Lands End Epiblog

There was steady light rain all night but it had stopped by 10:00 am. We decided to go to the Batsford Arboretum and garden centre for a couple of hours, its just up the road, before we left the Cotswolds. However it started to rain again more heavily and so we left early and had a every wet drive home.

We arrived home at 2:00pm having covered over 700 miles and stopping at 8 different sites en route. This included 4 free Britstops, 2 x CMC, 1 x CCC and a commercial site, for the 9 nights that we were away.

Cotswold birthday

We had an excellent breakfast at The Den and Rosemary shopped at the farm shop before we left. We are on our way home via the Cotswolds where we will have one more night away at the CMC site and a birthday dinner in Moreton-in-marsh.

We dined at the The Black Boar on the High St. recommended by the site wardens. It was a very good meal and I even had a candle on my lime cheesecake.

Exmouth, Sidmouth and Britstop

We left the racecourse and motored round to Exemouth where there is a quirky 16 sided NT house built by two sisters. The room layout follows the sun for maximum pre-electric daylight. The top floor gallery is decorated with shell patterns and pictures made by the sisters. Very eccentric!

We drove along the coast to Sidmouth via Budleigh Salterton for a stroll along the prom and a coffee break. Bought two pieces of chicken and ham hock pie to have with the last of our home grown tomatoes for supper later.

We have stopped in another Britstop, the 4th on this trip, near Shelton Mallet. It's  on the A37 so rather noisy but it has a farm shop with a cafe so that's my birthday breakfast sorted.

Carnewas, Padstow and Racecourse

We had a really good carvery for dinner and a good night's sleep in the car park.

Set of for Padstow via the north coast stopping at Carnewas where there are dramatic cliffs and famous Bedruthan steps down to the beach. I walked along the cliffs as far as the steps to take photos of the stacks and cliffs. It was low tide and the steps were open if you were feeling fit, but there are 125 wet steep stone stairs. Maybe a few years ago I would have been tempted, but not today.

Rosemary shopped in the NT shop and made it as far as the viewing area.

We took the park and ride into Padstow as the car parks were rammed as usual. There were queues for Rick Steins fish and chips, as usual and lots of senior visitors wandering around as usual. We joined in, as usual. Rosemary bought some new shoes for the next holiday.

We left late afternoon and put 70 miles of A30 behind us stopping overnight at Exeter racecourse. Its cloudy today with some bright intervals and wet roads, but we missed the showers.
The CMC site is actually in the middle of the racecourse with the track and grandstands just behind the site. 

Sennen, Porthcurno and Portreath​

Today we have done some coving as we head slowly back towards Leicester, as we could not go further away.

First off was the local beach at Sennen Cove where I had a paddle and Rosemary got her shoes wet taking a photo of me. We had morning coffee on the terrace restaurant and then on to Porthcurno.

This is a beautiful cove below the open air Minack theatre and the site for the original telegraph cables under the Atlantic. There are steps and a steep road to the theatre, neither of which we attempted. There was a telegraph museum/cafe, which we did, after sitting on the beach for a while. A film unit was filling half the car park, they will be filming for Poldark 4 next week apparently.

We have found a Britstop near Redruth that does an all day carvery, where we will spend the night. 

Meanwhile we are parked on the front in the evening sunshine at Portreath until dinner time.

There are small Portuguese Man of War jelly fish on the beaches around here.

Happy days.

St. Ives by bus

Today we left the van on site and took the open top bus to St. Ives along the coast road. Although it was a rather cold and cloudy day we were able to appreciate the cliffs and tin mining heritage sites. St. Ives was busy as expected with the September Arts festival and the weather brightened up a bit. We had a wander around and a Cornish pasties 'on the hoof' from the Oldest Pasty maker in Cornwall (allegedly). Rosemary found a top to buy and we picked up a cream tea kit for later.

Walked back up the hill for the 1 hour coastal journey back. It's a very narrow windy road with lots of passing problems. It started to rain and we got soaked just walking from the bus stop by the site gates. It was the last but one bus of the summer season.

Rosemary cooked the Sole Rols we bought in Portleven for supper and we had a belated cream tea for pudding.

Lands End

The cockerel at Roskillys farm woke us at a sensible time, after 7:00am, so that we could be on our way to Lands End with time for diversions.

