Stornoway – Splattered Brains

Wanderlust

We have the wandering bug. When we are on vacation, and especially when we are traveling by ourselves, we tend to explore places that are not always in the mainstream, and we will sometimes do so during seasons and under conditions that might not even be considered favorable for visiting. We just do it! Experiencing the unexpected brings with it an additional element of surprise, and an excitement and a joy, that at the end of the day elevates the vacation experience to a different level. Witness our recent trip to Carson City in Nevada.

We have been quite fortunate to travel far and wide in recent years. For the purposes of this blog I will focus on some lesser-known places that the wanderlust took us to during our trip to Scotland in 2016. We visited at the tail end of the winter season, but the cold weather and the occasional rain did not stop us from enjoying our adventures.

Here we are on the bed of the River Garry at Killiecrankie. The bed of the river is, for good reasons, not an advertised tourist destination. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA These pictures were taken at a remote location on the Isle of Skye where we stayed overnight. It was getting towards sunset when we walked through open fields and the countryside to a stand of trees next to a mountain ridge.It was raining steadily when we got to Rodel at the southern tip of the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA There was a storm underway by the time we got to Hushinish at the southwest corner of the Isle of Harris in the Outer Hebrides. The kids had to climb the far hill in the wind and rain, with only the sheep keeping them company, to try to get a glimpse of the Atlantic.This is Dun Carloway Broch. It is thought to have been a fortification during roman times. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA I wandered the streets of Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides early one morning before the town came to life. There is a different perspective of a place that you get when you do something like this.We hit the northernmost tip of the Outer Herbrides where we wandered through the fields along the cliffs beside the ocean towards the Butt of Lewis lighthouse. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Back on the mainland we hiked the hill behind the town of Ullapool, the place where we were staying at for the night.Towards the end of the trip we drove along the remote northern coastline of mainland Scotland from Durness to John O’Groats. There were many places where we were the only ones present! OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA You can expect the unexpected when the wanderlust hits!

Ullapool, Scotland

I am not sure if there is anything really special about Ullapool up in the highlands of mainland Scotland, on its western coast, that that makes it more notable than other towns in the highlands. In a sense, all of these towns and villages are notable just because of where they happen to be, and what you can do in these places. But we did happen to spend an evening in Ullapool and came to appreciate it a little more than some of the other places that we simply drove through.

Ullapool lies at the end of the approximately two and a half hour ferry ride from Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides. Since we were getting there on the ferry in the evening, we decided to spend the night in town before proceeding further north towards Durness.
Getting there was an experience in itself. The ferry boat was huge and carrying a nearly full complement of vehicles and passengers, to the extent that our car was carried on an elevated floor/deck in the ship that was suspended from a roof, a floor/deck that could be retracted when not in use. This was above the level that vehicles traveled on when the ship was not that full.
Ullapool gave the impression of being a typical village by the waters, with Lock Broom facing it, its harbor with the fishing boats, and the waterside main street.

Since we had enough time before sunset, we decided to find a hiking trail to tackle that evening. The trail that was selected started behind our hotel and the steep climb started almost immediately. It was unexpected! Soon we were on a hillside covered with gorse, with a view into Loch Broom and the little town of Ullapool below us. Our ferry boat was heading back out of Loch Broom to the Sea of Hebrides and on to Stornoway with the sun beginning its descent in the clouds behind the mountains.

The climb continued and did not let up. We went beyond the initial destination of a bench that we had seen on the mountain from the bottom of the hill. In the distance we sighted another challenge, the rocky top of Meall Mor.
Some of us could not resist the challenge. We made it to the top of that hill. Loch Achall came into view on the other side of the hill, and towards the north stretched a rocky plateau. One could imagine the Cape Wrath Trail running through this challenging terrain all the way up to Durness. Something to consider for another day, perhaps another life.
In the other direction lay the end of Loch Broom.We stopped for a minute to enjoy the view and add another rock to the cairn at the top. We then turned to head back to town.
The sun was low in the sky when we got back and we set out to find a place to eat. The pubs were busy but we did find a place to set our butts down and get a dram of the local nectar, a pint of beer, and some pub food. After that we walked through town looking for the grocery store that we had seen on the map. We then headed back to the hotel, enjoying the cool evening and the ice-cream bars that had just been purchased. Folks settled down for the night to watch a horrendous movie called Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters. Some of us rushed out of the room during the movie and ran through town trying to find a good place to experience the colorful sunset that I had gotten a hint of through the hotel window. We were not very successful.
The next morning we went down to the hotel’s restaurant for another filling Scottish breakfast (which can include haggis, black pudding, sausage, bacon, eggs and beans). We then packed our bags and headed out. The only other stop in town before we set ourselves on the road to Durness and our next round of adventure was at the petrol bunk.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Spare

