Into "the North" we went today. With a forecast travel time of about 3.5hours, we did our research about things to do en route to Durness and realised that indeed it is true that this really is a sparsely populated part of the world and we are travelling in the off season.
A number of waterfall possibilities and a castle or two were in the offing so off we set. Making our way out of South Erradale, the staggeringly quickly changing landscape was ever present. From quiet harbours to sandy coves and beaches, the perches lakes/tarns left over by glaciation to snow capped peaks to vast valleys with mountains on each side, to coastal inlets/harbours...it was a vast awe inspiring bigness view morning in the car.
Our first official stop was at Ardvreck castle. A really scenic valley with a Loch and the castle standing out on a promontary. As with many castles, it has been left to ruin since about the 1700-1800s. This one had also been site to a thriving garden and they were even able to grow fruit trees and cereal crops in the area thanks to a particularly fertile area near the castle. At a nearby small waterfall we stumbled on the footings of a disused flour mill and grindstone, left behind during the last time when the area was inhabited in the 1800s. It would seem that the wealthy families (Mac something usually) found the location of the militarily sensible castles less preferable than other houses they owned...this being the other reason they fell into disuse after the more typical...they got blown up when technology superceded them.
Continuing along the road, we started to really take note of some fascinating geology of the area. This far north region is a designated geopark and interpretive signs suggested there was some learning to come! Next stop, after a vertigo inducing drive section was a waterfall that had scored a whopping 4.9 on Google reviews. It was a tricky, muddy, rock hopping scramble up a beautiful canyon to a marvellous waterfall called Allt Chranaidh, referred to as the wailing widow falls from the legend of a shepherd who died at the bottom of the falls during a storm.
Today was also a great day in our wildlife spotting. Obviously domestic sheep and cattle. Then we also saw lots of deer, some goats, boar, rabbits, grouse (as we left our accommodation) and some small red robins too.
Our place for the next 2 nights is in Balnakiel Craft village. A group of identical long buildings that almost look like bunkhouses in a military installation, each with a rectangular chimney-like structure in/near the middle that we are wondering if they are for kilns as it is a craft village. We'll investigate later. All of the craft shops seem to be closed and the heavily advertised chocolate shop looks somewhat unlikely to open soon. We ventured out to the only place advertised online as being open, to find that it is also closed. Glad we were organised and had brought some dinner supplies along.
I decided to head out for the rest of the daylight, along the road from our accommodation to the nearby Balnakiel Beach and Faraidh headland. The most significant dune system in Scotland is here and links the area with the headland which is used for grazing. The end of the headland is managed by M.O.D. (ministry of defence). Running short on time and light, and having again underestimated the distance from a to b, I made it about 3/4 of the way onto the headland before returning to the car. Windchill was there despite the relatively warm day at 7C. Some amazing beach and sunset pictures to enjoy I hope! This site marks part of the Rob Dunn Mackay way...he was a Gaelic Christian who is credited for writing down many of the Gaelic folk songs and hence tunes that have made their way into modern hymn books.The evening saw us enjoy a DVD of "the Pianist"...recommended (no TV reception here).