#NC500 Day 8 - From Tongue to Lochinver With Caves, Bridges & A Zipwire
Published On Thursday 13 Jul 2023 by Sticky Beak
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Blimey, that was the best nights’ kip so far! If I could take the bed at Tigh-Nan-Ubhal back to the ‘shire with me, I would. For once, when the alarm went off I was bouncing like Tigger into the amply double shower – I even beat The Man Bird to it, and that has never happened before!
A steaming mug of tea awaited me as I walked back through to the bedroom; it’s only taken the best part of a quarter century, but the training finally seems to have sunk in LOL. Dressed, and firing on all cylinders, we made our way to up the main house for breakfast and, given the standard of Angela’s efforts so far, we were very much looking forward to a good feast.
Our expectations were more than met! Warm toast and freshly brewed tea were placed before us and we were encouraged to help ourselves to Forest Fruits medley and fresh fruit; His Nibs had a Banana, and I had the fruit medley with a pot of organic natural yoghurt. Then came the full fry-ups – mine with the kipper I’d requested. Everything was top-quality: thick farmhouse Bacon, free-range eggs, absolutely delicious Haggis and gorgeously squishy grilled Tomato.
With our bellies full it was time to hit the road to Smoo Caves; good job we’d got some energy because the steps down are quite steep...and obviously it’s a tiring walk back up them! The recent heavy rain made the water rush in the caves, which was lovely, but the downside was that there was a risk of the inner cave flooding, so the boat tour wasn’t running.
However, just up the road from Smoo Caves, the Golden Eagle Zip Line was open for business so I was first in line to fly along and take in the view of breath-taking, golden sanded Ceannbeinne beach. This experience costs £15 per person, though be aware that there weight constraints due to the harnesses available.
Safety helmets are also provided. After woop-wooping my way along the zip-line, His Nibs and I had a walk down to Ceannbeinne beach together and it was every bit as lovely on the ground as it had been from the air. The tide was out and there were lots of little rock pools to explore; the couple we explored had Crabs, Whelks and Seaweed in.
Hitting the road again, we remembered that there is another Cocoa Mountain site at Balnakeil, so we stopped there for a bit of indulgence and a toilet break. These guys really know how to tempt you (not that we need any persuading!) and offer a chocolate chaser with hot drinks: a selection of 4 chocolates for an extra £2.50 - we had Orange Geranium (white), Lemon Turkish (dark choc), Redbush Ginger and Honey (milk) and Darkest Lime (high cocoa Dark). There’s also a nifty little block of art and craft units to go and shop in.
The road from Balnakeil to Scourie is what we’ve all come for on the NC500: dramatic scenery, twisty-turny roads, and bridges over water that’s rushing down from the hills, pushing its way through the rocks. On this stretch of road, may I suggest letting the locals past you: a) it’s polite and good etiquette on the NC500 route, and b) you can then follow their lead ‘cos they know the roads inside out. We stopped off at Scourie beach; it’s not the biggest, but it’s nice enough to have a paddle in once you’ve made your way over the pebbles. There’s also a community bird hide here, so ‘twitchers’ will be in their element; alas there’re no toilets, and the parking is fairly limited.
From this point until Kylesku, the road is popular with cyclists, so be aware of this when driving – no collisions, please! Kylescu Waterfall is the UK’s highest waterfall, but unfortunately we didn’t have time to visit it, although there are boat tours from the harbour. We were on a mission to walk to the Allt Cranaidh (Wailing Widow) falls, about a 20 minute walk from the road.
The one thing I am going to say about this walk (which is well worth it, by the way) is DO NOT do it in trainers! Walking boots are definitely needed to support the feet and ankles, as the terrain is very uneven and a little unstable in parts. The recent rain has been soaking through the peat bogs and is now showing up in the velocity of water at these falls, so they really were dramatic when we visited.
Our next stop was Achmelvich Beach; another single track, twisty-turny drive, but worth the detour off the main road. Lots of families were enjoying the sunshine when we arrived and kids were in their element making sandcastles and generally hooning around in the sea. I smiled as the warm sand crunched beneath my toes, but I didn’t go swimming as there were lots of jellyfish get washed ashore; instead I just had a paddle in the clear shallows as they lapped at the sand. This is a perfect spot for SUP, surfing or even sailing at, and all 3 activities were taking place whilst we were there.
