Hurricanes & Sunstroke

I did a previous post about Ardnamurchan and Scotland, but I think Portuairk/Kilmory needs a post of it’s own.
Portuairk – or Port Uairce in Gaelic – is where we stay in Scotland. It’s a little ‘township’ in Ardnamurchan. It’s one of my favourite places ever.

My holiday starts around 2am, when we set off for the long journey to the highlands. Very early morning, we usually cross the Scottish border on the M6 with a big sign saying ‘Welcome To Scotland’ and then ‘Fàilte Gu Alba’ in Scottish Gaelic. I love that the signs have Gaelic underneath. I know Lighthouse isTaigh Solais in Gaelic!

But Portuairk has to be one of my favourite places ever. I’ve always loved the country, the open and fresh air. Getting away from all the people, getting away from the city and leaving civilisation. I love the fact that I don’t get any phone signal (there are very few places where you can possibly get a signal). I love the fact that I have a two second walk to the beach, a two second walk to beautifully clear – albeit very cold – sea to paddle or swim in. I’ve never found sea like Portuairk. I’ve been on holiday, and I live on the east coast I don’t have too far to go for the beach; but nothing has ever beat Scottish water. I think no matter where I go, Scotland will be the place I discovered snorkling so it’ll always hold something for me. I’d love to swim the great barrier rief, but at the end of the day Scotland is where I spent my childhood, it’s where I became a confident swimmer in the sea and not a swimming pool. It’s where I discovered how amazing the sea could actually be. The first few years we only really saw fish and crabs, but the last few years we went we discovered the jellyfish. Lion’s mane jellyfish to be exact, and they can be huge – they also sting so we stayed very clear of them! But me and my dad were just snorkling around the bay one year and he turned around and one was so close to him and we thought that were big but then we saw it’s mother and thought nup, lets head somewhere else!

Dad got close enough for a picture (using the underwater camera we bought) but there was no way I was getting close to them … I’ve seen Finding Nemo!

 

 

 

 

 

 

My favourite beach is on Portuairk. I love playing on there with the local dogs – Kenzie and Murphey. They belong to the couple that we rent the caravans from. Kenzie is a working sheep dog but sometimes is allowed out to come play with us and is the softest sheep dog ever. I love Kenzie, he’s climbed the mountain with us, gone rock clambering with us, played fetch with the toys we bring up or with any sticks we find! He plays along the water with us when we paddle and is just generally a lovely gorgeous dog!! Murphey is a huge Newfoundland who is, again, daft as a brush. He’s lovely .. he slavours a lot .. but he tags along on the beach with us sometimes and he’s fun to paddle with. They’re lovely dogs and pretty much everyone in Portuairk (and on Ardnamurchan) know the dogs!

This bear is Murphey. He’s paddled with us a few times these past couple of years, we’ve tried playing fetch but he wasn’t too interested in bring the ball back to us – plus with all the saliva on the ball I don’t think you’d really want it back. But he’s gorgeous.

 

 

And this beauty is Kenzie. He’s the most child friendly dog I’ve ever met! All he wants to do is play, so if you find a stick or happen to have a tennis ball then you’re done for a couple of hours.
*This photo was taken by my dad in 2014*

 

I couldn’t imagine a beach nicer than Portuairk. I mean, don’t get me wrong I’d love to visit The Maldives; but Scotland is as close to the white sand and clear sea I’ll get until I’m in a good paying job! And I’m happy enough with it!!

This is the beach when the tide is out. The rocks on the right are where we jump off when the tide comes in – it comes very far in and you can see the tide line on the rocks. It gets deep enough to dive and jump in and have loads of fun! The water is freezing though, so wetsuits seriously are a must! I couldn’t imagine swimming in the sea without my gear; Swimsuit, rash vest, wetsuit, socks – yes, socks – flippers and snorkel. The initial getting in is the worst, it’s freezing and usually includes a lot of shouting, but once you’ve been swimming for a couple of minutes you can’t remember how cold it was because you’re used to it. If you stop then it soon starts to remind you, but if you ‘just keep swimming’ than it’s pleasent enough!

This one was taken as the tide was coming in. The whole beach is covered and the rock where we dive can just be seen. This whole section on the right that’s full of water is usually sand and rocks to walk down onto the open bit of beach – so as seen the tide comes in far.

