Highland Insider

It’s official – our move west was Worth While. I knew that already, but the PL proved it today by stepping outside at lunch time, sniffing the air and deciding to go kayaking. He was loaded up by ten to one and on the water at Ardmair Bay by ten past. A couple of hours paddling around Rhue and Isle Martin and he’s home again, all glowing and at one with the world.

I was left at home working, of course, but he assures me that he enjoyed it enough for both of us.

He didn’t take the camera but here’s a pic of Isle Martin from a previous visit.

No posts since June, but I have a note from my mum to say I was too busy upping sticks to log on.

You’ll notice the view at the top of the page has changed. We’ve left Nairnshire and headed west to that magical bit of coast where our hearts have been twiddling their thumbs for years, waiting for us to catch up with them and move there. It took longer than planned as Nairnshire turned put to be more lovely and interesting than we ever expected, but we wrenched ourselves away at last and here we are, in a seaside village, renting a house while we look for our own place.

The view’s certainly different – it’s weird to be living on a street again, even a small, quiet one, after years in the hills. But just beyond the streetlamps are hills more rugged and sunlit than any we had before, and just round the corner is Loch Broom leading out to sea and the Summer Isles. So we’re happy to be here for a while, enjoying the convenience of having two bookshops and several pubs and cafes nearby, not to mention the local market which is a treat for anyone keen on beautiful arts and crafts and seriously good food. The market is only on once a month during the winter so we’re looking forward to our first visit on Saturday.

Nosy Norris is missing the woods but loving the beach and riverside, and making us lots of new acquaintences whenever we take her out.

The village is a lively wee place and we’re almost overwhelmed with the sudden choice of things to do. Which pub to try this time? A potter in one of the bookshops? A live music session? There’s even a cinema in a van that parks up every few weeks. We’ve got a few months here to try them all, if we want to. But we won’t forget to just sit back now and again, and enjoy our new view.

Ardmair Bay from the campsite

Every week The Guardian newspaper invites readers to send in travel tips. Last week’s subject was ‘Beachside Campsites Around the World’ so I sent in a tip about Ardmair Point in Wester Ross which I’ve written about before, here.

My tip was selected for printing in Saturday’s travel section and if you’re looking for a good beachside campsite, you can read it online here. You can also search for the other tips in the section, including one about Skye and one on Mull – Scotland was well represented!

There have been dreadful pictures on the news this week of wildfires eating up moorland and trees in some of the most beautiful parts of the highlands. Amazingly, the firefighting teams seem to be getting the blazes under control and no-one has been hurt, but it’s bad news for the curlews, golden plovers and other ground-nesting birds that will have eggs in their scrapes just now.

I’ve been trying to find out whether the wonderful Achins Bookshop at Inverkirkaig has been affected as it’s around there that the Sutherland fires have been spreading. Thankfully there’s been no mention of any building being affected so far, although residents have been evacuated. I’ve been going to Achins for the books, scones and coffee since I was a wee girl and if the wooden shop was lost I’d be only one of many who would shed a very big tear. Here’s wishing a safe outcome for Achins, the Dixon family who run it and all their neighbours.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-13276969

Sailors and fishermen may think that God provided the north west coast just for them, with its scattering of tiny islands, shoals of easily-conned mackerel and deep, clear waters. But they’re wrong, of course. This ocean playground of isolated sandy coves, long horizons and close-up wildlife was surely designed just for the kayaker.

No-one else gets so close to the water, whether it’s sparkling blue or khaki-grey; no-one else is quiet enough to get close to the more shy of the birds and mammals that live there, nor slow enough to spot them. Paddling a kayak, you can concentrate on your surroundings; on a calm day you can even go along with your eyes shut for a bit and really tune into the sounds of the sea and how the salty air feels on your skin.

Saturday morning was like that as we eased our way out of Ardmair Bay, just north of Ullapool. It was an easy put-in, even if we hadn’t been staying at the adjacent campsite, with parking for several cars right next to the beach. It only took a few steps over the curiously flat pebbles to reach the water’s edge, where the shoreline is handily steep. We got off to a perfect start, watched from the parking bay by an envious grey-haired motor-biker who’d been unable to resist the view. (more…)

I’m happy to announce that my husband and I have officially reached the point of maximum harmony and maturity in our marriage. I can gauge this accurately by the fact that we managed, on Saturday 21st June 2008, to pitch a tent together without breaking into muttered name-calling arguments and sniping at each other for the rest of the day. Not only that, but it was a brand new tent with clever bendy poles that criss-cross each other in amazing and innovative ways that reminded me of playing Twister at student parties. Quite an achievement, eh?

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