It had been planned for a wee while now and we have been looking forward to it, so on Friday myself and Mairi departed Kinloch Rannoch for a weekend away to celebrate our friend Jules’s birthday in a remote part of Scotland called Knoydart. For those of you who are not familiar with its locality, it’s a west coast penisula across from the Isle of Skye. There is no road access to the area so the only way in and out is either a 7 mile boat trip from Mallaig or a 18 mile hike across the hills. We as a group chose the first option! When we got to Mallaig the Scottish weather had taken a turn for the worse and had developed into a dreich evening! The rain and wind were pretty bad and thoughts of a boat trip in a hired boat were less than appealing. But hey we live in Scotland and you get used to it quite quickly. There was 11 of us goin on this trip. Myself, Mairi, Jules, Jess, Ki, Mike, Liz, Dougie, Steve, Thomas and Heather plus 2 dogs!

We all met at Mallaig pier at 6pm and helped load the bags and food cargo aboard the vessel! We huddled inside the cabin and set sail across the rather choppy sea! The boat was fair shifting one side to the other and we weren’t sure whether Jules’s gorgeous homemade flapjack would stay down! All was fine once we made it out into Loch Nevis and the trip went fine. We departed the boat and chain unpacked the bags into the boat owners 4×4. He transported our bags to the Bunkhouse where we staying and we walked the 15 mins walk out of Inverie to the bunkhouse. The torches guided us on our way and we arrived shortly after 7pm.

We unpacked the bags, sorted out our beds (girls on top bunks and boys on the bottom)! Scaredy cats hey! We then cracked open the beer and started to get dinner ready. Jules cooked a mean risotto with lots of extras. This was finished off with a homemade cake and custard. Yum yum… We did the dishes, chatted, drank wine and whisky then a few retired to bed. Thomas suggested we go to the pub, so Steve, Dougie and myself went along just for the craic! We walked back down the pier to the “remotest pub in mainland Britain” - The Old Forge. A winter Friday night here is a bit like a winter Friday night in the Stables Bar in Rannoch. A great laugh with the locals. Myself and Dougie got embrolled in a doubles championship with Sandy The Cheese King and Super French Fred. After a few pints and whiskys we left the pub the undefeated pool champions of Knoydart - a tremendous 2-1 victory!

We returned to a dark dorm and got some shut eye. Hopefully not too much whisky enduced snoring! We were all up by 9am and tucked into breakfast - porridge, toast, tea and coffee. We all then started sandwich production for our planned walk through the valley. We set off around 10ish all wrapped up warm and waterproofed! The weather was dampish but very mild and so after about 5 mins we all decided that we had too many layers on and stopped to shed some unwanted protection. We carried on for a further 3 hours walk up the valley - which was quite boggy but had beautiful scenery. We stopped a few times for water breaks and to refuel with some amazing homemade tablet again supplied by wonder cook Jules. We had also reached the plateau at the end when the cloud had come down quite low and made visablity quite poor, so we sheltered, had lunch and then continued back down the track we had covered. We arrived back at dorm about 3pm ish and we all agreed we had been so lucky with the weather and had all enjoyed an excellent walk.

After all having showers, we congregated in the bunkhouse lounge for some drinks and some whacky games - mainly supplied by Jess! These were good fun and supplied much amusement. The drink supply had diminished so we headed to the Old Forge - where we had booked a table for dinner. We had a few drinks and catch up, then all ordered our meals. The food was excellent and very filling. All stuffed we retired to the back corner to finish drinks. The rain was heavy so decided to make a dash for it back to the bunkhouse. All fed, watered, full, exhausted and content we retired for the evening.

Again, we all arose around 9am and tucked into a fantastic group cooked Brunch - consisting of everything from bacon, eggs, veggy sausages, tomato, toast, coffee etc etc. A trend of the weekend was the great grub and hats off to everyone who supplied and cooked the delights. Of course not to forget the dishwashers! There is of course no i in team!

We all packed and then left the bags for the 4×4 and we headed back towards Inverie to have a leisurely walk to look around. The weather was crisp and bright and the sun shone over the coast as we walked past. The ferry was booked for 1pm so we boarded - dodging the hay delivery on the other side of the pier! The sail was so much calmer and we all sat out the back and enjoyed the fantastic views. No dolphins though Dougie!

We grabbed our bags and said our goodbyes on Mallaig pier and all headed off in different directions. It was a great weekend. A great chance to meet new friends and catch up with old friends. Myself and Mairi had a great time relaxing and enjoying everyone’s company. Let’s hope we do it again very soon.

We headed towards Ballachulish and into Appin to visit my aunt and uncle. We had a bleather then some dinner and before we realised the time it was 9pm. We thought we better head back since we had a 2 hour drive back to Rannoch to still go. We finally got home about midnight after dodging the deer in Glencoe!

Hope you enjoy the photos!