Another thing we’ve done on holiday, is the drive to Ockle. On this drive we see lots of deer usually. Last year, my dad was telling me and my sister about how when he was young (he visited Ardnamurchan during his childhood in the 70s) he’d sit in the back of the car with his older sister when seatbelts weren’t a thing in the back of cars and they’d hang out of the window. The open roads are visible for long stretches so they were able to see cars coming towards them from quite far away so they knew when to sit back down. But me and my sister can’t do that, so instead, we sat in the boot of the car with the car lid open and watched the scenery as dad drove to Ockle. Dad stayed in Kilmory – Cill Mhoire – with my Grandparents and his siblings when they were young, and to get to Ockle we go through Kilmory so he loves to revisit where he used to stay.
We did it one evening last year, and we saw a gorgeous sunset over Kilmory looking out to the islands and sea, it was lovely.

I put my camera on sunset mode here and it made the photo look spectacular! Purples and pinks and just so picturesque.

The drive to Kilmory is definitely a must one evening – or the day time if you want to visit Kilmory Beach.

 

 

I feel like there’s so much more I can say, there’s so many more picture I want to show. But whatever I say, whatever I show; it’s not going to do it justice. It’s somewhere you have to visit, experience to say just how nice it is. But it’s somewhere I would recommend in a heart beat. My Grandparents took my dad as a child in the 70s – he really was young, only about 4 but he still remembers his childhood memories from there! My dad has taken me and my sister as children, and we’ve also brought my Grandma and Grandad back again. They’ve all said that basically nothing has changed in 40 years, and I’m guessing it won’t change much in another 40 years. We’ve taken my Mums parents too who love it just as much as we do! Hopefully, when I have children I’ll be able to take my family there to make new memories.

*This is my Dad, Mum, Me, Nanna and Sister in 2014, the year of the hurricane*.

I think this shows just how the weather can be there. We’ve had gorgeous sunny days where my Nanna once got heatstroke. We’ve had a year when we had rain 90% of the time because we got the back end of a hurricane. You’re not gaurenteed anything, but then you are. You’re gaurenteed the gorgeous scenery! People often ask where I’ve been abroad when I show them the photos from my holidays and they’re always surprised when I tell them I’ve been in the Highlands of Scotland.

 

 

 

Ardnamurchan, Scotland.

Ardnamurchan, Scotland. Aka. My paradise.

 

Ardnamurchan Point is the most westerly point on the British mainlands, right in the Highlands of Scotland. It is beautiful, peaceful, full of wildlife, gorgeous beaches and just serenity.

I have been visiting Ardnamurchan since 2003 with my family and I love it now as much – if not more – than I did since the first day I went. I fell in love with the the scenery, how quiet it was and just how beautiful Scotland is and we’ve gone every year since – This year being the first year in over 10 that we haven’t been.

We stay in Portuairk in a caravan literally 20 seconds away from the beach. It’s so remote there that usually, we had the beach to ourselves; we classed it crowded when two families were on the beach at the same time it is that remote.

Portuairk beach has gorgeous white sand, clear blue sea and lots of rocks around to climb on and go rockpooling. The sealife is great, we snorkled so often with the fish and crabs – and also jellyfish which appeared the last couple of years we were there! When the tide came in, we jumped off the rocks and swam around the rocks looking at all the different fish which sometimes came up to you if you stopped swimming and just stayed still.

I’ll admit, sometimes the weather was shocking, one year we got the back end of a hurricane so it was very wet and very cold! But even then I loved being there. There’s something about Ardnamurchan that just makes me happy. The last couple of years I visited there, I was very stressed with university etc. and other personal issues but while I was there, I had days where I was able to put them to the back of my mind and enjoy myself and it felt so good.

Down at the end of the lane, you can sit on the rocks with your feet dipped in the ocean and it is amazingly peaceful. All you can hear is the waves of the sea, the wind around the trees, the sheep, the birds, and the peace and quiet. No city noise. No people. I remember sitting there one evening watching the sun set across the mountains with a storm rolling in from the islands (Eigg, Rum, Canna & Muck) listening to the waves and watching two little seals play about in the water. It was so peaceful and beautiful.

Ardnamurchan lighthouse is a great place to visit while there. They have a nice little tearoom with local paintings of the surrounding landspace – we actually bought one for above our logburner – and also a little gift shop where I still have some of the little ornaments I bought at 7 years old in my bedroom now. You can go up the lighthouse, over 100 steps, to see the fantastic view – if it isn’t all stormy and cloudy – of the islands while a tour guide is giving a talk about the history of the lighthouse. While up there last year we saw a dolphin and seals swimming about in the water. It’s a fantastic view up at the top when you step outside and on a clear day you can see for miles!

