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.

Durness

Last night we were lulled asleep by the waves tickling the shoreline. This morning the sunshine of the last few days was gone. Nethertheless it was dry and not too cold. We bid farewell to our canoeist's neighbours, John forwarding them the photographs he had taken of them yesterday

Shortly into this morning's journey we stopped at a viewpoint to photograph yet another stunning view.

There was an information board detailing where the public toilets were in the area, and for anyone caught short, there was a small shovel for their use!

You'd have to be desperate, wouldn't you? This information board, and its fellow shovel, were common in these parts.

We were on route to Ullapool, a place where Marge's namesake often talked about after a coach holiday to Scotland. But once again we were distracted from our journey, as we saw a sign for the Corrieshalloch Gorge. Stop Marge, we're going to take a look at this.

Corrieshalloch Gorge is a 65-metre-deep slot gorge through which the river Droma rushes for a mile. We walked down to the suspension bridge, where a notice stated only six people were to be on the bridge at any one time. The view down was breath-taking, if you like that sort of thing, or in Angelas case, take a quick photograph and get over to the other side. Then down to the viewing platform. The falls of Measach here drop 45 metres, so all in all an impressive place. We walked back through the larch trees, ferns and fungi. The area was popular, and by the time we returned to Marge the car park was full.

We arrived at Ullapool around one o' clock, and parked Marge in the Tesco car park. After some shopping and lunch, we walked around the small port town. It was nice enough, but we couldn't see why our Marge liked it so much.

Leaving Ullapool, the weather began to deteriorate, the wind increasing and a light rain splashed over Marge. In places the sun split the clouds.

We stopped at the ruin of Ardvreck Castle, taking the opportunity to stretch our legs. Our journey from then on became bleak and miserable.

We saw barely another vehicle, the landscape was bleak and barren, the light dull, we felt like we were in no man's land. With time getting on, we travelled on yet more single-track roads with passing places, and decided to head for the town of Durness, hoping to find civilisation and a fish and chip shop. We found civilisation, but no fish and chip shop. Morale low, we parked up Marge with another van beside Loch Eriboll. The wind rocking Marge and the rain coming down, we hoped tomorrow would be a better day. We have been driving now for nineteen days, and as yet have not found a place we have wanted to stay a couple of days at. We have been told by quite a few people that the west coast is the better coast, so let's hope we are not too disappointed from here on.

Tomorrow we will drive along the north coast towards John o' Groats.