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Rua Reidh weekend - May 2005

Wallabies and Whales in Wester Ross

14 valiant mountaineers braved the roadworks and Heather the Weather’s dodgy forecast and headed north with high hopes for a magical weekend at Rua Reidh Lighthouse near Gairloch.

At 14.30 on Friday four of us (Snakeman Sam, Angela, Jackie Blythe and me) sped northwards in the TARDIS it must have been to fit in all the gear, food and drink we had, taking us 20 minutes to pass Wallace’s Monument due to roadworks on the Stirling road. Angela, the bothy entertainer coordinator, regaled us with stories of her past careers trying to convince us she was really an employee at Leverndale Hospital and answered the phones (aye right!). A quick stop in Aviemore to refresh Angela and ourselves managed to expand the language barrier with our European neighbours trying hard to order a ‘cuppa tea’ but being offered a fish tea instead. On the road again and as we drove through Gairloch we were like wee kids on holiday again hoping to spot the lighthouse first. And round the next bend, there it was. white knuckled from the roller coaster ride that leads to the lighthouse.

The lighthouse is situated 12 miles from Gairloch, was built in 1910 by the cousin of Robert Louis Stevenson and is fully automated. The road to from Gairloch is a private road and very much resembles the Pepsi Max ride at Blackpool. The keeper’s house has been totally converted into mainly bunkhouse/B&B style accommodation. Somehow Mary ‘Friends are good for your health’ Baird managed to bag the room with the double bed and the ensuite bathroom! The kitchen we were allocated had only one fridge and was certainly inadequate for all the bottles of wine and beer not to mention the odd sausage or two that we tried to cram into it.

Friday night was spent planning the next day’s adventure. The phone rang and Angela who is the voice of Leverndale answered to be told that Fran had left her bag at Eric Smith’s house. At this point one of the other guests rushed in and told us we should rush out and to see something special. Grabbing Gore-Tex’s and fleeces we braved the pitch black and force 8 winds to be amazed by the lighthouse doing what it was meant to do - searchlights sweeping the Minch and the rocks below. When we returned to the conservatory we met Fran who was informed several times that she had left her bag at Eric’s house.

Saturday morning dawned and the attempt for the summit of Slioch was abandoned as we realised we overslept and wouldn’t have time to complete the route and make dinner which was booked for 7.00pm that night. Five of us (Janet and Rufty Tufty Mountaineer David Jamieson, Andy, Allison and me) headed for Flowerdale Forest to conquer Beinn nan Eoin, a tough little Corbett and maybe its pal Baosbheinn if time allowed. A long walk in (which always means a long walk out) led us to two throwaway rocks deposited by the glacial age (that’s what the book says) where the real work began. A steep pull up on a reasonable path with obligatory boggy bits and some scrambling we were rewarded with lunch at the summit cairn surrounded by the Torridon dinosaurs and views to Skye and the Minch. Spectacular!

We took over the conservatory for dinner that night which was cooked for us by the two ladies, Fran and Chris, who own the keeper’s cottage. Dinner was a simple affair of lentil soup, beef and ale stew and a pudding that unfortunately wasn’t quite thawed out. But someone produced mints and a bottle of Bailey’s which rounded the meal off nicely. Stewart ‘Schumacher’ Richardson had now arrived having the broken the land speed record from Tiso to Gairloch in 4hrs 10 minutes. After dinner we took the sea air and browsed around the grounds, some scrambling down to the little beach to explore the caves and have a game of rounders with a piece of driftwood and pebbles. We then waited for sundown and what a display we enjoyed as the sun dropped down behind the Hebridean isles of Harris, Lewis and the Uists.

Being in the Highlands demanded that Sunday would be spent going to church for some psalm singing. I’m sure that’s what the locals did but a group of us decided to try out the walk across the peninsula that Tom, Winnie, Mary, Dave and Lesley had done the day before, giving the drivers a rest from the roller coaster road. This proved a delightful walk with views to Stac Pollaidh and the Inverpolly Estate and a surprising find. Mary had told us to take a look inside the little bothy en route and this we did. Not only were there several old sweetie jars filled with pasta and rice and the like, cheese hanging form the ceiling (to stop the bears eating it apparently according to Angela), a photo of a baby but an impressive collection of literature ranging from Jean Paul Sartre’s Les Mains Sales, a book in Chinese, some plays and the requisite New Testament. An intellectual’s hideaway. The route continued round the cliff tops and revealed a secluded little beach and some sea stacks that David and Stewart talked of climbing the night before. We returned to the lighthouse quite early so some of us agreed it was time to try out the pub down the road known as ‘The Mustn’t Grumble Café Bar’ whose food offered such inspiring delights as half a juicy succulent duck and ‘Mustn’t Grumble Crumble’. This began a game of inventing similar names like ‘don’t get flustered custard’ and ‘moody puddy’ to name a few (well the only two we came up with). Also on offer was a bag of feed for 75p to feed the exotic animals next door which I did as I am still a kid at heart and very fond of animals. The animals in question included 2 albino wallabies who were very shy, 3 emus who were scared of the goose, some turkeys, 3 greedy goats that ate out of our hands and a cute little bunny. As I was having a conversation with a parent with small children about the pets he suddenly spotted a whale in the Minch. There was actually a school of whales and a seal bobbing in the water.

As if whale-spotting was not excitement enough for one day, the evening had more goodies in store for us in the shape of a real ceilidh. First of all it was David’s birthday and Winnie had baked a delicious chocolate cake. Those of you who regularly attend bothy weekends know that Angela is renowned as a choreographer. Not only did she have us all dancing to ‘Sway’ and ‘Seven Dwarfs’ but impressed us with her Gaelic singing. Chris, the lighthouse lady, also impressed us with a Gaelic song, as did Dave who sang about the Seven Men of Knoydart.

Monday morning arrived much too quickly and it was time to gather up any evidence of our stay from the fridge and head for home. Some talked of bagging more hills, others travelled straight home. The sun was still shining and just to make the weekend perfect, a big bird, which we believe was a golden eagle, flew across the front of car, hovered and dived down the cliff. Magical! Did we have a good time? ‘Mustn’t Grumble’.

Elizabeth Murphy (pics by David Jamieson)

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Rua Reidh weekend - May 2005