The first hop took us past Goonhilly Downs satellite station to a Poldark film location at Church Cove. We sheltered from a shower for 15mins at the café before the short walk from the NT car park to the tiny church and sandy cove that was used for a ship wreck scene.

Next stop was Portleven, a pretty working harbour that is also home to several gourmet restaurants including a Rick Stein. We chose the Square, no 5 on Trip Advisor list, Rick's is no 15! We enjoyed an excellent 2 course lunch for £17pp before walking back up the hill to where we left the van. Portleven seems too popular for the amount of parking available.

Next stop was a photo opportunity at St Michael's Mount. We got a good reduction at the beach car park for a quick stop, Motor Homes are normally £8 per day.

Only one more stop at a Sainsbury's just outside Penzance and we were at Lands End just after 5:30pm. All the entertainment and leisure facilities had already closed so there we just a few sightseers and ourselves to take selfies by the iconic sign post. It showed 874 miles to John o Groats, we had made it.

Just time for a few more photos in the blustery wind before we made our
way to the CCC site at nearby Sennen Cove and sunset photos, before more rain showers arrived.

Lizard Point

We left the caravan site at 11:00am and headed directly to Lizard village where we  parked on village green. It was then a 20 mins stroll along the path to Lizard Point where only to find there was a NT car park, beside the lighthouse.

However it was a nice sunny day, so not a problem. We had made it to the most southerly point in mainland Britain. A few photos and a cappuccino later we set off to visit some of the nearby coves and parked at Coverack. Shared a portion of fish and chips and a shopped before finding our next Britstop nearby at Roskillys farm. Shared a wood fired pizza, big and tasty.

The wind has dropped and there is a nice clear sunset.

Cosawes Park

We had a rather disturbed night due to the proximity of the Britstop to an industrial estate whose lorry park started moving at about 5:30am and the strong winds from storm Aileen at midnight.

We are stopping tonight at a nice semi-residential site between Truro and Falmouth, a caravan club quality site facility but without the club members. We called to see Barbara and John in Okehampton on the way and shopped at the big Waitrose where Rosemary bought some mussels for supper.

The weather is alternating between periods of blue sky and short sharp showers. Tomorrow we will drive less and start to enjoy the Cornish coast. We have not seen the sea as yet!

Britstop Taunton

Driving down the M5 to Cornwall we were overtaken by a Nuventure Moniche like ours. We both pulled in to Gloucester services and chatted. It's the first time either of us had seen another Moniche, we were all excited at such a unique event. She lived in Cornwall and was on her way home from North Wales with her dog.

We parted company and shopped in the services where Rosemary found some bargain Langustines. Now we are stopping overnight at a Britstop near Taunton. I was able to buy a much needed  replacement collapsible bucket at the leisure store nearby.
Storm Aileen is going to batter us later apparently, but hopefully not before we have been over to the Two for One pub/restaurant for dinner.

John o Groats to Lands End

Tomorrow we are off to Cornwall, to Lands End in particular, in order to complete the whole journey from Lands End to John o Groats. OK, its not all in one trip and its in the opposite direction - but at least its in the same year. The weathers not looking too warm with northerly winds forecast for the next week.

Springfield Outlet Centre

Achieved one of the objects of going to the outlet centre again in the morning, which was to do clothes shopping for me. The other objective was to do more fishing but almost every peg was taken by the time I was organised. Not a very good spot and I had a blank morning,  but only fished for an hour or so.

last night's fish

Rosemary found a Weird Fish skirt at the centre, so she did not have blank day. We took a walk round the gardens, probably better at tulip time, then we had a shared lunch and came back home via a very bumpy back road along a fen to Essendine, to see Margaret.

Spalding for Fishing and Shopping

We are just having an away day in Spalding, going to Springfield Outlet centre and Lake Ross caravan site just outside Spalding.

It was a showery day and we had a good downpour in the evening that revealed a leak in the the offside window frame again. Another job before we go to Cornwall.

It was a very good fishing lake with decent carp. The owner told me where to fish and we caught four nice carp around the 3lb mark between us in an hour before it got dark. This is Rosemary with a rod bender.

Stamford to Home

After an evening with Margaret we left around noon to return home. Decided to try another route back which involved a short detour to a farm shop and Waitrose. Home mid afternoon.

Here is a link to some photos  Photos on Google

We had a pleasant few days in Norfolk managing to miss most of the rain that seems to have hit the rest of the country and we have had some nice seafood.

