A week in Kylesku – Day 8: The journey home

We had to check out by 10am so we didn't have much time this morning, just long enough to pack up our stuff and get it into the car. I did manage to make a quick video of Seren with her favourite toy, a Polar Bear hand puppet some friends gave us. she loves it, though it maybe doesn't show particularly well in this clip...


Seren and her Polar Bear from Steve Malone on Vimeo.

Before we left I wanted to have one more look for the remote for my camera that I'd dropped the night before. Although I hadn't been clever enough to take a picture of the rock before I'd ran off in an insane swarm of fury, I did find one shot where I'd accidentally gotten my hand in the frame, pointing the remote towards the camera.


I though this might give me some clue to help me pinpoint where I'd been standing. Unfortunately, it was too dark to really make anything out, just the silhouette of one of the cabins in the distance, a bit of grass and my hand, but that was about it. Luckily though I'd brought my laptop with us for the week so I was able to alter the image in photoshop to bring out some of the detail...

Armed with this clearer image I carefully made my way back out to the hill I was on the night before with my laptop in hand. I walked a little bit, opened the laptop and checked the image. Not quite right, the angle of the cabin was a little off and I didn't recognise the rock. I walked a little further out and tried again. Still not quite right, but I was getting close. A couple more times and I found it, the exact rock I'd been standing on! Everything checked out, the angle of the cabin, the grassy knoll and the rock all matched!

I was pretty pleased with myself, using technology to conquer darkness and retrace my steps! The next step was to figure out where I might have dropped the remote. I looked at the picture of my hand and tried to re-enact taking the picture. I leaned over, mimicking what I'd done the night before - taking the pic, jumping down onto the grass and dropping the remote. I figured I knew approximately where it might be. I'd also ripped a bit of grass up in a vain attempt to find it the night before, so I was hoping I might find some bits of torn up turf - but it wasn't immediately apparent, and the heather was just so damn thick! I tried going through the motions again - still nothing. About 15 mins had passed since I'd started to look and I knew that I couldn't spend all morning looking for it. I thought I'd try one more time - but this time I changed my technique and tried brushing the top of the heather with my foot. It seemed to work better and I could see right down to the grass underneath the heather...and there it was! I found it! I let out a triumphant cry and returned to the car, waving it in my hand. Success.

Just outside Kylesku on our way back we stopped by Ardvreck Castle, a little ruin which we'd been wanting to take a closer look.

We called in on some friend of Laura's who live on a croft just north of Inverness, to say hello and break up the journey.

A few hours later we were home...after a long trip and a great week.

A week in Kylesku – Day 7: The Old Man of Stoer

Today is was our last full day in the Highlands. Our plan was to head west of Kylesku to see The Old Man of Stoer. It's about a mile and a half walk from the lighthouse at Stoer, so we were going to be putting the backpack to the test.

We drove out through Drumbeg, a sweet little place on route, and stopped at the local shop which apparently had won an award for 'The Best Village Shop' in 2006. Sure enough, they had some very nice food and the bread we bought was still warm. The shop keeper seemed a little stand-offish though, which wasn't what we expected from an award winning shop. We expected some cheery chat and a bit of local gossip, at least a comment about the weather. The shop was for sale and he said they'd bought the house next door and were in the process of fixing it up, so maybe business wasn't good. Anyhoo.

We continued on along the windy single track road towards Stoer, stopping at a Passing Place to take in the views and a quick snap back across the mountains / hills on the way.


Barbara and Dave had done the same walk the week before and told us that there was a great burger van at the foot of the trail that sold venison burgers and cups of tea. Sure enough it was there and open when we arrived so we picked up a couple of burgers, some tea and some tasty lemon drizzle cake to keep us going for the long walk ahead.

It was a good walk, a little steep in places and along a the cliff edge, but far enough away to be safe. The sun was out again so we were even forced to strip down to our t-shirts. Great views out to sea and back to the lighthouse.























