Scotland Tour - Week Two

Hello, I'm back with more of our tour to and around Scotland. On Saturday we arrived at our self catering cottage - 'Cor An Easan' in Midtown, Tongue on the north coast. I think it's fair to say it's remote!

Our neighbours - photo taken later in the week in better weather.

Day 6 - 14th September - Rogart to Midtown, Tongue
We arrived at the cottage and unpacked the car, then off to buy supplies at the very small village store. The weather was very wet and windy so we stayed in and cooked a meal. We have plenty to do here with the books, DVD's and games supplied and the books and crafts we brought along with us. 52 miles travelled today making a total of 600 miles so far.

Day 7 -  Sunday 15th September Weather still wet and windy but slightly better than yesterday. We took a short trip to the nearest Hotel for Sunday lunch. Interesting how many cars are just left to rot away in this remote area. These must be the oldest we have found so far.

Austin

Morris Minors

Day 8 - Monday 16th September - John O'Groats Trip 132 miles
Weather slightly improved again today and we decided to drive to John O'Groats - we are only 66 miles away so it had to be done! On route we stopped for coffee at an amazing place called The Store Café, I will discus this further on day 11, as we liked it so much we wanted to go back and explore the area in better weather.

The bays we saw as we drove along looked inviting, we stopped Scrabster, near Thurso to take a few photos.

We drove on to John O' Groats, and spent a while there including having our photo taken at the famous signpost. 

Nomadic Boulders Statue & John O' Groats Inn

 

On the way back from John O' Groats we decided to visit The Castle of Mey, the Queen mother's home in Caithness. This was beautifully presented and all the guides were so very informative and had many amusing anecdotes to share. Unfortunately the weather was not suitable for the gardens and animal areas, but worth a visit to tour the castle alone. No photos were allowed inside but I have the guide book if anyone is interested.

 

Of course we had to have a cup of tea and a slice of Queen Mother cake in the restaurant!

 

Day 9 Tuesday 17th September
Today we stayed local and investigated local places along the Midfield coastline. This involved much walking rather than driving. As with everywhere we visited this week, we saw evidence of one of countless small settlements which were abandoned early in the 19th century, when people were evicted to free the land for commercial sheep farming.

Day 10 - Wednesday 18th September - abandoned visit to Durness

Miserable weather today but we set off along the coast to the west of the cottage this time, about half way there we stopped at a remote cafe, and after a cup of tea we decided to go back to the cottage! So no photos today

Day 11 - Thursday 19th September - Tongue & Bettyhill Area
We set off to return to The Store Café, as we had found the atmosphere there so welcoming on Monday. The caked and drinks as self service with free refills. You can order sandwiches and soups etc. There is a piano and guitar which is available for anyone to use. The friendly girls serving there also seem to be running the laundry attached. 

Making sense of coffee!!

As we were leaving we were chatting to other customers and someone recommended a visit to Strathnaver Museum, which we could see from the café, lying at the bottom of the hill. It was in an old church, surrounded by gravestones. It shows the journey of Strathnaver’s mystical past, through the emergence of the Clan Mackay to the tragedy of the Highland Clearances. We spent some time here in the museum and surrounding area. Lots more photos taken.

As we drove home we saw a sign for Weavers Craftshop and café and decided to take a look. A very busy little place considering how remote the area. Friendly staff and I was asked by one of the ladies if I had made my hat. I explained it was a pattern I found online and remembered it came from Shetland Wool Week Blog. It is called the Baa-ble hat! I'm wearing it in the John O'Groats photo above. People have shared their makes on Ravelry and the pattern is available to download from there. I emailed the details later that day and received a lovely reply.

Here is a view of The Ben Loyal and Melness Cemetry which is very imposing as you approach Melness from the causeway across the Kyle of Tongue. It was taken with Alan's drone.

Day 12 - Friday 20th September - Local area - Midtwon to Midfield Coastline

As the weather is so much better we decided to explore the coast line again.

Bird's eye view taken by Alan and his drone

At the end of week two we have travelled 1082 miles by car, which is 35 hours of driving, fuel cost so far - £0.00 - thanks to free charging in Scotland!
On to Skye tomorrow.

Thanks for looking
Lynn x