Cromer

Left Incleboro site mid-morning and drove through Cromer looking for a parking place, no luck very busy. Arrived at nearby Overstrand beach and walked down the steep ramp to the nice sandy beach for a paddle. It immediately started to rain, just a shower, but we retreated to a crab hut to buy a crab to take home. Drove back through Cromer and found a place in the short stay car park to have a look round. Went down to the pier to watch the young crabbers practising for the International Crabbing Contest later in the year and have an ice cream cornet. Looked around the lifeboat station and chatted to a crew member (interesting fact - boat hits water at 30mph when it is launched).

Stopped at Felbrig Hall (NT) just outside Cromer for lunch. It was very exposed and windy (ELF warnings for visitors) but we were able to look round the walled garden. Then we had a sandwich in the van (there were big queues at the small cafe) and a doze before setting off for a twitchy drive to Stamford to see Margaret.

Sheringham

Before we left for Sheringham I popped down to the local 'railway station', just 50yds through the trees, to see the 10am miniature steam service to Walsingham. There were four passengers from the CL taking the trip so it actually stopped at the request stop.

We drove along the coast in to Sheringham on a grey day but at least its dry for now. Had a (compulsory) fish and chip lunch and walked along the promenade (compulsory), its carnival week in Sheringham too! Got some free wifi from the old folks home by the car park, so updating the blog before moving on to overnight stop between here and Cromer at a proper caravan club site.

Stopped at Incleboro Fields CC site just outside Cromer in one of the disabled pitches right opposite the facilities.

Brancaster then Wells next the Sea

We had a breakfast bap in the sun before leaving Sandringham site to drive along the north Norfolk coast.
We stopped first at Brancaster Staithe which is very boaty place. Lots of people with trailers launching mirror dinghy's to power boats. There was also a big group of children on a RYA sail training course with dozens of Topper dinghies sun.

lined up for them to sail. We were lucky to grab a parking space over-looking the creek. Rosemary bought a dressed fresh Brancaster crab and a tray of mixed crayfish and prawns. So we got the chairs and table out and had a real nice shell fishy picnic watching the boats being launched in the sun.

After lunch we moved on to Wells next the Sea. It is carnival week so different events every day, including a small food and craft fair. We had a wander round, it was busy for us but probably just normal summer holiday crowds. We had a cream tea before finding our CL for the night which was close to Wells at the Midden. This was a 6 acre rubbish tip in the 80's but has now been restored by a rather eccentric looking father and son. The CL is big enough for 8 and has its own station on the Wells to Walsingham narrow gauge steam railway. Thunderstorms had been forecast but we just had a few spots of rain in the evening.

Home to Sandringham

Set out from Croft in the rain to find some sun in Norfolk. We had to call somewhere for provisions before we went too far so I stopped in Lutterworth. I went a rather round about way for a change using the A14 and A141 which took us along miles of fens and drains to Sandringham. 

It's mostly dry at last and there was even a red sunset. We are only here for one night on the CMC site then off along the north coast towards Cromer.

There are a lot of pidgeons nesting around the site, this one is in a tree just behind our van.

Foxton and Canons Ashby

After a quiet night, the hens are in sheds overnight, we started the day with bacon sandwiches (bacon from the farm shop). Rosemary bought some steak and lamb from the farm shop then we went to have a look at Foxton Locks, as we were quite close by. Had a coffee and ice cream in sun watching barges go up and down the flight of locks.

Then we decided to go to a NT place and chose Canons Ashby near Daventry. We were held up by heavy traffic in the road works on the Northampton ring road, but spent a couple of hours looking round the house, gardens and church. No rain again and got back home at 7:00  via A5 to Lutterworth.

Kelmarsh Food Fare

We went to the food fair again this year and on this occasion we were able to take a tour of Kelmarsh Hall and Gardens which were opened specially for the occasion at half price.  I found the first floor exhibition of the maps and charts of Macdonald Gill most interesting.

The food fair was almost exactly the same as last year.

Afterwards we spent the night at a farm shop in the pretty village of Ashley, in the Welland valley near Market Harborough. Active farm and farm shop with sheep, lambs, cows, hundreds of hens and a friendly farmer and farmer's wife - a very good Britstop.

