Day 24 - My blogs

A good Scottish morning to you all!!! For the first time in ages, I managed to sleep and have get up at 8am rather than the usual 6am. Nisha on the other can sleep for ages and ages!!!

We didn’t have much hope of getting breakfast at the Premier Inn so I had the add hot water pot porridge which fell into our bag from yesterday’s breakfast at Holiday Inn, along with the small honey sachet. Nisha decided to have a banana, only one problem, that’s the banana I had yesterday evening. Nobody told me!!! Undeterred, Nisha had her usual mug of tea and showered. By the time I was showered, Nisha was packed and ready to go. The hotel did impress, but is that because it’s new???

Car packed and ready to go, I turn the key and I get the message that it needs a drink of coolant. Diesel was also needed so we find the nearest filling station. Now cast your mind back to the old style filling station where there are only two pumps which are accessible from either side. I expected someone to rush out and ask what we wanted 🤣🤣🤣. I filled up, went to pay and seek out some coolant, I even asked the cashier for some red coolant, he just looked at me with a totally blank expression…don’t worry I said, just point me where I can get some water…there’s a tap over near the yellow sign he said…I said thanks but have you got anything I could use?? That’s when he smiled, rushed to the back and came back with a yellow watering jug…yep, I wasn’t the first one to ask for water 🤣🤣🤣. Leave it near the tap when you’ve finished was his last remark. Now that the cars thirst was fulfilled, off we set to Durness. Only 2.5 hours away!!!

The journey are a drivers delight!!! Straight roads, single trek roads, bendy roads…you name it, I experienced it!!! The road went left…a spectacular view!!! The road went right…another spectacular view…the road went up a steep hill…it was like the road was going to drop off a cliff!!!..nope, just a spectacular view at the peak!!!.

An over take here, an over take there, even an over take at a bend…all safe as you could see miles of the road ahead!!! Overtaking was a doddle!!! Only issue was whether to look at the spectacular view to the side or keep my eyes on the road 🤣🤣🤣

Our journey took us past Dounreay Power Station…homage to Vijay!!!

We had no idea what to expect from our booked B&B (The Bungalow) but as we approached, the location looked to be perfect. Initially we have driven past but a quick turnaround and the car pulled into their drive. The house looked empty. Nisha knocked on the door. No answer but then I saw a silhouette…it’s a man but Nisha had been speaking to Rhona. Nisha introduced us and found out they Ray is Rhona’s partner. We’re invited inside and that’s when Rhona appears. A quick introduction and chitchat and we’re shown our room. It’s comfy with a lovely view…

We dump our luggage, freshen up and off we set. Hunger has reared its head…not many options…because of Brexit, local places can’t find staff and therefore have stopped serving lunch…so….a burger van (Nisha’s thinking dirty burger 🤣🤣🤣). Other option is The Toasty Boys van. Yep, a van that sells toasted sandwiches!!! We chose the latter. 3 cheese option for Nisha and I chose garlic cheese. I don’t think we’ll be having lunch here again anytime soon!! It filled a gap when needed but it’s the after effects 🤣🤣🤣. Luckily, our parking spot allowed us to stay for 2 hours. Navigator Nisha had found a nearby tourist attraction, Smoo Cave. Before we set off, I had to put on my walking trousers. With the door open, I got seated on the back seat and changed. Navigator Nisha guarded the door, stifling a giggle. Changed and ready to go, Nisha produced a few chocolates!!! A couple of bites and off we walked. The attraction is literally 5 minutes from where the car is parked. We arrive and wow…what a view!!!

Down the steps we tentatively walk, and another wow!!!

The trek slowly led us to the cave. Sadly the sign said that the third cave it closed because of the wet and windy weather. The first cave is open so we venture inside. Wow!! (Because we know you love our photos, we got soaked while taking the following…

On our exit, a lovely Robin posed for us…

Before our ascent, one last photo was taken…

Now, back at the car, we identified a major problem!!! Not enough water was being drunk!!! Navigator Nisha and her favourite companion Google found a local Spar. A wel stocked minimart it is!!! 2 bottles of water, a bottle of Red for Rhona and Roy and a dark chocolate and salted caramel bar later, we set off to find our next destination, Balnakeil Beach. Will it look like Brighton Beach, or Margate, maybe Southend beach, possibly even like Newquay beach??? What we saw leaves all mentioned beaches in the shade!!!

