After a more efficient morning getting the van put back together, we set off along the coast for stop number 1 – Whaligoe Steps.
We found the small, rather full car park with no road signs to it relatively easily after blindly trusting the satnav. Very foggy this morning and a bit chilly so opted for wooly hats.
330 fairly precarious steps down the cliff later and we were greeted with some beautiful views of the churning sea, cresting waves and vertical cliff faces. Made some friends with other visitors – everyone we have met so far on this trip has been so friendly.
The 330 steps back up… not so fun but we met a cat on the way up… coffee and biscuits in the van to celebrate.
Mary took on the last leg of the drive along the coast on some very windy, steep incline roads to our wild camping site for the night. We found this through the Park4Night app.
Parked up overlooking the sea with a building to shelter us from the wind and went for a wander towards the sea before cooking sausages and mash for dinner.
Got the van set up for bed, played a boardgame before coffee and an episode of something on the tablet.
Weather continued to be lovely as we set off for our next stop – Golspie Burn Waterfall and Gorge. We decided on the shorter walk by driving further on to the Backies Car Park and setting off from there. Beautiful walk through the woods down to the viewpoint bridge over the top of the falls. Water running very quickly because of all the rain which was very impressive to see.
Continued on the walk down the falls and came to another viewing platform, this time at the base of the falls. Very, very wet.
More bridges to cross before we came to this beautiful waterfall which we couldn’t resist getting closer to and pretending like we were a woodland faerie (Mary) or in the I’m A Celeb jungle (Ros). All in all, a very unexpectedly impressive walk, considering it isn’t something well talked about on other NC500 blogs/websites. Yet more biscuits and coffee to celebrate a successful outing.
Another change in the weather resulted in a lovely, sunny drive to our second stop of the day – Dornoch beach.
Spotted a few NC500 signs on the way – good to know we are on the official route now!
Ros made some sandwiches and we sat on a bench and watched the waves before taking a stroll down through the dunes to the sea. Little paddle and some “cavorting” before a nice walk along the beach in the sun.
Some fairly biblical rain and storms in the van in the night but a pretty decent sleep considering. Actually quite cosy with both of us in there, plus a hot water bottle and a few blankets.
Relatively slow morning spent washing up, tidying up and general pottering we headed off up the road to Rogie Falls – well known for its jumping salmon.
After finally finding the car park (2 u-turns later), we did the short hike down to the bridge over the falls in the rain. Very fast running water because of all the storms. Did we see any salmon… of course not.
Coffee and bickies in the van to celebrate and dry off.
After a decent night’s sleep in a very noisy B+B, we made the most of the shower facilities before making a food shop list and then driving round the corner to pick up the van (whom we have named Jim). Read through the very clear instruction manual then emptied the car into the van, wondered how on earth we were all going fit in there and whether two paddleboards were entirely too many paddleboards.
Mary was brave and took on the first bit of driving – 2 minutes to the Lidl for a food shop… more stuff to put in the van. From Lidl we headed out of Fort William towards our first planned stop – Urquhart Castle.
Stopped on the way at a viewpoint where we decided to empty the van and try and get it looking a little more organised before continuing on with Ros taking over driving to get a feel for the van.
On the way, we drove past somewhere that looked interesting to stop so parked up and went for an adventure through the woods to a waterfall in Invermoriston. Were starting to get a bit peckish so Ros made some sandwiches and we sat in the van as the weather started to change and the infamous Scottish rain began.
Continued on to Urquhart Castle driving along Loch Ness. Arrived after no Nessie sightings and sat in the car park for a while contemplating whether or not we wanted to get out in the heavy rain – eventually decided that we would need to get used to doing things in the rain otherwise we might not see anything at all.
Urquhart Castle was very well organised. A lovely visitors centre with shop and cafe. Excellent displays showing some of the history of the castle. Visitors are invited to watch their 8 minute film showing a more detailed history of the castle which we did and at the end the screen raised and the curtain behind opened to reveal the castle, much to everyone’s amazement (except Mary who had already figured out that was going to happen). Great time wandering around the castle in the intermittent rain, searching for wolves and some fantastic views over Loch Ness. Mary even found a duck – holiday made.
Final destination for the day was our first campsite where, after much deliberation about where to park the van, we got settled in, spent yet more time trying to organise where the hoards of stuff was going to go, ate a delicious pasta carbonara made by Ros and snuggled down with a cup of coffee, biscuits and a movie with the pitter patter of rain on the roof. Hot water bottle definitely needed.
Ros and Mary do Scotland 