Scotland Epiblog

The motorhome holiday this year took us on a round trip of 2150 miles to the majestic scenery of the north of Scotland. We did most of the NC500 route around the north coast that is being heavily promoted as 'the best drive in the world' and Scotland's Route 66. But we added on the Trossocks, Speyside and the Isle of Skye, all places we have not been to before.

We timed the trip very well enjoying almost 3 weeks of mostly unbroken sunshine at the start of the trip, although it was cold at night and windy at times. Then a few very wet days on the west coast, followed by two hot days, bought the midges out and we retreated south with some bites. We managed to fit in stops at the Tower ballroom in Blackpool on the way up and the Lake district on the way back.

We stayed at a combination of 5 Caravan and Motor-home Club sites, 5 Camping and Caravan Club sites, 8 independent sites mostly on the NC500 , one wild night at Aviemore and 4 Britstops going to and from Scotland. We were away 32 nights in all, from 2nd May to 2nd June, stopping in 23 locations. 18 of the stops were in Scotland, 12 were one night stands and the rest were either 2 or 3 nights. The journey to and from Glasgow, for Loch Lomond, was about 800 miles allowing for overnight detours, so I drove about 1350 miles averaging 50 miles per day during the 27 days loop around Scotland.

The scenery was everything we expected, the seafood was great, but all eating out was expensive. We have ticked off John o Groats from the bucket list and I always wanted to visit Glamis Castle after being involved with the school production of Macbeth. I have got some (miniature) bottles of single malt whisky from the distilleries we passed, 750 photos to review and Rosemary is just glad to be home safely with piles of washing.

Home

Rosemary shopped in the farm shop and I picked some fresh strawberries from the PYO poly-tunnels. They have thousands of plants growing in waist high troughs so PYO is really easy as the fruits are just dangling ready to pick. Yields and harvesting time must be 10 times traditional method on the ground. We spent a few hours at Shugborough, the NT property that belonged to the Anson family, later Lord Lichfield. Interesting place thats worth another visit when the NT have done more work on presentation of the last Peter Lichfield photography stuff. We arrived home at 4:00pm after taking a rather slow A5 from Stafford back to Croft. The total round trip was 2150 miles.

Stafford Britstop

I had another fruitless 2 hours of fly fishing  and Rosemary found some interesting plants in the onsite garden centre before​ we left the nice little site at Sizerg. We found a Britstop and  NT property near Stafford for a final stop on the grand tour. We stopped on the M6 at a service station with an M&S and found some bargains. We passed the 2000 mile marker on the way. The Britstop is a farm shop and soft fruit farm by a canal. I had another hour fishing and caught a roach whilst Rosemary made a traditional Scottish delicacy, macaroni cheese. The Belgium Britstoppers were surprised I did not want to eat the roach.

Kendal and Windermere

A quiet midge free night developed into a warm sunny day. We had breakfast baps in the Two Sisters cafe and bought a few things from the artisan shops on the Britstop before leaving.
I drove the 15 miles or so to Lake Windermere and parked near Nab Pier for a few hours while we walked into Bowness, which was heaving with tourists. We had a look round the shops, had a simple lunch and caught the little tourist train back to the car park. We are staying on a small site with a garden centre, tearoom and trout fishing lake. We called in to nearby Sizerg castle, a NT place, for an hour on the way and looked round the gardens. I spent 2 hours fishing until it was dark but without success.

Back in England

After another midge disturbed night we awoke to a dank day by the Loch. So I sorted the van out ready to head back to England with an open destination. The A82 took us back over the Erskine bridge which completed the circuit of Scotland and there was 1770 miles on the clock. It was a change to drive on Motorways instead of winding A and B roads. It rained and the M8 through Glasgow was busy.
We stopped at Moffat for a lunch break, checked the weather forecast, as it was still raining, then decided to go to the Lake District for a couple of nights. We are now at a farm shop Britstop near Kendal, the sun is out and hopefully we have left the midges behind.

