Saturday 28th June INVERNESS - LOCH
NESS -
DORNOCH - LAIRG
Well, another travel day, and a really good one, with no
traffic hassles, and nice weather – apart from the howling gale that
accompanied us everywhere, of course. But at least the sun shone a lot and
there was no rain, so in Scotland that’s a win!
We woke up at about quarter past seven, so not too bad a
sleep in. After breakfast, we chatted to Cait and Danny, and set about packing
everything up. As we’re only in this accommodation for two nights, we’ve just
got a little bag each, which makes it a lot easier. We were finally done and on
the road by nine o’clock, and set off south from Inverness.
The plan was to fill in the several hours we had by
exploring a bit. Last time we were here, we drove down the eastern side of Loch
Ness on the wide road, the B862, which is actually quite a distance from the
loch most of the way. This time, we followed the narrow, single lane road which
hugs the loch pretty much right the way down. It was one of General Wade’s
military roads – he was sent to Scotland after Jacobite uprisings in the early
1700s to improve the road systems, and the road still bears his name today.
It takes quite a while to drive around Loch Ness. Not only
is it 36km long, but you really can’t go very fast on the winding single lane,
as you never know who or what is about to hurtle around the corner. They do
provide plenty of passing points, fortunately. And of course, we stopped
several times to admire the view. It really is spectacular when the sun is
shining, as the water is a deep blue. Once the clouds come over, it’s more of a
slate grey. The hills either side are very steep and covered in forest.
Our major stop along the eastern edge of the loch was Falls of Foyer. This is a waterfall that plunges 100 metres or so before flowing into the loch. The poet Robbie Burns was so impressed by it that he wrote a poem about it, describing it as a ‘horrid cauldron’. I was wondering what on earth he was on about, then I read that nowadays quite a bit of the flow is diverted for hydroelectricity, thus explaining why it’s much tamer (which seems a bit of a shame.) It was 300 metres down winding paths, which was okay, but the coming back up again took a bit longer! Anyway, we made it and rewarded ourselves with morning tea at the Waterfall Café.
After this we continued on our way again, diverting away from Loch Ness as we got closer to Fort Augustus (which is pretty much right at the bottom of the loch.) We passed a group of intrepid bike riders, obviously out for a Saturday morning ride. The wind was so strong, I don’t know how they managed to stay on their bikes! We then went right up high across the mountains, where there was a lookout. We struggled into our coats and out for a look. Truly spectacular scenery. Several hardy individuals were climbing to the top of a nearby hill for an even better view, but we were thoroughly chilled just being out for a few minutes. So it was back in the car, and onwards.
We passed through Fort Augusta, which looked lovely but was absolutely teeming with tourists, and no parking in sight, so we just kept going back up the western side of the loch. This is the big tourist area, so there were coaches and cars galore, cruises, so many places to stay and opportunities to buy Nessie souvenirs. And I can sadly relate that any attempts to spot Nessie were just as successful as our dolphin spotting yesterday! I’d hoped to stop and see Urquhart Castle, but no luck at all. The medieval Urquharts cunningly put it on a point where it just can’t be seen from the road. And being the first day of the summer holidays here, the car park was full, and signs up saying ‘ticket holders only’, so that dashed that idea.
We completed our trip around the loch, and headed back
through Inverness and to the north. As Lairg is really only about an hour’s
drive, we decided to take the scenic route up the coast and see the scenery
there.
We set Dornoch, on the shores of the Dornoch Firth, as our
aim for lunch. It was a lovely drive, across the Moray and Cromarty Firths then
across the Dornoch Firth, so lots of bridges. Dornoch is the most gorgeous
little town – it was the first in Scotland to be made a Royal Burgh, in 1628.
It also boasts the smallest cathedral in Scotland. The Bishop of the day in
1224 wanted a cathedral so much that he paid for it himself! A later Bishop
built a castle nearby to live in during the 1400s, and the tower of it still
stands today (it’s now the hotel.) During the early 1800s both the cathedral
and castle had fallen badly into disrepair, when Lord and Lady Sutherland
bankrolled extensive renovations for both. Lady Sutherland especially took on
the cathedral as a project, and I must say she did a remarkable job, it’s beautiful
– small but perfectly formed. Of course, she’s buried there, with the biggest
burial slab I’ve ever seen. Andrew Carnegie also gave a lot of money to the
town, as he bought the nearby Skibo Castle. We had a very nice lunch in the
Sandstone Café - Lex had baked potato with haggis & neeps (parsnips!) Then we went for a walk around town and enjoyed looking at all the lovely
stone buildings.
After this, we moved on, west towards Lairg, the little town near Jakel’s Rest, our new accommodation. We drove along the northern edge of Dornoch Firth and arrived here just before 4. We checked out the kitchen (a microwave, hotplate and air fryer – perfect!) then went into Lairg to the Spar supermarket, which is quite small. Anyway, we found enough for the next two days.
After this, Lex went for a drive to explore the area a bit, and found the Falls of Shin, where the salmon were leaping! I stayed home and had a nice rest and started tea. Our little house is a converted barn in a rural area – very comfortable and warm. They’ve made really good use of skylights in the bathroom and lounge room to make them lighters. It is so nice to be back in self-catering accommodation after a week or so in hotels/ B&Bs. As I type, I’m looking out the window at three white and one black sheep. There are also several bird feeders dotted around the yard, so we’ve already met several new birds, including the song thrush which is very much at home here. The owners have thoughtfully provided a bird book for checking them out.
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