Geoffrey Carter (Buttercup) Posted June 5, 2015 Author Posted June 5, 2015 Evening team. Than you again for the lovely comments. We got up today to pouring rain and it was half hood time for most of the day as we drove through terrible rain most of the day. I had 10 hours driving with about 7 in the rain. The rest was beautiful sunshine. We left our lodgings which are brilliant for Westfield type owners. Big drive off the road well out of harms way and a drying room in the house with washer and dryer which you are free to use so can easily wash and dry clothes and cloths etc. Breakfast was at 7.30 but the owners leave everything in the fridge and you can make your own breakfast with the things if you want to be away earlier. We set of for the quiraing which is a mountainous area that starred in the film Prometheus and land that time forgot. I was expecting to see dinosaurs. Imagine a volcano crater that a massive giant takes chunks out of with higgledy piggledy teeth to one side of the crater and then spits them out again.....well that's what you have got and you drive up the inside on a steep road with hairpin bends. BRILLIANT and god knows what it looks like when not raining. It was something out of a science fiction film and you must go see it. We left Skye and headed up north.. Don't forget to fill up with petrol in Portree before you leave and they only take credit cards if spending over £15.00 and we headed north on a route suggested by Higgy and it was a fantastic road. At one point we were at the top of a massive valley with a long twisty road going down with a loch at the bottom. I have some pictures and I did not know if to go down really slow or really fast. One of my lights stopped working on my way up north and I called into a garage and the man repaired it free of charge. How brilliant was that. I worried at one point about garages for fuel and there is no need to worry as plenty about and there are also loads of clean public toilets so if travelling with a lady she has no need to poo or wee behind a tree. We came to Durness and the area is like a moon scape with rocks and craters and some of the worlds best looking beaches and they are spotless with plenty of parking and access. One beach is made of rocks that are like dinner plates laid on top of one another. People have made balancing rock towers and other shapes out of the rocks. There is a massive grass area to park your Westfield on and there is a cafe right on the beach. I don't know what it is about Scottish Tarmac but all the roads are super smooth and apart from the odd mile here and there you can really chugg along if you wanted to. I have done hundred of miles today and I bet I have seen no more than 40 cars. At Durness the Smoo Cave Hotel does fantastic food and it is hot and plentiful and you get a great meal for £10.00. I am now sat in my room overlooking Loch Eriboll and this is where the German submarine fleet surrendered in WW2 and HMS Hood also came into the loch before she was sunk by the Bismark. I also saw a load of deer and watched them for about 10 minutes. It is 10.42pm and it is still daylight outside. Lessons learnt for today. Do not worry about toilets. Do not worry about about finding places to eat. Scottish folk are exceptionally kind. So pleased I bought half doors as with full doors on I would have missed so much stuff. I will go through any amount of rain with a half hood, clear wind deflectors and half doors. Keep a good supply of microfibres cloths behind the drivers seat. Make sure you charge ALL. Your camera batteries the day night before. Make sure you bring supplies of dry underwear. Tomorrow I plan on driving from Eriboll to John O groats and back again and also just pottering about Durness. 4 Quote
Geoffrey Carter (Buttercup) Posted June 6, 2015 Author Posted June 6, 2015 Morning Team. Woke up to sunshine and a cookoo singing away. I made a coffee and it then started to rain and I thought "sod it" and I sat outside in the rain, listening to a cookoo and looking out over looking Loch Eriboll and there was no people or cars. Just me and other animal sounds. I was hoping for a roof off day today but looks like it will have to stay on. I am hoping to get Buttercup to the side of Moine House for some pictures but if it's raining to fast I won't. ( do a google image search for moine house ) ❤️❤️❤️ You would not believe when you stand in the building that a family of 10 used to live in the house plus travelling visitors. When you see the area it beggars belief how any one could live an existence there as there is nothing, and I mean nothing other than peet bog. The place is amazing as everything is big a specially the sky. Big massive sky when you look up......beautiful. Quote
Arthur Posted June 6, 2015 Posted June 6, 2015 Do get to the chocolate factory at the Durness Craft Village - excellent coffee & lots & lots of lovely chockies. 1 Quote
Geoffrey Carter (Buttercup) Posted June 6, 2015 Author Posted June 6, 2015 Morning Arthur. Not done the chocolate factory as did not arrive in Durness till late last night. Today I am travelling the opposite direction but hoping to potter about Durness later today / tomorrow. I am hoping to climb above Eriboll to find the Hood Stones again and also go on the little boat in Smoo Cave. Not sure if the boat ride will be on though as there has been a lot of rainfall and the cave rapidly floods. Quote
S2T Posted June 6, 2015 Posted June 6, 2015 An essential tool for long distance driving http://www.meteox.co.uk/forecastloop.aspx?type=1 2 Quote
Geoffrey Carter (Buttercup) Posted June 6, 2015 Author Posted June 6, 2015 Hi. Just getting something to eat at the smoo hotel. Will update later tonight. Went to and from Durness and John o Groates and the roads were empty all the way. I bet we didn't see 20 vehicles... Other than in Thurso Quote
