March 2012 saw Mark Byrne reaching the ripe od age of 50 and decided he wanted to have hisparty somewhere away from home (I still blame Amanda for this trait!)
He decided on a place called Kylesku in the far northwest of Scotland.
Despite my concerns that we would be travelling to the north of Scotland in March when it was quite likely to be snowbound, preparations continued.
I made tentative arrangements with the ferry company and tried to arrange suitable hotels and perhaps even train journeys but nothing seemed to fit.
In the end, I made the decison that I would leave it until the last minute, see what the long-term weather forecast was and then decide whether to go or not.
As it happened, the weather was fine and I made a decent trip out of it.
First calling in to see Mum & Dad in south Wales for a couple of days then travelling to Glasgow to stay with Sandra & Stevie before making the final push north to Kylesku. Each time, a re-assesment of the weather provided me with the opportunity to abandon the trip but thankfully, it stayed nice!
I took the east coast route to Inverness then across to Ullapool and on to Kylesku but because of space limitations, I was actually staying 10 miles further north at a place called Scourie. On the way, passed Ann & Tony Cooper-woods and stopped for a brew in Ullapool.
Saturday we went on a boat trip and stopped close to the tallest waterfall in Europe with a drop 0f over 700 ft fall.
In the evening was the meal...
The Sunday was a rest day. Apart from a a walk around Scourie village and a bit of sunbathing (yes, really!) I didn't do much. Went to the local hotel in the evening which is one of the only ones up that far north in the GBBG!
Unfortunately, I had to be back on the Island for workmen to commence fitting a new kitchen so I had to ride straight home on the Monday, including a 10-hour ride from Scourie to Lancaster before the boat home the next day.