A short while later we could start to make out the tip of The Old Man of Stoer - a large jagged piece of rock that sticks up out of the sea, isolated form the rest of the coast through erosion. It was pretty impressive. We could make out little coloured dots on it form a distance and were amazed to see when we got up close that some crazy mo-fo's were climbing up it! Bonkers.























After taking in the view for a while we made our way back to the car. Before too long we were back at the lighthouse. We took a quick drive up the road for a closer look before starting to head back.


we stopped in past Lochinver to stock up on some pies from teh Lochinver Larder on the way home. It was a beautiful evening and I was hoping it was going to be a good night to get some sunset shots from the lodge back in Kylesku. I'd tried heading out the night before but it'd been far too cloudy. Tonight the sky looked perfect.

Sure enough not long after we got back it was looking promising and even a few of the other lodgers were out taking pictures as the sun started to set. Determined not to be outdone, I ran back to the car to get my tripod and new remote control to get the optimum shot. I crossed over the rocks, up onto the top of the hill to get a good vantage point. It was still pretty warm outside so I felt comfortable in my t-shirt. I found a good spot, and set up my tripod perched on a rocky outcrop which was peaking out of the thick grass and gorse. The sun wasn't quite down but already the sky was looking pretty, filled with beautiful pinks, blues and oranges, reflecting off the water in the loch. I smiled smugly to myself, balking at the other lodgers trying to get a shot - without the 'right equipment' and a great view like mine. Amateurs I thought to myself. I snapped off a couple of shots with my remote, to stop the camera from shaking and potentially blurring the shot.

Then, I started to feel a couple of bites on my arm, and then my head, and before I knew it I was being attacked by a swarm of gnats, or midges as we call them. There were suddenly hundreds, possibly thousands, nibbling on my naked flesh! Determined not to miss the sunset I persevered and tried to fight through the pain barrier, but it was overbearing! But then disaster! In the midst of waving my arms around in an effort to swat them away I dropped my little remote control, down into the thick gorse! I thrashed around in vein to try and find it but it was hopeless, and the bites were getting more infuriating! A beaten man, I ran back to the lodge, tripod and camera in hand and explained what had happened to Laura, who found the whole episode hilarious.

The sun hadn't completely gone so I slapped on some bug balm and a long sleave jacket and headed back out with a small flashlight to try and find the remote. I was fairly confident I could remember the rock but when I got back up on the hill I realised that there were at least 30 other rocks which all looked the same. I searched for ages but eventually gave up, defeated. I thought that maybe I could try again in the morning. The sun was just starting to disappear so I quickly fired off a few shots...without my tripod and my remote control. But you know, I was pretty pleased with them after all.

A week in Kylesku – Day 6: Lotte Glob’s Sculpture Garden

Today we’d planned to visit an artist called Lotte Glob who lives and has a sculpture garden just past Durness on the shore of Loch Eriboll. We’d called ahead the day before to make sure it was okay to come, and she’d asked that we go along around 3pm. So that left us with the morning to try and fit something else in. We’ve been having some rough nights with Seren this holiday, and last night was particularly bad, so we thought we’d take it a little easy this morning and take a leisurely drive up through Durness after her morning nap.

It was another beautiful sunny day. We stopped at a viewpoint just after crossing Kylesku Bridge to get a better view from the north side. You can appreciate the way it curves better from this angle. They’d also taken some cones down which they’d had up the earlier in the week for road works so it made for a better picture.


A little later we stopped at a small fishing port called Kinlochbervie. It wasn’t quite what we expected. It’s apparently a major fishing port so it was a little industrial and not very tourist friendly – though its setting on the edge of a loch that spilled out into the sea was still impressive. So we did an about turn and continued back up to Durness to the artists’ village for a bit of lunch.

Loch Eriboll is about 20 mins round the north coast. It’s a stunning area. We drove past another beautiful little beach just outside Durness and took a note to stop off on our way back after the sculpture garden.

