Dunnet Bay to Who Knows Where?

29^th May, time to leave Dunnet Bay and head West across the top of Scotland. Until you consider doing this, you don’t fully appreciate how tricky the next stage of our journey was going to be. After lots of good straight roads, up to and around John O Groats, now we are entering the realms of Lochs, Sea Lochs and A roads that aren’t wide enough for two vehicles to pass, so every  couple of hundred yards (metres if you prefer) there are Passing Places. Thankfully the roads were fairly quiet and as I’m in a Motorhome, I make a point of being terrible polite and ducking into the Passing Place first and flashing the oncoming vehicle through. While we have been up in these remote parts and including on Orkney, we have found the local people to be incredibly friendly. Each time I stopped I received a friendly smile and a thank you wave from the other driver. With two exceptions, both driving expensive cars. A woman in an Audi and a man in a white BMW.  They sped through with sour expressions on their faces but it didn’t stop me from giving them a cheery wave, with two fingers.

What made this day exceptional was that we hadn’t booked in anywhere for two nights.  Scary stuff, when you are used to the security blanket of having a Club Site waiting for you.

We knew where we thought we may spend the night but there is a dearth of sites in this neck of the woods, nothing in the Club books and the only one I found online was behind a pub, admittedly with electric hook-up and hard-standing but not many spaces and no booking, it was a case of first come, first served.

On the way to this possible site, we stopped, over and over again, to take in the view, capture it on camera and to have our lunch. 

We were still some way for our possible overnight stop, when out of the depths of remoteness, turned up a little hamlet, Durness, with a couple of shops, a pub and Tourist Office and a large campsite, overlooking yet another beautiful beach. I made a quick decision to pull in and see what they had to offer. The office had a notice saying to find a pitch and come back at 5.30 pm to pay. It seemed too good to miss, as I could have carried on for another 20 miles and then found there was no room for us at the Inn.

It’d been a good day, one of those rare days, when I was driving and felt totally relaxed and little bubbles of happiness rising up through me.

This is what it was all about, freedom, blue sky, superb scenery and just stopping when we wanted to. The site didn't disappoint, Maybe the toilets and showers weren't as luxurious as the Club Sites we were used to but they were good enough and that beach!! Just yards away, it was truly beautiful and with the long summer evenings up there, perfect for a late night walk, before bed.

Ready for bed Mum!

The Castle of Mey and Dunnet Head

I'll admit to not knowing about this place, which the Queen Mother purchased in 1952, whilst mourning the death of her beloved Husband. She heard it was to be abandoned and decided to save it. I can relate to that, not only was she mourning George's death, her world, yet again had been turned around, as her daughter was now Queen and she was to take a back seat in official duties. The peace and quiet would be a bolt-hole for her, to recharge her batteries and the restoration of the ancient castle would give her something to focus on, her own project.

As Prince Charles still takes an annual holiday there, we are not allowed to take photos inside, that is a security issue. It's a lovely, almost cosy, castle not at all grand and not too much in the way of mod cons. I was, unlike Queen Victoria, amused to hear that Princess Margaret would go to visit her Mother there but would never stay the night, preferring to return to the Royal Yacht, as she considered it not up to her standards!

Queen Mum's personal possessions and clothes are still around the house and it was the most delightful insight into that feisty, little lady's, big personality.

After the Castle, we drove around the coast, to Dunnet Head, famous for nesting seabirds and also the most Northerly Point of mainland Britain. Wherever we went in this area, it was impossible to not notice the deserted Crofts, a sad sign of the times.

On the way we stopped off in another cove, with a disused fishing quay, there we saw a Seal, sunbathing, who appeared to be waving at us!

Dunnet Head was, for us, a bit like the Holy Grail, we'd been looking for weeks for a sight of a Puffin and we were thinking that Dunnet Head was going to be our, Now or Never, place.

It was windy! And Mike doesn't like heights, which meant both of us were on the floor to get a view of the nesting birds. Puffins are burrowers and there were some holes in the grass and there was some bird activity, which we watched but we'd forgotten the binoculars and couldn't be quite sure what we were seeing, although I was quietly confident they were puffins.

