After a lovely week at Torran Cottage in Lochinver we were on our way again, this time just a little further south and a bit further west to the tiny settlement of Mellon Charles on Loch Ewe, the only north facing loch in Scotland.

I had received an email for the owner of Shore Croft cottage, our next accommodation, saying the cottage was available for us at any time so, after stopping for fuel and supplies in Ullapool, we drove straight to Mellon Charles rather than having to mark time until 4pm.

The roads were quite busy but we had an uneventful trip as far as Aultbea and from there followed the written directions from the owner of the cottage on how to reach the cottage. It sounded complicated but was actually quite straightforward and we reached the gate to the cottage on the beach with no problems. (We'll discount the minor detour when we turned left instead of right on reaching an intersection once turning from the main road to Aultbea!)

Shore Croft cottage is nothing short of magnificent. It sits on its own stretch of beach with amazing views of Loch Ewe and is sited for maximum privacy. I could probably stay here the entire week and never move out of the house! Of course we have plans to go exploring but I will also be happy to sit and watch the water on the loch, the birds and hope for a sighting of a seal or two, or perhaps some dolphins.