Before too long we arrived at Lotte Glob’s. I actually knew about her because of her house, which may have won an architectural prize a couple of years ago, but was certainly nominated. I met the architect once, a guy called Gokey Devicci, who lives and works in Aberdeen. It’s a great house – pretty ‘eco’ – constructed and clad in timber, the form is quite simple and it sits perfectly in the dramatic landscape.

We were greeted by Lotte, an elderly grey haired lady dressed in red overalls, at the foot of her driveway. She shook our hands and gave us a friendly welcome to her place before showing us in to her studio. She told us that she was dutch and has lived in Durness for 40 years before moving to her new home.

Her workshop was filled with finished pieces of her work, and some pieces in progress. She told us that it was fairly new and had been done by the same architect. She was particularly proud of her shower room which she had had tiled in her own hand made tiles. We picked out a couple of small things that we wanted to buy as mementos, three little dishes and a stone shaped colourful ceramic piece. As she was wrapping them up we realised in horror that our cheque book was empty. She insisted that it wasn't a problem and that we could send her a cheque when we got home! Very nice and trusting of her. I gave her my business card and she taped it into her little order book.

We headed out to explore her sculpture garden. She lives on a croft with an incredible view out over the water and to the mountains beyond. She even has a little pebble beach at the foot of her land. Beautiful. The garden was great and had some really interesting pieces set out along a meandering trail, marked by bamboo sticks. Seren fell asleep while we were walking around in the backpack. A first since we started to use it this week! We headed back up to say our thanks and collect our pieces.

On the way back we stopped off at the beach we'd passed by earlier. We parked up and got out. Unfortunately a strong wind caught Laura's door as she was opening and it hit up against the side of the car next to us, a black Ford Ka, leaving a small dent and transferring some of the paint from her door onto theirs. After debating what to do we decided to wait to see who came back to the car to explain what had happened. A few people approached us from the beach but just smiled and walked past. We saw a couple making their way back up further down the beach. We decided to head down and ask them if it was their car, though by process of elimination there was a good chance it was. Sure enough when we asked if it was their car it was. Laura apologised and explained what had happened and we said we'd pay for any damages if they wanted to leave us a note with their details.

The backpack comes with a handy rear view mirror

We felt pretty bad but continued on down to the beach for a look. Another very pretty beach. When we got back to the car there wasn't any note, though they may have taken a note of our license plate. It was just a tiny dent though so hopefully they weren't too bothered.

A week in Kylesku – Day 5: Ullapool

The weather wasn’t that great today so we decided to take a drive down to what is probably the biggest town in the immediate area called Ullapool to do a bit of shopping. Ullapool is a main port where you can catch a ferry out to Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis, about 2hrs 45 min west of the mainland by boat.

Some boats bobbing about in the bay

Before we left Edinburgh Laura and I had splashed out on some new waterproof jackets for ourselves. What we hadn’t thought about was something for Seren (a blatant act of fuckwittery on our part) so we were hoping to find something in Ullapool for her. Sure enough we found an outdoor clothing store pretty quickly and they had an all in one waterproof outfit with a hood that fitted fine. Phew – now we can take her out for a walk in the hills without fear of her getting too wet. I also picked up a new cap – I seem to loose caps willy-nilly and I can’t find the one I bought a few months ago, so I’ve been on the lookout for a replacement.

We stopped off for lunch in a restaurant / pub that boasted award winning seafood. Laura had the fish, which was okay, but I foolishly went for the haggis, which was awful (no pun intended). I should have complained but I couldn’t be bothered. After lunch we looked around the local shops and checked with tourist information for any 'buggy friendly' walks in the area. They recommended a walk along the river. We walked by some nice wee houses on the way. One in particular had a crazy number of little birds singing away on its rooftop. I took a pic and recorded the singing on my iPod for posterity.




Luckily my disappointing meal was more than made up for by some delicious organic ice cream at another place further down the street. We sat for a bit at the edge of the harbour whilst I ate my ice cream and Laura sipped some tea and watched the ferry pull in from Stornoway.

