Monday in Dornoch

Easy day today, leaving the car at the house and going on a long but flat walk to Dornoch Point. We walked a long way on the beach collecting bags full of shells.

The tide was in and a river which we had to cross was fairly deep so we had to take a detour.  When we stopped for a break about a mile from the Point another walker said the Point was inaccessible due to the water so we turned inland to the town of Dornoch.

In the evening the host (a headteacher) came home with his excitable dog. We had a quick chat but he had to unpack etc as he had just returned from spending half term in Spain (where his wife was running an adventure course) and had schoolwork to catch up on.

Dornoch is a lovely looking town with  buildings made of warm Cotswold type stone.

For part of the return journey we followed a disused railway track and there were a few historical sites with information boards.

A gravestone for a chap who had to be buried outside town as the citizens were desperately trying to avoid cholera coming to Dornoch. The inscription written by his son claims that the exclusion was unfair as "eminent medical men" had said his dad didn't actually have cholera.

This marked a boundary between land owned by a Bishop and that of a Duke. If you made it past the stone onto the Bishop's land you could claim sanctuary from persecution by the Duke.

Sunday going South

Our lovely hosts let us stay past check out time so Martin could watch the second semi final in the rugby. We had a 4 hour drive ahead of us - along the north coast to John O Groats then down the east coast to Embo.

Two warning lights lit up on the car when we were about 2 miles from John O Groats. We pulled in and consulted the handbook, a warning about emissions but only an issue if flashing which it wasn't.  The car is over 18 years old with no real problems....please not now. We continued on nervously and fortunately the lights disappeared a few miles on.

It was cold and windy at John O Groats so we just took a photo and used the loo before setting off again.

It was strange as we headed south - I kept having to remind myself we were still in Scotland. The countryside was much like Northumberland. We also both had a similar erroneous feeling that we had come a long way south but of course we were still so far north- very odd.

Certainly the east coast is not a patch on the west in terms of scenery. We made a quick stop at Whaligoe steps, 330 of which lead down to a natural harbour used since 1790. The steps were horrendously slippery- I nearly went over.

We knew the key to our next Airbnb would be under a brick but what we didn't know until the next morning was that the host wouldn't return all night. Very trusting.

Saturday rain showers and rainbows

Heavy rain this morning but we were dry and warm in the guest lounge watching England in the rugby semi final. Rain showers were forecast for the afternoon but we went out for our 9 mile hike to Faraid headland. Occasionally we saw some blue sky.

Part of the way we walked with a chap who was searching for sea caves. The beaches on the west side of the headland were beautiful and wide. At one pinch point we had to scramble up some rocks to get up away from the waves.

This is an air traffic control for military exercises off Cape Wrath to the west.

There is one chap in Durness who loves Halloween and organises 4 days of events- we had seen it advertised as far away as Ullapool. These are dotted around the village.

These small settlements have Coops and Spars but independent shops still exist.

Often there is a combination of services such as this one - petrol, massage, art!

Friday gales

Gales all day with a few showers so we abandoned the idea of walking on the headland and walked round the Kyle of Durness.

But of course the gales found us wherever we were. I was blown over once but that was on an narrow footpath one boot wide so I wasn't bracing myself. After that I walked crab like with one foot on the path and one up on the grass at the side. Fotunately the wind was blowing us inshore. At one point I had had enough and cut inland but soon caught up with Martin. The waves were dramatic even in the loch great and the rain mostly held off. We had a chat with a chap from the Highland Council who was waiting to inspect an oyster farm.

After our 9 mile windblown walk we had a cuppa at home then went out again to see the Smoo Cave. We were going to walk on the local beach but the rain came in hard so we just had a quick peek at the village hall garden. John Lennon spent many holidays in the area and when they developed a garden at the village hall they incorporated a memorial to him. The garden is a bit unloved now.

Back to the B&B for another hot drink and some of Jill's homemade fruit cake.

Thursday to Durness

A miserable forecast for today and we admitted defeat and missed all planned walks as it was too wet and windy. We've never seen so many rainbows in one day and several doubles too. The drive up to Durness was 3 and a half hours via the scenic route on the NC500 so we took it slowly and admired the views when we could.

At one point we stopped to use the loo and let the car cool down (temp rising because of the slow windy roads) and the weather changed within 2 minutes from this view;

To this;

So many rainbows;

We ate lunch in the car debating whether to risk a walk but the showers were too heavy.

Durness is the "most northerly settlement on mainland Britain". It's a fairly small, remote community but they are going all out this weekend for halloween.

We were a little early so visited Balnakiel Craft Village but lots of units  were shut. So we went onto Balnakiel Beach. I've collected loads of shells- need to get creative to use them in some way when home.

I had struggled to find an Airbnb in the area so we settled on a traditional B&B.  We can't use the kitchen but, from experience we know we won't need to eat much after a full Scottish breakfast. There is a guest lounge with TV so it will be good to watch the rugby semi final on Saturday in there.

View from the lounge with yet another rainbow!

Wednesday in Achiltibuie

The Achiltibuie peninsula is an hour's drive from Ullapool. I had read rave reviews when researching this trip so we decided to go. The weather was a bit warmer than yesterday and we had a good walk with views of the Summer Isles, then a meander on a lovely beach.

We went into Ullapool for supper - a box of lovely hot chips and went to the Ferry Inn for a drink.

Tuesday walks near Ullapool

A great hike this morning up the hill behind Ullapool to the loch then round for the view of the town.

Not anymore!

It started to rain and the cold wind had got up so we drove along the coast and ate lunch in the car looking at the lighthouse we were going to walk to.

Corrieshalloch Gorge is about 20 minutes back up the valley and so we headed here thinking it might be more sheltered. There was a short walk to a viewing platform and also a wobbly bridge over the waterfall.

We went back to the house and I was happy enough to stay in with the dogs whilst Martin hiked up the hill behind the house.

Marie-Pierre is a tai chi and Qidong yoga teacher and she invited me to join in with her evening yoga class at the high school. She was a very good instructor and I enjoyed my class and meeting the other ladies.