DAY-09: Port Augustus To The North Coast
Day – 09: Thursday, August 31, 2017
Starting Location: Port Augustus, Scotland, UK
Interim Location: John O'Groats, Scotland, UK
Ending Location: Dunnet, Scotland, UK
I headed out this morning for a walk over to the locks. It was lock down time and a few boats were making the transit into Loch Ness. Notable this morning were the efforts of hauling the boats forward as they passed from one lock to the next. As a note, it generally appeared that "the first mate" manually pulled the boats forward through the locks allowing the Captain to stay by his post either at the helm or stern of the boat. (Seems like I've heard of this happening to friends at various times in the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway during low water aka grounding conditions).
The weather looks favorable for a visit to the Orkney Islands on Friday so we're off from Post Augustus headed to John O'Groats on the north coast of the Scottish mainland.
How about a few flower photos for a break.
The drive north takes us again along the western shore of Loch Ness, we're still keeping a watchful eye toward the lake while cruising along on the wrong side of the road.
Though we didn't stop on Tuesday, this time we would not miss the Loch Ness Centre. The advertising and everything about the place smacks of "tourist trap" but we were determined to give it a try.
At the centre we learned of the history and lore of Loch Ness and it's mysterious creature. We heard of the exploits over the years to search out the monster from the depths.
It was such an educational experience that we would recommend it to everyone. Some believe the "Nessie" story to only be a commercial gimmick, others believe a creature lives to this day in the depths of the loch (one problem with this story is that it would be thousands if not millions of years old). In that we shelled out our bucks or pounds to be specific I lean toward the "gimmick" reasoning, clearly the trap works to this day.
So after all of that, what do you know, around the next bend what do we see but
We continued northeast passing by Inverness and onto the A9 through Tain, Golspie and Navidale toward Latheronwheel.
At Golspie we visited the DunRobin Castle. Typical landed family owning massive amounts of property. The castle is still family owned but charges a fee for entry. The structure was impressive, the furnishings gaudy and the gardens were awesome
I guess these days to keep up with the royal crowd every castle needs its own port-a-loo in the front entryway; the portable trees and shrubs offer a nice touch.
Continuing north we arrived at John'O'Groats about 5:30 PM and confirmed our arrangements for tomorrow's ferry ride and Orkney Islands tour.
From John O'Groats we drove a short distance to Dunnet where we would be lodged for the next two nights at the Northern Sands Inn.
Upon arriving we noticed a grouping of yurts on the hotel property. Should I say that Sheila has had this life-long ambition to sleep in a yurt?
Anyway after check-in we had dinner in the hotel (no other place in town unless we just went door-to-door hoping to get lucky). Here's beer and salmon on the side.
There wasn't a lot going on so the night ended early as we would have to be up and out by 7 AM to catch the ferry to The Orkneys.
Ending Location: Dunnet, Scotland, UK
I headed out this morning for a walk over to the locks. It was lock down time and a few boats were making the transit into Loch Ness. Notable this morning were the efforts of hauling the boats forward as they passed from one lock to the next. As a note, it generally appeared that "the first mate" manually pulled the boats forward through the locks allowing the Captain to stay by his post either at the helm or stern of the boat. (Seems like I've heard of this happening to friends at various times in the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway during low water aka grounding conditions).
The weather looks favorable for a visit to the Orkney Islands on Friday so we're off from Post Augustus headed to John O'Groats on the north coast of the Scottish mainland.
How about a few flower photos for a break.
The drive north takes us again along the western shore of Loch Ness, we're still keeping a watchful eye toward the lake while cruising along on the wrong side of the road.
Though we didn't stop on Tuesday, this time we would not miss the Loch Ness Centre. The advertising and everything about the place smacks of "tourist trap" but we were determined to give it a try.
At the centre we learned of the history and lore of Loch Ness and it's mysterious creature. We heard of the exploits over the years to search out the monster from the depths.
It was such an educational experience that we would recommend it to everyone. Some believe the "Nessie" story to only be a commercial gimmick, others believe a creature lives to this day in the depths of the loch (one problem with this story is that it would be thousands if not millions of years old). In that we shelled out our bucks or pounds to be specific I lean toward the "gimmick" reasoning, clearly the trap works to this day.
So after all of that, what do you know, around the next bend what do we see but
 |
| Artist's conception. |
 |
| Sonor image. |
 |
| The actual Loch Ness Monster! |
We continued northeast passing by Inverness and onto the A9 through Tain, Golspie and Navidale toward Latheronwheel.
At Golspie we visited the DunRobin Castle. Typical landed family owning massive amounts of property. The castle is still family owned but charges a fee for entry. The structure was impressive, the furnishings gaudy and the gardens were awesome
I guess these days to keep up with the royal crowd every castle needs its own port-a-loo in the front entryway; the portable trees and shrubs offer a nice touch.
Continuing north we arrived at John'O'Groats about 5:30 PM and confirmed our arrangements for tomorrow's ferry ride and Orkney Islands tour.
From John O'Groats we drove a short distance to Dunnet where we would be lodged for the next two nights at the Northern Sands Inn.
Upon arriving we noticed a grouping of yurts on the hotel property. Should I say that Sheila has had this life-long ambition to sleep in a yurt?Anyway after check-in we had dinner in the hotel (no other place in town unless we just went door-to-door hoping to get lucky). Here's beer and salmon on the side.
There wasn't a lot going on so the night ended early as we would have to be up and out by 7 AM to catch the ferry to The Orkneys.
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