Ullapool – Relaxing and Dreaming

Our visit to Ullapool Scotland continued with a delightful ‘appetizer’ and a bit of dreaming on my part…

This view down the hill in town gives you a nice perspective of the mountains around Loch Broom.  It also gives you a look at The Seaforth, an establishment where we stopped for a bit of relaxation, an adult beverage or 2 and a ‘light snack’. 

It was a fairly comfortable day so we opted to relax outdoors on The Seaforth’s partially glassed in patio.  Laurie, Bonnie and Bill were definitely enjoying the afternoon… 

Here are a couple of photos of The Seaforth’s indoor dining area and the bar.   This restaurant has the bar with dining downstairs, a restaurant and a room for special functions upstairs, an upstairs terrace, the sheltered patio and a takeaway fish and chips operation. (Referred to as a ‘Chippy’)

We ordered The Seaforth’s “Highland Platter” to accompany our beer. (19.95 Pounds Sterling/$26.00) This charcuterie board was one of the finest we’ve had anywhere!  As you can see, in addition to the breads, there was a selection of pate, dips, nachos, hummus, smoked salmon, pickles, cheese and olives and garlic to choose from…  Excellent!

For more information about The Seaforth and its offerings, just go to http://www.theseaforth.com/.

After a bit, I left the others and wandered down to the waterfront with an eye toward the protective point that allows for a safe and sheltered harbor at Ullapool.

…and there is what I was looking for!  I’d checked the schedule and was waiting for her arrival. 

This large ferry is named the “Loch Siophort”…which appropriately enough translates to Loch Seaforth.  The MV Loch Seaforth is a Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited-owned ferry that is operated by Caledonian MacBrayne.

Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited owns the ferries, ports, harbors and infrastructure for the ferry services that serve the west coast of Scotland as well as the Firth of Clyde.  It is a wholly owned corporation of the Scottish government.   

This ship was put into full service in May of 2015.  The Loch Seaforth is 381 feet in length with a 60 foot wide beam.  She was built in Germany at the cost of close to $56,000,000 U.S.  She cruises at about 22 m.p.h.  She is the largest ferry in the fleet…

I was interested to see that the Loch Seaforth’s approach to the dock and the unloading process was to back in…a neat maneuver nicely done.  This ferry takes passengers and vehicles back and forth from Ullapool to Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

Caledonian MacBrayne or Calmac, operates 33 vessels on 27 ferry routes from the west coast of Scotland to 23 of the major islands in the Hebrides.  Although now owned by the Scottish government, the company was founded by David MacBrayne back in 1851.  Other carriers operate 3 different ferry routes to Northern Ireland, 4 routes to the Orkney Islands and 2 to the Shetland Islands.

This photo gives you an idea of the size of this ferry…with 2 side by side semi-trucks and 2 tour buses.   She has the capacity to carry 143 cars or their equivalents and up to 700 passengers!

Why do you need such a large vessel for the Outer Hebrides…Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis to be specific?  By far it is the largest town in the Hebrides with a population of about 6,200.  The Isle of Lewis was also TripAdvisor’s top island pick in 2014.  The Callanish Stones are one of the finest examples of Neolithic standing stones to be found anywhere in Scotland.  Add in the remoteness with broad sweeps of white sand and clear seas plus the 200 year old Abhainn Dearg Distillery and Lewis is a key tourist destination.  

This is the port at Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis…with Lews Castle off to the left of the photo.

Just dreaming now… I love ferries and all we lacked was the time to fit this adventure in!  The 2 hours and 45 minute trip to Stornoway would have cost about $225.00 for the 4 of us with our car and it would have been worth it!  So many ferry boat rides and so little time…

For information on the Isle of Lewis, go to http://www.isle-of-lewis.com/.  If you would like to view a bevy of photos showing off the island, go to https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=isle+of+lewis+scotland&qpvt=isle+of+lewis+scotland&FORM=IGRE.

This is a look down the first street off the waterfront in Ullapool. 

FYI… In May of every year, there is a 3 day Ullapool Book Festival which attracts a wide range of writers with works in both Scottish Gaelic and English.  From a musical point of view, the Loopallu Festival, which was created by the American rockgrass band, Hayseed Dixie and a local promoter has become a major annual regional event.  It takes place toward the end of September…shortly after we left for our next destination.

I thought that I’d end this posting with a photo of Ullapool that someone took from an adjacent mountain top.  To learn more about Ullapool and what it has to offer go to http://www.ullapool.com/.  To view photos of the town and the surrounding area and to better understand why I chose this destination, you can go to https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=ullapool+scotland&id=77141D7860921A58CA75C7465A3FDF96F16032CC&FORM=IARRTH. 

 

That’s all for now.  Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by and sharing our trip with us!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave