Catching Up

This part of the diary is without photos as they have proven difficult and time consuming to upload.  I will do my best to catch them up

May 21 – Our first reaction to the city on our way in on the tram was that the whole place was a drab, often dirty grey. There are many beautiful sandstone buildings that seem never to have been cleaned. On arrival in the city centre, we were hit with tourist mania, and this is before summer season had really started. The main tourist street is the Royal Mile, with Edinburgh Castle at the top, then moving on downhill through dozens of shops and café/restaurants, with intriguing alleys and laneways branching off on either side. All these were ancient passageways from centuries ago. We left the castle for later, and headed to the end of the street, then turning for Holyrood Hill with Arthur’s Seat at the top. This is a hill climb we wanted to do. We’d walked around the Scottish Parliament House and followed a path up, being taken by many people.  It wasn’t until we had reached a fair height and then reached a descent, that we discovered a separate, steeper, hill which was the real Arthur’s Seat.  We started off enthusiastically climbing the stone steps, but after a few hundred of these we came to a mid-point, and then started to climb higher. About two thirds of the way up, we saw that there were still a few hundred steps to go. Neither of us was that keen to reach the top – the steps were very irregular, it was very windy and eventually would have to be negotiated back down. Also the pedestrian traffic climbing up was increasing in volume, so we opted to start back down, and at the halfway point detoured onto another pathway around the hill to get to the bottom. It was exhilarating to a point, and we had wonderful views over the city. The views confirmed our belief that there is almost no colour in the buildings in Edinburgh. From the bottom of Holyrood we set off through the streets to climb a lesser challenge – a hill called Calton Hill. This was more easily accessed by suburban roads, and after a steady climb, we reached the top of the hill. There is a scattering of historical buildings on the top, but by this stage the weather was deteriorating, so we didn’t stay up there long. We found a restaurant called, of all things, Howies, so went in for a lunch special. The place was full to the brim, a little noisy, but the food was good and it was a welcome break from the weather. After lunch, we returned to the Royal Mile, walked up to the Castle, but didn’t go past the point where you had to pay. We may do this when we return to Edinburgh at the end of our journey. Foot weary, we slowly made our way back to our tram station and returned to our lodgings. It had been a good day.

May 22 – Time to move on. We bid Edinburgh farewell and headed north for Inverness, further up the coast. We passed through very pleasant scenery, lots of green pasture land and hillsides covered in bright yellow gorse in full flower. The further north we travelled, the higher the hills became – not rugged hills but with rounded slopes and tops from earlier glacial action. The upper slopes are devoid of the brilliant gorse, instead covered with low-growing grey heather. As we approached Inverness, we rounded the edge of the Cairngorms, the highest landmass in Britain and also a large National Park. Inverness is a large town through which the River Ness passes. We found our guesthouse, a terrace situated on a narrow road which was used as a speedway by all the male drivers passing through. After a walk to the town centre for some shopping, we ended up at a nearby Aldi store for a few supplies, then headed home for the night. We were in our favourite type of accommodation, a self-catering place, making this part of the trip much less expensive. We were saddened today to hear of the terrorist-linked explosion in Manchester, in which 22 people lost their lives and over 100 were injured.

May 23 – In reasonable weather, we set out for our major target for the day – a drive down the eastern side of Loch Ness to Fort William and nearby Ben Nevis, at 1344 metres being the highest mountain in the British Isles. It can be climbed in a day, but weather near and at the top can change violently in minutes, and we had no intention of going any further than around a quarter of the way up. Over the years, a significant number of inadequately kitted out climbers have died attempting to complete the climb in poor weather. It was a very pleasant climb as far as we went, on a pathway studded with really attractive local pink sandstone rocks. We reached a point that we had been told about, and were able to veer off and climb back down a lengthy stone staircase to river level, returning us to the visitor’s centre alongside the river. The drive back to Inverness along the Loch was as enchanting as the drive down, and we were very satisfied with our day’s efforts.

