Tag Archives: Altnaharra

Saturday, May 16 — Moving Day

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It was a breakfast and packing morning. That all goes rather quickly, of course. First, in fact, we just spent a leisurely amount of time in our room.

This hotel is fine for what it is, but it’s a bit of a stretch to read that we are in a “luxury room”. The tub casing (if that’s what one calls the plastic siding) has cracks. The bathroom floor is in dire need of repair. The curtain is old and saggy. The lampshades have holes in them. The heater on the wall doesn’t work so they have a portable one in the room. The chairs in the lounges are rather old and the armchairs have rips in them. Some of the dining tables had two salt shakers and some had two for pepper. That one just made my laugh. In some ways it’s just rather charming in that “my this is an old place!” way, but I wonder how long they can last without really working on the place. Still, I love the location and the staff (all two of them that we’ve seen) are friendly. (The young woman, who has, I believe, an accent that would suggest she’s from England, said she arrived two weeks ago when they opened for the season. In other words, they don’t function year round.)

In any case, it was time to say goodbye. We have only one more stop in beautiful Scotland and it’s a place I visited back in the summer of 1974!

Breakfast occurred. As breakfast seems to do. Dan had more salmon and scrambled eggs and I opted for porridge. I do love oatmeal, but I think I like the word porridge even more. Yep. I’m silly that way.

After breakfast we pulled a few things out of the car so we could pack up, and then up to our room for showers and getting all things ready.

Then it was time to check out and head south.

I never wrote about “the wave”. Or I guess I should say “the waves”! When you are at a passing place, nearly always everybody acknowledges the other driver. Either it’s a wave, two fingers up like a peace sign, a thumbs up, or just one finger up on the steering wheel. Not the middle finger mind you! With cyclists and motorcycles, you get a head nod. It’s all so polite. Now, if you make a blunder and pull to the right instead of the left, you might get an angry person, signaling that you should go left, but that’s rare.

(Side note: I’m reading what I wrote above and instead of “blunder” I typed “blender”. Please know I rarely do a good job proof reading. I hate to think of how many silly typos I have. Just laugh at me and move on. That’s what I do.)

And signs … there’s of course the passing place, but we’ve also seen warning signs for sheep, cows, deer, red squirrels, and today a new one: OTTERS. Yep. Really. I should have taken a photo. There was also an “observe speed limit” sign today. Hmmm. Does that mean we could have ignored it up until that sign? I wonder.

When we left the Altnaharra Hotel we started out in the same road we were on yesterday when we returned. Goodbye dear hotel. You were a bit of a puzzlement in some ways, but I enjoyed our stay!

As we began the drive we encountered “not rain” again. but of course!

We stopped at a sign I had noticed yesterday so I snapped a couple photos.

This time, as well, we stopped at the church we drove by yesterday. First I shot the monument and then we entered the church. Dan opened the inner church door but shut it because he said someone was doing something inside. Right after that a woman poked her head out and said to come on in: her husband was photographing the church because it was soon to be sold. (You can see his work here.) We had a nice chat with them, and learned a bit more about the Free Church of Scotland. I still need to read up on it some more, but it sounded like a stricter sect from what they explained.

For the first time we saw some peat sitting out in a field.

This will be the last day we see these signs that appear so frequently. I thought they should be changed to “Patty’s Place” and Dan came up with a lot of other possibilities. Alas, I think they will stay as they are.

We’ve seen so many beautiful stone fences, but this one was a first for us.

The couple at the church told us we might see some red deer on our drive. And there they were.

In about an hour and a half we got to the village of Helmsdale. It seemed a good time to get lunch, since our dinner reservation was going to be rather late after our train ride. So yeah, it really was lunch rather than “not lunch”. And it was tasty! We ate at a place called “Thyme and Plaice”. Get it? Very yummy!

All along our drive the Scottish broom has been pretty amazing. We think of it as a weed in our area, but in Scotland I’m assuming it’s loved. Sometimes it’s on both sides of the road and you can’t see anything but road and broom and in those cases the car sometimes gets brighter from all that yellow. It covers some hills and is really lovely. But then we ran across fields of a most amazing yellow. I never managed to get a great close up of a field, but really it was just beautiful! I am pretty certain this is canola, also called rapeseed. I’ve read we might see more of it in another area we’ll see in a few weeks. We shall see.

