13 June
After breakfast and schooling, we packed up which was another learning experience, we headed to the Harbour in portsoy. It’s a cute little fishermans village and we enjoyed a walk around the Harbour.
Afterwards we headed to the next village, Sandend, which had a lovely sandy beach. There we got to make lunch right there (camper van life!) and eat it on the beach. The stopover would not be complete without a walk down the beach.
We then drove along the coast stopping at Portknockie, just taking in the views. Afterwards we stopped for some ice cream as it was a lovely 24oC. Eventually we turned inland towards Cardhu.
It has been 11 years since we visited the distillery, on our first wedding anniversary! We got Mish a bottle of 18 year whisky, most likely it will be done before we finish the NC500. Luckily there are plenty of distilleries to restock the bar on wheels…
We eventually got to our campsite outside Nairn, and made our curry dinner (from scratch!!!). Along the way we improved our campervan organizations. We will be pros at this before the week is out.
14 June
With the beautiful sunny weather we decided go for a bike ride. So we packed up and drove to the beach where we found the start of a trail. It took us along the coast to Nairn Harbour, along the way we had to make a detour a road was blocked off due to a recently burnt down house.
The trails then took us up the Nairn river. It started off as a double tarmac trail, then to gravel trail, then hardened earth then down to a single trail and finally to a very narrow one with the bushes nipping at our sides. When we got to a steep and rocky hill, we decided to turn back.
At that point we were getting hungry, but luckily we had already picked the perfect picnic spot. It was right next to the river with easy access to the pebbly beach. The girls and Duke loved it, and got into the water. As usual Duke went ballistic in the water jumping, running and swimming through the water. He was very unhappy when we decided to leave.
Duke has been having blast with bike rides, either running alongside or more often pulling the bike along as if he were a husky. Had to have him on a leash or he would have gone straight to the river (still attempted to do so a number of times).
We eventually got back to our starting point and Mish found an ice cream place for all of us to sit down and cool down with a very yummy ice cream.
At some point we got back to the campsite and just relaxed for the rest of the evening. The girls took out the craft bags and started to learn how to crochet…
15 June
Started this morning early (like everyday when camping!) did the daily necessaries, which all takes a little time when living ‘van life’ and then did a little school before heading off around 10am. Headed directly for “The Black Isle”, via a couple of geocaches.
We drove through Inverness, over a Kessock bridge to Munlochy. From there we ventured along to Fortrose where we stopped for a picnic lunch at Chanonry Point, the best viewing point for dolphins, and we actually did see a pod of dolphins swimming along and playing in the water. They were too far away for photos though.
The girls all felt very brave and went for a cold water dip in the North Sea! It was indeed very cold, but wonderfully refreshing and Harriette/Robyn went in multiple times, Maxine only braved submersion once.
We continued on our journey to Cromarty, a picturesque little village where we had tea and cake and some more home school. Hopped on a ferry across to Nigg, back on mainland, and a stop over in Tain for some grocery bits before heading through Golspie and on to our campsite just the other side of Brora.
Once we got all settled in and the kids fed, showered and asleep, the adult managed to sit back and enjoy the peace with a glass or two whilst soaking in the North Sea breaking on the beach nearby.
16 June
Opps we slept in today a bit. Last night we put the thermal covers on the car, in the effort to make it darker and this resulted in all of us sleeping past our normal wake up times.
Eventually we got up and completed our normal routine, and then detached the campervan from the awning. Main attraction of the day is Dunrobin castle - the stately home of the Earl of Sutherland and the Clan Sutherland. While it origins reach back to the Middle Ages, the current building and gardens were only built from 1835 to 1850.
Unfortunately dogs are not allowed in the castle nor in the gardens. Instead we took them on a walk around the castle down to the sea and then through the woodlands. It reminded us of our old Bagley woods in Kennington. We dropped off the dogs and Mish at the campervan and the girls when to see the castle. After all it does look like a fairy castle and they were curious whether the inside matched that impression. Let’s hear from Harriette:
“After a lovely seaside walk, Mama, Maxine and I went inside Dunrobin castle. It looks like it has jumped out of a fairytale. Inside the castle, it is covered in gigantic oil paintings, in massive ornate golden frames. It is all done up like it would have been centuries ago, with a large fancy drawing room, a billiard room for playing snooker, a war room full of medals, a sewing room for the seamstresses, a gigantic study for writing letters, a library full of leather bound books, and even the bed chambers had names. Through the castle, there were lots of stuffed animals: lions and leopards as carpets and lots of reindeer heads in the entrance hall. There was also a lady who lived there named Harriett! What a coincidence! Also, there was a trail of six lego people dotted around the palace, after we found them all we got a lollipop as a reward.
Morning review: Brilliant! Amazing! Fantastic!”
On the way to the campsite we saw an ice cream shop, and just HAD to stop and try out the local ice cream. Unfortunately there were too many choices! In the end we had to all have 2 scoops each! Yum!
We decided to end the day with a quick bike ride (to burn off the ice cream calories of course!). Along the way we picked up another geocache. Actually we have been very busy collecting them over the past couple of days. We are are just 8 away from reaching 250!
17 June
It was windy when we got up this morning and the air had a definite bite to it! It was an interesting struggle taking down the awning in strong winds… But we managed it in the end. Before leaving, we took a quick stroll down the beach, and along the way we saw some Highland “Coos”, to Robyn’s delight! Think they are her new favourite animal…
Once we were packed up, we headed out of Brora, and started north. We kept stopping every few kilometres to find another geocache. Eventually, we made it to Helmsdale and checked out the Timespan museum. There we got to learn about local history, which included a gold rush and the herring boom, along with how people lived in the town. Women were an integral part of the commercial operation. The best teams of 3 women were able to gut, salt and pack 50 herrings in a minute! At that rate they would quickly fill up a barrel with around 700 herring… We doubt that we could manage even 1 in a minute!
Our time at the museum ended with us taking a stroll through the little town, and stopped at the local cafe for some lunch. Afterward we hit the road again, and achieved our 250th geocache!
We took the windy roads up to the ruins of Sinclair Castle, enjoying the magnificent views. The sun was out in full force and that helped take some of the chill out of the air. This side of the coast is stark in vegetation and windy near the North Sea, a seascape of strange beauty is Scotland’s NC 500.
It was evening time when we arrived at John O’Groats, and after checking into our campsite, we took a stroll through the village. We ended up at the “Last Pub”, originally the “Last House” of John O’Groats. There Robyn and Mish enjoyed a locally brewed cider and ale.
Back to the camper-van for dinner and a little spot of The Great British Sewing Bee, at the girls request. Then usual bedtime kids routine, and moving stuff round and round the van to access needed supplies at the time required.
Sunset was around 22:20, and it was absolutely stunning at ‘the edge of the world’, pictures really do speak a 1000 words!
Harriette’s Entry:
“When I awoke, in the fold up section of the van, it sounded like there was a thunderstorm outside. But, it turned out to be horrible windy weather, and when the time came to pack up camp, it was still all blustery. Today we finally found 250 geocaches!
Together, we visited Timespan, and interesting history museum. We were the first guests to test their new virtual reality history game! After that, we went and checked out the old Sinclair castle ruins. They were crumbly and cold, there wasn’t very much of it left, but we walked around and discovered a beautiful cliff land bay. We took some photos, before heading to John O’Groats.
After arriving and setting up camp, we went to explore. Most things were closed, but we bought a teddy Yak (actually a Highland Cow), and Mama and Tata had a beer and cider at the brewery. Next, we had dinner and then watched some Sewing Bee to celebrate our Finds”.
Comments
Post a Comment