Crossing the northern moorland past Doonreay and beyond really started to feel like an adventure with Ben Loyal and Ben Hope looming darkly in the background. Although the moorland might look like many others the presence of peat bogs and lochs transformed the appearance to something different At Farr we stopped for a very decent …
The day started well with breaks in the cloud and good visibility across the bay. Skeins of geese trailed across the sky commuting to ?Canada We stopped at the Castle of Mey (holiday castle of Queen Mother) and visited the walled gardens NB interrupted blog as ran out of data allowance for 24hrs (blasted 24Mb …
We decided to brave the rain and headed to the east coast town of Wick which looked interesting on a previous drive though We found the interestingly named Wickers World cafe by the harbour which server us up pea and ham soup and scampi then wandered through the town past the oddly named restaurant called …
Heading North we stopped at Helmsdale, a small port/harbour. We had coffee at the Timespan museum and Ying had a very local cuisine – fried plantain!!! On to John O’Groats, which I thought was a place but seemed to just be a destination but “had to be done” We stopped at Dunnet Bay, where it …
Today started grey and deteriorated into “Cornish mist”. We couldn’t see Ben Bhraggie let alone climb it! A walk along the coast from Golspie’s “Award winning” beach left us wondering what the award was, but then joined the John O’Groats Walk to Dubrovnik (Dunrobin – spellchecker!!!) Castle was very pleasant amid the Sea Buckthorn bushes …
The journey north saw the beginning of NC500 signs (in two directions!) and our first stop for lunch at Dornoch and “Milk and Honey” for very nice sandwiches and soups (courgette and potato, Thai carrot). Dornoch holds links to Anne’s family in the Cathedral and was a very interesting place to explore with side streets …
Today started well with eggs and bacon on toast then off to the Black Isle (named because it’s a long peninsular (!) and densely wooded at the time) We tried to spot bottle-nosed dolphins at Chanonry Point but despite a nice walk alongside the golf course and back, failed miserably Thence to Cromarty at the …
The journey took about 4.5hrs though with stops etc more like 6.5… However was uneventful and despite drizzle and then low cloud the A9 and surroundings looked impressive, until we reached Colloden Moor and the campsite We collected Thomas from the hospital accommodation largely unchanged since we used it (elsewhere obviously)… Thomas guided us through …
Bacon butties set us up nicely for today and a walk up Screel Hill, described by Rob in daunting terms but although steep in parts and a bit vertical down for 10-20 feet was a lovely view, walk and experience with sandwiches at the top. A little hazy so mainly enjoyed the day than able …
Rob sent us off to explore the Raiders Road whilst dropping Emma off for her second freshers week (or three) in Glasgow. Raiders Road is essentially a 10mile gravel track through forestry commission woods. The journey up there via Loch Ken was already beautiful but the Otter Pools and Loch Stroan were particularly fine though …