Tràigh Allt Chàilgeag, Durness

We’re now back on the north west coast of Scotland at our penultimate holiday destination of the Albannach in Lochinver. We stopped a few times from Tongue to photograph the beautiful beaches, mountains and lochs along the route. My blip shows Tràigh Allt Chàilgeag just outside Durness.

In Durness itself we visited the Balnakeil craft village. Here we admired (or - in some cases - despaired at) the artwork for sale, and bought hot chocolates and a baguette for lunch in Cocoa Mountain. The hot chocolate was absolutely delicious. Indeed, we think it the best that we have ever tasted.

We made two further stops en route: first at the Geopark exhibition centre beside Loch Glencoul (very interesting); then at the Highland Stoneware factory in Lochinver. In the latter I was tempted by a lamp that matches our 'posh' china at home until it dawned on me that it is for sale for more than our recent sofa purchase!

We would have visited the tourist information centres in Durness and Lochinver, but both are closed, presumably due to budget cuts. This is very depressing.

This evening's entertainment was provided by a large party of young Chinese tourists in the Caberfeidh restaurant, who ordered their dinner plate by plate, as if they were eating at a Chinese buffet. We also had a close encounter with a deer in the village on the walk to our meal.

Exercise today: a bit of walking (9827 steps)