Fri, 18 Oct 2002

author Tim	location Kirkwall, Orkney Islands, Scotland
posted 19:29 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Scotland 2 ( all photos )

Planning to go across the High Seas... ( )
A strange feeling this morning as we were the first to be awake and down to breakfast. Typically, we have scraped in by about ten minutes before they stop serving! Driving straight to the ferry, Liz didn't want to get out and see the ferry dock, to give you an indication of the wind strength.
Was quite a bit of fun driving the car onto a ship, and the journey itself was rough at times, but generally bearable. Memories of my trip on the Fairstar ten years or so ago came flooding back, while the Maxalon kept breakfast from doing the same.
This ferry powered us towards the Orkney Islands.

author Tim	location John O'Groats, Caithness, Scotland
posted 18:38 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Scotland 2 ( all photos )

Top o' the Mainland 2 ( )
Right, now we're up to today.
Before setting out from Durness, we had a bit of a look around the town itself. A "Wax and Wine" museum failed to be all that interesting, which was certainly not the case for our walk on the beach. You see, up here, it is extremely windy. The rain comes along when it feels like it. Both were present as we walked around this sandy beach with great rock formations, enclosed in as many layers of clothing and waterproofing as we could locate.
After leaving there, we noted the people we had seen set up camp beside the sea were still walking around. Not sure how they felt after a night of hard rain and strong winds, but they seemed ok.
Next stop was "Smoo Cave". Initially we had decided to go there just because of its exceedingly strange name, but we were soon very glad that we had. Used years ago for smugglers and the like to hide out in, it is the result of a river running to the sea eventually breaking through into a cave underneath it, creating a sink-hole with a huge waterfall. The walk down to it and then standing about 10m away was very scary - the forces of nature are not to be tampered with. The power of this waterfall was amazing, and in the small little cave even more so.
The drive from there across the top of Scotland was one of the most memorable we have ever done. The landscape is almost all rock, wind-swept reeds and grasses, sheep and the windy, hilly single-track road which we clung to in the wind. Running out of supurlatives here. It was great.
A windy pit stop was at the end of the road in Bettyhill - very quick as we decided that Percy was a great place to be after all. Heater on quick smart.
The rest of the day was driving around looking at B&Bs, and walking in the wind (bent into it trying to walk) in the areas between Thurso and John O'Groats. This took in John O'Groats itself (for some reason thought of as the most North-Westerly town on the mainland. It's not - instead just find touristy shops and our first pay-to-pee toilet for a while here), Duncansby Head (actually the most North-Westerly town on the mainland, where it was so windy that plastic bins in the car park similar to what you put out your garbage out in each week had the lid constantly being blown open, and that was the sheltered area), and Dunnet Head (the Northern-most point of mainland Britain). Whew!
A little apprehensive after reading Lonely Planet describe the ferry to Orkney as "two of the most stomach-churning hours spent", we were quite happy to discover another ferry operator working a different route that takes only one hour! We are booked on the 9:45 ferry tomorrow morning from Dunnet Bay. That's about fifteen minutes drive from where we are staying, the Seaview Hotel in John O' Groats.
Here, we got what we paid for (not much), with moldy ceilings, broken TV, and noisy pipes. Admittedly it has character, but I hope the food is good...

author Tim	location John O'Groats, Caithness, Scotland
posted 18:38 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Scotland 2 ( all photos )

