Tuesday 17th May

(Saturday 20th – I’m in a pub with free wifi – well that’s my excuse! – so fingers crossed this might work…)

Bridge over Cromarty Firth

 

Former Kirk, now Tarbet museum at Portmahomack

Pictish non-twirls

Pictish twirls

Portmahomack water supply

 

Portmahomack,very modest built environment compared with Cromarty

Portmahomack harbour

One of the magical things about Portmahomack is that the bay looks as if it is landlocked – wherever you look across the bay there is land as a back drop.

Moved on north-ish, to Dornoch

and, lo, the same water supply structure as at Portmahomack is also outside Dornoch Cathedral.

Crocodiles inside the structure

 

Guy Richie and Madonna married here….

Didn’t warm to Dornoch but, in retrospect, this was the last posh place on the way up the East Coast.

I had decided that I would visit Dunrobin Castle – mainly because they purported to have a great display of Pictish stones.

Dunrobin Castle and the Van

I arrived at 4.10 and was told the castle was closed but that I could look at the gardens, at no charge.  There is a “wow” when you look over the gardens but that is the end of the “wow”

 

The Pictish museum building was closed.  The garden looked good from afar and I stayed afar.  Dunrobin Castle was built by the Earls of Sutherland.  They played a leading role in the Highland Clearances.

On to Helmsdale to where families displaced by the Clearances moved.  A harbour village, with a railway station (financed by the Duke of Sutherland).  A great number of the displaced crofters emigrated to New Zealand.

 

The A9 at Helmsdale

The Helmsdale harbour

A Helmsdale shop

Once north of Helmsdale I was running out of options of places to stay – my ancient Shell guide describes this stretch of coast “the extensive clearances left an emptiness and desolation tat still inhabits this landscape I thought I might end up in Thurso.  As I was grinding slowly up the hill going up out of Dunbeath when I saw a camp site sign I was going slowly enough to turn left.

Dunbeath

and a map: