93. Scourie Beach

After the drama of Sandwood Bay, Oldshoremore, Polin and Sheigra beaches, it is still only lunchtime, so the plan is to head round to Tarbet to catch a ferry over to Handa Island, where I am expecting to spend the afternoon. But when I arrive, the ferry captain tells me I have missed the last outgoing crossing by 20 minutes. So I have a rethink and decide to head north to Durness to visit Balnakeil Beach, which was not on my original schedule for this trip. But first, I want to visit Scourie, just south of Tarbet. This small crofting village is a popular stopping point for travellers doing the NC500 and has a fair few services available for the visitor. At the heart of the village is Scourie Bay with a lovely looping beach full of interest – white sand, rugged rocks and abundant wildlife. From a handy parking and picnic spot by the road, it’s a few steps onto the beach, and when the tide is out, as it is today, you can wander through the rock pools in splendid isolation. By the way, I thought at the time that I was still in Assynt but I was informed by a Twitter follower later that I was actually in the Sutherland parish of Eddrachilles (Assynt ends at Kylesku). That was news to me but I was grateful for it.