Coigach and the Summer Isles

We had another flat ferry crossing back to Oban on the mainland from Mull. It was late so we found a lovely carpark beside a church - it was listed on the local Council website as a camper overnight park up spot. The church is a really interesting building but we noticed it had a sold sign up and was no longer having services, so it will probably end up as a home for someone.

We were serenaded by a very vocal Song Thrush in the beech tree beside us late into the night and early again the next morning. We never knew they sang so much - we don't really have them much in our garden at home. 

We then drove up beside Loch Ness to stay in Beauly for the night. Did we mention it was hot again?! We enjoyed a local beer with some food outside while Purdy enjoyed some sunbathing.

We continued north west to the Coigach peninsula and arrived at a campsite overlooking the Summer Isles at Port a Beigh. Its quite remote down a long single track road, through some amazing mountain scenery. The area is within a Geopark, which is very interesting if you like geology :)

We had a lovely pitch overlooking the beach, although this also meant that we were very exposed during a couple of very windy days and nights (Dee thought we might tip over!). 

On our first day we hiked up Stac Pollaigh (Polly) - one of the mountains nearby. The weather was ideal - not much wind and not too cold or too hot (sunny days hiking makes Purdy flag)! The last part was quite rocky for Purdy so we took it in turns to reach the top.

This is Stac Pollaigh

This was the base camp while the other
person went up the summit

Stac Pollaigh near the summit

The area is very well-known for its geology and there are various interesting sites in the North West Highland Geopark. We visited one at Knockan Crag where the upper level of rocks are older than the ones underneath, as the Moine Thrust Belt pushed the bottom rocks to the top during a collision.

Knockan Crag

Phil had an evening hike behind the campsite to a couple of small peaks (Meall an Fheadain and Meall Chaisteil) with good views over to the Summer Isles, while Purdy and Dee had some girls time!

View of Summer Isles in the distance

We went on a lovely circular hike nearby with a picnic for the day. It started at Achvraie, via Achduart and Culnacraig before finishing with another swim on a lovely sandy beach!

Purdy flaked out again!

After 4 nights we left Port a Beigh and drove north for a night at Scourie, overlooking the bay. It's right on the NC500 (a very popular driving route) so busy but also a lovely location. We had a pitch up out of the way and enjoyed another lovely, sunny evening.

From Scourie we continued north 'over the top' (very busy) with a brief stop at Smoo Cave (where we met a group of Dutch bikers) and a lovely wild camp before we arrived at Wick, where we would stay our last night on the mainland before our ferry to Shetland.

A boat trip in the cave with some mad Dutch bikers!

A quick stop for a photo at John o'Groats and Dunnets Head.

The sign showing our next stops - 8m and 152m!

We loved the Isle of Mull

On our second attempt we reached the Isle of Mull and what a gem of a place it turned our to be! We took the ferry from Oban to Craignure on another calm day.

Purdy checking out the ferry

Muy chased on board by a digger

Dee checking some lifting gear!

We drove down a very narrow road to Loch Bui that was recommended to us by two different people. Its quite a remote place but does have a small cafe. However, when we arrived we found a mobile pizza van was warming up its oven - what a result! We ordered, went for a walk and came back to a lovely pizza!

Moy Castle, Loch Bui

Tobermory, the main town on Mull, is known for its colourful houses along the bay. It was very picturesque and we enjoyed mooching around the town and yet another cup of tea and scone. We never knew scones were a thing in Scotland!

We had a chat with the captain of the Blue Clipper
and learnt it is no where near as old as it looks

We watched all the rich cruisers being ferried to the
pontoon - the cruise liner was the Seabourn Venture
which costs a fortune to go on!

Standing stones at Glengorm Castle (hotel)
with a lovely cafe nearby - our best lunch yet!

Mull is quite a wild island with mostly single track roads and loads of wildlife so its great demounting Muy and having the truck to explore this rugged island.

We took a short ferry to the religious island of Iona. A beautiful island where we explored the Abbey and went for another swim in what looked like the Caribbean, until we felt the water temperature of course - very cold, but fun! We dried off sitting on the warm rock and watching some Gannets spear the water in front of us in search of a meal.

Purdy sunbathing

Iona Abbey 

Celtic cross at the abbey

We heard the Corncrake at this hotel
while we had tea and scones - again!

Back on Mull we spent our time on some more lovely walks before we had to leave and go back to the mainland.

Wildlife seen so far

We joined a small group tour around Loch Barrandaimh at the Argyll Beaver and Wildlife Centre. There were three beavers living in the lodge on the bank of the loch and we saw them all but we only had a mobile phone so this one is a dot! We did have binoculars though so our view was better.

However, when the rest of the group had gone, fed up with the midges that were hassling us, we stayed behind and got a much closer view. One of the beavers came out onto the bank for a grooming session while another stayed in the water close by.

A Beavers work

The staff there kindly allowed us to camp in their carpark overnight in the reserve and use their wildlife hide too. So in the morning we went up to the hide and had some great views of woodpeckers, Nuthatch, Red squirrels and lots of other birds.

We have seen lots of wildlife and the list below includes those that are in addition to the usual suspects we see at home:

Corncrake - heard but not seen - an interesting call 
Beaver
Otter
Red deer - mentioned as there are loads everywhere!
Fallow deer - mentioned as are my favourite!
Swallows and loads of babies - again, mentioned as so many
Eider duck pair
Shelduck 
Red Squirrel
Curlew
White tailed eagle - only from a distance so far
Golden Eagle - quite a few including a pair building a nest carrying big sticks to it
Bullfinch - mentioned as many more than we see at home and lovely to see
Stonechat
Wheatear
Lapwing
Gannet
Cuckoo sitting on a wire with two small birds - plus hundreds heard
Siskin
Sandpiper
Hooded Crow
Linnet
Yellowhammer
Tree creeper
Nuthatch
Mountain Hare
Highland cattle - lots of them! Not wildlife but roaming everywhere and cool to see!

As for midges - not too bad so far except in the wildlife reserve, a few around some still evenings

Into the Mountains

We left Ellenabaich, back over the Clachan Bridge heading toward the Trossachs. We had a stopover at a wildlife visitor centre where a beaver colony lives (wild) - this is covered in the "wildlife" entry.

A happy hedge!

Tyndrum (I love that name!) was our base on the edge of the Trossochs National Park for 6 nights.  We had an interesting trip to Hollow Mountain - which is a dam with all the electricity generation equipment actually inside the mountain. It is called Crachan Power Station and owned by Drax.

This was us all set up

Another sunny day!

Looking down the generating hall

Tyndrum is on the West Highland Way so we had a couple of hikes, one in each direction. The first hike was too hot for Purdy but luckily there were plenty of rivers for her to cool down in. And for our feet to refresh in! We walked one way to The Bridge of Orchy and got the train back. 

The Bridge of Orchy

The second was a bit chilly! We walked up towards the gold mine (yes!) and the rugged peak of Ben Lui in the background. 

Lots of cute lambs about!

An evening walk up the hills behind
 the campsite for sunset