Luxury camping

John and Paul had finished their day's cycling by the time we arrived. Hugged little sis and walked up to the local pub, the Balconie, to check if we could have dinner there.....no problem. 

Had a luxurious hot shower and a change of clothes then all seven of us walked up the hill to the pub. We ate a feast! Of course the cyclists can eat as much as they like since they burn 7000 calories on their journey. 

Read their Land End to John of Groats blog

So the next day we mosied off after the cyclists had departed. 

Heading for Maybole but eventually decided to catch the 7:30pm Cairnryan to Belfast  ferry instead. Changed the booking online and drove on. 250 miles yesterday. 

The ferry journey was interesting because most of the passengers were returning from a football match. They sat near the TV and drank beer after beer.  On the other side of the ferry were some buxom and glamorous women. Big blonde hair put up in chignons. Lots of pink outfits and bare shoulders, even the little girls. It was just like  My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding (on TV) for these were Travellers returning from the traditional Appleby Fair.  Their men folk were downing the pints whilst the women enjoyed catching up on gossip. 

That's all for now......

 

Day 5 heading south

Last night I saw two white tailed sea eagles, a pair of buzzards and a female deer. 

Today we woke to a chilly morning with strong winds and scudding clouds. 

The Castle of Mey was our first stop.   Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, owned this house from 1953.  She paid  £100 because it was so dilapidated and spent a lot of money on renovations.  It isn't a large house. No ensuite bedrooms. Rather old fashioned in furnishings but comfortable with superb views across the Pentland Firth to Orkney.   Prince Charles takes the house for August like his grandma used to.  This is a view from the side.

Bill was desperate to get a newspaper so we took a long and scenic route to the south past Thurso. Tesco is everywhere in Scotland. One expected rural country stores but instead vans displaying Tesco's logo " you shop, we drop" is a sign of the times and Internet shopping. 

Lunch stop on a single track road. 

If you are looking on a map we drove from Tongue to Lairg and Bonar Bridge. This was all Sutherland county....windswept, heather moors, and rivers in spate. Have arrived in Evanton near Cromarty Firth and are ensconced in a luxury campsite with showers! Ann, George and Karen are here plus the two Lejog cyclists.

 They expect to be finished their long ride by Monday. They've had miserable weather but have coped and are probably the stronger for it.  We can stay in the camper when it's wet and windy.

Day 3 Sunshine - Day 4 Rain

This morning was sunny and we determined to get away from the site quicker than the last few days. Making breakfast, setting out the table, packing away the bed and bedding,  getting washed and dressed  plus emptying the waste water and collecting fresh  and putting away the electric cable all takes time. This morning we managed it in an hour which was an hour quicker than the first day.

Off to Skara Brae..the reason for coming to Orkney. Could've got in free as we entered the building at the same time as a coach party from a cruise ship!  Looked at the interpretation display then walked back in time to 5000BC. A Snipe was visible tucked down on its nest in the rushes and a pair of Great Skua patrolled the sky above. 

The remains of the Neolithic houses are impressive having been uncovered by a storm in 1867(?). There is a replica house to walk through. It's  large and roomy being 5 metres in diameter with built-in beds and a dresser. ..all made of stone and a high roof with whale bone trusses.  Something I learned today... Neolithic people are Stone Age folk who settled down to farm. Their tools were stone and bone but they had a good diet and comfortable houses. 

Spent half an hour at an RSPB Hide The Loons. Greylag geese supervising a crèche of 13 goslings, shoveler, one wigeon, singing Sedge Warbler and a bird of prey (probably Hen Harrier) being harried by gulls. There are breeding lapwings and oystercatchers everywhere on this island. 

From here we drove to Brough of Birsay, an island accessible by low tide over a causeway.  The first ruins encountered here are Viking longhouses and a church.  We walked clockwise around the island, past a lighthouse and were closely examined by a hunting Great Skua.  Close views of a nesting razorbill. 

A quick visit to Stromness was made even quicker by mistakenly driving down a narrow paved street which we couldn't avoid. So we drove the whole length of Stromness and then left! Visited some standing stone sites and then a chambered cairn which rivals Newgrange in Ireland. (Newgrange is better).

Back to our campsite at Evie for supper in the rain.  

On Friday 5th we drove a short distance to the Brough of Gurness - an Iron Age defended settlement with a huge ditch and satellite dwellings surrounding a fortified tower with 5 foot thick walls. The Picts were the people who lived here. 

Next stop Kirkwall to view the Bishop's Palace and the Earl's Palace.

 The Earl was Robert Stewart, a greedy and unpopular man descended illegitimately from James V (his grandfather).  Eventually he was beheaded in Edinburgh. 

Rain was driving in from the East on a strong wind so we decided to head for the ferry at St Margaret's,  relax and wait.  ..and of course the sun came out!

Tonight we are staying on the north Caithness coast at Scarfskerry. Tomorrow the plan is to visit the Castle of Mey and then meet up with Ann and her cycling entourage somewhere near Inverness. They are on their way from Land's End to John of Groats (LEJOG).

Day 2 arrival on Orkney

Drove along the NE coast of Highland, Sutherland and Caithness with dramatic cliffs and distant views of oil rigs and close views of deer. 

Arrived in John o'Groats at 12:30 and took compulsory photograph. There isn't much to this place apart from a campsite and a few houses plus a cafe. You can take a passenger ferry from here but we drove on a few miles to Gills Bay and luckily found a place on the catamaran. We were only given a place at the last moment and were last to board.

Arrived an hour later in strong wind but plenty of sunshine. On the journey I spotted at least six Great Skua plus plenty of auks and gannets. We stopped at the ferry office in St Margaret's and booked our Saturday morning sailing. Took a peek at another CL site and then drove on to the amazing little Italian Church built by Italian prisoners or war in the forties.  The church in a converted Nissen hut is filled with frescoes and tromp d'oeils. Well worth a visit as the Italians made a miniature piece of Italy in this remote outpost. The Italians were brought to Orkney from El Alamein in Africa to build sea defenses at Scapa Flow which is a deep sheltered bay in the south of the group of islands. Churchill ordered sea barriers to be made to protect the harbour.

 These defenses are now part of a road system joining together a group of islands. We landed on south ronaldsay, drove onto Burray en route to Main Land where we are now.

St Magnus cathedral was built in the early 1100's when these islands were ruled by Norway. It is rather magnificent.  Then we walked through part of the old town of Kirkwall which is full of little narrow passageways from one road to the next just like Wexford in Ireland.  Our next stop was ..... Lidl. Yes, and Tesco is here too.

Now we are camped at a place called Evie on a hillside overlooking Rousay island. 

Jim, the campsite owner is a farmer with 450 acres and 150 head of cattle. The spring has been so poor that he hasn't yet managed to get the cattle out in the fields as everything is so wet. 

That's all for today. 

Scotland trip

We played bridge on Monday night then set off for the boat after a brief kip at home. The unseasonal stormy weather caused the ferry to be a bit later than scheduled hence rush hour Glasgow traffic combined with heavy rain slowed us up quite a lot.

Having decided to get as far north as possible we drove on up the A9 passing Perth and stopping at the famous House of Bruar for something tasty to eat. By 4pm at Nigg, Cousin Kenny and Fiona welcomed us for a short interlude with tea and coffee and conversation. Bill was impressed with Kenny's new Biomass automated heating system on the farm and we made an inspection.  Our next stop was to Cousin Lin and her two shy sons. Then a short drive along the route to Dornoch for a night at a quiet CL Site on a farm beside a small natural pond. 

Wednesday Morning update 

Bright sunshine but very gusty winds today.