Just before we left to come home we took a stroll to the edge of the pier and caught site of a seal bobbing its head out of the water. It disappeared and reappeared a couple of times and swam up pretty close to the edge, maybe hoping that we would throw it some fish, or maybe just to check us out. At any rate, it was a nice bonus to the day and I managed to zoom up pretty close with the camcorder to catch it in action.


Sea(l) from Steve Malone on Vimeo.

A week in Kylesku – Day 4: Achiltibuie and Loch Glencoul

The boat tour our to see Britain’s tallest waterfall named – Eas a’ Chual Aluinn (Gaelic I’m guessing) – left from Kylesku at 3pm, so we had to find something to do fairly close to make sure we didn’t miss it. We got ourselves ready early and set out for Achiltibuie, about an hour’s drive south west of Kylesku, via some crazy single-track roads.

Achiltibuie is on the west coast and looks out over the Summer Isles. It’s also known for its Hydroponicum. We got there around 11am. Unfortunately, the Hydroponicum was closed for redevelopment, so we headed up the road a little bit along the coast.

When we were in Pittenweem at the Arts Festival a few weeks ago, there was an installation piece by an artist from Japan which consisted of 1000 pebbles he’d found on a beach from the north west of Scotland on which he’d painted their number, from 1 to 1000 in Japanese. Viewers were encouraged to pick up the stones, to take home or do whatever. We got to Pittenweem on the last day of the arts festival so there were only a handful of pebbles left, but we took one and decided we’d return it to the beach from which it had originally been taken from. Well, we couldn’t really remember exactly which beach that was, but we had it in the car with us and passed by a pebbly beach – so it seemed like a good opportunity to get it fairly close back to home. We wonder what will happen to it next, if someone else might stumble upon it and pick it up?

Further up the road we stopped at a smokehouse, which had a little shop selling mostly smoked fish and cheese. We bought a huge piece of oak smoked salmon, which was reduced in price, some nice looking smoked mozzarella and a box of oat cakes. We stopped at the pub next door for lunch. The food was great. I had some delicious home made whole tail scampi and Laura had some smoked mackerel, smoked from the place next door.

Time was getting on so we started heading back to Kylesku for the boat trip. The weather was holding up pretty well and when we got to Kylesku there was a small group of people waiting to go on the trip. We were greeted by the friendly skipper and boarded the boat. It was an intimate little vessel, with an area outside with benches and standing room and a small covered area inside. I had Seren in the backpack so we stayed outside. The skipper was great – top value. Great jokes and stories with an enthusiastic and, more than likely, well rehearsed patter about the boat, the surrounding geology, and the history of the area. Some of the rocks we passed by were 2700 million years old. That’s’ pretty old by my reckoning.


The boat trip had two main ‘attractions’. The waterfall itself coupled with hopeful sightings of baby seals on route. We saw about 5 seals and one baby. Not bad. We continued on to see the Britain’s tallest waterfall. The skipper had joked at the beginning that, although the waterfall was tall – 650 feet – it was also very thin – not like Niagara. Just after the seals the wind began to pick up and the further we got the wetter and choppier it seemed to get. By the time we got to the end of the loch it was so bad that everyone was huddled inside the small covered bit of the boat and we couldn’t’ manoeuvre close enough to the shore to get a good look. So that was a bit of a disappointment – but it was still good fun and Seren seemed to enjoy it, so not to worry.

Some real life seals in the wild!

Turn the boat around Gilligan, it's starting to get a little rough out here!

When we got back I cooked some chorizo stew and we watched A Scanner Darkly. Interesting movie – I liked it. Laura fell asleep towards the end and I had to try and fill her in on what she missed – tricky.

