Inverkirkaig

After a band of heavy rain swept through yesterday evening we were blessed with a bright start to the day.

The green baize covered cliffs lit by early sunlight stretched along the coast.

A helicopter landed nearby on one of them. Why, we were not sure. Two seals played close to the shore. Enough watching the world go by, there were hot showers beckoning.  

Today we would drive the road from Durness to Lochinver. A vast landscape described as a truly wild place. A wild place that commanded photographing. We’d only travelled a few miles before stopping.

This was how the rest of the day would progress. Stop. Start. Photographs. Notes written. Can we just get on with the drive please? Sorry Marge, chill, and take in the beautiful views. At Scourie we topped up our fuel. How much? £1.44 a litre. O.K. You’re worth it Marge. We were in a remote area and knew it would be costly. 

More beautiful views along the road, rock bowls full of water and seams of rock five million years old. Yes, really. The sun shone and we enjoyed the warmth of this autumn day.

At Kylesku we stopped for lunch at the bridge. A magnificent piece of engineering, and a place to photograph your vehicle, either parked in front of it or driving over it. One man launched his drone to film his wife driving their van back and forth across. Honestly, we are in a beautiful spot above a loch in the highlands. We don’t want to hear your buzzing mosquito of a drone whilst we eat our lunch. You tell him Marge. Just one quick photo before we leave. Unbelievable!

Arriving at Lochinver the driving suddenly became serious. Let’s end the day with a buzz Marge. We didn’t realise what we had let ourselves in for. A couple we met weeks ago at Ardtoe suggested we visit this area which is why we’re here. The roads are not A, B but C. You get the picture? Narrow, winding, sharp inclines, a white knuckle ride and we’d only travelled a few miles. Stop Marge, there’s other vans, we’ve driven enough today. What we didn’t realise was this was the destination we were heading for, the Falls of Kirkaig. 

Marge parked by the raging river Kirkaig, a torrent of tumbling water bouncing over pebbles and rocks, we spoke to a couple who had just returned from the waterfall walk. How long would it take us to the falls. Depends on how fast you walk. Helpful. Best not to set off now the weathers closing in. Looked fine to us. At 4pm rucksacks stuffed with waterproofs, drinks, biscuits, nuts and packaged prunes we set off on the two and a quarter mile trek.

It all started well, a woodland path leading to an uneven path then on to a more uneven path then through the bog and over large rocks. Then the wind got up. We monitored the cloud that sat just on top of the nearby mountain known as Suilven, height 2,398 feet.  A few spots of rain fell, but nothing major.

Eventually we reached the waterfall. Angela sat out the last few steps sitting for a while. Once again the height panicked her a little. Just don’t look down. By the way, why did we bring the prunes?