We got up and had breakfast at the usual time, and left around 9.15. We stopped a little way down the road to purchase some more food and to post some cards, and again a little further on to buy fuel.
Unfortunately I made the mistake of taking the keys out of the petrol cap while filling the tank, placed the cap on the roof, and then neglected to replace the cap before driving off. Unsurprisingly we did not get far before there was a noise from behind as the cap fell to the road. Luckily Richard was able to nip out and retrieve it before any harm was done.
We had chosen this day as the best to make an excursion to the Summer Isles, a small group of islands off the west coast. There was a good main road heading northwest to Ullapool, and we took this, unfortunately being slowed slightly by a tourist coach in front of us which, given the Skoda's rather limited acceleration, I was unable to overtake.
Both vehicles stopped at the Falls of Measach at Corrieshalloch Gorge, a deep ravine carved out by a small river. The gorge can be crossed via a small suspension bridge, from which there is an excellent view of the Falls and down into the gorge. We made our way to this first while the passengers of the coach went to another viewpoint, giving us time for a good look, there being a weight limit of six persons on the bridge. We returned to the other viewpoint as the coach party moved towards the bridge, before heading back to the car and continuing on our way, now thankfully ahead of the coach.
A few miles past Ullapool we turned off onto a more minor road heading out to the coast. This was all single-track, but we made fairly rapid progress aside from the occasional encounter with sheep in the road, passing notable peaks such as Stac Pollaidh and several modestly-sized lochs.
From the coastal village of Achiltibuie it is possible to take cruises out to the Summer Isles. Cruises also depart from Ullapool, but these are less ideal as it takes around an hour to get out to the islands. We stopped at the small pier from which they depart to check the timings, and finding that we had plenty of time to spare we decided to continue along the coast for a while. The road runs out at the village of Reiff, and we parked here to take a short walk, looking out across the sea.
We returned to the car for lunch, then headed back to Achiltibuie to catch the boat. The boat, a small vessel named `Hectoria', left at 2.30 and was at most half full, giving plenty of room to move around on deck.
There was much to see. The islands were very peaceful and are home to a much wildlife, notably countless cormorants (or shags --- though no paper bags in sight, evidently herds of wandering bears had got there first). Just off one island, the boat slowed to a snail's pace and edged in very slowly towards the shore, the reason for this becoming obvious in the form of a colony of rather sleepy seals. The boat came in extremely close, providing a good opportunity for photography, at least with the aid of a suitably long lens.
We stopped at the uninhabited island of Tanera Beag to go ashore for about an hour. There was a well-worn path, though slightly muddy, to the top of one of the hills on the island, which we took. The view from the top was splendid, looking across the completely calm waters to the other islands. A peculiarity of the weather should be mentioned at this point. While it had been cloudy over the mainland, the cloud lifted as we moved away from the shore and the islands were bathed in bright sunshine. As we headed back later, the way the boundary of the cloud more or less followed the coastline of the mainland was very noticeable, and an explanation of this was left to the atmospheric physicist among us.
Having time to spare and seeing a couple of other peaks ahead of us, we headed for them. Unfortunately one of them was rather overpopulated by midges, as I found to my cost when I stopped there to change a film (forgetting to apply any insect repellent had been a bad move on my part). We caught a glimpse of the Caledonian McBrayne ferry heading into Ullapool from Stornaway in the Western Isles, which were just visible on the horizon.
We returned to the boat and continued on our cruise, passing around more of the islands and in particular a large salmon farm, shrouded in netting and rightfully so given the manner in which the fish were attempting to leap to freedom.
The boat went around Badentarbat Bay on Tanera Mor, largest of the Summer Isles and the only one to be inhabited, even then with only about half a dozen houses. While it seemed a beautiful location, the practicalities of living there must make life extremely difficult, given that the nearest large town is Inverness, a boat journey and a seventy mile drive away on the other side of the country. Ullapool is somewhat nearer but still an awkward journey, and it would seem prudent to keep large stocks of provisions at home in case of an extended period of bad weather.
We returned to Achiltibuie around 5.30, and returned to the car for the drive back, planning to have dinner in Ullapool. Unfortunately counting on finding somewhere decent on a Saturday evening proved a mistake, as anywhere decent appeared to be full and several places looked distinctly uninspiring. Eventually we descended on a pub named the ``Arch Inn'', serving edible but rather indifferent food, I had lasagne.
On our way back to the car we were passing above a campsite on the shore and were treated to the sight of a beautiful orange glow on the sky cast by the now set sun, contrasted by the dark outline of the sides of Loch Broom, the sea loch on which Ullapool lies. Pauline and I rushed back to the car to pick up cameras, while Richard took a slightly more Philistine attitude towards it.
Having obtained a couple of photographs each, Pauline and I returned to the car and we headed back for Contin, getting in around 9.15. We went to bed about 11.00.