NC500 - Gairloch to Clachtoll
We left the Sands Campsite and headed onward north towards our Inverewe Tropical Gardens – our first stop for Day 2 of our NC500.
The garden houses a range of tropical species that shouldn’t be able to grow in the chilly Scottish Highlands. The Gulf Stream flows past and creates a warmer climate along Loch Ewe, allowing palms and other tropical plants to thrive. Unfortunately, thanks to the Beast from the East and an unseasonably cold winter, the gardens were not yet in bloom. We still enjoyed a walk around the wintery grounds, even spotting a few eucalypts. When you crack their leaves between your fingers, the smell is different than back home and I wonder whether the intense Australian heat somehow distills that smell.
Back on the road and driving along the wild coastline, we came upon Gruinard Bay. The burst of the turquoise receding tide contrasted against the warm autumnal tones of the rock and hills and made for one of my favourite views of the whole NC500 – we stopped to savour it for a while.
Heading onwards, we made it to Corrieshalloch Gorge. One of the best examples of a box canyons in the UK, it is a mile long and was formed by fast melting ice at the end of the last ice age. At it’s deepest, the River Droma flows 61m below your feet as you stand on the Victorian bridge built by pioneer engineer John Fowler.
It wasn’t long before we had to jump back in the car. The drive into and out of Ullapool was along some of the most specular roads in Scotland. Mountains loom on all sides, and coastline arrives around each wind in the road. We stopped for another incredible seafood meal from the Seafood Shack in Ullapool and pushed back on the road.
A wander around Ardvrek Castle and countless unplanned stops to take in the scenery spent the rest of the afternoon as we made our way to Clachtoll Beach to set up camp for the night.
Bottle of port in hand, we headed down to the beach for the sunset. A rare, cloudless evening made for a most beautiful, soft sunset. The tones of the sky, water, rock and sands constantly shifting as the sun slipped below the horizon. And Day 2 of our NC500 trip came to a pretty picturesque end.
