Monday 30^th June                              LAIRG  TO  DRUMBUIE

A travelling day today, which was good, as we weren’t too bothered by the inevitable rain which had been forecast.

We woke up about 7am in our cosy little cottage Jakel’s Rest. We had a fairly easy morning just having breakfast and packing our bags and belongings before we set out. The trip to Drumbuie, our next accommodation only takes about 2 and a half hours, so we decided to take it easy and see what there was along the way.

                                                               Goodbye Jakel's Rest

We started by travelling south from Lairg and down the A836, driving along the River Shin and the Kyle of Sutherland. We crossed at Bonar Bridge, then drove along the south shore of Dornoch Firth before turning onto the B9176. (A B+four digit road means it’s going to be single lane – but as usual, plenty of passing places.) We followed the Cromarty Firth for a while, going through towns like Evanton, Dingwall and Maryburgh, which looked and sounded quite English rather than Scottish. So did a lot of the surrounding countryside, tending more towards gently rolling fields than towering mountains and moors. We were driving along the A835 when we saw a sign saying ‘Victorian Spa Town’, so, quite intrigued, we went for a look.

                                                    Definitely low tide in Cromarty Firth

                                                       Pretty countryside around Dingwall

If Smoo Cave was our magical unplanned discovery of yesterday, then the little town (pop. 1500) of Strathpeffer was today’s! As the sign said, it was discovered by the Victorians for its spa waters, and became an affluent holiday getaway for the rich. It has some truly amazing architecture from the period and is so pretty! We stopped in the square, and had a walk up the hill before having a lovely morning tea in a café. Over morning tea, we did some research and discovered that there is a crannog in a nearby loch, so instantly resolved to check that out.

                                                           Strathpeffer - so pretty!

                                                   Highland Hotel at the back. 

                                           We had morning tea in Unwined - middle of photo

                                                  Lovely Victorian architecture and gardens

For the uninitiated: a crannog is a man-made island that usually served as a defensive home in a lake or loch. They are usually prehistoric, but this one turned out to be from the 1400s. It was a hunting lodge for the Earls of Ross, then in 1485 when the McKenzie clan chief had been beaten in battle, he moved there and rebuilt the crannog to repel all invaders! It’s all completely overgrown now, but was interesting to see.

                                                           Crannog in Loch Kinnellan

Before we left Strathpeffer, we also hunted down the ‘Eagle Stone’ – a pictish carved stone dating back to pre-Christian times. Legend has it that if the stone falls three times, the waters will rise so high that boats will be moored to the stone (and it’s on a hill). Apparently it has fallen twice, so it’s now securely cemented in!

                                                                      The Eagle Stone

A little way after Strathpeffer, we visited the Black Water Falls. Not as high as some of the others we’ve seen lately, but very striking with their ‘black water’ from the peat.

                                                                    Black Water Falls

From here, we backtracked a few kilometres before heading to the southwest, past more lochs, mountains and rivers. The rain had obligingly held off until now, but we were driving towards ever more threatening clouds, and down came the rain. Finally we reached Loch Carron, which is actually an inlet from the sea. We followed it along, then came down out of the mountains and towards Kyle of Lochalsh, where we were hoping to find lunch.

                                                           Loch a' Chroisg

                                                          River Bran (small and shallow!)

                                                           Tunnels for the road and railway

                                                              Coming into Kyle of Localsh

We’d settled on Hector’s Bothy, just near the harbour. Unfortunately, so had lots of others. We elected to wait for a table, but everyone seemed to be lingering (unwilling to go back out in the rain), ordering dessert etc. Finally, the waitress asked if we’d mind sharing a table? We said no, so she sat us with Owen, a regular who is quite happy to have company. He was at least 90, and was delighted to chat and tell us about the area. He’s not a long term local, having been born in India, lived for many years in Devon, Edinburgh and Dundee, but he suggested a lot of places for us to look at. Lex had the fish burger and I had cream of vegetable soup, so we were well fed. After we bade Owen a fond farewell, we found the Co-op grocery shop and stocked up for the next three nights.

It was still a bit early to book in, so we crossed over the extremely high bridge to Skye and had a quick look. It was very rainy and overcast, so not exactly the best sight-seeing weather! Finally, we headed for Drumbuie, and Ravenswood, our new home. It’s a converted loft over a garage. Our host Susan’s husband is a builder, and he has done an amazing job. Everything is to a very high standard, and they’ve thought of lots of lovely touches. Susan also had left us bread, milk, cake and eggs from her chooks! It was still raining, 12 degrees and very low cloud, so it was good to get all of our stuff in and bunker down. Drumbuie is a crofter town, which apparently means that between April and October, livestock can and do wander at will through the town. So far we’ve seen sheep and cattle strolling around.

                                                       The view from the lounge room window.                                                                                                   Loch Carron is out there but you can't see it!

Since then, we’ve had tea and I’ve done a load of washing. There is actually a drier, so I’m really hoping to catch up on laundry while we’re here. Tomorrow the weather is supposed to vastly improve (fingers crossed) so we can go out and explore the west coast!