. The weather was stunning again as we crawled up the hill behind a brave team from the Cairngorm Cycling Club - we could only get past each of the riders as they pulled in to the passing places - but if there was traffic coming the other way - and there were plenty of tourists about - then you had to miss a turn. It took an eternity to get to the top of the road where there was a fairly large car park full of cars decamping their contents to get the obligatory photos of the jawdropping scenery looking across to Skye and Raasay:

We needed to do some leg stretching so I persuaded Jo to take the fairly short, but steepish in places, hike up here:

Jo took it nice and steady and made it fairly comfortably to the cairn where I was waiting:

We made it back down to the car then tackled the slow drive down the hill to Applecross. The Inn was mobbed - inside and out - so we decided on a nearby cafe instead for lunch, after which we took another stroll around before heading off to Torridon - the long way via the Wester Ross Coastal Trail.

Most of the journey went well, despite the narrow roads but, towards the end, we had a couple of near scrapes with a couple of less than friendly drivers coming in the opposite direction.

We arrived at the Torridon - we were staying in the Inn as the Hotel was full - late afternoon and, after a welcoming cup of tea and Tunnock's Caramel Wafer, we took the short walk down to the Boat House and Loch Torridon before dinner. A quick bath then out for a pre-dinner beer:

The Torridon resort is lovely and the rooms were a far cry from the tight but adequate ones we'd had at the Plockton Inn.

Our short break over, we had to now go to Inverurie to pick up Luca from school, stopping off on the way for coffee and a scone at the harbour in Nairn.

Back in Banchory today (Friday), it's been fairly busy - Jo's car had to be taken in for MoT and service and we also had the glaziers calling to measure the front door pane that recently shattered. We're also clearing the rooms to prepare for the arrival of the painters on Monday - an opportunity also to ditch a lot of the excess stuff built up over the years.

Second half of May

A lot to catch up on - 2 weeks with no blog reports. Funny how things have changed - I was posting virtually daily when I was working but now that I'm retired the posts seem to be getting less and less frequent. Retirement is a busy business.

Cade's graduation details arrived in the post:

Not something we do in the UK - strictly an American thing just now, but, then again, we never used to have fancy senior proms here - and we do now. Watch this space then.

A strange thing happened the other day - and we've no idea how or when it occurred. We - or, rather, Jo - noticed that one of the side panels at our front door was shattered:

Strange, eh?

On to matters Luca now. He's in his final year at primary now and will be starting at secondary school in August. He collected his new school tie the other day:

Luca's football season with Colony Park is coming to an end. I went along to his penultimate match at Oldmeldrum with Gary. Luca did well and scored a penalty. His "reward", which Gary treats him to after every match - win, lose or draw - is to go out for lunch - this time to Inverurie Garden Centre, where he scoffed down a day's worth of calories in one sitting.

The following weekend I did a double sitting with Luca. Carole was away eventing and Gary was taking part in the Oldmeldrum Hill Race, so I took Luca to his kickboxing class on Saturday morning. His reward this time was lunch in the small cafe/restaurant just 100 yards from their back door - the Scone and Yon. It's a former private house conversion - although very little internally has changed. It's still very obvious which room is which. The former living room was full so we were taken upstairs to what had been a small bedroom with a dormer window. It felt seriously weird:

The food was OK however.

On Sunday, Luca's final match was out at Millbank, near Alford. It was another glorious day and we all turned up to watch him play - me, Gary, Carole and Jo. Here's Jo and Gary having a seat and a chat at half time:

After every match has finished, the teams line up for each player to take a penalty. Exactly as he did the week before, Luca despatched his with ease:

Luca played well and his team won again. We celebrated with lunch at a nice cafe in Alford.

The weather had been brilliant and forecast to continue that way for at least another week, so it was time for Jo and I to make our long promised visit over to the west coast. Plockton, Applecross and Torridon were on our radar. Due to other commitments, the earliest we could travel was Tuesday this week. We're now back home and will report back on our trip in my next post.