Top o' the Mainland 2 ( )
Right, now we're up to today.
Before setting out from Durness, we had a bit of a look around the town itself. A "Wax and Wine" museum failed to be all that interesting, which was certainly not the case for our walk on the beach. You see, up here, it is extremely windy. The rain comes along when it feels like it. Both were present as we walked around this sandy beach with great rock formations, enclosed in as many layers of clothing and waterproofing as we could locate.
After leaving there, we noted the people we had seen set up camp beside the sea were still walking around. Not sure how they felt after a night of hard rain and strong winds, but they seemed ok.
Next stop was "Smoo Cave". Initially we had decided to go there just because of its exceedingly strange name, but we were soon very glad that we had. Used years ago for smugglers and the like to hide out in, it is the result of a river running to the sea eventually breaking through into a cave underneath it, creating a sink-hole with a huge waterfall. The walk down to it and then standing about 10m away was very scary - the forces of nature are not to be tampered with. The power of this waterfall was amazing, and in the small little cave even more so.
The drive from there across the top of Scotland was one of the most memorable we have ever done. The landscape is almost all rock, wind-swept reeds and grasses, sheep and the windy, hilly single-track road which we clung to in the wind. Running out of supurlatives here. It was great.
A windy pit stop was at the end of the road in Bettyhill - very quick as we decided that Percy was a great place to be after all. Heater on quick smart.
The rest of the day was driving around looking at B&Bs, and walking in the wind (bent into it trying to walk) in the areas between Thurso and John O'Groats. This took in John O'Groats itself (for some reason thought of as the most North-Westerly town on the mainland. It's not - instead just find touristy shops and our first pay-to-pee toilet for a while here), Duncansby Head (actually the most North-Westerly town on the mainland, where it was so windy that plastic bins in the car park similar to what you put out your garbage out in each week had the lid constantly being blown open, and that was the sheltered area), and Dunnet Head (the Northern-most point of mainland Britain). Whew!
A little apprehensive after reading Lonely Planet describe the ferry to Orkney as "two of the most stomach-churning hours spent", we were quite happy to discover another ferry operator working a different route that takes only one hour! We are booked on the 9:45 ferry tomorrow morning from Dunnet Bay. That's about fifteen minutes drive from where we are staying, the Seaview Hotel in John O' Groats.
Here, we got what we paid for (not much), with moldy ceilings, broken TV, and noisy pipes. Admittedly it has character, but I hope the food is good...

author Tim	location John O'Groats, Caithness, Scotland
posted 18:08 BST 17/10/2002	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Scotland 2 ( all photos )

Top o' the Mainland ( )
Time to update the journal again - skipping days is generally bad news. First yesterday, then a separate entry for today.
Driving north from Braemar yesterday, we went through some amazingly foggy ski areas, including Lecht. They're not in use yet (still no snow sighted), but it's clear from how many there are that they do get used a lot fairly shortly.
Stopping and grabbing a pizza at a newly-opened Safeway for lunch in Inverness, we had a bit of a look around the town that gave its name to the street where we used to live. A fairly un-notable place, it sits beautifully on some great pieces of water - obviously Loch Ness on one side and Moray Firth on the other. Very scenic when the weather is willing, as it was. Then it wasn't. Then it was. etc.
We followed a similar route north that we did last time we came through here, but this time heading towards the North-West corner of the Scottish mainland.
A drive out on a tiny little road to the coastal town of Sheigra on the Eastern coast was supposed to locate us a place to stay for the night. Great scenery all around the Lochs, but nothing besides a B&B closed for the night and a hotel wanting to charge us £45 per person, or roughly $270 for the night. Back in the car quick smart.
The next possibility was Durness, up on the North coast. Despite only discovering half the town (very hilly here making it quite confusing), we still were quite happy with our accommodation and meal. The meal was at the local "Lounge Bar" - a dimly-lit table overlooking the sea. Lovely. Accommodation was provided at the Parkhill Hotel, recently renovated.
We made a mad dash back to watch The Bill (it's become compulsory viewing over here) at our hotel, where the friendly girl running the place told us that they were prediciting possible snow over-night. That's the first thing that Liz looked for in the morning, but none was sighted. Won't be long...

author Tim	location Braemar, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
posted 22:31 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Scotland 2 ( all photos )

Back into the Highlands ( )
(Continued from Carlisle 1)
Setting out around eleven this morning, we headed straight up the motorways in a rather un-eventful way. Several times this trip Liz has commented that she'd like to take Percy back to Oz with us. The costs wouldn't out too well, though I'm forced to admit I would love to as well.
Not too far north of Glasgow, I took over the driving and managed to "accidentally" find another distillery - The Famous Grouse, near Creiff in Perthshire. This time, we both had a great time - Liz bought a couple of posters of their amusing advertising, and posed next to "The Big Grouse".
As a side note, the whole "Big-Thing" concept (eg. Big Banana, Big Marino, etc.) is quite rare here. This was the first we'd spotted, and quite a good replica of the ones which still decide it's a great idea to chase Percy doing 60mph when we drive by. Overtly inquisitive animals. Or just really stupid.
Lunch was generic food at a generic "Services" - all the motorways here have them about twenty miles apart. Fuel, food, toilets, etc. Weather not boring at all, changing from sunny blue skies to torrential rain in a matter of minutes. Most of the time it's somewhere in between.
Liz is filling the role of the "Transitions" glasses for me - constantly swapping between my normal and sun glasses, as the day goes on. Much easier if it just stayed drizzly and grey like it's supposed to!
We're back in Braemar now, the two of us alone in a room normally for six. CDs were retreived intact (stupid me left them here last visit), and we cooked a great pasta before retiring to reading about the Orkeneys. We're excited!

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