A week in Kylesku – Day 3: Durness

This morning we had planned on taking a boat trip to Scotland’s tallest waterfall that leaves, conveniently, from the Kylesku boat jetty, a mere 10 mins walk away. We had thought that the boat left Kylesku every day at 11am. We bundled Seren into her new baby backpack, a generous hand me down from a friends of Laura’s (given in exchange for a Moroccan lamp shade – but that’s another story) and made our way down to the shore. Unfortunately, when we got there it turned out the boat leaves every other day and at 3pm, not 11am. So we had to come up with an alternative plan for the day – not a problem as there was plenty we wanted to do.

We decided to head up to Durness, about an hour and a half ‘s drive away on the very north coast of Scotland – the farthest north we’ve ever been (in Scotland that is). It was a gorgeous day, we’ve lucked out with the weather since we got here, and the scenery on the way was impressive. We stopped off just before Durness for a quick break and nappy change at a little place called Keoldale.

It wasn’t long before we reached the coast. Durness is a cute little village and we instantly took a liking to it. It has a gorgeous ‘Award Winning’ beach, posted proudly on a sign at the top of the steps down to the water. We went down for quick look. It was indeed worthy of an award – beautiful sand, dramatically jagged rocks, frothy waves, and crystal clear ice-blue water. I wish all beaches were like this one.



We were getting close to lunchtime. Laura had read about a great chocolate shop called Cocoa Mountain, just outside the old village in amongst a group of old World War II early warning station buildings that had been converted into a sort of funky artists commune, so we headed over for a bite to eat. Unfortunately, there wasn’t really much choice in the way of food, mainly chocolate – which they make on the premises, so we decided to try a couple of hot chocolates and some chocolate croissants. The hot chocolate was amazing – probably the best I’ve ever had, served in fabulous ceramic tumblers. We were so impressed we decide to buy a couple of the tumblers and a funky coffee pot, made by one of the local artists, as souvenirs.

After our insane coco rush we drove back into Durness to visit Smoo Cave. Great name – I’m sure there was a cartoon character called Smoo. Hmm. The cave is split into two parts – the first of which is reached via a series of steps down the side of the cliff, which opens out into the cave entrance below.



Inside the first cave you can take a small dingy ride to the second cave. It was a short ride, only 15 mins, but wasn’t appropriate for babies so I went on my own while Laura looked after Seren. The guide was funny, not really intentionally I think, he was a little cavalier and a bit odd, but for £3 he was great value.

Inside the second cave at Smoo Cave

We decided to try eating out for dinner back in Kylesku at the local hotel. Our food was fine, we both had different haddock dishes. But poor Seren reacted badly to the jar of food we’d had to pick up in Durness. Laura’s very good at cooking her food, but we tend to feed her organic jarred bought food while we’re out and about. Unfortunately we couldn’t find her usual brand and had to settle for Heinz. Half way through she gagged and brought the whole thing up – poor thing. We were pretty shocked – it’s the first time she’s done that since she’s been on solids – but she seemed completely un-phased by the whole experience. We won’t be buying that shit again.

A week in Kylesku – Day 2: Lochinver

Today was our first full day up here. The north west highlands is pretty remote but it's a beautiful place and an ideal spot for a bit of R&R. There are plenty of places to visit outside of Kylesku and its relatively well placed so that they can be reached within an hour or two's drive. They're not actually that far in terms of miles but it takes a while to navigate the windy single track roads.

The lodge we're staying in is great. Not too fancy on the outside (it’s your basic A-frame timber cabin) but it’s nicely furnished and there’s an amazing view from the living room / dining room / kitchen out across the loch, with the mountains behind. It’s quite stunning. We were told by the owner, Andre, that we might be able to spot all sorts of wildlife; including otters, porpoises and deer – though our only sighting so far, of a deer in the distance, turned out to be some lichen on a rock … so we’ll see.

Our lodge - No. 6

The view from our lodge

In the morning we took a walk down to the centre of Kylesku. There's actually not a lot to the place, not even a shop, just a few houses along a main road that leads to a small hotel and a boat jetty, where you can take a couple of mini boat cruises.