Back to Loch Lomond

It's been a typical British bank holiday Monday today. We have travelled about 90 miles and it's rained most of the time. We went down the Argyle coast to begin, almost to Oban, then cut inland through the Glens to the west shore of Loch Lomond near Luss. Before we left Rosemary raided the seafood deli at the Britstop and we have just eaten 8 Langustine and a dozen mussels with a bottle of Muscadet.
En route we stopped at a Scottish Power pumped hydroelectric station blasted out of the rock in a mountain bordering Loch Awe in the 60's. Incredible to see the way it was constructed back then.  Health and safety was a woolly hat, a pair of wellies and a packet of Woodbines.  We took the tour 1km into the mountain to see the underground generator cavern. The station can go from 0 to 0.5gigaW in 2 minutes, to meet peak demands.
We are spending tonight in Loch Lomond Holiday Park. This will probably be our last stop in Scotland and we should be back in England tomorrow, just.

Fort William

We are heading further south today in the direction of Fort William, the outdoor capital of the UK, on a murky morning after some overnight rain. It's certainly the largest town we have encountered in the last 3 weeks, with similarities to Buxton. It's close to Ben Nevis, highest peak in the UK, which we could almost see from the commando memorial on the A82 a few miles north at Spean Bridge. We stopped at a farm shop on the way to the outdoor centre by which time the clouds had lifted into sunny intervals and the north face of the mountain was clearly visible with patches of snow.
We stopped again at a Costa coffee in Fort William and had a walk along the warm and sunny main street which was busy and very touristy.
We are stopping at a Britstop by Loch Leven at a Seafood Restaurant tonight. Unfortunately we could not eat there cos they were booked solid, it being a holiday weekend. They do have a shop that opens tomorrow and will have some of our custom no doubt. The scenery is now green and lush and less dramatic, but still very  picturesque. The bright yellows of the highland  gorse have given way to the mauve and pink of wild Rhodendron. The midges are getting more abundant now and Rosemary has been bit too.

Return from The Isles

We are heading south from Dunvegan to catch a ferry back to the mainland on a grey but dry morning. Great views of the Cuillin Mountains on the way and we stopped off at the Talisker distillery to get another souvenir of Skye. There just happened to be an Oyster and Seafood bar in the village so it's going to be a fishy supper. The route took us past the first campsite we had used at Sligachen, so we stopped for a lunch break at the hotel opposite. Massive fish and chips and Cuillin skink, very nice too.
When we finally arrived at the ferry there were lots of cars and several motorhomes already waiting and we could not get a ferry untill 7:30pm, a four hour delay. Decided to drive back up the Sceat peninsular and use the Lochalsh bridge instead. A longer way round, but quicker option, than waiting in the rain.
We were looking for somewhere to wild for a night in the Kintail NT park when we came across the Morvick CMC site. Much to my surprise they had 2 vacancies so we are now stopping the night in relative luxury.

Another lazyish day on Skye.

Skye is a pretty laid back place. Not much commercialised tourism although there are plenty of tourists and most b&b have no vacancies signs. The few campsites seem to fill up quite early in the day.
We just took the van up to Dunvegan castle today, too hot to walk, for a look round the home of the McCleod clan. The castle dates from 1200 and is very austere compared to others we have visited. Just sitting with a glass of wine waiting to go down to a local restaurant for dinner out.

49 years on Skye

It's our wedding anniversary today, 49th, so a relaxing day on Skye. We  just walked into the village, too late for lunch, for a snack and we will cook outside tonight midges permitting. The heatwave has reach our corner of Scotland today and after a murky start it's been the hottest day of our holiday. Even put my shorts on today, although I have bought a protective midge head net as they seem to have taken a liking to me! The breeze kept the midges away long enough to cook and eat Angus burgers outside while the sun set over the loch.

Dunvegan with fog

We left the last site, with low cloud still shrouding the mountain tops, for Portree the 'capital' of Skye. It's a small but busy little harbour town made even more so by a HAL cruise ship moored in the nearby loch. We parked amongst the busses while we looked round and found ourselves blocked in for about 20mins until the driver returned with his butties.
After trying unsuccessfully to book a site I decided to go to Dunvegan where there is small site near the castle. The last few miles the visibility  was less than 50yd in dense fog. Parked in the village car park by the prawn and mussel van. After browsing the shops and cafes we went to the Kinloch Campsite, up a very steep ramp, to secure one of the last 3 pitches for 2 or maybe 3 nights. Nice site with basic but clean facilities, free WiFi but no mobile phone signal! How technology is changing. Should be a nice view of the loch if the sun comes out tomorrow, but the overnight forecast is FOG.

