We wake up at 3 from a rustling sound. It’s not rain (although it’s also raining), it’s not wind (although our awning robes slay against our tent). It’s a hedgehog crawling around in the front of our tent. It’s scared of our flashlight and runs away. But we cannot sleep, as we’re just waiting for it to come back. It does after 30 minutes.
We’re a bit tired when Zeno wakes us at 6. But the boy has to pee, so we conquer the rain and wind, and take advantage to shower and pack early so we have extra time to explore Skye a bit more before we head back to the main land.
We buy breakfast and snacks at the supermarket in Portree so we have everything for this long day on the road. We’ll be following the NC 500 north along the coast.
But first we head to Elgol. It’s stunning weather with dark clouds and sun peeking through. Less wind than in the night. It’s a wonderful drive, through the mountains and passing many water falls. The streams and waterfalls are much wilder than the past days because of the rain of last night.
We also pass many campers and carsleepers. At 10, they are still brushing their teeth. Elgol is a small coastal town with stunning views on a loch and mountains highlighted by the sun. There is a small school on the shore, imagine going to school every day on such ideallic place.
Then it’s time to say good bye to Skye. We pass the bridge and follow the North Coast 500 road to Ullapool. Cleo starts reading for Zeno in the car. She finally starts to enjoy reading. We’re proud parents of course:-)
The small roads do not fit the many campervans we pass on the way. We often have to wait on passing places to let oncoming traffic pass.
We visit the Beinn Eighe National Nature Reserve Visitor centre, explaining about the nature reserve we’re passing, the flora and fauna that can be seen. We’re lucky with the weather here, as it rains two out of three days, but it’s sunny and warm now. Enthusiastic to spot a red deer, eagle, marter or otter, we explore the 2KM path. It offers various views on pine trees, valleys, mountains and water falls. We spot massive dragon flies and a goldcrest.
30 kilometer further North lies Inverewe Garden. The 160 year old Garden covers some 20 hectares and has over 2,500 exotic plants and flowers. And that’s a lot taken into account that Zeno asks the name of every single plant he spots. Tim brought his macro lens to shoot some close-ups.
The garden is known for its rhododendron collection in flower throughout the year. However, we don’t spot many blooming rhododendrons. The many rhododendron plants does provide an easy answer to the unending question attack by Zeno “what is this?” “Rhododendron”.
There are stunning sea views and Giant Redrood trees to protect exotic plants from the wind. There is also a kids treasure hunt with a map and questions about specific plants.
We also wanted to visit the war museum next door, but as it closes at 16, and it’s already 16:10, we skip it and drive on to our last stop of the day, the Falls of Measach. It’s 17 when we arrive and everybody is tired, so Tim flies his drone, shoots the fall and we drive to Ullapool, do groceries and set up our tent on the last seafront spot of the camp site. We cook and eat and enjoy our view.
