Dunnet Head Lighthouse

Obviously the most northerly mainland lighthouse, and a magnet for tourists on the NC500. However, it seemed an obvious place to check out on our rapid round tour of Caithness in the car today.

We were a little sluggish after a very late night....1.45am is not our usual bedtime by any stretch of the imagination. I dodged swimming (so did A, apparently....), and after breakfast we set off on a car tour of Caithness, heading up the A9 as far as Helmsdale and then following the A road up to Melvich (see extras for a couple of views including one of the railway line before it heads across to Georgemas Junction). This is a route we followed many years ago when we first arrived in Scotland (on a tour that involved camping on Orkney and a bed and breakfast in Durness). It was travelling up that A road that I first met a log lorry on a single track road. I have been traumatised ever since. We both recalled staying in a small campsite by the road which was attached to a pub. This seems to fit the case of the Halladale Inn, but we both had a memory that the pub campsite we stayed in was on the side of the road away from the sea. The Halladale Inn is on the seaward side of the road. Perhaps it's all changed in that time and the inn used to occupy a different plot. We both recalled something we'd long forgotten: that we didn't have the correct adapter for the airbed, which meant that it was more or less impossible to inflate.... A very uncomfortable night was passed plus there were surprisingly large numbers of vehicles on the road we were camped beside. So not too much sleep.

We'd planned to have lunch at the Halladale Inn, but sadly it was unexpectedly closed. We headed into Thurso, there being few alternatives, and had lunch at a pretty awful place which we would advise any visitors to avoid: YNot. I can think of many reasons Why Not. Just avoid.

After lunch, we drove up to Dunnet Head (campervan and motorhome city, as well as a number of traditional Caithness potholes) and then on the way back we stopped at a wood turning studio, where purchases were made by Mr A, including a lovely oak bread board. After cutting back across to Wick, on the way south we stopped at Lybster harbour, which has a spectacular situation (see third extra).

It was fun to get out and about in Caithness, even though neither of us was on top form. Perhaps a bit too much driving for one day, but now that we have a better sense of the lay of the land, we can perhaps do an overnight trip to Caithness and take in a walk somewhere. I also restored my faith in my car. I didn't get a tyre warning light!

On return, neither of us wanted anything to eat, even though we had picked up some roadside eggs at one point, and I’d offered to fry one or two of these and put them on some toast. No takers. I blame the unpleasant lunch. It took the appetite away, We repaired to bed really early, to catch up on the sleep missed on Saturday night.