Kinlochewe to Skye

We left the site on a grey morning and after  topping up with diesel doubled back to Loch Maree for a short photo stop. Then back on the NC500 route to Torridon via the single track road down the glen in the shadow of the massive Ben Eighe. There is a 5 star hotel with a helipad for its clients. We just had a cappuccino in the activity centre and photographed the tame highland cattle. The road to Sheildaig then rises to a great viewpoint where we bumped into a group of German bikers. I chickened out of the Bealach na Ba part of the route with its hairpin bends and 20% gradients and took the gentler single track road over the top.

We descended into Kishorn in time for lunch at the award winning Seafood Bar. Cullen skink, scallops and langustine (massive prawns) - excellent!
Another few miles along Loch Carron, now in the rain, we leave the NC500 and head for the Isle of Skye. Just before the Kyle of Lochalch bridge we stopped at the first co-op we had seen for over a week. Its was now raining heavily as we drove along the coast to an overnight stop at Sligachen. A basic site within walking distance of the Cuillin Mountains towering behind us.

We had covered about 90 miles today so I had butterscotch Angel Delight with a pecan slice. The clouds are closing in around us, but it's stopped raining. Can't believe it's going to be warm and sunny by Thursday.

Killochewe and Gairloch Bay

We have just visited excellent Inverewe gardens and house. Very innovative way of guiding visitors round the house. Garden full of rhodedendons and a herons nest in a tree.
Its cloudy today but much milder.
Stopped again to look round the old cottage, now a heritage centre, until a rain shower had passed. The heritage museum was interesting but the rain did not stop. Poured all the way passed Loch Maree which should have been spectacular with a mountain backdrop. Mountains almost hidden in murk.
Arrived in CMC site at Killochewe in shadow of Ben Einge which has an award winning visitor centre.
Rain finally stopped but now the midges have come out to play. First encounter with them, but it will probably be the norm as now we are in midge territory and they are starting to emerge.

Short leg to Inverewe Gardens

The heavy rain has gone away and the morning started in full sun again, but showers are forecast later. Decided to do a short drive to Inverewe Gardens CCC site and have Sunday lunch on the way.
Stopped first to have a look at Corrieshalloch Gorge, a 60m deep gash in the rocks with a waterfall. It took a steep 300m walk to the suspension bridge to see it.
We had a fishy lunch at Altbea Hotel of squats of lobster, fish and chips and smoked fish pie, all very nice. An MG owners rally stopped too but we just beat them to place our order.
Coffee came later at NTS Inverewe gardens which is near the caravan site. There were more lochs and mountains plus Guinard Bay to admire and photograph on route.

Ullapool in the wet

Well, the forecast was correct but it's only the first day of miserable weather we have had in almost 3 weeks. Low cloud and frequent showers were not enough to stop us walking the few hundred yards to the town. After a bit of shopping we had haddock wraps with pesto mayo at the award winning Seafood Shack, very good too.
Retreated to the van while it poured down for 3 hours. Duvet and TV day.

Scourie Bay to Ullapool

Gin and Tonic Bombs

We had a bacon butty in the site cafe to start the day then set off for Ullapool. The very friendly owner is from Sunderland.
The scenery just keeps on coming, every bend or hill presents another iconic highland view of lochs and rugged mountains. We took a side road to Lochinver to get some, diesel, pies and cash. The post office is moving into the Spar minimarket after 123 years and I was it's last customer!
Just out of Lochinver is the ruined Ardvrek Castle on the bank of Loch Assynt with a small waterfall nearby. We actually  saw some deer shortly afterwards, but I don't think they were wild.
We stopped near Elgin at one of the many parking places, with a superb view of course, for a sandwich before finally settling in for a rest day and two nights in Ullapool. Our pitch at Broomside Caravaning on Loch Broom is right on the stony beach near the harbour, extended power cable needed. The Caledonian car ferry goes from the harbour to the Isle of Lewis from here. Sunny start today with a few heavy showers later. Rain is forecast tomorrow, which will be our first bad day if it is true. Every campsite is bursting with motorhomes and bikers with tiny tents so the tourist industry must be loving all the North Coast 500 publicity.