May 24 – a day of great excitement had arrived. We have been dreaming of the Orkneys off the north coast of Scotland for years, and today was to be the day we travelled there. We travelled north along a road that hugged the east coast, and in the late morning arrived at John O Groats, not quite the most northerly point, but very close to it. It was a most uninspiring place, and we were able to continue walking for a short distance to Duncansby Head, a bit closer to the most northerly point. After a short walk along the cliff top, and a chance for Howard to clamber down to the beach and inspect lovely beach stones (a lifelong passion), we drove on a further 3 kms to Gill’s Bay, from where we caught the car ferry over to the Orkney mainland. It is a one hour journey, and we finally arrived at the place of our dreams for the last few years. After a short drive to a very small village called Burray, we found our guesthouse, situated on a hill with a beautiful view out over a bay and farmhouses dotted around the hillsides sloping down to the water’s edge. It was the best cottage we have had in a long while, fully self-contained and fully furnished right down to a washing machine. It was brilliant, and we have four nights here. After unpacking the car, we drove in to the largest town, Kirkwall, for the visitors centre and information. There were three causeways to cross on the way, and we discovered that these were constructed on the orders of Churchill during the war to block any passageways through the waters that could be used by German U-boats. Then it was back to Burray, and we relaxed into our home and prepared for a full day tomorrow.

May 25 – We awoke to a day of sunshine, which was a good thing as we had a lot to fit in. The Orkney Islands have just about the most prolific number of Neolithic archaeological sites in the world, and they are dotted all over the Islands. There is the Orkney Mainland and between 12 and 15 smaller islands surrounding it. We headed off through Kirkwall and travelled west, firstly to the Maes Howe visitor’s centre. Maes Howe is a burial chamber, constructed around 5000 years ago from enormous sandstone blocks, and buried under a huge earth mound, now grassed over and with sheep grazing on and over it. The entrance is guarded by a fence and gate. Our guide asked the last person in to shut the gate as the sheep hadn’t bought tickets! Access to the chamber is through a ten metre long tunnel, only one metre high, and lined with slabs of stone. It was built during Neolithic times, but was also visited by Viking raiders in the 12^th century. They carved runic graffiti into walls, which are still quite readable if you can read Runic. We had a very entertaining guide who translated some of the carvings for us. Next on the list were two groups of standing stones, the first being the Standing Stones of Stenness, built around 3300 years ago. There are only four left, but they are massive in size, the largest being nearly six metres tall. Further along is the second group, the Ring of Brodgar, consists of 21 large stones, all that remains of what was a larger circle. The stones are not as massive as Stonehenge, but still present an impressive spectacle, and raise the usual questions concerning how they got there and what was their significance. Next came the remains of a settlement called Skara Brae, situated on the shores of a wide sandy bay, and pre-dating Stonehenge and the Pyramids of Giza. The settlement was uncovered in the late 19^th century during a violent storm, which blew away a sandhill, thus exposing the stone ruins of buildings and stone furniture. We headed north for our last visit of the day, the Brough of Birsay, the site of extensive Norse ruins on a windswept Island just off the mainland, and joined by a causeway that gets covered over at low tide. We had been given the tide times and were able to get there during the lowest point. There is a notice suggesting that anyone stranded on the island by rising tides should ring the Coastguard. They had the good sense to provide the phone number.  We drove home around the coast after a long day of absorbing ancient history.

May 26 – Another sunny day arrived – why didn’t we get this weather in Iceland? Now for today’s plan. Most people have heard of a rock stack called The Old Man of Hoy. It is just off the northwest coast of an island called Hoy, which itself is adjacent to the Orkney Mainland. We took a 30 minute car ferry trip over to Hoy, a very hilly and mostly unpopulated island, and drove from the terminal out to the remains of a coastal settlement called Rackwick. It has now only a few farmhouses and a small partly overgrown caravan park. The hike out to the rock is three and a half miles, nearly six kms, with a long uphill haul through peat moorland before a flat section along a cliff top. We then descended to a plateau, at the end of which was the rock stack. The walk was not difficult, but the pathway was very rocky and this made the walking quite challenging. The stack is around 150 metres tall, only a few hundred years old and is composed of multiple layers of sandstone, severely eroded over the centuries by lashing wind, rain and waves. From the cliff top it is a really impressive sight, and the surrounding rugged cliffs make for a very dramatic setting. We headed back to the car and drove to the other side of the island, stopping along the way to check out a feature called the Dwarfie Stone, a small burial chamber cut out of a huge sandstone block. It is the only rock-cut tomb in Britain, and again is around 5500 years old. All other burial sites are constructed with stone blocks. We continued on our way, found about the only coffee shop on the island, had a beach walk – Irene to paddle in the water, Howard to wander amongst the interesting array of coloured pebbles and stones along the beach. A little weary from our long walk, we drove back to the ferry terminal and returned to our little haven on the mainland.

