2nd Day - North Coast 500

Dunnet Head via Helmsdale, Dunbeath and Duncansby Head

Woke up after a great nights sleep to bright sunshine.  Luckily the van has slide down/across/up blackout blinds so not wakened by the sun.  Decided to walk Dornoch beach before Making breakfast and there was only us and 4 girls jogging in bare feet.  We were on the road by 10am, stopping for a carry out coffee at one of the Cafe's in Dornoch.

Oh how I love sitting up high in this comfortable van, seeing so much more than from the car.  

First stop was Helmsdale which has a pretty harbour and Heritage Centre telling the stories of the Highland Clearances which is a shocking chapter in Scotland's history from the early 1800s when the wealthy Duke of Sutherland decided to get rid of the people who lived in little communities inland on his land and send them to the coast so that he could take the land for his bloody sheep.  While him and his cronies grew rich from the meat and wool from the sheep the people were suffering from cholera and starvation as the land was poorer at the coast for their cattle and many left altogether, my ancestor Robert Gunn being one of them coming to live in Stirling.  

Next stop was Dunbeath, where we met a guy who worked at the heritage centre there in the graveyard and had a good old chat to him.  The road hugged the stunning coastline and we arrived at the Berridale Braes which has a really steep gradient and hairpin bend but we were going down and didn't seem too bad....

Next stop after that was Duncansby Head.  We stopped off at a little bay before that and watched around 20 seals bobbing about in the surf near the shore:). Walked out from the lighthouse to the sea stacks and the sky was tremendous.  It was warm too!

Next stop the most northerly point on the British Isles, Dunnet Head, far less tacky than John O'Groats - not sure why it gets the accolade cos it's not the most northerly.  Walked up to the war stuff (look out points) up from the lighthouse (another Stevenson one) - midgies started biting, so went back to van for a brew up.

We did a free camp that night at Castlehill and I think we were sleeping by 9.30!