Waking up on day 9, I was very disappointed at the level of ‘fog’ that was seen out of the window of the hostel. It was going to make the drive of the Bealach na Bà a little harder and the views at the summit little less spectacular. We set off promptly (as with most of the guests in the hostel) as we wanted to make it into Inverness with plenty of time. My planning had left us short of time on a few too many occasions so we thought it best to try and get ahead.
When you leave Applecross, you are pretty much straight onto the Bealach na Bà. We had a good laugh as the song that was playing in the background was American Pie by Don McLean and the lyrics that kept ringing out to us were “this will be the day that I die”. After reading how treacherous this drive was, was this an omen? The higher up the pass we got, we debated whether this was fog or in fact we were just driving through the clouds! We opted for the second option. As Nicole was dubious about driving this part, it was up to me to tackle it and get us to the other side safely. As I’ve mentioned, the views were obscured in places, but it didn’t take away from the beauty of it. I would love to go back when the weather is a bit surer of itself, which would give us a completely different experience. The drive was daunting in places as there were sheer drops off the edge of the road. I’m just thankful for the modern design of safety barrier; I would have hated to drive it if they weren’t installed. The drive to the viewpoint wasn’t too bad in hindsight, there were only a few sketchy parts, and we only passed a couple of cars. At this point the clouds didn’t obscure the views too much. We stopped off at the viewpoint, the cloud covered hills added an edge of dramatics to the view. It would have been nice to see down across the mountains, but that can be a mission for another time. When we jumped back in the car, the lyrics started ringing out again “this will be the day that I die” – was Spotify really trying to tell us something about this drive? Why had it jumped back to this song? This part of the drive was when I felt the nervousness of making sure I got my wife down to the other side alive! As you can see in the photo, we drove straight into the thick clouds, which seemed never ending. You could barely see in front of the car. Luckily, we only passed one car on the way down. It would have been quite a fun drive if the clouds weren’t there. There are plenty of hairpin bends to make the drive interesting. I would not like to tackle that road if it was busy, it would have been a nightmare. But either way, the Robertson’s will be back to see the views on a clearer day! The next part of the drive was pretty straight forward, we were driving inland to Inverness so the views were a little less spectacular, but pretty all the same.
We opted for a quick pit stop to see the Black Water Falls. This took us a bit of a backwards route along the A835 towards Ullapool, but it was beautiful. There is a walk along the falls, but it takes up to 2 hours and, due to the time we wanted to be in Inverness for, we opt just for a quick 10 minutes to take in the falls and capture a few photos. As the name suggests, the water runs black which in itself is quite a spectacle.
We arrived in Inverness, more specifically Drumnadrochit, just before lunch time. Instead of going for one of the big boat tour companies, we opted for the one I have been on a few times as a child with my mum and co. So, if you do find yourself by Loch Ness, head to Loch Ness Gifts and book on with Castle Cruises Loch Ness. We booked on the trip at 2pm, so we had a little time to walk around and check out the gift shops and all they had to offer. I knew what I wanted, I just had to find out where it was and if there were other things I wanted as well. I am a sucker for souvenirs in the form of a T-shirt or hoodie. Once thing we didn’t expect to buy was a small house gift in the form of Highland Cow etched slate table mats. It took a little while to get Nicole into the idea, but they are a lovely new addition on our breakfast bar.
We had a ride on the boat, which was amazing. It was even better than I remembered, being able to experience this with my wife. We were joined by a family of 5, so it wasn’t too busy or crowded, thankfully. If you have children, another reason to go with Castle Cruises, the skipper may allow them to drive the boat like he did when I was a child. We spent half of the journey being guided by a 3-year-old who was obsessed with driving. The skipper is very knowledgeable about the area, the loch and all the wildlife you will see. It makes you feel valued and humbled when you learn a little from someone else.
After the boat tour we headed off for our next AirBnB. A lovely guest suite in Kinmylies, just a little further north then Loch Ness. This is a lovely place to stay for a night or two to kick off or end your NC500 journey. There is something about all the AirBnBs and having the comfiest pillows!
Comments
Post a Comment