Day 7 Scourie to Ullapool

We woke up to a glorious morning in Scourie. Through the night was torrential rain so we used the shammy to dry the tent again before putting it away. Breakfast and a cup of tea in the sun and then off we headed towards Tongue bridge. Lovely drive down and some beautiful views from high up in the hills, around the bend and there it was. We stopped and tried to get the drone up but it was windy, too windy. We decided to drop the kids of at the other side if the bridge and head back so they could film us going over it. It didn’t work out as well as we thought and the video looks so strange. We look like little robots crossing it. Passed Tongue we head onto what is know as ‘The wee mad road’. Single track road which was winding to start with, lots of passing places. Someone stopped us as we pulled over to allow him to pass. Handed over £20. Honest, it’s just heartwarming and such a lift for us all. This road would turn out to be the best road I have ever driven on, plus the most hair raising and highest climbs we would do to date. Every bend was just breathtaking. I now fully understand why it’s the wee mad road. 25% gradient down hill. Was so mu h fun, praying the breaks would keep us safe and yet again they never failed us. The tuktuks pulled up gradients just as step, slowly, mostly between 10-20mph but they just kept going. We curved around and down a sharp bend and as I looked up I couldn’t believe the sight. I had to pinch myself as i couldnt believe we had made it this far and were managing to drive on roads like this. Every corner there was another wow. You must drive it if you have never been on it, I promise you won’t be disappointed. Unbelievable fun in the tuktuks. Bobby still didn’t get over the 50mph mark and reached a great 49mph which is a first for the wee machines. As we approached Clachtoll, we curved around a mountain side with brick wall around the edges and rock face edged on the other. It brought flash backs to our time in the Dolomites in Ruby but this time it was Scotland and much more fun in the tuktuks. Clachtoll was a quiet wee place but we got attention from alot of the campers close by at the campsite. We headed down for a paddle on the white sandy beach with turquoise waters. Could have stayed there all day but it was a bit chilly. As much as the sun was out the winds were still there. Off now to Achmelvich beach. Would this rival our best beach? Which we believe is luskentyre on Isle of Harris. When we first approached we seen a beach and wondered what all the fuss was about but when we walked around the corner we could say the glorious beach with rock sides, golden sands and turquoise water. That was it. Stunning but luskentyre still tops it for us. From here we headed south to Lochinver, not a place we vibed with but lovely all the same. Heading down towards Ullapool we seen the most impressive mountain views. One which stood out a mile. We soon found out it was Ben Suilvan, most unique shape to a mountain I have ever seen in scotland. We stopped off at Ardvreck Castle. Tried to get some nice pictures from a distance but many tourist were on it as there was a bus in. Onwards we went on the main roads which we didn’t overly enjoy. We much prefer the little single track roads, less traffic and more to our speed. We soon arrived in Ullapool and it was busy. There was a rowing regatta on. Ques were so long to get into Broomfield Holiday Park but we soon made it to the front. Thanks to the owners great donation of a pitch for the night despite been run off there feet they still found the kindness. That’s one thing I’ll take away from this trip is just that. Human kindness is out there, just need to find it sometimes. That evening once tent was pitched we wondered around Ullapool, watched a race at the regatta, then stopped off for an Indian. We spent most of the night in the Indian, wasn’t the best service but all fed we bedded down for the night. Didn’t take long for the winds and rain to come on. It would turn out to be the worst night we have had to date. 2am and we were out in the pouring rain re pegging the ropes and tieing them to the tuktuks as the tent was bending in the wind. We pumped the air tubes up a bit more and that seemed to do the trick. Soaking wet but reassured the tent was safer we headed back to our sleeping bags to try rest out eyes. Needless to say tomorrow would be a tough day as tiredness would be sure to lick in 😫

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