Now we were back on the mainland, we were back on our intended trip north to Ullapool. It is a long way from Skye along fairly narrow roads. We used the A890 and A896 via Kinlochewe. By the time we got to Kinlochewe we were ready to stop for the night. It was quite windy and a bit wet too so we were glad of the break. On the way there we had stopped at some delightful viewpoints alongside Lochs Carron and Torridon.
Torridon village is very picturesque, sitting at the top of the loch. We considered staying overnight in the village car park but we hadn’t got far enough on our planned route. Definitely on our list for another time.
As we travelled along towards Ullapool, we came upon Inverewe Garden, overlooking Loch Ewe (believe it or not!). I had seen a feature on the gardens on Gardeners World, years ago and I was really happy to have the opportunity to visit. We were also delighted to be able to enter for free as members of the National Trust.
The gardens are insulated by the North Atlantic Drift and therefore, plants from all around the world thrive here. From the 1860s, Osgood Mackenzie, a man of vision and determination, succeeded by his daughter Mairi, transformed this once barren, windswept headland into a beautiful and unique garden. It is referred to as the Oasis of the North.
There are some fabulous ironworks, interesting sculptures and, of course, several different gardens.
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Sculpture
As the day was rather inclement, we continued along the A832 along Wester Ross, past Loch Mares, Little Loch Broom and Loch Broom. All very pretty but due to the increasingly heavy rain, not as spectacular as we had hoped.
We decided to stay overnight on a campsite as it was getting so wild. Search for sites came up with a site at Ardmair Point. We had a lovely pitch overlooking the Loch and were gently rocked to sleep! I managed to see a couple of otters in the morning, which was a thrill. Sadly, I could not get close up pictures and Clyde could not see them at all. I did see them, honestly!!
In the morning, we went into Ullapool to get provisions and checked the weather forecast again. The storm Ali was upon us and it was due to get worse over the following week. As we needed to be back in Newark by 27 Sep, we decided to abandon our North coast plan and head across to the East side of Scotland. Decision made, we picked up the A835 to Inverness and crossed the Moray Fifth. Culloden was a convenient place to head for and we booked into the Caravan and Motorhome club site for 2 nights. The site was very handy for a visit to the famous battlefield and visitor centre the next day.