Helmsdale

From ten o' clock this morning, the other vans began to depart, including our rather annoying neighbour who insisted on parking his van sideways across two spaces, and refusing to move when asked politely by the owner of a smaller VW van. Why, we thought. Last night had been the coldest since leaving home three weeks ago, around 5 degrees. But Marge keeps us snug with her warm air heating. We left Dunbeath just before noon, taking advantage of the low tide and walking around the beach across shifting pebbles to the caves.

Our stop for tonight was to be near Skelbo castle, but as we drove across the bridge at Helmsdale, we noticed some vans parked down by the harbour. Swinging Marge around in a side road we went to join them. It seemed a perfect stop. We lunched across the road, sitting outside a cafe with a view of the water.

John being faithful to his Scottish roots, felt it was only right for him to have haggis in a roll, and black pudding in a roll to accompany his chips. After we had eaten, we walked into the small town. Angela bought a handknitted bobble hat in the small outdoor shop. The lady who served her, said the temperature this morning where she lived two miles down the road was minus two. As they say, you don't come to Scotland for the weather.

Built the same year as our house at home!

We are glad we decided to stop at Helmsdale, albeit only a few miles on from Dunbeath. Today has turned out to be a rest day which we are very grateful for. As we sit in Marge watching other vans arrive for the night, we can hear the gentle waves splash against the sea defence rocks. Later on, we hope to witness a stunning sunset.

Dunbeath

A beautiful start to the morning, after a night of strong winds and rain. As we lay in bed, we could see the birds darting back and forth across the blue sky. A hay coloured sun finding its way into Marge.

In the nearby bay we could see the tide was in, only a band of golden sand visible. The landscape in this area is not what we were expecting, which was large rocky outcrops and crashing seas. Instead it was flat and green, with sandy coves. Marge brushed out, envious that the neighbouring van had been cleaned with a vacuum cleaner, we, decided to drive to Dunnet Head, the most northerly point in Britain. The road down to the lighthouse was well tarmacked, fairly wide with passing places, but in comparison to the many miles we'd driven on this type of road, it was luxurious.

The views from the lighthouse were fantastic, we couldn't believe how clear the coast was. Less than seven miles away lay the island of Orkney, and we could see the top of The Old Man of Hoy. Out in the North Sea the car ferry sliced through the water, on route back to the mainland from the island.

Then the ultimate destination, John o' Groats.

What a surprise, not too touristy, fairly quiet, a lovely picturesque harbour and more fantastic views. There were very few cyclists, and the couple we spoke to, who were a similar age to us, were cycling the north coast 500 in the same direction as Marge. We were a little awe inspired that they'd covered the same ground as us by pedalling. They told us about other cycling trips they'd been on, including one in Cambodia, as we did. The man said he'd written a book about a cycling trip to the Balkans, and it was now for sale on Amazon. We wrote down the title so we could pass it on to Chris and Kirsty, (Angela's son and his wife), as a Christmas present idea.

Late afternoon we passed through the town of Wick, which now has a nice new Tesco, its presence evident as we passed through the main town. Our destination was Dunbeath, a tiny village with a pretty harbour. We arrived around four o' clock, but soon after a few other vans arrived, and it proved to be a popular overnight stop.

There are public toilets and the grass areas and floral displays were well kept. We will put some money in the donation box before we leave tomorrow to show our appreciation. John tried his hand at some fishing, whilst Angela took the opportunity to put her feet up, as she has not felt well all day. We need to slow our pace a little again. Our fellow van owners are all travelling east to west on the north coast 500, so we warned them that their drive would become a 'little more interesting' over on the west side. Marge as usual is attracting interest, particularly from the owners of the small VW vans.

Tomorrow we will continue south in the direction of Inverness, probably stopping at a point recommended to us by some fellow travellers from Norfolk.

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.