In the last couple of years we've started having our May holidays up in Scotland. In 2009 we had our Skye Trip, and last year saw us having a week on the Isle of Rona. This year we wanted to explore the area around Ullapool, some where I'd not been for well over 30 years. As it's a long way for us, a 9 hour drive, we decided to make into a two week trip. Usually at this time of the year the weather in this part of the world can be warm and sunny. Now it might not look like from the photos below, but the weather we experienced was probably the worst of any holiday. For most of the time we had strong winds, cold and rain/heavy showers, even snow of a couple of occasions! We had gone prepared to camp for the two weeks. But when we arrived in Ullapool on the Saturday morning, I could just about manage to walk across the car park to the cafe, the wind was that strong, accompanied by horizontal rain. Over coffee and breakfast we had a re-think of what we were going to do. We didn't think the tent would survive on the campsite at Ardmair Point, which was every exposed. Eventually we decided to get a cottage for the first week, and I'm glad that we did. The weather really never improved, if anything it got worse, especially for the second week. After 7 days of getting battered by the elements up there, we decided to move south to see in the hope the weather was going to improve. We ended up booking another cottage, this time on the west coast of Skye. It was in a lovely spot, close to the Neist Point lighthouse, but fairly remote. The weather wasn't too bad on the drive down from Ullapool, so we enjoyed a very scenic drive through the mountains. It wasn't that bad on the Sunday either, a bit breezy, but we enjoyed and explore around the cottage. But Sunday evening through to Tuesday morning we were battered by a really bad storm. We were nice and snug in the cottage with the log burner keeping us warm. But the wind was terrible, at one point late on Monday we thought the roof was going to come off. Poor Cleo was terrified, she wouldn't lie still, and kept pacing around the lounge all the time. We ventured out on the Tuesday for re-stock on supplies and stretch our legs, and see what damage had been caused. The forecast for the rest of our stay wasn't going to get much better, so we decided to cut our holiday short and head home. The drive back was interesting to say the least with a mixture of gale force winds and heavy rain/sleet showers. On the plus side the views were nice between the showers as the rain was falling as snow above 1000 feet to the mountains looked lovely! We never really did many what I would call proper walks. More short strolls in between the worst of the weather. There's a right mixture of photos from each day, which sort of appear in the sequence of events from the day!

Saturday 14th May

As we driven up to Ullapool overnight, arriving in time for breakfast, we had the whole of Saturday to explore. The weather at Ullapool was miserable so we headed south along the coast road towards Poolewe. We ended up at Firemore Sands on the shore of Loch Ewe where Cleo got a really good run and we had some lunch. It was a really lovely spot, the sun even came out for an hour or so, which was a bonus. On the way back to Ullapool to made several stops to take in the views and do some exploring, including Gruinard Bay and Loch Broom. We eventually ended up at the Armair Holiday Park where we booked one of their lodges. This was right on the shores of Loch Kanaird which had amazing views out over the loch.

Sunday 15th May

Grey skies, low cloud and gale force winds were the order for the day on Sunday. So after a leisurely breakfast we headed north to Loch Assynt. The views were virtually none existent because of the low cloud and rain. We stopped off to check out the ruins of Ardvreck Castle on the shores of the loch. I know the water looks nice and calm in the shots, but believe me that was because of a little bit of shelter from the rocky outcrop beside the castle. On the other side of this there were waves on the loch.

Monday 16th May

Another very wet and windy day, but the rain eased a bit of the afternoon. So we headed off to check out the Falls of Measach in The Corrieshalloch Gorge, which we thought might be rather impressive after all of the rains. We weren't disappointed, both the falls and gorge were really good. Cleo wasn't to sure about the new viewpoint, which had a metal grating decking so she could she through it into the bottom of the gorge below! On the way back we stopped off at Rubha Cadail and walked out to the lighthouse.

Tuesday 17th May

The forecast for mountains was still for serve gale force winds. So we had an explore of the Inverpolly area today, which despite the grey skies was pretty amazing especially the mountains! We drove from Ardmair out to Achnahaird Bay first and took Cleo for a run on the beach which she really enjoyed. Then we paid a visit to Altandhu for lunch and the views of the Summer Isles. Then we took the 'scenic' route along the coast to Lochinver. A single track road twisting for 18 miles through some of the remote moorlands. Stunning views of loch and mountains just about all of the way, and one of the best things was we only met a handful of cars. From Lochinver we drove back via Loch Assynt, stopping off along the way for a stroll with amazing views of The Quinag.

Wednesday 18th May

Wet and very windy again today, so off we went to explore Traligill Caves at Inchnadamph.

Thursday 19th May

Probably the best weather so far, so we headed back to Lochniver today. I've always wanted to get some nice photos Suilven, which isn't the easiest of mountains to get to. We decided to walk in via the Falls of Kirkaig and then onto Fionn Loch to try and get some shots. The river and falls in the gorge were pretty impressive after all of the rain over the last few days. On the downside this also made the path extremely boggy in places. It was hard going in a couple of spots, but well worth the effort. The views of Suilven from the loch shores were just what I after. We enjoyed a leisurely picnic lunch beside the loch, I even went for a paddle with Cleo, and the water was freezing!

Friday 20th May

The good weather was short lived. Friday dawned grey and wet again, and very very cold. We were surprised at seeing some sleet down at sea level while we were having breakfast. At first we thought we were seeing things, but as we drove down into Ullapool we soon saw that the tops of all the mountains had a nice coating of fresh snow! We drove round to Loch Maree, were we took Cleo for a walk through the woods. The views of the snow covered mountains were stunning but it was freezing cold in the wind and we managed to catch a couple of heavy sleet/snow showers while we were out walking.

Sunday 22nd May

After the long drive yesterday down from Ullapool we had a short walk/explore of the area around our cottage on Skye. It was over on the west coast, close to the Neist Point lighthouse, in Feriniquarrie. It was a lovely spot with views of Loch Pooltiel and Macleod's Tables from the cottage.

Tuesday 24th May

After the battering from the storms of the previous 36 hours we ventured out to get some supplies in Portree. On the way there we made visited Glen Brittle for a walk on the beach. Last time we were there it had been 25ºc in May 2009. Today is more like 3ºc so we didn't hang around too long. After doing some shopping we headed back to the cottage and as the weather was looking like it was improving a bit, we decided to visit Coral Beach as well. It's an amazing place, well worth a visit if your up there. What looks like golden sand is actually made up of tiny pieces of broken up coral. Later in the afternoon I had this mad idea of trying to get a sunset shot out at the Neist Point lighthouse. So we made the short drive out there, I could just about manage to open the car door sue to the wind. I walked (well in a fashion) out towards the top of the cliffs. There was no way I was going to get a decent shot with the wind, I couldn't stand up properly and there was no way the tripod was going to be set up, it would have been blown away! So after grabbing a few shots of the lighthouse I made a quick exit back to the car.