Geoffrey Carter (Buttercup) Posted June 6, 2015 Author Posted June 6, 2015 Evening team. Today did not go exactly as planned but still had a great day..... In the rain. We did not leave where we are staying until gone 12.00 as I so wanted to drive around Loch Eriboll with the roof down, so I spent the morning watching for otters. When we eventually left we were able to drive to John O Groates with the roof down but did drive through some showers and rain but managed to keep the speed up, so stayed pretty dry. I did not manage to stop at Moine house because of the weather but if anyone travels from Durness it is about 30 minutes away and it is a derelict house in the middle of nowhere. It really is worth a stop. Just look for the gable ends and two chimney stacks......You won't miss it. Just go inside and imagine the life those folks had but don't let the paintings scare you. We stopped for fuel in Tongue and the garage shuts at 2.00pm today so be aware of that. There is a shop in the garage and toilets in the village. You can get 24 hour fuel in Durness with a credit card and the fuel pump is opposite the village store. We travelled to Thurso for another fuel stop and the garage stops open until 10.00 pm and also has a shop and toilets. It was then onto John O Groats. To be honest there is nothing there and I have been twice in the past and today we just turned straight round in the car park and immediately left. I think people go just for the sake of saying they have been. The area is quite bleak in my opinion and not very pretty We headed back to Durness and went through some real rain and the blackest clouds and the sky is so massive up here. The roads are so beautiful for a Westfield to drive on. Really long straights and twist bends and hills up and down and magnificent views which is why I chose to travel between Durness and John O Groats. As we came back round Eriboll we went through the blackest sky with a hole in it and the sun shining through. It was amazing and took some pics. A man stopped me in Thurso and said he used to race Westfields and another chap told me he had a Westfield and wrote it off by been silly I had a fantastic steak pie for tea with fresh vegetables and chips for £10.00 at the Smoo Cave Hotel and had to leave some of it as there was so much. Not much parking there though so I would not go to late as everyone seems to go there. Tomorrow we leave Eriboll and we are travelling down to Aberfeldy where we are staying for two nights before going home and that's the end of our trip. QUIZ. Can anyone guess where we stopped today and took a picture of a road sign. No prizes just a bit of fun. LESSONS LEARNT TODAY. You can wear the same trousers all week. I wish I had a better understanding of cars and how they work due to an issue with my lights. Mountain Warehouse clothes dry so quickly when they are wet and are extremely light and comfy. My neck was very sore due to the zips on my coat and top layer rubbing my neck in the cold and rain. I wore my Buff around my neck and it stopped all the irritation. I would recommend a Buff to everyone. No matter what the weather there is no such thing as a bad day in Scotland. 3 Quote
Rab (bombero) Reid Posted June 6, 2015 Posted June 6, 2015 Hey Buttercup, thoroughly enjoying your 'travel blog' Really pleased that you're having a good time in Scotland despite the weather! If you, or any other members are coming up/back up this way, let us know as it'd be great to plan a wee meet'n'blat as part of your holidays! 3 Quote
Higgy Posted June 6, 2015 Posted June 6, 2015 I know, I know!! 'WESTFIELD' ! Real shame about the weather. Glad you appreciated the view from the top of Glendocherty looking down on that fantastic stretch of road towards Loch Maree. I didn't mention it previously because didn't want to dilute the impact when you saw it! That road was all single track till a few years ago. When I heard they were going to 'dual' it I thought it would be spoilt because they would take a lot of the bends out of it. Thankfully they didn't and it is even better now. 1 Quote
Geoffrey Carter (Buttercup) Posted June 6, 2015 Author Posted June 6, 2015 Haha. Well done Higgy. I shot past and had to turn round again to get a picture. That route you sent me on was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. Than you for telling us as from start to finish we loved every minute ROBERT. I have been planning this trip about a year as I have driven up here the past few years but NEVER enjoyed it as much as this year. Been on here with other members making comments and giving suggestions, the people we have met, the smoothness of the roads, the thumbs up and picture taking, having half doors to see everything. It has all been amazing. Carol chose some great hotels...apart from the first one and everything has added up to the best holiday ever for me. I am already making my plans for next year from things I have learnt this time round and I will be posting something up to see if anyone would fancy joining us for Ten days next May. I will be in Aberfeldy tomorrow night then I have the day after available if anyone would like to give us a guided tour or a meet up. 1 Quote
David-hrv Posted June 7, 2015 Posted June 7, 2015 Hi Geoffrey and Carol. It's been fascinating hearing of your exploits this week. Can't wait for the next installment! The scenery and the people here are amazing. It's what made us decide to move up here to Inverness from Lancaster 12 years ago. We're travelling through Aberfeldy this afternoon on our way back to Inverness from a Jaguar run around Crieff. It sounds like we'll just miss you, but I'll look out for you anyway. I have your number with me, so depending on our timing, I may call you you see where you are. Hope you have a safe and dry run down today. Cheers, David 1 Quote
Geoffrey Carter (Buttercup) Posted June 7, 2015 Author Posted June 7, 2015 WEATHER FORECAST. Miserable start as got to travel 16 miles as someone.... Not me left their sun glasses in the inn where we eat. Sunny smiles expected to follow throughout the day. Quote
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