05-08-2023, 12:43 PM
Day 6
The Ceilidh was fun and the beer tasty – we’d slept well and the sun was out! I checked the plugs, turning the engine over carefully I could no longer hear any air leaks, hopefully the silicone would work long enough for us to complete the journey.
We packed up the tent and walked on the wonderful sands, it was a glorious day and we were reluctant to leave. But leave we did and just in time – the heavens opened and rain fell very hard indeed. At Poolewe we stopped and sought shelter in a café, the warm soup was good. Seeing the open cars, the Norwegian owner, allowed us to lurk in the doorway until “less” rain fell. Eventually we made run for it, jumped in the cars and headed off. I put the hood and sidescreens up, Tanya elected to drive with the Ulster hood down, the visibility is very poor with it up.
The road follows the coast through Laid and Grunaird Island, normally views of Lewis are possible but the cloud was dark and low. Rain poured and poured, water ran down the road and burns were dark and bubbling. At Little Loch Broom the road opens up and we could motor, the Ulster was running well and the repair was holding, for now.
As we came down the incline I saw vehicles stopped, hazard lights on, and lots of water across the road. We parked up and surveyed the situation. Millions of tonnes of water was pouring down off the mountain, converging at one point, the bridge below the road we had to cross! The road ahead was flooded and I was concerned that it may be deeper than our trailer. I walked out as far as could and watched another vehicle come through, chose my path and headed off. All went as well as can be expected until we reached the point where the river crossed under the road, the noise of the water incredible, it thundered beneath us and the air pressure slapped the side of the car. Such was the shock of this assault from nature, I nearly stopped. The girls kept an eye on the trailer and felt sure that it had not “gone under”. I walked back to guide Tanya though the route I had taken. Once on the other side we could see the full route of the water, it’s power was extraordinary and I wondered in the road might be swept away. Having taken our fill we left for Ullapool, still shaking, slightly.
https://youtu.be/Y693ZQT_iIw
https://youtu.be/1S5r5g49LlA
It was very wet in Ullapool and I shopped for two day’s worth of meals, everyone joined me inside, it was warm!
Our campsite that night was at Ardmair Point, just north of Ullapool itself. The site was small and well resourced, we removed our damp sleeping bags and placed them in the huge dryer – it worked very well and on tumbling each of us held the warm bags against us, saying nothing, just enjoying heat. We ate in the tent again, played games and read books, the rain continued, all night!
The Ceilidh was fun and the beer tasty – we’d slept well and the sun was out! I checked the plugs, turning the engine over carefully I could no longer hear any air leaks, hopefully the silicone would work long enough for us to complete the journey.
We packed up the tent and walked on the wonderful sands, it was a glorious day and we were reluctant to leave. But leave we did and just in time – the heavens opened and rain fell very hard indeed. At Poolewe we stopped and sought shelter in a café, the warm soup was good. Seeing the open cars, the Norwegian owner, allowed us to lurk in the doorway until “less” rain fell. Eventually we made run for it, jumped in the cars and headed off. I put the hood and sidescreens up, Tanya elected to drive with the Ulster hood down, the visibility is very poor with it up.
The road follows the coast through Laid and Grunaird Island, normally views of Lewis are possible but the cloud was dark and low. Rain poured and poured, water ran down the road and burns were dark and bubbling. At Little Loch Broom the road opens up and we could motor, the Ulster was running well and the repair was holding, for now.
As we came down the incline I saw vehicles stopped, hazard lights on, and lots of water across the road. We parked up and surveyed the situation. Millions of tonnes of water was pouring down off the mountain, converging at one point, the bridge below the road we had to cross! The road ahead was flooded and I was concerned that it may be deeper than our trailer. I walked out as far as could and watched another vehicle come through, chose my path and headed off. All went as well as can be expected until we reached the point where the river crossed under the road, the noise of the water incredible, it thundered beneath us and the air pressure slapped the side of the car. Such was the shock of this assault from nature, I nearly stopped. The girls kept an eye on the trailer and felt sure that it had not “gone under”. I walked back to guide Tanya though the route I had taken. Once on the other side we could see the full route of the water, it’s power was extraordinary and I wondered in the road might be swept away. Having taken our fill we left for Ullapool, still shaking, slightly.
https://youtu.be/Y693ZQT_iIw
https://youtu.be/1S5r5g49LlA
It was very wet in Ullapool and I shopped for two day’s worth of meals, everyone joined me inside, it was warm!
Our campsite that night was at Ardmair Point, just north of Ullapool itself. The site was small and well resourced, we removed our damp sleeping bags and placed them in the huge dryer – it worked very well and on tumbling each of us held the warm bags against us, saying nothing, just enjoying heat. We ate in the tent again, played games and read books, the rain continued, all night!