Ullapool, Scotland

Coming into Ullapool, Scotland.

Last night we were told the winds would be bad and the seas rough, and there was a definitive possibility we might not be able to visit Ullapool, as it was a tender port.  So, poor weather would be a problem.  Well, we awoke to smooth water and an alarm clock.

The welcoming party!

Our tour was to meet at 9AM to head to the tender.  We arrived in the theatre at 9:00 (walked in 8:59:56) and of course we were sent straight to the gangway (not the gangplank…the gangWAY).  As the tender arrived, we were greeted by a kilt wearing bagpipe player, and a pair of playful seals.  (We learned later the seals like it when the big (tenders) come in, since they stir up the bottom and liberate all sorts of food from their hiding places!

We were NOT the last on the bus, but we managed our mid-back seats.  Our tour guide, Fiona, was from the area, and had such an epitomic, Gaelic accent with a sing-song rhythm, it made me wonder if it was an act!! 

Also there to greet us.

We head in to our first spot, Corrieshalloch Gorge.  Corrieshalloch means “ugly hollow”, which does make one wonder about it point on a tour.  This little stream cut through the land and sat at the bottom of a deep(ish) gorge, with stone waterfalls along the way.  Partway down a walk is a suspension bridge (Sir John Fowler’s Bridge) over the gorge.  It’s not the prettiest thing, but it is 150 years old, so I guess it’s fine.  Also, it sways.  And there was a sign on both sides of the bridge CLEARLY conveying the load limit was 6 people.  It even showed six people and the seventh had a big (red?) X over him.  So naturally we found the bridge with about 22 people or so trying to cross both ways.  The path continued to an overlook which jutted out and was rock solid and steel.  Well, this where some people told other people about the six-person limit, which they though meant the overlook, and they were rigorously self-policing, not allowing that 7^th person to stray on the steel cantilever structure.  (face palm)  But the main part of the stop was seemingly to experience the midges in full force.  Midges, or “no see ums”, are these tiny bugs almost too small to see, but they BITE!!  And swarm!!  And BITE!!!  The whole group was swatting and flailing and trying to whisk them away for the entire walk.  Our guide told us we could break off a fern branch and use it to fan them away, which seemed to have about 30-50% effect.  We will quickly forget this gorge, but the midges we will etch into our memoirs!

Birch trees along the way.

The bridge.  "And we were swinging..."

The gorge.  Isn't it gorge-ous?

Heather.  And Heather.  And Foxglove (ignore that).

Back on the bus we headed to a spot where we could take a short walk and look at heather.  Oh, the three kinds of heather of Scotland, the one kind… the other kind… and a third kind!  They had colors.  I don’t know.  Here’s a picture.  The Foxglove across the picture is not heather.

The delightful brownish waters from the peat bogs.

The beach!

Our third stop was a beach.  Gruinard Beach.  Overlooking Gruinard island.  In Gruinard Bay.  The beach did not beckon towels and swimwear.  But we touched the water and decided it was the “Atlantic” so that counted for something.

Ah, the beaches of Scotland!

The road our bus went up to turn around.  Nice slope!!

The beach.

Ye olde Gaelic names!

When the bus arrived back at the port, we headed to the very little church, confirmed it was locked, and reaffirmed our decision that a 2:30 Mass was not a great option to the 2:30 last tender back, and back we went.  On the ship, lunch was our priority since they stopped serving soon.  So we grabbed something at the grill, and Bill discovered the Grolsch they had been out of so long was FINALLY restocked, but still warm.  Worth it.  Over lunch, Theresa could see dolphins playing between the ship and the shore, jumping and flopping on their bellies multiple times.  She was very happy.  But they stopped every time Bill turned to try to see.

Ullapool.

The instant we left, he dove, probably checking out the bottom!

A quick nap and we were ready for trivia.  Our usual third couple did not show, and the back up third couple was not there, so when another couple asked, we let them join us.  The back showed up, but graciously moved to another group (who ultimately won!).  We nailed our usual 4^th place (points going only to the first 3 places). 

We had dinner in the main dinning room.  The head waiter recommended the Sea Bass, which Theresa thought was fantastic!  Bill had coconut ice cream for dessert, which was incredible!!

We saw the comedian this evening.  He was amusing.  

Sneak Peak at the storm.

Tomorrow…we’ll see.  After all aboard, the Captain made an announcement.  Storm Floris is moving in, and by all accounts, it seems to want to be remembered.  So, it will hit the West side of Ireland with vigor, and move across the island still being a menace on the East side, where we plan to dock tomorrow.  So, the Captain told us we needed to be docked by 7AM if at all possible, or we might not be able to at all.  THEN he said “We have a 50/50 chance” going on to point out if we didn’t, we’d need to find a place to ride out the storm (tho there is nowhere to run and hide).  This got repeated more or less at our Trivia group, but the one person took it as “We have a 50/50 chance…” without enough context.  She seemed to have a face of “there’s a 50% chance we’re all going to die”.  It was sort of funny! (I don’t think we’re all going to die tomorrow.  But the blog posting with be your confirmation. (Cliff hanger?))