Another
wonderful day of sighting and learning.
This
morning we left Dunnet and headed west along the coast line to Thurso.
Our
first stop was St Peters Church, which is a ruin, but we had been told of the
Stone arch window frame that had been build from one piece of stone. It was
amazing.
We
then took a detour down to the harbor for a quick look. It was a quick look as
the temperature this morning was 3, and the wind was savage.
The
“main” road along the top of Scotland is nearly all one lane with passing areas
every 100 meters or so. Most people are really polite and so travelling is
fairly easy, but then I was not driving.
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| Main road across the top!! |
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| Pass here on left |
Our
next stop was Bettyhill. We were here to visit the Heritage Centre and see a
Farr Stone that was in the cemetery.
The
heritage centre was really good. It is housed in an old church and had lots of
wonderful info.
We
found out about the Clearing and the Pict people and also about how they
collected peat for fires.
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| Blackhouse replica - before the clearing |
 |
| Peat for fires |
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| Farr Stone |
From
there we continued west towards Durness. The road took us through the village
of Tongue and across the Kyle of Tongue Bridge. It was a wonder to see, but the
strength of the weird made me a bit nervous. 🥺
 |
| Centenary Cairn |
We
then travelled around Loch Eriboll and into Durness. By the time we reached
there today the weather had turned even nastier. The wind was so fierce we
could not get the van doors to open, and when we did, we could not shut them.
We
stopped at Balnakeil Craft Village for a bit of a look. My favourite was Cast
Off Crafts where they make items from recycled materials. It took all my
strength to not bring home a hand-embroidered wall hanger that had shells, sand
and beads with a heart hook. There is still tomorrow.
We
then headed back to Smoo Cave.
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| Smoo Cave |
This
cave has been created from the sea at one end and rain water at the other. It
was well worth the walk down in the rain to see. In summer you can get a boat
tour through the cave, but today we only got to see the waterfall that ends the
cave.
To
finish the weather off today, we were treated to a quick storm that included
the tiniest balls of hail.
Tonight
we sit snuggled up in our van while the wind howls around us.
All
for now.
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| The North coast 500 we are travelling on - Most anyway, around the top of Scotland |
Stay
safe and keep enjoying life.
Love
us.
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