And then we reached our first destination. Hello Inverness. Dan had to fill the car with petrol, and we returned it. Then Enterprise drove us to the train station (no charge … super!). We rearranged a few things in our luggage so we will have what things we will want at our disposal on the train, and entered the Ness & Thistle to kill over an hour of time. Easy. Order a pint, pull out the iPads, and get writing!

But before I go any further again I must say Dan did a stellar job of driving. He had suggested, on day one, that I eventually give it a go, but he didn’t bring that up again and I’m glad. I really prefer to drive on the RIGHT side of the road! (But he kept up his mantra, “Left is right and right is wrong!” For the most part that worked. Until today, when twice (at least) he attempted to get in the car on the passenger side. We figured he was just reverting, knowing he was done with the car soon!

So cheers to Dan!

Our train was due to leave at 17:20. It’s not a terrifically long ride — we should arrive at 19:36. I’m really hoping it is on time … I know we’ll be rather weary! Meanwhile we sat and waiting, very slowly nursing our drinks.

And then it was a bit after 17:00 so out we went to find carriage A. One never knows: will that be the closest car or the last one? We’ve been known to guess wrong and have to race to the far end of the track! As it turned out, it was the first coach, so easy-peasy. And there were very few in our first class car. Why first class? I guess it must have been cheap enough to warrant that. I believe the rest of our trains are “standard” and that’s just fine with us. But there we were, in row 7. I think maybe the car started out with about eight or nine people. Eventually it dwindled down to just three of us.

The ride was pleasant, even while we had to stop and wait for a late train before leaving one station. Not a worry for us since this train took us to our destination. (Later we heard that others, who were connecting to Glasgow, were going to be fine because they held that train for them.) I took just a few photos.

And then we arrived.

Hello Aberdeen!

You might wonder why we came here for all of two nights and only one full day. Well … I was here in August of 1974 for the International Youth Orchestra Festival (or whatever it was called) and I just wanted to revisit the spot. I wonder if I”ll recognize even one thing here. I was here on August 8, 1974, in fact. We woke up in the middle of the night to hear an announcement over the television. Hmmm … now what might that have been?!

We grabbed a taxi and got to the Chester Hotel. Wow!

This hotel is so very different than our last one. It’s a fabulous building or, rather, three or four buildings that are connected. The room is lovely. (But still you can see a bit of bathroom door damage … that seems to be a constant in hotels.) I’m even wondering if I somehow saw the wrong price on this place as it seems so much better than the other places we’ve stayed. If so — well — too late now!

And look at our sweet shortbread wrappers!

We ate dinner at the restaurant here at the hotel, since we got in rather late. It was delicious and too costly, but what is one to do at 8:30 in the evening? So whatever. Dan had roasted Cod and I had butter chicken. Yum!

Now it is late and we are tired. We haven’t planned a thing for tomorrow and I suspect we’ll just do some ambling. I’m not sure I’ll figure out where the youth orchestras all met up, and while I believe we stayed in dorms somewhere I’ve no clue where that might be. It was, after all, a long time ago.

For now goodnight!

Friday, May 15

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7:30 and time to rise ‘n shine for our 8:00 breakfast here at the Altnaharra Hotel. Sleep was fine, but I’m still adjusting to the “king size” beds here — they are a tad smaller than ours at home. You’d think kings would be larger in a country with a king. Or not.

Breakfast was nearly gone when I realized I hadn’t done my photo. Why a photo? Well, it helps me remember where we were when I go back and reminisce about a trip. So here, have the remains … and my driver as well. I’ve decided he’s Driver Dan and I’m Whimpering Wife. At least for the next couple of days. I’ll just bet he’ll be happy to be back to trains and planes!

On most of the walls in this place are prints of wildlife, fishermen, highland scenes and the like. But on this one wall …!

We got whatever we needed (cameras, and warm clothes) and went on our way. First we had to retrace our final drive from yesterday, which took over an hour. (Closer to 1 1/2 hours I think.)

Here are shots up to our first destination:

I’ve written before about the passing places. Today there was one spot where some cars were stopped and no one was moving at first. Finally the red cars started to back up. But it took a while. Turned out that the vehicle in front of them was towing a huge camper (or whatever it’s called). When he passed the second red cars they had a little chat. My bet is that Red Car had a few choice words to say about how they were all stuck, but who knows? Maybe he was admiring the gigantic thing in the back. I was just amazed that someone would bring such a thing on a one lane road like this. I’m guessing it’s not advised.

We stopped when we saw this area, which was right before the small village of Durness I think:

Then, when we hit Durness, we went in search of health food. I’d seen a sign for chocolate, after all. So we went to the area (kind of a curious little spot, including this haunted house bit and some craft stores we didn’t visit). We ordered coffees and rocky road bars. Plus, because it would have been rude not to, we chose four pieces of chocolate for later.

Between Durness and Tongue we saw these views. (Yes, Tongue! There is a village called Tongue and I need to look that up sometime to see what that name is about. Perhaps the end of a loch? Dunno!)

This is Loch Eriboll. I only shot this photo because of the curious tunnels I saw. I’ve no clue what those are about. (Not sure you can see them without enlarging the image.)

Here is Tongue:

Then we had some “not rain” as we call it, since we look at the weather and it says it’s not going to rain.

Going through the village (town?) of Thurso we purchased gas and proceeded to miss the right turn we were supposed to take, so we ended up on a lot of little country roads. It was a pretty drive, though, and I don’t think it added much more than a few minutes to our drive.

And finally, we reached today’s main destination: John ‘o Groats, here we are.

Getting out of the car was a challenge: the wind was something else. We donned our warm jackets and rain jackets, as well as our beanies. I don’t believe I’ve ever been in such wind before. Despite that, we headed out.

If you watch the video perhaps turn down the sound: I have no idea how horrendously loud it will be, nor do I know if you will even be able to hear me talk!

Honestly, this walk was intense! But gorgeous, too.

A short time before we got back to the car Dan noted that the rain was moving toward us. We walked a bit more quickly, but we still ended up getting hit by the rain and then hail. In my face. Hail in the face hurts! I was just about to get to the parking lot when wind gusts were so strong I grabbed on to a post to keep from getting blown over! I was quite relieved to get into the car, wet though I was.

A bit later Dan said, “I can smell the sheep,” assuming it was due to the rain. I said, “No. You are smelling my pants!” I was wearing my wool pants, and yep, they smell when they get wet!

So from John o’ Groats our next destination was back to our hotel. These drives take a long time and we were done. Still, we had over 1 1/2 hours to get back. I took a few shots along the way, and had we had more time would have stopped for more, as I saw a number of monuments as we drove along our one lane road. I suspect it was about WWII, but don’t know for sure about them all.

In any case, here are just a few shots, the first from Thurso. (Dan took photos 2 and 3 from his window for me.)

We reached our hotel and made our dinner reservation, which took place shortly after. I had sea bass and Dan had salmon and all was delicious, but I forgot photos until our sticky toffee pudding so you only get dessert tonight.

Tomorrow is, again, moving day. Hmmm. Where will we go? Guess you have to tune in tomorrow to find out!

For now I will take my leave: my eyes are weary and even while it’s only 9:45PM here I doubt I’ll be able to stay awake much longer!

G’night!

Thursday, May 14 — Moving Day

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We woke and headed down to breakfast fairly quickly. And yes, it was down: we are on the first floor (second floor in the US). I am reminded more and more about bringing our packs rather than the roller bags!

Breakfast was much more simple today: granola, yogurt, and berries in a bowl, one half slice of toast (for me, that is), orange juice, and coffee. Still, it’s more than I would have had at home, due to the toast, and of course it’s about four hours earlier than I would ever eat my first meal. I’m convinced that’s why we end up eating again midday. At home I only need two meals since I delay the first. My weight gain will be, I fear, a bit significant unless I get more exercise.

From my chair at breakfast … exciting, I know. Shortly after taking this it started to rain. Go figure. Mostly it was that misty sort of rain, but it can really drench a person!

After that it was shower and packing time. We’ve got the packing down — doesn’t take me any time at all to get that suitcase packed and zipped.

Before heading back on the NC500 we had to fill the tank. Dan commented that it’s nearly as costly as filling our BigMobile. So it goes!

