Castletown

In our guide book the area we passed through yesterday was described as drab, but beautiful to the extreme. Sorry we didn't get that feeling. This morning after a good night's rest, the wind had lessened, and we started the day with renewed vigour. Parked next to Marge was the latest 2020 version of the Sven Hedin which is the Westfalia model that Marge is, the new one although a bit glossier can't hold a candle to the more experienced Marge, who's not ready for a face-lift yet.

Before leaving Durness, which now looked like quite a nice place in the daylight, we stopped at the small shop by the beach and bought a Route 500 car sticker for Marge.

Then a walk down to the cove, where a waterfall tumbled down over irregular shaped, pretty coloured rocks and on to the beach,

Next stop was Smoo Caves.

The caves limestone entrance is the largest in the U.K. Anyone who watched Susan Calman's Secret Scotland on television would have seen her take a boat trip inside the caves. There are no trips running at present because of covid. But you could walk inside a little.

A few miles drive further on we stopped by the Golden Eagle zip wire, also not operating because of covid. Parked up, were a couple we had met on our last night on the Isle of Skye. As we are all heading in the same direction, we are sure we will probably meet with them again somewhere along the way. The onward drive was slow, yet more single-track road with passing places.

The scenery was nice though, a softer landscape now, more arable, moorland and lush green glens. But we hadn't come across anywhere we wanted to stop and explore. Arriving at the 'big town' of Thurso, we replenished Marge with diesel and water, then away to our overnight stop at Castlehill Heritage Centre. Marge has four new friends, and a pleasant view across Dunnet Bay.

Nearby, we can see the scarring caused by the quarrying of flagstones in the 18th century.

It was amazing though to think flagstones cut here went around the world, and closer to home to the city of London, where they were laid in the docks, The Strand and on the concourse at Euston Station.

This evening as the sun went down it lit the Dunnet headland. In the shallows a group of seabirds basked in the last of the golden light. We returned to Marge after a nice walk around the harbour and along the beach, where we looked for fossils amongst the stones.

The day had ended well, and we were glad we'd found this place. We are now about ten miles from John o' Groats, which will be our first stop tomorrow morning. Then we will turn and start our drive down the east coast. Our Scottish neighbour tonight has driven the north coast 500 route a few times. His advice, just open the window, enjoy whatever the view is, and breathe in the Scottish air.