We found a cute cat that lived in the hotel. After showing it some affection (Laura loves cats) it followed us along a path – bounding giddily along the way. The end of the path took us to the foot of the ‘new’ road bridge, actually built in 1984. It’s a great little bridge though. Lovely and curved – rather than just straight and boring. It replaced the ferry service that used to leave from Kylesku across to the other side of the loch.

Kylesku Hotel

Me and Seren at the jetty

Don't look now but I think we're being followed

Kylesku Bridge

By coincidence, some friends of ours, Barbara and Dave, were also up in the area on holiday, staying a bit further south than us. We’d arranged to meet up in Lochinver, a small village about 30 mins drive south of Kylesku, at its well know pie shop – the Lochinver Larder. We got there a little late, though we would have been on time had we not walked in the wrong direction from the car park. The pies were indeed impressive. Apparently you can order them over the internet and they’ll send them by post – testament to their popularity perhaps.

After lunch we took a walk through along the water front to the harbour. Barbara and I used to work together in the same architect’s office some years ago and there happened to be a building – a sports centre – which Barbara had worked on just in behind the harbour. (I’d done some initial work on the designs while I was in the office but it had had to change substantially since then to add in new rooms etc.) Looked pretty good.

We had a stroll back to our respective cars and said our cheerios. This was the end of their week-long break so they were heading back down to Edinburgh the following day. We weren’t in any hurry to get back so we decided to take the alternative scenic road back to Kylesku, around the coast and past a pretty beach, which took about an hour. In the evening we cooked, watched a little telly and had an early night.

A week in Kylesku – Day 1: The journey north

We’re in the second week of our two-week vacation. Last week we took the train down to Laura’s folks in Scarborough for 4 days. (See the pics in my flickr site). The weather was glorious and Seren had a blast. We came back up to Edinburgh for a couple of days before starting the second part of our holiday.

Earlier this year we booked a lodge in Strathyre, about 2 hours north of Edinburgh. We fancied doing something similar again but couldn’t decide on where to go. We’re trying to stay relatively local for the moment until Seren’s a little older. Some friends of Laura’s recommended some cabins in the far North West of Scotland, in a little village called Kylesku.

It took around 8 hours, with a two hour stop in Culloden, just outside Inverness. Culloden is well known for the historic battle that took place there in the 1700s between the British Government and the Jacobites (kind of like the Empire and the Rebel Forces – but without the light sabres and ‘the Force’). Although I’d driven past the battlefield before, I knew they had a new visitors' centre there and was keen to take a look – to see the new building and to brush up on my Scottish history, of which I’m shamefully ignorant.

The building’s pretty well done. It’s contemporary but it's still respectful to the history of the site. It has a shop, a restaurant and a walk-through exhibition that takes you through the building and out onto the battlefield itself. First off we had some lunch (I had a haggis and cheese Panini – ever since I’d had an amazing ‘haggis cheese melt’ in the Applecross Inn a few years ago I’ve never been able to pass up the haggis – cheese combination. The local food shop around the corner sell frozen haggis pizzas. It’s amazing. But I digress…).

After lunch we decided to check out the exhibition. It was a little steep, £10 each, but it was worth it. Well laid out and informative. The surround screen film of the battle was suitably graphic. The highlight for me, though, had to be the huge 'bird's eye view' video game-like re-enactment of the hour-long battle between the two sides, compressed into about 10 minutes. Impressive and effective. Some disturbing and gruesome facts about the battle - within the space of an hour the British Government suffered 50 casualties – the Jacobites lost 1500. 700 of those were in the space of a few minutes towards the end of the battle - and it was mostly hand to hand / close range combat at that stage.

Laura had done the first half of driving up to that point so we switched over for the second leg of the trip. The rest of the drive was fairly uneventful and we pulled into the lodge at 6:30. After settling in and getting Seren off to bed we had some dinner and hit the sack.

Shopping with Seren

Shopping trolley cam