Scottish Highlands - Dunnet Head to Edinburgh

23 - 30 September

Going Home

Back in Scotland we spent the next two nights at Dunnet Bay.  A five mile journey along a narrow, twisting road brought us to Dunnet Head, where there were good views to Duncansby Head in the east and almost as far as Cape Wrath in the west.  It was also incredibly windy, making it hard to stand, let alone take photographs.

We then struck west towards Durness, and stopped at Sandside Bay.  

It was not particularly remarkable (other than the slightly alarming warning sign) despite being mentioned in North Coast 500, but we did strike up conversation with an elderly Scots gentleman walking his dog, who did not have a good opinion of the promotion of the route, due to the way it had pushed up prices, of hotels, for example.  He had had to pay an exorbitant price for a hotel in Inverness when his wife was in hospital.  We went our separate ways, but we thought we had inadvertently adopted a dog when it followed us back to the ‘van, with the owner nowhere to be seen.

  

Unfortunately things then went horribly wrong when Amelia had a close encounter with another motorhome, resulting in the loss of the driver’s wing mirror.  Given that there was no possibility of getting a repair in the north west of Scotland, we reluctantly turned around and headed back to Thurso, with some rear vision courtesy of a bicycle mirror and much gaffer tape!  On Monday morning we purchased a larger mirror and more gaffer tape in Thurso to improve the temporary fix and then drove to Inverness, the location of the nearest Fiat dealer.  The afternoon ended on a brighter note (literally!) when the sun shone and we sat outside for the first time.  The new mirror (thankfully in stock) was fitted first thing on Tuesday morning.

  

With stress levels returning to normal, we now needed a new plan.  Before leaving the Inverness area, we visited the site of the Battle of Culloden.  The visitor centre was very informative, telling the story of the 1745 Jacobite rebellion under Bonnie Prince Charlie through panels, audio and a very immersive 360-degree film of the battle. The battlefield itself, by contrast, was  peaceful, with flags marking the positions of the Government and Jacobite soldiers, and small stone memorials to the various clans.

Grantown on Spey was the next stop, where we got out the bikes to ride along the Speyside Way.  Between Grantown and Nethy Bridge it is really a path for walking rather than cycling and it was very hard going, so we didn’t get any further than Nethy Bridge for lunch and then opted to ride back along the roads.  Further south the path is a designated cycle way.

We had hoped to spend a night at Scone, near Perth, and to visit Scone Palace, but the site was fully booked.  There are obviously too many retired folks gallivanting about in their motorhomes and caravans at the moment!

Instead we travelled straight to Edinburgh, calling at Killiecrankie Pass on the way.  This is a National Trust site and the visitor centre provided historical, geological and nature information.  We walked to Soldier’s Leap, where a government soldier supposedly leapt to safety across the river away from his Jacobite pursuers, after the battle of Killiecrankie in 1689, during the first Jacobite uprising.  You can walk for miles beside the River Garry and it’s very peaceful  – except when RAF planes scream overhead on low level exercises.

We paused to watch three canoeists battle their way through the rough water before returning to Amelia and completing the journey to Edinburgh.

We had a cultural two days in Edinburgh visiting the National Trust for Scotland property "The Georgian House" (where the guides were eager to share their immense knowledge and would have kept you talking for ages), a small exhibition "Constable and McTaggart" at the Scottish National Gallery, explaining how the works of Constable had influenced the Scottish painter, an exhibition on Shackleton's ill-fated Antarctic expedition and finally an exhibition on the Rebus books by Ian Rankin.   Alongside this we had a lovely time with Louise and Steve, who always find a new cafe and/or restaurant to take us to and cook up delicious food at home.

The route home will include a detour to visit relatives in Filey, but otherwise we are done and dusted!