East to West on NC500

Today we travelled the northern part of the coastal route to Durness, via Bettyhill and Tongue and then turned south through the valley to a small village of Scourie on the west coast, where, we are spending the night. The whole leg has had the wow factor for scenery from start to finish with pristine beaches, lochs, castles and mountains reflected water. The weather has been good with sunshine and a few showers. We avoided some of them by having lunch at a quirky craft village which was originally built by the MOD as an early warning station in the days of the cold war (but never commissioned). We also stopped for coffee at a small croft on Loch Eriboll with a CL and a tea shop which must have one of the best views in the UK.
The distance was 80 miles but about 50 of that was on single carriage way with passing places, which meant frequent stops for on-coming traffic. Not so bad for cars, but lorries and big motorhomes were a bit of a squeeze at times. These are the main A roads in the Highlands, a few steep sections but no hairpin bends. The camp site is in an excellent position overlooking the bay at Scourie and has an on site bar and restaurant. We cooked outside but ate in as it's still cool in the evening.

Gulls, Views and a Royal Castle

There were no northern lights, it did not even get dark enough. But I did see the sunset at 9:45pm and the sunrise at 4:30am, the nights are very short up here!
First stop today was Duncasby Head to see the fulmars and guillemots nesting on the sandstone ledges of the cliffs and stacks at Duncasby. Fascinating experience to see them live instead of on a TV documentary.
Next a tour of the Castle of Mey, a favourite retreat of the Queen Mother. Its now held in trust and still used in August every year by Prince Charles. A very attractive castle from the outside and nicely presented as a royal residence by knowledgeable guides. Rosemary was allowed to use the QM's personal lift to avoid the steep spiral staircase! We were lucky as it was the first open day of the year. We had lunch in the small cafe/tea rooms, the gardens were disappointing. We finished the day by  going to the most northerly point in mainland Britain at Dunnet  Head. A short walk to the top of the hill from the car park provided​ panoramic views all around.
We are now driving across the top of Scotland on the NC500 route and have stopped for the night in the village of Melvich at a cosy little site by the Halladale Inn. Very highland with sheep all around. Scenary gets more spectacular from here. Hopefully the weather, which had been a bit showery this afternoon, will hold good.

John o Groats JOG

We made it to JOG, stopping at Lidl and Tesco at Wick on the way. Scenery getting very highland now, even spotted our first highland coo. The gorse is a glorious bright yellow on every hillside.
A grey wet start turned into a day of sunshine and showers. As we approached JOG there was a great panoramic view of the Orkney Islands in the afternoon sunshine. The campsite is right on the beach with great views of the islands and  gannets diving into the sea for fish. The evening sky has cleared so it should be a nice sunset later.
Margaret Payne texted to say she saw on news that we may have northern lights in Scotland tonite. That really would be a bonus, we certainly could not have a better chance any further north!

Dunrobin Castle and Dornoch

We left Dingwall in light rain to join the A9 north to Dornoch, a small city with a cathedral, on the coast. Rosemary stayed here 50 years ago with the Sheep Dog Society. It had not changed much, we had lunch in the old joal now a nice bistro. Took the old road out of Dornoch, very picturesque with big swathes of golden gorse on the hillsides. The rain had stopped and the sun was out again by now.
Next stop was Dunrobin Castle the locatipn of the Sheep Dog trial. We did a tour of the castle and gardens before going to the nearby CMC site at Brora. It's close to the beach, just a golf course away in fact. Walking across the course I  disturbed a skylark in the rough which took flight and burst into song high above me. We can hear the sea breaking on the  beach at night. Rosemary did some laundry while we had a few hours to spare.

Culloden Moor and Loch Ness

We started the day by visiting the nearby scene of the battle of Culloden Moor. This is where the Jacobite movement led by Bonny Prince Charles was finally extinguished in 1746 in the last battle to take place on British soil. It is a National Trust of Scotland site so we got in free with our NT card.

We left around midday and drove down the A82 beside Loch Ness to Drumbonach where we had lunch. Then we had a short cruise from the Dunbar Harbour as far as the picturesque ruin of Urquhart Castle where the boat picked up about 50 Asian tourists. Another lovely day with long sunny intervals. Finally went back through Inverness to Dingwall for the night before joining  the NC500 route round the north east coast tomorrow.

Inverness

We took the bus into Inverness today. Old town is quite nice and there was a vintage car rally going on.  Several streets were closed so that cars could be parked for inspection. There was a parade later but we returned to site before it started. It's been rather cloudy today but much milder and it rained overnight, so we still haven't worn any rain gear. Poor TV on this site if you are behind the trees. Tried to watch Eurovision Song contest.