Like a few others, we walked along the beach to the far end where we could see large rocks. Beyond the rocks is a road. Keep going is our motto so carefully up the rocks and on the road we go…round one bend, and then another…either side of the road are fields, these ones were full of black cows and their calves. We’re slowly approaching a gate but that’s where the cows have decided to rest. They stare at us as we approach. I can’t make out if their mean stare is at the pescatarian or the pescatarian who eats meat. Has to be the latter!!! A quick rush through the gate and we’re safe!!! There’s sand on the road and there’s more and more of it. Where’s it all coming from??? Sand dunes…yep that’s right, to the left of us there’s sand dunes, same to the right and the sand is so fine to the touch. Another 50 metres of walking and we see…

The beach was deserted. Our aim was to get down there but how??? We’re quite high up and don’t really want to jump or even slide down a steep sandy bank. Eventually Navigator Nisha finds a small track with footprints. Yep, that’ll do…down we go, a sharp turn right and then left, a sharp decline and we’re there!!!! The whole beach is empty!!!

Absolutely fantastic!!! We test the water and it’s not even that cold!!! Probably about 7c, and yes, we’d love to get in there and have a swim but safety first, even though the surface looked so calm, it’s the under currents which are dangerous!!! We decide to just soak in the views.

A moo…yep…a moo…we look at each other…another moo…Nisha looks up and on the cliff is a black cow. She’s not admiring the view, no way, she’s striding along with authority, knowing exactly where she wants to go…she disappears…she’s gone…has she fallen off the edge?? Is she following the road?? Moo…she’s on the beach…yep, she’s made it to the beach…well, she is a local 🤣🤣🤣

The beach is empty yet she still walks our way!!! Unbeknown to me, Nisha doesn’t like cows being too close and heads straight for a route back up to the cliff…’relax’ I say…no chance of that happening 🤣🤣🤣. ‘Follow the cow hoof marks in the sand’. Nisha doesn’t slow down, she’s quickened her pace. I’m laughing, the cow is far enough away from us but Nisha really hates this cow 🤣🤣🤣. We’ve climbed a couple of dunes and end up in a flat area surrounded by more dunes!!! It’s not the Sahara so I know we won’t see camels or mirages 🤣🤣🤣

We see sand here…we see sand there…we see sand everywhere!!!

We’re still following the hoof marks and eventually the sand turns into road. We’ve survived!!! 🤣🤣🤣. Now, do we turn right and head back?? Or continue our adventure and go left…I said left, Nisha said right…left won as there was a bend about 50 metres ahead which led to to who knows where!!!

The bend arrived, the road ended and was replaced with sand…sand everywhere!!! Only thing to do was continue. Another 50 metres and another decision to make. Straight or right. Nisha was relaxed now. Must have been the lack of any moo’s 🤣🤣🤣. The right turn was the correct decision…look what we saw…

You should know by now that we couldn’t just take a photo and leave!!! A closer look was required!!! Following the footprints lead is closer to this view…

This photo doesn’t really show you how high we actually are. Sadly there wasn’t a route down to the sea otherwise we’d have gone straight down, of course we would have checked to make sure there wasn’t a cow there already 🤣🤣🤣

Now, I don’t know if it was the sea air, or even seeing the cow and trying to work out how it made it to the beach but Nisha wanted to run up a dune, she was so sure she could reach the top without any problems…ready…set….go….

I’ve stopped laughing…honest!!! 🤣🤣🤣

It was time to head back now and rather than go the long way, we took a little known shortcut…little known because no one knew about it…including us…on the way we spotted holes in the sand covered cliff edges which are homes to birds. Not sure which type of bird but we saw them swoop straight into their homes…

The shortcut led us to the beach…Nisha looked left, then right…no cow…she relaxed…the clouds were now getting grey and looked full of rain…we walked on and found the point that had led us to the beach. Another trek upwards and eventually to the top. Moo….yep…the cow…not to worry, she was on her merry way in the distant field going who knows where…well…she definitely knew her destination!!!

The walk back was nice and relaxed. Back in the car and after a swig of water…it was time for an early dinner. Only option is a place called Swoo Cave Hotel. Don’t need a sat nav for this one, only passed it a few times already 🤣🤣🤣

Only two cars in the car park…ours makes three. Parked up, we enter the bar/restaurant. It sounds lively…there’s a space at the bar…red wine for Nisha and a pint of Guinness for me. Not many empty tables but the barman says we can have a ‘reserved for locals’ table as we’ll be done by 7pm…it’s only 5.30pm.