Tag: Achosnich

50th Birthday Holiday 9: Achosnich and Portuairk

A look at the areas closest to where we were staying. Most of the pictures come from two walks to and from Portuairk, but some were taken through the car window, and some just outside out converted caravan.

This is the ninth post in my series about my recent holiday in Scotland. Achosnich, where we were staying can barely said to be a place at all – about five houses clustered immediately above a road junction where the road out from Kilchoan splits into two, one leg going up through Achosnich and on to the small seaside village of Portuairk and the other going to Ardnamurchan Lighthouse and the westernmost point of mainland Britain. The photos in this post were mainly taken during two walks on the Thursday, when the weather was too bad to permit major excursions.

A CONVERTED CARAVAN

The main body of the house in which we were staying started life as a caravan. To make a house of it a porch area/ utility room was added to one side of the centre of the building. This, which also houses a washing machine and drying frames, is reasonably spacious, as are the dining and living room areas, though the kitchen is cramped, and no more than one person should be trying to do things there at any one time. The main bedroom has a small amount of space around the bed, and has been painted an unappealing shade of purple. The second bedroom has a not terribly large bed with some space its foot, and a wardrobe and two drawers in one corner (these, and the frame of the wall mounted mirror are painted the same shade of purple is as on show in the master bedroom). There is just about space between the side of the bed and the wall of the bedroom to sideways shuffle along the side of the bed. The shower room has the shower cubicle itself, with a good strong protective curtain, and a tiny anteroom area where one towel can be hung on the rail. The lavatory and bathroom sink are in a similar sized ‘room’, with both being more like cupboards than real rooms.

THE WALK TO PORTUAIRK

The walk to Portuairk features some excellent views, and Portuairk itself is a very scenic village. The road continues at sea level until the start of a footpath the leads to MacNeil Bay. On these occasions I did not spend much time in the environs of Portuairk, though there will be another post later in this series from an occasion when I spent longer there.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Here are the pictures for this post…

50th Birthday Holiday 2 – Actual Arrival

An account of day two, including a walk I took after we were safely ensconced in the house at Achosnich.

Welcome to the second post in my series about my 50th birthday holiday in the far west of Scotland. I started by explaining the snags of day one and consequent rearrangement of plans. This post completes the story of getting here. Yesterday provided material for several more posts – it featured one of two major events planned for the week, the other being the birthday meal on the day itself, Saturday.

LONG AND WINDING ROADS

Though there were a few minor issues with the journey from Callander where we had overnighted on to Achosnich where we are staying for the week there was nothing to compare with the upheavals of day one. There are two land routes to the far west of Scotland, the direct route that involves using the Corran ferry and the longer route by way of Fort William. We had opted for the Corran ferry route, and until 12:20, by when we were very close to our destination there were no problems. It was then that we hit a delay in the form of a temporary road closure. Fortunately, the village of Strontian (where the metallic element Strontium was discovered in 1790 – like the four elements Ytterbium, Yttrium, Terbium and Erbium, all named for Ytterby in Sweden where they were discovered, the element is named for the village) was only a few miles behind us, and it numbers a cafe among its amenities, and since the road was reopening at 1:30 filling in the necessary amount of time was less of a drag than it might have been. Once the road reopened it took us a couple of attempts to locate the property, but we got there in the end.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Here are my photographs from the day…

We investigatred this walk early in our journey, but it was not that impressive.
The Corran lighthouse, visible from many angles while crossing on the Corran ferry.
Information boards at Strontian (five pics)
Internal decor at the cafe (four pics)
Pictures from the Strontian river (nine in total)
Even a place as remote as Strontian has a bus route.
This is the Paddle Steamer Waverley – there will be much more about this vessel and its history in later posts.
Some pictures from the house at Achnosnich
I ventured out for a walk later that afternoon.