Men in kilts. Mysterious monsters. Medieval castles. Deep fried Curly-Wurleys…Welcome to Scotland (or so I thought)…
Although I live in the UK, I’ve never once been “up north”, and the list I made to begin this post gives just a few examples of what popped into my mind’s eye when I thought of Scotland.
However, since returning from this bonney wee country, I now reminisce of glorious golden sands, cascading waterfalls, green valleys, and long winding roads that take you absolutely nowhere! Breathtaking stuff, it really was! That being said, I have to admit, I was quite disappointed not to find someone willing to deep-fry my battered Curly-Wurley.
Oh well, I guess Gairloch will have to be remembered for its scenery instead.
The road to Gairloch
Gairloch can be found in the highlands, but only after enduring a bottom-numbing journey will you find it (This is mainly due to the fact that the roads that lead you there seem only to come from the opposite side of Scotland). In our case it was an 11-hour drive, of which half of that time was travelling from Glasgow to Gairloch, via Inverness.
With our 2 huskies, Milo & Laika, requiring regular toilet breaks our 11-hour road trip was inevitablly fuelled by Greggs pastries and many McDonald’s coffees. Not the greatest adventurers diet but it got us there in the end. The journey was tiring but I have to add that the roads from Inverness to Gairloch are a pleasure to drive along. Valleys. Mountains. Loch after beautiful loch. It just felt like we were leaving the modern world behind.
Ain’t no worries in Gairloch
Stepping out of the car after an 11 hour journey would make Death Valley seem like a good place to rest but we were in the highlands of Scotland. It was slightly chilly when we arrived outside Gairloch Hotel, but this was expected as the sun had already retired for the night and we were far away from the warm Cornish shores I was more accustomed to. It was very quiet, very still, and only the sound of the waves lapping upon the darkened beach in front of the hotel broke a perfectly silent night. The moon illuminated a small church that overlooked the beach and with the peacefulness of the night it kind of felt like we were being looked after until the sun came back for another day at work.
Myself, my fiancée, and our two exhausted dogs had a well earned sleep that night. After breakfast we all went to enjoy our first day on Scotlands finest sands (which up until that day I never knew they had!)
To watch our 2 beloved huskies running free along the beaches was absolute gold. Anyone who understands anything about this breed of dog will know that very few of them are allowed to be off the lead to run free. Huskies are so easily distracted by other dogs and more often than not have no recall whatsoever. Milo and Laika certainly fall into this category. But with it being so early in the holiday season there was literally nobody around. We saw very few people outside our hotel and this meant we had 3 gorgeous beaches all to ourselves. Milo (the black/white huskie) did attempt to run off while we were at a beach named “Big sands”, but as the name suggest it was so big he just ran out of steam and once I caught up with him he willingly wandered back with me. I think the beaches of Gairloch will stay with the dogs forever and I imagine that when we return one day our two huskies will be overjoyed to be back.
Walking up an appetite
Gairloch is a tranquil place. The air is crisp and notably different from that in the city. Fresh water trickles down from every hill and into the streams that eventually feed the Atlantic Ocean. One of our days was spent walking to Flowerdale waterfalls on a route that follows a wonderful streams all the way to the falls. Walking through the woods with nothing but the sound or tumbling water is something that really allows you to switch off. I often catch myself while I’m on holiday and take a moment to appreciate what a beautiful world we live in. This was certainly one of those moments. What I didn’t realise was that the landscape was about to go from beautiful to spectacular…
CT
Places like this are what drone photography is all about. I’d no idea there was an entire valley beyond the waterfall and the feeling I got when I flew above the top of the fall and saw this epic valley on my monitor is something so special. Thanks to my little Mavic Pro I’d just discovered a whole new world ❤️
However, all this means nothing if after all that walking you can’t enjoy a nice cup of coffee and a slice of cake…
The Mountain Coffee Company
This wonderful little retreat was a stones throw away from our hotel and we found our way there every day. The owner was a lovely lady named Allie and while I’d like to tell you she was as Scottish as a battered Curley-Wurley, nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, Allie was a former hippy from Gloucestershire who’d purchased the shop with her husband some years back. Her hippy roots were there for all to see, with Bob Marley items all around the shop and reggae music playing on the stereo. She also promoted/sold Marley coffee, which we found out is a coffee company set up by Bobs brother. Very nice stuff. However, best of all were Allie’ homemade cakes and scones. My god, these treats are the tastiest things in the world and my partner and I were hooked after the first bite. If ever you travel to Gairloch you must visit The Mountain Coffee Company.
For those of you who’ve made it this far, I thank you for taking the journey with me. As you’ve probably gathered by now, Gairloch is a place of serenity, tranquility, and mindfulness. A place where you can really appreciate the world around you and how lucky we are to be here.
On our way home we stopped off to take a few more pictures and record one last video using my drone. It made for a perfect end to our trip and yet again Gairloch revealed more hidden beauty.
I hope you all enjoy this video as much as we enjoyed visiting Gairloch.
(For best results, please switch video to highest resolution and watch in full screen)
Thank you to everyone who took the time to read my post. It’s always very much appreciated ❤️