Dunnet Bay
Woke to another dry day - could get used to this! Don’t get me wrong we are coping with the wet days (just about), but boy does it make it so much easier when packing up to move on if those black clouds are having a day off!
So we headed off on the next part of the NC500 about midday heading towards Wick. When you imagine the North Coast 500 you expect to be on the coast - right? Well I did, and let me tell you this section you really are right on the coastline. One false move and you’d be swimming in the North Sea. I know we keep saying the scenery is amazing but wow it is, and many times absolutely breath taking, especially on a sunny day with the water shimmering as far as the eye can see.
We stopped off at Wick Harbour and walked with the pups to the headland. Coming from a small island we are always drawn to anything involving the sea. We learnt it was developed as a harbour around 1803 to support the booming herring industry and still continues today as a fishing port. It is in close proximity of the offshore wind sites in Moray Firth and we caught a glimpse of numerous new parts for the windmills waiting to be installed. Although cold it was still dry and sunny and we got some great photos of the area.
Next we drove just a little way north of Wick to the east coast of Caithness to Sinclair Castle. Although the weather was still dry, the ground was sodden and very muddy, due to the amount of rain on previous days. We therefore decided not to take the pups with us on the walk down to the castle as the prospect of cleaning them up and bathing them to remove that amount of mud was not overly appealing!!
We have quite a fascination with castles and were both excited to see this one. It is considered to be one of the earliest seats of Clan Sinclair, comprising of ruins of 2 castles. From the 14th-century the castle went through many stages of development resulting in the 17th-century layout that we saw. Set in quite a stunning dramatic position right on the rock face, although in ruins, you could still imagine how it would have worked as a grand household. I am pleased to say that it is protected and is the only castle in Scotland to be listed by the World Monument Fund in their Watch List of the Most Endangered Sites in the World. Again, another one I would highly recommend going to see.
Next we drove towards John O’Groats - the end of the road - and took the obligatory photo by the sign. I would like to say we had started our journey at Land’s End but that would be a fib - we were however in Cornwall (back in September) but sadly just a little North of Land’s End.
Feeling happy we had achieved quite a few landmarks today we headed to our next camp site at Dunnet Bay. This would be our home for the next 3 nights so plenty time to explore some more of this beautiful area.
Lots of love T&TA 🥰🏴
