Visitors from New Zealand

Kerry’s lovely Mum and Dad came to visit us in Ullapool at the beginning of July (4th and 5th.) It was great to see them and we were touched that they had driven all the way from Yorkshire to see us. The weather was warm but intermittently showery; when we went for a walk around the village we ended up popping in to the Cult Café to get out of a shower. The friendly owners are from New Zealand so they had a chat with Kevin and Jenny. Our visitors lived the Ceilidh Olace bookshop and kindly bought me a book about walking. Down at the harbour we were chatting to the skipper of a wee boat which had just come in with a load of mackerel. He offered us some and refused payment (it was just going to be used for bait!) So we took it back to the cottage, where Kevin gutted it (thank goodness he knew how!) and we fried it with new potatoes and asparagus for lunch. I’m now officially a pescatarian but I’m still mainly a veggie, however I had a wee taste and it was very fresh and delicious. 

We then went on a jaunt to Clachtoll Beach, because Kevin and Jenny had told us that they are interested in ancient history, and explored the two thousand year old broch there. Jenny was very brave as she climbed right inside its walls! There was a wee baby pied wagtail cheeping away from a corner; its mummy quickly arrived on the wall of the broch and squawked loudly and persistently at us to leave, which we soon did, and continued our beach walk. We went on to dinner at Delilah’s in Lochinver, which was really great, I think that their food is even better than it was last year. 

Jenny and I went swimming the next morning in the estuary at high tide and Kevin came in too. It was idyllic even though the water was a bit chillier than it is where they live in Waiheke! (I know this having experienced both!) The tide was so high that it covered a good bit of the grass, which made it very easy to walk into the water. The morning was warm and the sky was blue, so we were pleased that they got the chance to see the loch looking so beautiful. 

We booked a whisky tasting to Glen Ord Distillery for the afternoon which turned out to be excellent. After a tour of the distillery we had a private tasting, matching up five different Glen Ord whiskies with five canapés, chosen to complement the different tastes of the drinks. Needless to say, as a non drinker I didn’t get quite the same out of the experience! However our host, Rob, was very personable and knowledgeable and the canapés were really unusual and delicious, so I did enjoy myself. And it was very useful that I was able to drive everyone back to the cottage afterwards! James lit the fire and we had a convivial evening.