20th July
I'm not sure if it's the longitude and latitude that Ian put in or the sat nav playing up, but once again the sat nav tried directing us back to Thurso. Thankfully this time we hadn't got too far before we realised, and by putting in a postcode instead, at least got us going in the right direction. It was to a campsite, Halburry Croft near Mid Clyth, that we were making for. Ian found it on the camping and caravaning app, and it would allow the filling with water and emptying of black and grey water for £5.
Gosh, it was difficult to find. Ian spotted a sign with a hand drawn camper van and arrow pointing down a very narrow track, no name but felt sure this was correct. Not exactly at the post code, but near enough to give it a try.
It was correct, the chap came out, a lovely man, but could he talk for Scotland! Backing away and saying we must get on didn't seem to help. Anyway, eventually he left us to it, but this meant we arrived at Dunrobin Castle much later than planned.
Packed was the only word I can describe the sheer amount of cars, motorhomes and coaches in the car park. Parking became an issue. The car park was full, so we carried on toward the castle and stopped by the side of the road. Ian walked to the entrance to ask if alternative parking was available and wow, they said we could park in front of the castle if there was a space. Luckily for us, there was!
Dunrobin Castle is the most northerly of Scotland great houses, It is the largest house in the highlands with 189 rooms and is apparently one of Britain's oldest continuously inhabited houses dating from the early 1300s. The castle has been in the Sutherland family for over seven hundred years, and Lord Strathnaver (or Earl of Sutherland) Alastair Charles St Clair Sutherland and his family are the current owners.
For once, I could take photos, although no flash allowed. I was well and truly told off for using that from one of the guides! Anyway, what a place. Huge and I lost track on how many rooms we wandered through.
The laid out gardens were beautifully presented, the walk down to them about killed me off! So many sets of steps and steep too. Groan....what goes down must come up, and I'm not looking forward to that!
What we both wanted to see was the falconry display. Starting at 2.30pm, our seats were grabbed well before, I wanted to be at the front.
I loved this falconry display, it was presented in such a manner to include us all. The falconer was amusing and told far more about the two birds, Harris Hawk and Peregrine Falcon, than any of the other falconers ever did. And he involved one of the children by getting them to pretend to be a rabbit pulling a lure behind them, if you do visit the Castle make sure you catch the displays.
A small museum on the grounds was not what we expected. It was filled with trophies brought back by the 3rd Duke of Sutherland consisting of animal heads, stuffed birds, fish and antlers. This was not for those that balked at this type of sport, but back in the 1800s it was what the gentry did. There was more to the museum than stuffed animals, a collection of carved Pictish stones and other memorabilia was also on display.
By the time we left, the car park was nearly empty, I felt knackered having tackled all the steps and very pleased to get back to MB. To find somewhere to stop, we drove for roughly 30 miles, heading toward a place called Tongue. The road was single track with passing places and when a huge lay-by set back from the road appeared, we decided to stop for the night. This was not on any of the Park4Night apps, but we felt it far enough from the road not to be a nuisance, and it looked pretty disused too. Hopefully we won't be disturbed, but who knows. The only thing we do know is how many midges there are outside even though it's raining, and we thought midges hated the rain!
And seen on route
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| Someone with a sense of humour. |
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| So many wind turbines |
And wildlife
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