Easter in Durness
Trip Start
May 01, 2007
1
69
80
Trip End
Ongoing
Durness,
Scotland,
United Kingdom
Sunday, March 23, 2008
So we set off, quite early and by the time we were 5 minutes north of Inverness, we were once again amongst the snow. This time is was falling quite heavily too. As we drove further north we passed by Ben Wyvis, one of Scotland's large mountains, and alongside Loch Glascarnoch, along a high mountain road, with a total thick blanket of snow all around. It was very scenic, and looked like an excellent area to explore. Good for bagging a few big Munros.
Soon we arrived at the seaside town of Ullapool, about 1 and a half hours north west of Inverness. Ullapool is a nice town nestled amongst the dramatic north-west highlands of Scotland and is a great hub for exploring the area. You can also get a ferry to the outer Hebrides (Isles) from here. We only stopped briefly, then continued further north as we had already spent a lot of time admiring the views, and wanted to reach Durness before nightfall. A stop to admire the mountains in the Assynt area which were on this day were beautifully covered in snow was a definite highlight of the afternoon. Did I mention the temperature was very, very cold (as you could expect)? Another stop we made was at the ruin of Ardvreck Castle, which dates o teh 16th century.
01 - Ben Wyvis
Nearby is Calda House, which is another very old ruin. Next thing we headed off, stretching further north.Our next port of call was Lochinver, following the recommendation given to us by our hosts in Inverness. Funnily enough I was expecting to hang a left turn towards Inverness, but due to the inclement weather (cloud and snow), I never noticed the turn off. Oh well, we'll visit it on the way back I thought. Much to my bewilderment we arrived in Lochinver not 5 minutes later. There was no turn off! One has to turn right to go further north! Hah. It was funny at the time.
Lochinver is another nice seaside town with a pie shop 'Lochinver Larder' which has been reated as the best pies in Britain. I miss a good pie, so we stopped for lunch, just in time to miss another huge dump of snow. I had a delicious savoury lamb pie, and Stace has Cauliflower, Broccoli and Cheese. They were sensational and definitely the best pies I've had outside Tassie. It was middle of the afternoon, so after a wee look around the small town and the playground (!) we continued on our journey to Durness, wanted to arrived by nightfall to see some sites. But first I had to stop and get a view of what has become my favourite mountain in Scotland - Suilven. It's a mountain shaped like a dorsal fin, surrounded by a the flat expanse of Assynt. The way it rises it truly spectacular and gives it an feeling of being much bigger than it actually is.
Before long we arrived in Durness, on the northwest tip of Scotland, adjacent to Cape Wrath.
02 - Driving through the snow
Cape Wrath is famous for being one of the main training areas for the British military. We made our first port of call our B&B which was the main residence at the Kyle of Durness. The Kyle of Durness is narrow passage of shallow water backed by mountains including the nicely named 'Cranstackie'. It is a stunning spot. We found the place easy enough, which was clearly a farm. We noticed a note left on the door telling us to come in and make ourselves at home. There was no one home, yet the door was unlocked! I guess the highlanders that far north are as trusting and hospitable as I had read about. Soon after we took in some of the nice sights around Durness including Smoo Cave - a waterfilled cave with a cavern that is fed by a beautiful waterfall. We the only people there and the place had a special feel about it. The cave opens out onto gorge that opens right out into the Atlantic. It's an amazing spot and reminds me of something from 'The Goonies'. We took a look at the beaches in the area too. Durness as 4 or 5 of the nicest beaches in Scotland. Too cold for a swim of course. Especially considering there was snow settling on the sands of the beach. A strange paradox that was. Beach and snow! Only in Scotland I guess! The beaches are great - by any standard. We took a look at Balnakeil, Sango Bay and Sangbeg beaches. Finally, to cap off the day, we took a quick look at the John Lennon memorial.
Soon some grub was on order, and after a drive around we realised there wasn't a 'pub' per say, just what was a meant to be hotel in the peak season. This being the low season, nothing was open! This 'hotel' had a sort of lounge in the back which we were directed to by a couple of kids. It looked like a private gathering, but soon we were welcomed in sat down with a beer. We had some good hearty food, and had a strange chat to some of the locals. There was a bit of folk music and singing going on too. Although it felt at first a little weird, we ended up having a great night and experienced some highland culture first hand.
That night it snowed like I have never seen it snow before. I almost forgot it was Easter!
