Ullapool

Hi reader,

Greetings from Ullapool, a port and village in the Scottish Highlands which lies on Loch Broom. The harbour is used as a fishing port, yachting haven and ferries sail from here to Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides.

Ullapool has a fairly small population (around 1,500 people) but it's the biggest settlement for many miles around. Inverness is about 45 miles away.

Great facilities

As someone living in a van, I found that Ullapool had all the facilities I needed, starting with the library which was open till about 6pm. I blogged, charged my electronics and checked in on my social media.

In the centre of Ullapool there's a Tesco supermarket, and I stocked up on food for the days ahead. Right beside the Tesco is a laundry service. Ten pounds for a load of washing. You just drop it off and they wash, dry and fold everything to be picked up a few hours later. I know I could probably have done my laundry cheaper by finding a launderette and sitting there reading my book while I waited, but laundry and getting my house cleaned are two things in this life I've always been happy to pay someone else to do.

Best of all, Ullapool has a free public shower! There are barriers at the entrance, so you had to pay for a shower in the past. But each time I visited, the barriers were already open. The shower was bliss and it was a private room you could lock.

So I was able to depart Ullapool having showered and shaved, all electronics fully charged, all food stocked up and all my clothes laundered. I also filled up the van with diesel.

A walk around the town

It was nearly dusk by the time I got all my shopping, laundry etc sorted, but I took a walk along the harbour front and the high street before it got too chilly. 

Then I found a quiet place to park up for the night on the east shore of Loch Broom. Great view.

While I was cutting open some plastic packaging that evening, I managed to slice a deep cut into my left thumb. Lots of blood. I patched it up with masking tape and kitchen roll. 

That was three days ago, and it still hurts. Yesterday, I wasn't paying attention and used that thumb to squeeze a hot teabag, which was pretty painful.

Anyway, next morning as I was making breakfast and tidying up the back of the van ready for travel, I noticed this sign for the first time. Luckily nobody disturbed or hassled me during the night. I think this is the beauty of having a very small van with 'highway maintenance' across the back; it's almost invisible; most people don't give it a second look.

So that was Ullapool, a great stopover as I get closer to the tippy top point of the UK, John o' Groats. I set out in the late afternoon and the sky was darkening early, with grey clouds that soon started to throw down sheets of rain. 

Thanks as always for following my blog. A few of you have been in touch to say you've tried commenting but can't (hi to Jo, Ed, Debs, Mark). Seems like you have to be signed in to a Google account in order to comment. Oh, well. 

See you next time,

Brian