My response follows Krista’s interpretation in her blog presenting the challenge.

The following pictures are from our recent trip to Scotland. I thought the sparse landscape was “elegantly simple”. You have to immerse yourself in what you are seeing to get an appreciation of the grandness of the somewhat stark landscape. If you click through these pictures and view them on a screen with sufficient resolution, you might get a better sense of what we felt.

The first picture is of the landscape along the shores of the mainland as we sailed into Ullapool on the mainland from Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides.
The next picture is of the landscape and the road taken during our trip to Hushinish in a remote corner of the Isle of Harris in the Outer Herbrides. The drive on a single lane road under adverse weather conditions was quite challenging and thrilling.
This last picture was taken when passing through the Cairngorm mountains of the Cairngorms National Park.
I hope one gets a better sense of the rugged beauty of the country of Scotland.

The Sun Rises Early in Scotland These Days

We just returned from a long vacation in Scotland. There were too many highlights for me to try to cover in a single posting. It all started with our experiences in the vibrant city of Edinburgh. This was followed by our travels around the country, including the Highlands, the Isle of Skye, and the Outer Hebrides.

Scotland is a beautiful land with a unique landscape including:
Rugged coastlines – with their massive weather-worn cliffs and their lonely lighthouses; beaches of white sand and clear blue waters; and meadows of soft wet grass above the cliffs that your feet sink into, with streams of water running through the meadows, with content sheep, and sometimes cows, grazing in them;
Impressive rock-faced mountains towering over the landscape, sometimes with their tops in the cloud, their lower levels littered with patches of yellow gorse at this time of year, and including trails that would challenge the fittest person;
The numerous streams and rivers flowing through the valleys amidst the hills and mountains;
The landscape inter-spaced with its many lochs and firths lending a unique charm;
The numerous castles and ruins that surprise you at many a turn in the roadway;
and so on and so forth….

I should not leave out:
Walks and challenging hikes taken in our beautiful surroundings;
The thrill of the challenging drives through the narrow winding roads of the highlands, with single lane roads, timing yourself to pass cars going the other way in the occasional passing areas;
The experience of being at the Gordon Castle Highland Games.

Perhaps I should also not fail to mention:
The welcoming and easygoing people that populate this unique country;
Evenings at Bed and Breakfast establishments with their gracious hosts;
The family dinners at the pubs after long tiring days, accompanied by a pint of beer and/or a dram or two of scotch whisky;
Falling into a state of deep slumber at night that nobody could disturb, knowing that there was more to be experienced the next day;
Waking up early in the morning to start your explorations once again, only because the sun rises early in Scotland these days.

It all comes back to me in an jumbled and perhaps incoherent flow of thought. Words will fail in any attempt to present a more organized picture of what we experienced unless I take a long time going about it. So, for now, I will just show a sample of some of my pictures, with the hope that I will continue to feel the glow of the experience and am able to talk more about Scotland in future blogs. Life will now return back to its regular pace, but the memories will not go away.

This picture of Edinburgh Castle taken from Holyrood Park.
This picture was taken near Glencoe in the highlands.
The following are from Cairngorms National Park.

This is the Eilean Donan, reputed to be the castle most photographed. The weather did not cooperate for the picture.

This one is from our walk at the Butt of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

This is from Hushinish in the Other Hebrides.

We climbed Meall Mor outside Ullapool.

Early morning in Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides. (I awoke at 4am that morning because I could not sleep!)

People awaiting the sunset on Calton hill in Edinburgh.

From the Gordon Castle Highland Games.

These are a small sample of pictures taken. I hope to share more of them in future blogs.