Home -> Europe -> Scotland -> Travelogue 2005 -> Wednesday 11 May

The Ardnamurchan peninsula

We are just in time to have breakfast when we wake up. Today we take a day off, bu with us that means driving a bit through the neighbourhood. Well, a bit? We drive around all day! We don't know this area, so at the first side road we turn off, searching for new and unknown places. And so we encounter lots of new places, lochs, dead ends with houses on magnificient spots and so on and on.

Like these spots on the pictures, along Loch Morar. We have heard it is one of the deepest lochs of Scotland and some people claim there is (also) a monster living. We only see the sun reflecting on a beautiful lake and no monsters.

Further to the south we turn to the right, onto a road that doesn't exist on our map. That is frustrating for Teije who marks the roads on a 5-year old Scotland map. So, he has to draw a new road on the map and wonders if he could work for a mapping company. Well, the road looks very new and leads along to coast to the town of Arsaig. (After we returned home we bought a new map and there the road was present, so it really was a new road)

In Arsaig we take our first break and have a nice we nice cup of coffee. In Scotland (and the UK) you often get a large cup with very weak coffee with lots of milk. I like a stron cup with special coffee milk. So I order a black coffee and use the milk I took from Holland. It is some of the things we always take with us when we go abroad.
The image on the photograph shows how many villages on the west coast look like: a restaurant or pub, a post office and a couple of houses around it. The weather is getting better every day and we can sit outside again.

We take every side road that we come across and sometimes we find ourselves in idyllic places. That is not always the case, obviously, but still we see some things we otherwise would have missed when only driving on the 'normal' roads.

In Glen Moidart we find this private country house, it is almost a castle. But there is no sign with a name and we can't find anything about it on the internet. No, we are not jealous of the people who live here.... Imagine that we would have the money to buy a fine house like this but then lack the money to do other things like travelling!? No, we rather drive around and enjoy the beauty we see around us.

Going further southwards we enter the Ardnamurchan peninsula, where we have never been before. A whole new area and, again, very diverse landscapes: forested parts, inhospitable and bare regions, naturally many curves in the roads and now and then very pretty houses. And even a castle we have never heard of before: Glenborrodale castle. It is a private property and people are warned not to trespass. We are happy enough with a picture of the gate lodge of the castle.

Ardnamurchan is a large peninsula, but there are not many roads. We take them all and mark them on our map. They are all returning roads, as we now start to call dead ends, since we have to return on the same path. It takes hours, but it is also very rewarding to explore this area.

Eventually we arrive at Ardnamurchan Point, the most westerly point of the mainland of Great Britain. There is a lighthouse and we are glad there is also a shop where we can sit down to have a coffee. Ardnamurchan is worth a visit but take your time, since it isn't possible to drive quickly through it.

On the way back to Mallaig we take this picture of a small house we have seen on our way up here. It looks very funny, small and yet decorated with several turrets. Maybe it is the entrance to a larger estate with maybe even a castle, but we are not sure of that.

It takes us 2 hours to drive back to Mallaig, while it took almost all day to drive to the end of the peninsula to explore it. The wetter has been fantastic with lots of sun and warm enough to feel comfortable outside. Back in the hotel we are only glad we can take off our shoes, cool our feet under the cold shower and then to bed. So, it wasn't only a resting day, but we have enjoyed it.

Travel through Europe and Africa

with Elisabeth and Teije