Today we had a relatively short drive along the north coast from Thurso to
Tongue, a total of around 45 miles. On paper it sounded straightforward,
however despite being an A road, we were often down to a single lane with
passing places, so it was very stop-start journey. We also included a couple
of stops to break up the drive, the first was at a non-guidebook location just
west of the large nuclear site at Dounreay in an attempt to see some puffins.
Having found out about the potential to see puffins from a travel blog, we
were lucky to arrive just in time to find space for both the motorhomes at the
rather nondescript pull off beside the A836.
First was a walk across the peat
bog to the cliff and then after assessing the conditions, Amber, Forrest plus
a couple of our companions decided to take the steep path down to the beach. I
stayed up the top and for the first time encountered the swarms of tiny midges
(or midgets as Paloma is calling them) that this part of Scotland is well
known for.
As for the puffin hunt, Amber takes up the story... The way down to the Puffin
Cove was, as Matt said, quite steep and also very muddy in places.
I can't think what it must be like in wetter months. We had to stop
and consider the best route several times but eventually made it down to the
bottom. Even without the promise of puffins the cove was beautiful but
after correcting the boys first spots of puffins as pigeons we set about
scouring the cliffs with our binoculars and telephoto camera lens. The
ideal months for puffins in Scotland are late-April to August and I guess being
mid-August we were already too late in the season. So unfortunately we
didn't manage to spot anything except a lot of empty nest holes and being
under increasing attacks from the midges we decided it was best to head back
up the rugged entrance route and whilst easier to navigate on the
way up it was a lot more hard work (well for me at least anyway!).
Once back in the vans it was only a short drive onwards to our next stop, Farr
Beach in Bettyhill. Like earlier in the week we used the kitchenette to
prepare a picnic and we then took the small walk across a couple of fields and
a wooden bridge to the beach.
The tide was out so it was a good couple of minutes walk to the sea, but that
didn't stop Forrest and Matty wanting to put on their wetsuits and play in the waves. I
joined them at the water for a little paddle and it was absolutely freezing!
Paloma enjoyed building a large sprawling castle complex, although the
dampness of trying to include a moat seemed to bring the midges back in their
numbers, so we decided it was time to pack up and head onwards to Tongue.
We're on another nice campsite tonight with beautiful views over the sea loch, good toilet and shower facilities,
plus the added bonus of a coffee shop serving nice homemade cakes at very
reasonable prices. After deciding not to partake in trying the whisky of the
month, it was time to cook dinner.
I've not spoken too much about our motorhome, so thought I'd share a few
photos. We have sleeping areas at the front and back. The kids have decided to
share the top bunk at the back, so we're using the bottom one for clothes
storage.
We have found small kitchen is fine for cooking a simple dinner for four,
tonight it was pie, spuds and veg. The table area is where we eat and relax
(write the blog) in the evening, plus it doubles up as seats with full belts
for the kids when we're travelling.
The day ended with a lovely sunset across the Kyle of Tongue. Fingers crossed this means better weather for tomorrow.
Blogged by Matt (and Amber).
