Our plans to get ourselves somewhere remote and out of the way of the world came good - and we even managed to fit in an adventure on the paddleboards too. Un-usally for Scotland, there was not a breath of wind; perfect conditions for paddleboarding - so we scanned the maps as we drove north to find somewhere for an en-route mini-adventure.
The roads were empty as we made our way past Glasgow...
And then up into the Highlands...
We almost stopped on Rannoch Moor to cross the mirror-calm loch, but wanted to get a bit further north first. Despite having crossed here many many times before, it's not often that I'm up here out of winter conditions and I enjoyed seeing the place in it's autumn colours. We also passed a few herds of stags grazing nearby.
At Loch Lochy, we found a prime layby and launching site for a mini-expedition. The water was so still that we just had to get on - we didn't want to risk letting the wind start blowing, so parked up the van and got to work pumping up the boards.
I put on some shorts, but Clare just rolled her trousers up and we set off straight from the van.
After making our way up 'the coast', we decided to make the crossing to the far side, delighting in the windless conditions. It was hard to get a sense on scale and at one point we thought that a fishing boat at the far end was a huge ferry about to head out way.
We had a break to stretch our legs on the far side and Clare saw a big fish jump clear of the water while we were there.
A slight breeze had picked up by this point and as we still had a journey to make to get to our evening accommodation, we began a diagonal return journey. Even the slight bit of breeze was noticeable and it was harder work.
Happy to have made it back to the van without falling in, it was just a case of rolling up the boards, repacking and driving away feeling very satisfied. Loch Cluanie was our next stopping point. This is a dammed loch, but for some reason, it had been drained quite low. We pulled over here to take in the views.
And of course, we couldn't pass by the famous Castle of Eilean Donan (as featured in the recent James Bond film) on it's little island. With the tide out and quite a lot of visitors, we didn't stay too long though.
Our final destination and our new home for the next week or so was a tiny village called Plockton. It's not far from the bridge across to the Isle of Skye and the perfect place to hide away for a while. As we were driving the final (single track) section of road into the village, a huge bird took off from a tree up ahead and swooped down low to the road, then back up and directly towards us. I thought for a minute that we were about to have a Golden Eagle crash into the windscreen, but at the last minute, it flapped it's wings (which were almost as wide as the van) and flew up and over us! It was an amazing encounter and a great welcome. Having found the key to the little loft apartment, we unloaded and set out to explore the 'one street town'.
The tide was out, but the paddleboarding potential looked fantastic with loads of sheltered bays and islands. And the harbour road (the only road really), is lined with palm trees giving an unusual tropical vibe to the Scottish coastline.
There are a couple of art galleries and gift shops (all currently closed), a hotel, a pub and plenty of wildlife. Apart from that, it's seeming just us and a couple of well wrapped up al fresco drinkers (due to new Scottish regulations, it's illegal to serve alcohol indoors!).
This is our street. The sea is just out of shot on the right.
Before dark, we went to investigate a few places where we could launch our boards from tomorrow. There are loads of little slipways and jetties to pick from - all within a hundred metres of the house, so we should be fine.
Our evening explorations took us around the coast and onto an area that is almost an island at high tide, be we could walk back on a small causeway, guided by the lights of the village. It's a beautiful place.
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