May 27 – Our last full day on Orkney, and believe it or not, another sunny day. Apparently this is a record for Orkney at this time of year. The locals were joking that they were a little upset that they couldn’t provide us with the normal bleak and wet Orkney weather. We headed out up the east coast to find another Neolithic site called the Broch of Guerness. It is an outstanding site where there is a very large central stone tower structure, about 20 metres across at the base, with large flat stones projecting from the walls just above head height, indicating that there once was a first floor. There are also the remains of a steep staircase, further confirming the view that there was another storey. The tower was surrounded by the remains of other stone buildings that would have formed part of the settlement. It was a different type of settlement altogether from Skara Brae. The tower is assumed to be part of the process of creating a community centre, and may also have been a status symbol of the wealth of that community. Although sunny, there was the usual bitterly cold wind, so we moved on, drove around the top of the mountain and found a nature reserve at a place called Marwick Head. However, the path to the reserve headed off up a quite steep hillside, and after our exertions on Hoy, we couldn’t face another uphill trek, so opted for lunch in the car instead. Lunch in the car is usually a challenge, but this day we brought out the beetroot jar, and this proved to be particularly challenging, as beetroot slices usually are. We continued on to our last call for the day, managing to become temporarily geographically displaced along the way. This is quite easily done on UK country back roads. We eventually found our way to our target, a tiny place called Yesnaby, where there are reputed to be marvellous rock stacks and really contorted geology. This description was completely accurate.  It was an incredibly rugged section of coastline, with a rock stack that had a significantly sized tunnel through its base, begging the question “How does it manage to remain vertical?”. With the consistently pounding seas and severe weather it will eventually collapse into the sea, as have some of the Apostles along the South Australian coast. We managed a cliff top walk to take in the whole site, and then headed for the car and home, and a respite from the wind.

May 28 – We were allowed a fairly leisurely pack up and departure, as our ferry check in wasn’t until 11.20. It was such a windy day that we didn’t bother to stand up on the deck for the views, but stayed in the relative cosiness of the passenger lounge. It’s only a one hour journey, so we sere soon off the boat and heading across the top of Scotland. We had a quick look at the coastal view from Dunnett Head, the most northerly point in the UK, and then drove on towards our destination for the night, a B & B called Armadale House, along the way passing the now retired nuclear power station at Dounreay. Armadale House is on the edge of a very small village, not surprisingly called Armadale. The house is a heritage listed building, owned by a delightful and very friendly Dutch woman called Dettie, who bought it ten years ago. Dettie told us of a walk we could do down to the beach, as the village is situated just above a bay. The walk was really interesting, a typical English country ramble, through paddocks, along leafy sections of pathways, and through the usual slightly boggy patch. The beach was flat hard sand, but edged with the most interesting and colourful rocks and boulders, a signature of the geology of this region. There is a lot of pink and grey granite and sandstone, which we find to be particularly attractive. The rocks were all too heavy for Howard to attempt to take any home (fortunately). We returned to the house for an evening snack and retired for the night.

May 29  - We breakfasted with a couple of young German women who were staying there. As we didn’t have to rush off, we sat around the table chatting. Our host Dettie joined us, and during a lively conversation told us that Dounreay was planned as an experimental fast breeder nuclear power station, and never produced any useable power. There was little local opposition as they employed many locals, including whole families. The de-commissioning process is continually being extended, and the place is known locally as “the holiday camp”. We talked until ten o’clock, when it was time to get moving. We continued west along the top of Scotland towards a town called Durness. As we drove along, the countryside changed from rolling hills to more rugged mountainous ranges, and there was an abundance of rhododendrons along the way. The attraction at Durness is a limestone cave called the Smoo Cave, the name deriving from an ancient Norse word for cave. The cave entrance is down a flight of steps, and is quite large at the mouth, with a waterfall plummeting down from the roof, but soon becoming a fairly narrow and low ceilinged passageway through which a shallow river flows. We contracted a young guide called Fraser to take us in a rubber dinghy through into the tighter section of the cave. Although not a large cave, it was quite an interesting experience, as the mouth of the cave has been formed by sea water action, whereas the inner portion has resulted from river action. Fraser and an older fellow (Colin) are between them financing their own dig into another part of the cave, as they believe there will be another cave beyond the passageway with evidence of Neolithic habitation. They are slowly digging their way along a fault line when they are not busy with guiding duties. We gave them a small donation towards their work, and then headed inland for our next destination, a town called Lairg. The Northern Scotland mountain scenery is really spectacular, and we drove through a variety of different types of rocky country. After driving 18 miles along a lake called Loch Shin, we arrived at our home for the night, a “pod” on a farm advertising their accommodation as the Loch Shin Luxury Pods. The pods are like miniature Nissan Huts, very small, but comfortable, with a tiny bathroom and kitchenette equipment. There was almost nowhere to put anything, but we were here for three nights, so we did the best we could. The pods are situated on a working sheep farm, and we were serenaded by distant sheep until we fell asleep.

