vampyresheep

another favourite day of the trip!

Another sunny day and as the roads so far hadn't been too bad, Rob decided that he wanted to
do the Bealach Na Ba pass to Applecross Peninsula – the 3^rd highest road in Scotland* and the greatest ascent of any road climb in the UK, which includes some rather hairy alpine-style hairpin bends – gulp! Fortunately as the road is soooo hairy, nobody can drive quickly on it so allegedly it is rather safe to do.

Firstly our route entailed the notorious A890 stretch at Stromeferry, which was closed due to landslide all winter and only just re-opened. That was a bit nervy to do, after hearing how many landslide incidents there had been there.

the road runs alongside the beautiful loch Carron, looking so dreamlike in the morning's weak sunshine

After this we arrived at the very pretty and tranquil Lochcarron, where we rested awhile before tackling to mountain pass of all passes.

we were wondering what these ropes were hanging up for, all along the shore:

then some bloke comes out and hangs his washing up! :-)

I was going to film our ascent up the Applecross Pass but didn't have room on my camera memory card, probably a good thing as you would have heard my swearing!

approaching the "really scary bit"

aargh!!

It wasn't too bad though, we have done scarier roads in Ireland and the view was incredible. Although it shouldn't be done, people were stopping in passing places to take photos and I made the most of every time we had to stop to let a car through to quickly grab a photo out the window.

Just one rather scary bend where we met with a large 4WD who "helpfully" stopped in the middle of the bend to let us through – thereby Rob pretty much had to do a 3 point turn on a 20% gradiant slope with steep drop behind us!

Had a coffee at the summit to collect my nerves, ;-)

then we headed down to Applecross. A wonderfully tranquil place, set in a sweeping bay and lovely pub with waterside garden, we spent somewhat longer here than intended, considering we had a rather long coastal route to tackle to get off the peninsula and back to the "main" road.

The whole route was beautiful, oohs and ahs round every corner, so glad we decided to go this way.

Lunch stop was at another picturesque village, Shieldaig

and then we headed on to Torridon.

Torridon was another place somewhat bleaker than I was expecting, however we were recommended to go to the deer park, so had a quick break here.

the Beinn Eighe mountain range behind Torridon

Then another little stop at Loch Maree, where i got to have a paddle in the lovely clean cool waters.

and just beyond that, the Victoria Falls (not quite as big as the more famous falls of the same name!)

Finally arrived in Gairloch around 6pm. The village was bigger than I was expecting but so picturesque, rather Cornish in feel.

Our B&B was amazing. Run by a French lady who'd lived in Scotland for over 25 years and therefore had a wonderful mixed up accent; she was so friendly and welcoming that we chatted for quite a while before we headed back into the village for food – and firstly the beach!

view from our bedroom :-)

Gairloch Beach is a beautiful sandy bay with crystal clear waters and I was soon back in the water paddling. Surprisingly, soon joined by Rob, rolling his jeans up like a true Englishman abroad!

pretty churchyard behind the beach

Evening meal was had at the Old Inn in scenic Gairloch Harbour, which brewed its own beer,

before heading up to the viewpoint to catch the sunset.

(note how Rob fails spectacularly to get any decent silhouette photos of me - see, i blame the photographer, not the subject as to why all the best pics are of him!)

This was probably the best day we'd had so far. Our only regret is that we didn't book two nights in Gairloch, didn't realise it would be such a wonderful place with so much to visit.

Although one slight ick moment was discovering a tick on my leg – eek! I originally thought it was a small scab/spot and scratched it off, only to notice it had legs. Lots of scare stories online about getting poisoned from incorrectly removing them but touch wood all looks OK but will be keeping an eye on the bite mark to be certain.

*we now plan to do the 1^st and 2^nd highest roads on our way home!

and as usual, all the day 6 photos are here and FB