 

Down at the bottom of the lighthouse, theres a little room you can sit in if you don’t want to stay outside on a cold day, or you can walk around outside and look at the view. We have heard of people seeing whales, sharks etc. there but we’ve only ever seen a dolphin until last year when a man pointed out a basking shark to us! So I have now actually seen a shark which was really fascinating (although we really only saw most of the fin but still, a basking shark!). In 2014 when there was a big storm night (hurricane year) we actually drove up to the lighthouse to watch the storm – wrapped up very well in about 10 jackets wellies raincoats scarves etc. in the middle of August – but it was great fun! Watching the huge waves bash over the rocks as the huge black clouds made everything look very ominous; I found it fascinating and cold. I managed to get some good pictures before the rain pelted down on us forcing us back to the warmth of the caravan with heating and blankets.

**This photo was taken by my Grandad at the top of Ardnamurchan lighthouse**

Highland cows are beautiful, they’re so cute and lovely and there are a lot of them around Ardnamurchan. As we were driving back to Portuairk once there were a few walking casually along the road not bothered by us in the car one bit. We managed to get some good photos of them before they finally moved so we could drive on. They’re just too cute.

We also see a lot of deer. We go for evening drives around to Kilmory and Ockle as we know that seems to be the spot to see a herd of deer, and again, they’re so cute. The big stags with their huge antlers standing with the doe and fawn just roaming around the mountains and forests. We did also see a few deer when we were at the lighthouse one evening.

 

I love the Scottish accent, and it is strong up in the Highlands; I love the Scottish culture, I know I’m being very stereotypical here, but I love the bagpipes – when played correctly – and I love tartan and I love highland cows! One morning, we took a drive to Kilchoan to the little local shop (by local I mean a 40 minute drive) and as we rounded the corner I saw a man stood outside by the sea with a kilt on playing the bagpipes. It made me smile so much it was a typical scottish stereotype and I loved it! (I also heard someone say murder in a very scottish accent that day and I was ecstatic).

The Isle Of Mull is somewhere to have a day trip while you’re in Ardnamurchan. You can get the ferry across to Mull and we dock in at Tobermory. Tobermory is where Balamory, the childrens TV show, was filmed. It’s also a beautiful place to look around with some gorgeous views if you walk to the top of the hills (or get the bus!). As a child I loved going there! Me and my sister got photos next to the coloured houses from the TV show, we went in the little shops and bought souvenirs. We went last year too, just for a day out and we decided to also get on a bus and just have a ride across the island – this was great to do as we saw a lot of the island and we got off in a little village there and had a cup of tea and a quick walk around before getting the bus back to Tobermory. We got fish and chips from the Fish & Chips Van on Fishermans Pier (Archie The Inventer sings a song and this pier is featured in that video). The fish and chips were lovely and I remembered watching Balamory and seeing the place where we sat on TV. It’s beautiful with all the coloured houses along the harbour and it’s a great day out!! In 2004, on our way up to Scotland one year we actually met the actor who played PC Plum in Balamory and I’m pretty sure it made mine and my sisters entire holiday!

Oban is a place we visit while we are up in Scotland too, usually to get a bit of shopping and to get out and see something new for the day. It’s a nice harbour town with lots of typical scottish tourist shops – which I love to go shopping in! They sell good shortbread, nice tartan scarves etc. I love it. You can go on boat rides to see seals or whales, we did the seal trip and definitely wasn’t disappointed. Last year we did pick a bad day to go with it thundering and lightening and drowning us with rain, it was the worst rain I’ve seen up there. But all the other times we’ve gone it’s been lovely weather warm enough to wear jeans and a tshirt. We visited McCaig’s Tower which was nice to visit last year and gives a really good view of Oban.

I’ve probably not sold anyone with my talk of the weather there when a lot of people go away for their summer to hot countries, but I love Scotland. I don’t care if we get a few days with rain, I expect rain in Scotland. The rain doesn’t stop me swimming, I’m going to get wet anyway so I may as well get in the water. We have lovely weather there too. Yeah it doesn’t reach 30c, but I don’t want that, I hate really hot weather. But when the sun shines on Portuairk beach, when I can feel the sun on my back as I stand in the water looking out to the islands and all I can hear are the birds and the waves. I know I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. I know that I’d take a week with a bit of rain over a cramped beach in Spain where you can’t look at the sand because there are so many people on there. I wouldn’t want to be sat by a hotel pool with 100 other people. I want to be on a gorgeous beach in the middle of the highlands with hardly any people around me at all where I can relax and enjoy myself.

I just think the highlands of Scotland are beautiful. Glen Coe is something you can’t explain well enough, driving through the mountains watching the waterfalls through the hills. Driving through cloud or sunshine, or both in the space of 10 minutes. I love it.