Woolly says – I could feel the suns warmth as I opened our hideaway in the forest ready to cover a few more miles. My plan for the day was to have breaks along the route as we headed to the furthest point north on our trip.
With the humans, the pooch, the baggage and myself loaded into the car we set off. Our first stop was to be at Urquhart Castle that we had not managed ot visit yesterday, the castle was sending me a strong message that it didn’t want us to see it as on arrival the cars were already queuing down the road to enter the car park, they must be early risers around here.
With no option we hit the road to the north and kept on going until our new first stop. I was very excited about this stop as I just loved the name, Dunrobin Caslte, I mean Done robbing hehehe.
Dunrobin Castle is a stately home in Sutherland, in the Highland area of Scotland, that serves as the family seat of the Earl of Sutherland, Chief of Clan Sutherland. The present building and gardens were built by Sir Charles Barry between 1835 and 1850. It is the largest house in the north of Scotland.
As Handsome Jack wasn’t allowed in Zoe took first shift with him as Jo and I sped off down the driveway. The outer building looked wonderful, very French Chateaux looking. Drawing closer I noticed a lovely clock tower.
As the human paid for our tickets, I peered up the central staircase at the portraits and stag’s heads. Heading upwards we passed through a room with a snooker table before entering the dining room.
A beautifully laid table was surrounded by more portraits of the family. The fireplace was very curious with three animals carved into the top.
Next came a room of display cases containing all sorts of things to do with Scotland including bagpipes and a real life stag!
We wandered through the Breakfast room before entering the drawing room with its large tapestry on the wall.
It was lovely but my eyes kept being drawn to the windows and the view of the sea and gardens below.
The library was filled to overflowing with books along with some fierce looking rugs.
The Green and Gold room was exquisite, as the human was distracted looking at the finery, I took the opportunity to race under the red rope and test the bed out. Strangely Jo wasn’t impressed with me doing this and gave me a very hard stare.
I slunk next door to look at the bathroom and taking a moment to look into a courtyard below.
Upstairs was a wonderful nursery fully decked out for every child’s dream; next door was the night nursery and the nanny’s quarters.
Tracking back on ourselves we headed back downstairs to look at the miliary room, will with uniforms and medals, it was very impressive.
Suddenly we arrived at the end and headed outside to have a look at the front of the building and the beautifully kept grounds. With time pressing we headed to the other human and waggy tail for a handover.
An hour later and we were off again; our next stop was a mere mile along the road and involved climbing over barriers to access but as other people were already there, I guessed it was alright.
Càrn Liath is an Iron Age broch on the eastern shore of the Scottish Highlands, near Golspie in Sutherland. With an external diameter of around 19 metres and an internal diameter of around 10 metres. The entrance passage is on the east side and is over 4 metres long.
It was quite curious as we approached and looked more like a stone wall until you realised that it was circular and followed it round to the entrance and the small guard cell.
The broch was first excavated in the 19th century by the Duke of Sutherland and was initially thought to be a burial cairn. The site was excavated again in 1986, this showed that the site was occupied in the Bronze Age, before the broch was built.
Inside was spacious and would have held the firepit covered with animal skins for shelter. Having admired the sparkling sea, we wandered back to the car and our next stop. Except om arrival we couldn’t get in! No, it wasn’t closed but down a private access road, I stared up and down the road but could see no way in without going on private property, this wasn’t what google had told me, I stomped back to the car and sat sulking as the road took us up and down the coastal road known as the NC500.
A stop for lunch at a riverside Brothy cheered me up and gave me a chance to sample my fist haggis, in fact a toasted haggis and tomato sandwich which was scrummy. Having wiped the chilli jam off my tusks and waited whilst Jo wiped it off my ears we set off again.
I hoped that this stop would really blow the humans away with its splendour but as we drove down a narrow track I became slightly concerned as it didn’t look like any pictures I had seen. We bumped onto a car park and stood looking towards the Orkney’s a few miles away across the sea. The craggy cliff on the display was splendid but not what we were looking for.
The light that protected the Duncansby Head the most northeasterly part of both the Scottish and British mainland’s, slightly northeast of John o’ Groats. The Lighthouse was built by David Alan Stevenson in 1924 and was still in use today. We walked on as I really started to fear that we might not get to the real reason for coming here and then as if by magic they rose Infront of us from the sea.
The Duncansby Stacks, prominent sea stacks just off the coast shaped by continuous marine erosion and weathering, The Stacks are perhaps the most iconic landmarks towering, pointed rock pinnacles that rise vertically from the sea that formation date back millions of years. The were incredible and for a while we just stood and stared.
Finally turning away, we walked back to the car and our last and final stop of the day, John O’Groats.
John o’ Groats lies on Scotland’s north-eastern tip and is most famous for its signpost. The settlement takes its name from Jan de Groot, a 15th-century Dutchman who once plied a ferry from the Scottish mainland to Orkney, which had recently been acquired from Norway by King James IV. Local legend has that the “o’ Groats” refers to John’s charge of one groat for use of his ferry, but it actually derives from the Dutch de groot, meaning “the large”. People from John o’ Groats are known as “Groaters”.
Small it might be, but it had a lot of tourist shops packed in along with some points of interest. I love the sculpture that lay next to the ocean and who couldn’t resist having their picture taken at the famous signpost.
The small harbour was really really small but seemed to be an active one given all the lobster pots. Just as I was returning to the car, I heard a call and turned to find Paddington waving a marmalade sandwich in my direction, well it would be rude to refuse so I settled down for a catch up with the bear and left the humans to entertain themselves.