Thurso to Dornoch via John O'Groats
We headed east out of Thurso stopping at Dunnet Head, the UK's most northerly point, about 10 miles away. On the road up to the Head we saw our first Highland cows (with calves for the total "aah" factor).
Ahh, bless 'em. Highland cows (a scene we'd conveniently forget later when ordering beef chow mein)
The sea and cliff views were impressive although it was a bit too windy to hang around for too long. It was definitely worth seeing though; for approximately 15 seconds we were the most northerly (and windswept) people in the UK!
Cliffs at Dunnet Head
View towards John O'Groats from Dunnett Head
10 miles on we came to John O'Groats which was a bit of a disappointment. It's basically a car park with souvenir shacks. Also, the famous John O'Groats sign post is privately owned by a photographer rather than being a public council-owned job. Don't know if I was meant to, but I did manage to snap a covert picture on my SLR from behind a kiosk!
Apparently Thamesmead is 716 miles from John O'Groats
We followed the east coast road south making brief stops at Wick, Lybster, Badbea and Helmsdale. Badbea promised an "ancient abandoned settlement" but was more like "a wall and a few random boulders".
Dornoch was our destination for that night and is a lovely little town. Our B&B was ran by someone of the old school; in by 11.30pm or request a key! Also had the decor of someone's nan's house, including toilet roll tea cosy with sinister baby's head (a toy one obviously, an actual severed baby's head would be pushing it, and far too large to fit on a toilet roll).
The Evil Keeper of the Toilet Roll
We had a wander round town and a few pints. A strange and awkward moment in one pub was being stared at intently by a man with no arms. Still, it wasn't like he could really cause much damage so we weren't unduly concerned. Had a couple of drinks in the bar of a golfing hotel where we played "Spot the Texan", it was far too easy though with their loud voices and even louder trousers.
Hmm...wall of whisky
Managed to take some night shots that evening, justifying lugging my tripod 700+ miles. Can't vouch for how the shots will turn out though, still yet to properly master night shot techniques even when sober. Really hoped to attempt some star trails but the skies were too overcast and it never seems to get properly dark during the Scottish summer!
Dornoch is great for all your second-hand gardening tool needs. Note "Dutch hoe"; do they actually mean "Dutch ho"? And what's meant by "grape", and is that in fact an actual grape stuck to the paper?
Ahh, bless 'em. Highland cows (a scene we'd conveniently forget later when ordering beef chow mein)
The sea and cliff views were impressive although it was a bit too windy to hang around for too long. It was definitely worth seeing though; for approximately 15 seconds we were the most northerly (and windswept) people in the UK!
Cliffs at Dunnet Head
View towards John O'Groats from Dunnett Head
10 miles on we came to John O'Groats which was a bit of a disappointment. It's basically a car park with souvenir shacks. Also, the famous John O'Groats sign post is privately owned by a photographer rather than being a public council-owned job. Don't know if I was meant to, but I did manage to snap a covert picture on my SLR from behind a kiosk!
Apparently Thamesmead is 716 miles from John O'Groats
We followed the east coast road south making brief stops at Wick, Lybster, Badbea and Helmsdale. Badbea promised an "ancient abandoned settlement" but was more like "a wall and a few random boulders".
Dornoch was our destination for that night and is a lovely little town. Our B&B was ran by someone of the old school; in by 11.30pm or request a key! Also had the decor of someone's nan's house, including toilet roll tea cosy with sinister baby's head (a toy one obviously, an actual severed baby's head would be pushing it, and far too large to fit on a toilet roll).
The Evil Keeper of the Toilet Roll
We had a wander round town and a few pints. A strange and awkward moment in one pub was being stared at intently by a man with no arms. Still, it wasn't like he could really cause much damage so we weren't unduly concerned. Had a couple of drinks in the bar of a golfing hotel where we played "Spot the Texan", it was far too easy though with their loud voices and even louder trousers.
Hmm...wall of whisky
Managed to take some night shots that evening, justifying lugging my tripod 700+ miles. Can't vouch for how the shots will turn out though, still yet to properly master night shot techniques even when sober. Really hoped to attempt some star trails but the skies were too overcast and it never seems to get properly dark during the Scottish summer!
Dornoch is great for all your second-hand gardening tool needs. Note "Dutch hoe"; do they actually mean "Dutch ho"? And what's meant by "grape", and is that in fact an actual grape stuck to the paper?
posted by Vicki at 12:06 pm
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home