From there we drove off. The first time we pulled over I saw a sign that told me there were some “Geopods” for the Northwest Highlands Rock Route” on our drive today, which could be found when there was a sign with the blue and white design you see in a photo. We stopped, though, for the view.

Another stop was at the Knocken Crag Nature Reserve. I haven’t yet mentioned that the scenery here is simply staggering, so let me say it now. The scenery is simply staggering! There. Done.

The next stop was at the Loch Awe View Point. We do a whole lot of stopping on these kinds of trips, but we don’t stay long — between the wind and the cold and sometimes rain I’m quick to get back in the car.

Yep, another stop. This time at the Ardvreck Castle. I should have taken photos of the info there. One fascinating tidbit was that a supporter of Bonnie Prince Charles thought he’d be safe escaping to this Highland spot but whoever was at the castle at the time traded him, supposedly for oatmeal. He was then hanged. (I have been missing oatmeal, but I don’t think I’ll trade Dan for some: I need him as my driver.) Sorry I don’t have the names at the moment and internet is rather slow so this is currently all you get. Perhaps I’ll update later. And of course that could all be a myth for all I know. We only took quick photos of the castle and the Calda House in the other direction.

Just a few shots from the area of Elphin.

… and then some from the Lochinver area.

We decided to take a detour to a lighthouse. Once again Your Royal Wimpiness did a bit of whimpering as Dan the Driver made his way there. It was a longer drive than either of us expected, and I did fear, at times, that we would fall into the sea. (The other day I instructed Dan that if we were to go over a cliff he wasn’t to swear as one might do in such a case, but he was to yell out, “I love you!” I figured I’d do the same. I’m not sure how keen he was about my instruction.)

On the way … some more hairy coos!

We continued the drive and then made it to the lighthouse. Anyone want to rent it? It was SO SO SO windy. (That’s a lot of wind.) At one point it nearly blew me over. We didn’t make it all the way into the lighthouse (I’m not sure that’s allowed in any case) because I’d had it with the wind.

Then back we went to reconnect with the main drive. As we went I used the passenger assist brake (on my left) and the passenger assist steering wheel (in the cup holder) a number of times. I’m helpful that way.

We’ve seen a few beaches on our drives. Too bad I didn’t bring my bikini.

Oh. Wait. I don’t own any sort of bathing suit at all! Never mind.

We reached the Drumbeg Viewpoint.

We saw a sign for some sort of secret tea garden and figured it was time to stop, relax, and have some “not lunch”. I did puzzle over all the signs I saw for the secret tea room, though. Not much of a secret, if you ask me! Anyway, it was a nice spot where we bought a bit to eat and enjoyed not only the secret tea room but no wind!

The secret tea room had no secret bathroom, so we had to amble back up the road a bit to find the WC. I took a few shots during the walk. And … now goats!

We drove on, eventually crossing a bridge and then pulling over to see a monument, read about the river below where the military did submarine training, and take a photo of the bridge.

With about an hour and a half more to get to our lodging we did a very small amount of photography, and took a five minute snooze. At this point I think we were both weary of driving. I can’t tell you how taxing it is to handle my emergency braking and steering! Plus I have to whimper every now and then. Thankfully the last bit of the drive was much easier for both of us.

For the most part, I think Dan has got this driving on the left side of the road down. We are even at a point where we grumble when someone coming toward us doesn’t know how to use the passing places correctly. We’ve been known to say, “Americans” with disdain when they get it wrong. And yes, we are being goofy. Because that’s what we do. (I’ve often said we should record our conversations because we clearly are a comedy team. Then again, I fear a lot of eye rolling should we do so.)

At a very decent time we arrived at our lodging for the next two nights. We are at the Altnaharra Hotel. This use to be a popular place for fisherman and climbers, if I read the blurb correctly. It’s old and rather charming. We enjoyed a nice dinner here as well, as there is absolutely no place nearby to eat. Dessert was the “Altnaharra Mess” and it was quite something!

We still have to figure out what where our drive will take us tomorrow. It’s impossible, I’m guessing, for us to do the entire NC500 on this trip, but we’ll try to hit a lot of it.

And now … Oidhche mhath! (Good night!)