May 30 – After so much travelling, we had an easy morning, before heading out after lunch to explore Lairg (it wasn’t the most pleasant of days). It is an interesting little village, as usual steeped in history. It has only recently been announced that after years of research, geologists have confirmed that the area was once the site of a huge asteroid impact around 100 million years ago. This has contributed to the fascinating geology that we observed on our way down to Lairg the day before. There is a striking array of different types of rock, that over the ages have been pushed around, uplifted, and generally mistreated by unimaginably huge geological forces. We drove a little way out of town to visit the Loch shin falls, not very high, but with a very forceful water flow. It was here that we saw our first salmon attempting to jump the falls to return to their breeding grounds. We only saw three or four, and none of them quite made it to the top. Sadly, the salmon are diminishing in size and number compared to previous years. This is due to a number of factors, mainly the effect of climate change, ocean degradation, and over fishing by large factory ships. There was a nice forest walk available, but it started to rain, so we took the option of returning to our little pod for an early night.

May 31- The weather for the day looked promising, so we set out on a round trip through part of what is known as the North West Highlands Geopark, most of the area west of an imaginary line drawn from Durness in the north down to Lairg in the centre. It is a UNESCO promoted area of unusual natural interest backed by strong community support. We drove as far north as Scourie on the coast, where we did an exhilarating walk out to the Scourie headland, having a laugh at the local lamb population as we passed through a widely scattered flock. Some of the young lambs eyed us nervously as we passed by; others scampered over to be by Mummy’s side. We had lunch at a picnic table overlooking the beach, then drove through magnificent scenery on a very narrow, winding road, out along a peninsular to a lighthouse. From there we were able to do a one hour walk out to the end to see another rock stack, this time called the Old Man of Stoer (here, Irene met her first midges, which appear to come in several sizes but all with the same painful, itchy results – the wind had dropped!) . It was not as high as The Old Man of Hoy, but impressive nevertheless. It was a long walk over undulating hills and through a number of boggy patches, but we made it out there and back, and appreciated the exercise. We continued our journey, heading for home via a lovely little sandy beach called Clachtoll Beach (the only really soft, white sand beach we had seen so far in the UK), a ruined castle called Ardveck, and views of an impressive mountain range forming part of the Geopark. The roads in this part of the country are one lane roads. Every hundred metres or so there is a “passing place” on one side of the road or the other. They are small laybys, marked with a sign on a post. When the road is busy, it makes for very slow travel, as cars are continually pulling into the passing place to wait for someone else to pass. We had a wonderful, scenic-drenched day in wild mountain country bathed in mild sunshine, and returned home very happy.

June 1 – Moving day, cold and windy. We had a 38 mile drive in to a coastal town called Ullapool, situated in a beautiful location on the side of a Loch, and ringed by mountains. We had a ferry journey over to an Island called Lewis, part of the Outer Hebrides. We ordered lunch on the boat, but it became a bit dramatic when they were very late in bringing it out, leaving us not much time to gulp it down. Fortunately, we were not asked to pay for it, so we left the boat not completely unhappy. The capital of Lewis is called Stornoway, a town of 5700 people. We were booked into a B&B in a suburb called Swordale, but believing we were too early to check in, we headed off to the most northerly point of the island, called the Butt of Lewis. It is a dramatic section of coastline, with crashing waves and significantly contorted rocks, uplifted sharply and with swirling patterns in the rocks indicating a violent past. We had a short walk out to a headland, but didn’t stay long as strong wind and spattering rain forced us back to the car. We returned to Stornoway, and with some difficulty located our hosts on an island joined to the mainland by a causeway. The house we are in is situated on the edge of a cliff, with a view back to the mainland of the island. Our hosts are really friendly, and have virtually given us the run of the house, inviting us as well to join them for drinks with some friends who were visiting. It is a very comfortable existence and we retired to our quarters after a long noisy and invigorating conversation around the kitchen table.