When we got back to camp, I downloaded the photos from the camera and I was right!! Wish we could have seen them clearer but at last we had seen our Puffins.

This though was my favourite photo of the nesting birds.

One of the beauties of the area is the amazing array of wild flowers, especially Orchids.

Back at the campsite, we spent a second evening, having a drink and chat with a delightful couple in their 80s from the Scilly Isles. The Husband, John, was originally from my home patch, The Black Country and had lived in our present home town of Worcester, so many coincidences in our lives, we couldn't help feeling we were 'meant' to meet them.

Orkney

The next morning dawned misty but dry and we had an early start to make sure we were at the quay at Gills, ready to embark. The large Catamaran was an impressive sight to see coming in out of the mist. Then turning to reverse into her berth.

I was starting to get rather excited about taking The Goddess onto a Ferry again and sat watching all the activities on the quay with great interest. It became obvious Orkney had a large Tesco store, as was evident by the large trailers that had turned up and been left by their lorry drivers. The trailers now being loaded, expertly, onto the ferry by drivers in smaller tractor units. Watching them reverse down the ramp and park them into spaces, with inches to spare, in the open, central part of the deck. I was impressed.

Why hadn't the penny dropped? This wasn't a Roll on Roll Off Ferry!!!

The Harbour-master came over to tell me it was my turn, so if I could just pull forward and swing round and reverse on please!!! WHAT!!!! That ramp suddenly looked about as wide as a gang plank and less inviting. Not only that, how many people were going to be watching me doing this??? 

Well, I'm not one to back down from a challenge!! So off I went. No problem but oh my, my heart was certainly in my mouth as reversed down that ramp, with the water visible, either side.

But here she is, front left, neatly tucked in, with her roof just 4 inches away from the upper deck!

Some of the shop trailers.

 The journey across to Orkney was disappointingly misty but we went and got ourselves a delicious bacon sandwich and by the time we were back outside, the sky was starting to lift a little.

Having disembarked, off we drove, not really having any idea where to go, or what to do but there were some good roads, so we thought we'd just go were the fancy took us and stop, when we saw something that interested us.

I can't write a history lesson here but there was a lot going on here in WW2, and we saw the Churchill Barriers, drove across them, saw some of the sunken Block Ships and visited the Italian Chapel, all relics of the War and worth reading about.

We stopped by a beach to stretch our legs and let the dog do what dogs have to, as I wandered a little nearer the sea, I was struck by a smell which I think has to be the worst I ever smelled in my life. I decided to head back to where Mike was with Rowley but he was getting the stench too.  Looking back I saw what looked like an old, rolled up, rotting carpet. It was then I realised it was a dead seal. A sharp exit was made. The smell wasn't helped by an enormous pile of rotting smashed eggs, near to where we'd parked. Strange place that was, not a beach I'll be recommending!

The town of Kirkwall was really quite pleasant and even had a few trees around, trees are noticeably absent up here, both on the island and the coastal mainland. I've never been to The Channel Isles but Kirkwall is how I imagine it to be.

The St Magnus Cathedral was impressive. With some very interesting, carved, memorials.

We had a look around the Orkney Museum, which was a bit crowded but had a lovely staircase and the garden contained probably 40% of the Island's trees.

All too quickly or day had passed and it was time to head back to the Ferry, for yet another, white knuckle, reversing feat but on the way, we stopped at a beach to let Rowley have a run, much to the annoyance of some birds, who berated us for invading their space.

Obviously nesting, so we took great care in where we were walking and didn't stay long. It was then I realised, we were finally seeing some Arctic Terns and I was able to get my much  wanted photo.

This time the weather was kind to us and we were able to enjoy the views for the return crossing. Yet again The Goddess was neatly shoe-horned in, expertly, by ME!! So proud of myself, especially as the man in another Motor-home got the Harbour Master to reverse his on for him. Blow struck there for feminism!

Some of the sights on our way back to the mainland.

Yes, it was an expensive day, as the crossing was £60 something, each way but about the same price as a day coach trip, which isn't our sort of thing and nowhere to leave the dog when we went inside buildings, so for us, it was far and away the best option. I would have really regretted not seizing the opportunity.