High seat

I don't know how long this bench has been in the lighthouse cottages "garden" at Tarbat Ness Lighthouse. I've never noticed it before. Anyway, it made a nice subject for my blip. The abundance of rowan berries in Strath Rusdale is in the extras.

After a fairly leisurely start to the day, we had a day of "local exploring", deliberately going up and along some roads not previously travelled, as well as heading out to the lighthouse (which is obviously a road well travelled).

In the middle, we enjoyed a pleasant lunch at the Highland Farm Café up above the Cromarty Firth. Despite staying local, we still managed to travel around 100 miles, and it seems surprisingly tiring just getting in and out of the car to take photographs and check out views, etc. Among the points of interest we found were the Ardross Distillery, which we didn't know was there (halfway up Strath Rusdale....). Some serious money has been invested in that (wiki says £50m). A complete counterpoint is Glenwyvis, which is community owned, and whose gin we bought to try. They are only about 20kms apart across the hills, but a world apart in terms of ethos it would seem.

Anyway, we found some interesting places to explore in more detail in due course. I would like to go back up Strath Rusdale in better weather (it was spitting with rain the whole time), and do a walk. I also have a notion that one day I will buy an electric gravel bike to explore the backroads and forest roads around here. Maybe. Just maybe.