Foodie Heaven On A ‘Dreich’ Day

Autumn Adventure - Day10 (NC500 - Day 2)

The storm that came last night was pretty wild! It was so windy that I got up at 3am and lowered my ‘pop-top’ roof. It’s always been fine in other storms but it was SO windy and loud, I thought maybe I shouldn’t risk it. Having the roof up provides me with some instant storage, so I had to shuffle a few things around in the middle of the night. In the morning when I opened the door I found I was now parked in a large puddle. Thankfully I had some short wellies with me, so I was OK. Just!

It rained most of the day, heavily this morning, which made me slow to get going. I moved north to Dornoch, where there was a large bay - beautiful with the orange flowers still looking good! I sat and looked at it from inside the camper, but decided it was too wild to go for a walk, even though some crazy people were jogging and horse riding along it. Instead, I stopped for an early lunch at one of the foodie places that I’ve seen recommended so many times.

Highland Larder sits just a few metres back from the beach. I ordered a lobster roll with salad and chips. I would have loved to have sat under their canopy but the rain and wind were so wild that even with the cover the tables were wet. Thankfully I have my own dining room in Alfie the Campervan, so that is where I sat! It was delicious and well worth stopping for. I asked if I was their first customer of the day and they said they’d had some people ordering hot chocolates but that was it. It certainly wasn’t a good weather day for business!

I drove into the town of Dornoch and decided to look around. I wasn’t expecting a cathedral in the town! I found out later that in 2000 Madonna and Guy Ritchie had their son Rocco John Ritchie baptised in the cathedral the day before they were married in nearby Skibo Castle. And in 2010 Elon Musk married actress Talulah Riley in the cathedral (for the first time. They divorced in 2012, married again in 2013 and divorced a second time in 2016!).

I went in and enjoyed looking around, especially at the stained glass windows. There are more in the Extra photos. These two small ones in the front porch were my favourites. The plaque next to them said:

The windows celebrate God in nature, and the wonders of His creation to be seen around Dornoch. All of the flora and fauna are local species.
The window facing west, from Psalm 96, is inspired by a Highland day in high summer. Its colours are predominantly warm to exploit the effect upon it of direct sunshine.
The East-facing window is inspired by a Highland evening with cool colours predominating round the moon and stars.
The windows feature two hills that stand close by the Dornoch Firth, Carn Bhren and Dun of Creich.

“I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence comets my help” (Psalm 121)

After looking at the cathedral I walked across the road to Cocoa Mountain, another foodie place highly recommended. I had their classic hot chocolate chaser with a dish of 4 of their hand-made chocolates. The hot chocolate was topped off with dribbles of orange-coloured chocolate for the autumn season. I think it was the best hot chocolate I have EVER tasted. There was no room left for the 4 chocolates. They were taken with me to eat later.

I wandered a bit more and went into the Dornoch stores which was a bit of an Aladdin’s cave - both a gourmet delicatessen and an ironmongers/hardware store. I didn’t really need any food, but I did walk out with a new knife for my camper kitchen!

I enjoyed Dornoch and it was a perfect outing on a rainy day. I had hoped to go to nearby Dunrobin Castle & Gardens, but I really didn’t want to do that on such a rainy day as I didn’t want to miss out the gardens. So I told myself ‘next time’ (which became a repeated phrase the whole trip. There just wasn’t enough time to see everything).

So I drove a little further north to Brora where I stayed at a campsite near the beach. I got there at dusk, but hoped I’d have time to walk on the beach the next morning before continuing north.


I am, of course, (nothing new) terribly behind with my blips!! It’s now November and I am back home. My month-long trip around Scotland was action-packed, so I was way too tired in the evenings to think of blipping! Now that I’m home (and off work with a yucky cold), I’m determined to catch up!!
Feel free to scroll back if you want to see earlier days.