Raven's Roads
Living an interesting life: the travels and musings
of motorcycling author Linda R. Moore

Nov 13, 2004

9th - 10th November

Filed in Britain 2004, Landmark-Hunting, Travel

9th November

We went to Ullapool today, via Blackwater Falls. Again, it was forecast as sunshine and showers, and verily did we get both. In Ullapool itself we had a true downpour, but we were safe and cosy inside and by the time we got out, it had gone away.

Ullapool is up the coast, more into the mountains. Blackwater Falls is the place I was thinking I was going to yesterday, but didnâ€™t. Looking at my photos again I note with some embarrassment that *this* is where we hung around and waited for the sunshine to light everything up, and where we also found the loo of the year. I need to figure out the discipline to write things down a bit sooner.

We went past a dam where my ex and I once took a walk which didnâ€™t quite work out as planned; I hurt my foot and descending was difficult and caused my parents a lot of worry. That was before mobile phones were ubiquitous, but it worked out in the end. We were forgiven - and Iâ€™m not sure if that didnâ€™t mark the end of my real hill-walking days. Itâ€™s frustrating when oneâ€™s feet are not up to the job, when the rest of you - legs, hips, stamina etc. - are doing just fine.

We stopped at a couple of lochs along the way for moody photographs and wind-blown hair. You go through fine moorland - some people donâ€™t like the moors, but I am a Moore, and I love them. Yes, theyâ€™re bleak and monotonous, but itâ€™s that very wildness and emptiness which attracts me to them. Most of our lives are too full to begin with, so the space is really cleansing.

In time we made it to Ullapool, one of the ports which will get you to the Orkney Isles. We did some browsing in tourist shops, and wandered around the harbour, where we saw a seal up close and personal, swimming through the water. There were fishing boats and piles of fishing gear; this is a working type place, though also a tourist centre (I actually donâ€™t like the tourist part of it; I find the fishing part of it more interesting).

We nipped into a cafÃ© for lunch. Had fish and chips and verily were they tasty - and copious. I donâ€™t even want to think about how much good Weight Watchers TM work I have undone these last weeks. ;-)

After lunch, Dad drove us up the road a bit further so I could get a glimpse of Stac Pollaidh - pronounced Stack Polly - an old favourite. I think itâ€™s a volcanic upshoot, and it rises right up from the valley floor and has a narrow ridge and a crinkly top. I have climbed it and worked the mobile ham radio from up there. Itâ€™s a wonderful view. But what I got a huge smile from was when I got up there, every single sheep turned around to look at me. I was the most exciting thing that had happened to them all day.

We tried to take the Gairloch coastal road on the way home, but the weather changed and it began to rain, so it seemed pointless - itâ€™s a twisty road and lots of effort if you canâ€™t see the marvellous scenery. But I wasnâ€™t at all disappointed, and came home well-fed and happy with life.

In the evening we looked out for an aurora. Itâ€™s a new moon and the sky was so bright, sans moon, that I am pretty sure there was an event going on - but I still havenâ€™t seen the Northern Lights.

10th November

In the morning Dad took me down to Fortrose so that I could visit its ruined cathedral. Itâ€™s made of red sandstone and must once have been very grand, but I found it disappointing that itâ€™s fenced off and you canâ€™t walk inside, like you could at Beauly Abbey. I find that when youâ€™re inside you get a better feel for a place, but this was like viewing an art gallery - you can only view it passively.

A funeral started at the church next door; a piper in a kilt moved outside and started to play. Itâ€™s a sad, plaintive sound, one Iâ€™ve always found stirring. When you get a bunch of pipes together and do the harmonies, itâ€™s absolutely bone-tingling. We were intruding, though, and got out of the way to leave them in peace. (I overheard the foreman of a group of workmen telling his team that there was a funeral on so they wouldnâ€™t be doing any loud hammering or other such until it was open - there was a real air of respect.)

We headed next to Dingwall; I needed a bit more cash since I was soon to be embarking on Christmas shopping. In the bank, we bumped into Annie who was doing her weekly shop. Iâ€™m not sure who was more pleased, her or me. :: grin ::

Later, Anne showed up with Lauren. We spent a pleasant hour or so together, chatting and playing. Lauren has some Playpeople (Playmobil now) which I used to play with when I was a kid. We pushed them around together. She has a rich imaginary life and we had fun. When it came to putting the nurse and doctor Playmobils on the cowboy horses, I let her win the race. ;-)

At the end we walked out to buy eggs from the local freerange chicken place.

Things I have seen: red kites, soaring effortlessly above the field. They live up to their name with tawny foliage and a compact, efficient build. Snow on the Ben (not THE Ben, but the local Munro, which is a mountain over 3000â€™ and with certain other criteria - 277 in Scotland. I have climbed several, including at least half of the eight 4000-plus-footers. I have climbed the highest mountain in the British Isles on one of its rare fine days. The view is something Iâ€™ll never forget.) The snow only lasted overnight, like speckles of icing sugar. Rainbows, bright and colourful or pale and ghost-like.