By this time it was late afternoon, and we jumped back in the jalopy to make our way to our accommodation for the night: Bonnie Haven Guest House in Lochinver. We’ve been incredibly fortunate with our accommodation, but this particular venue wins the gold medal for quirkiness and views!! Our spacious bedroom was accessed up a spiral staircase, and we had a lovely relaxing area, complete with chairs, table and host tray that looked out over the picturesque harbour; truly paradise on the NC500!
Our food that night was coming from local restaurant, Peets, though there is another good choice apparently: Delilahs. I shall let you know how we fare...
We rocked up at Peets for our 7.30pm reservation a little early, having left ourselves plenty of time for a leisurely stroll from Bonnie Haven, around the village and harbour, to the restaurant. Thanks to the beautiful evening weather, the wooden deck terrace was buzzing with diners – this area is dog –friendly and plenty of furries had hopeful looks in their eyes as their hoomans tucked in. A lovely lady greeted us at the check-in point and showed us to our window table; as I looked out, I could see our beautiful triangular accommodation in the distance.
His Nibs is a recent convert to Scallops and is loving them, so when he spied the roe-on ones, he was game to give them a go. I ordered the shell-off Langoustines, opting for them warm with Lemon Butter, rather than cold with Marie Rose sauce- how lovely to have the option? We treated ourselves to a bottle of Sauv Blanc and our server brought out some chilled table water too. It was a little wait for our starters to arrive – 8.12pm was when His Nibs took the photo!
We’ve seen some large Scallops in our time, but these ones were HUGE! Each pearly white morsel was beautifully moist and sweet, with a satisfyingly meaty texture. Served with possibly the thinnest, crispiest Pancetta that was divinely flavoursome and an equally superb Pea Purée, His Nibs was bowled over by his choice...even the richer, ‘fishier’ roe! My shell-off Langoustines (although naked, and therefore smaller, visually) were a very impressive size, and the flavour? OMG! Sweet, fragrant, seductive – they were delicious!! So far, so pretty spot-on, but then it unravelled...
Our main courses (Moules Frites for me, Stag/Venison Bangers and Mash with Red Currant sauce for The Man) still were nowhere to be seen at 9pm!! By this time, we’d lost the out-for-the-night mood, so cancelled our order – expressing our dissatisfaction to the manager, paid the bill, and left. Now, I don’t expect a freebie, but when something goes as wrong as it clearly had, I would expect some sort of recompense; none was offered. And, guys, if there’s a problem, communicate it to your customers; being kept in the loop really does soften the mood, plus it gives people the chance to decide the best option for them re: staying or going.
We got back to Bonnie Haven a bit disgruntled and messaged the restaurant to convey our feelings and it only happened to be the owner, David, that was handling that nights’ social posts, and he was mortified at what had happened, understandably. To give credit where it’s due, David was straight on it, offering us a table the next night and a full refund of our bill. We were only staying the one night in Lochinver, so couldn’t take him up in his kind offer. Undeterred (and with a determination that has to be admired) David arranged for steak sandwiches to be delivered to Bonnie Haven, with wine, as a personal apology. Given that the biscuits on our host tray at Bonnie Haven (though scrummy!) hadn’t quelled our hunger, we accepted David’s offer.
15 minutes later, David was pulling up at Bonnie Haven with Rib-Eye Steak sandwiches, fries, a bottle of Sauv Blanc, and some wholegrain mustard...along with lemon hand refresh wipes and napkins. As far as Rib-Eye steak goes, you couldn’t ask for tastier pieces than the ones encased in soft, grain bread that we were tucking into; the meat melted on our tongues, so tender was it. Despite travelling to get to us, the fries were still lovely and hot, with crisp outers. The richness of the Rib-Eye and fries was balanced superbly by the crisp, cold wine and, despite the evening having started off a bit lack-lustre, it ended really nicely.
Whilst there’s no denying that the Peet’s team could’ve handled the situation better on-site (but, hey, it’s a learning curve, right?), David Peet himself turned our frowns upside-down and rescued the occasion. If we found ourselves in Lochinver again, His Nibs and I both agreed that we’d give Peets another chance; the food that we had had in the restaurant was excellent, and sometimes there are circumstances that are beyond any venue’s control.
Fingers crossed for no technical issues with breakfast at Bonnie Haven in the morning!!
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