NC500, Day 4 - Durness to Scourie
Morning all! This blog will cover the start of our drive down the west coast of Scotland, taking us from Durness to Scourie. Not a long drive, only about 25 miles, but we did have a couple of stops and a nice walk up a hill, so it was pretty action packed and full of thrills and brotherly banter. In addition, we had a treat ahead of us - a night in a hotel rather than the van! The excitement levels were high, I can tell you. A comfy bed, private facilities and an escape from the nocturnal noises. The Big Yin did say he would have been happy to share a room, but no way that was happening. No sir.
When we woke up at the camp site that morning, we took a short walk to the Smoo Caves. Now, some of the images from the caves were published in yesterday’s blog because they made a natural fit with the “North Coast” theme. So, yes, there is overlap and the blogs/videos don’t tie in exactly but that’s the way I roll - I like to throw in these moments of confusion, shock and surprise. Life on the edge.
There will always be the critics, the naysayers and the dissenters who say “rubbish” and accuse me of rank amateurism, saying “you’re just a bloody embarrassment, a disgrace and you should give this up, you clown”. But until she writes her own blog, my mother can keep her opinions to herself.
After the caves we drove a short distance to Balnakeil Beach where I made a stonkingly good breakfast - not as good as The Rumblin’ Tum near Wick (see earlier blog) - but was certainly up there and would knock the likes of Oliver, Ramsay and that angry one with the wild hair into a cocked hat.
Balnakeil has a pretty ruined church and graveyard, well worth exploring. And on the beach itself you often see - as we did - a herd of cows roaming about and even walking into the sea. i don’t know if this is true or not, but apparently they do this not just to keep cool, but also to help dislodge any ticks they may have picked up.
After breakfast and a wee wander, we headed into Balnakeil Craft Village and specifically to Cocoa Mountain. Cocoa Mountain is an award winning chocolate shop that has been on the go since 2006. The village itself is a bit of a hippy hangout with a few craft shops - carved wooden things, paintings, jewellery and such like.
After a wonderful hot chocolate and a fudge finger, we headed off to Scourie with a couple of stops on the way to take some photos. The weather was, to use a Scottish phrase, utter mince at times so I found the photography a challenge at times.
I do have a new book recommendation today. Worth a look if you’re after something a little bit different, some “off the beaten track” spots. Wild Guide Scotland: Hidden places, great adventures & the good life
Anyway, by the time we arrived in Scourie in the early afternoon, the weather had cleared up and after checking in we took a couple of pleasant walks, had a few drinks and a decent meal then retired to our separate rooms for the night.
Enough of my ramblings, on to the video and pics. (Please do subscribe to the video channel if you can be bothered - costs nothing and puts a spring in my step - cheers!)
The entrance to the Smoo Caves, our morning walk before driving a short distance to Balnakeil.
Balnakeil beach - you can just make out the cows having a morning stroll and getting ready to dip their hooves in the water. Braver than me, the water was freezing.
The wee ruined church. There’s an interesting article on the church on the Undiscovered Scotland website
And here’s the Big Yin enjoying his gourmet breakfast. You’ll see that he is, yet again, wearing his “gilet” or blouse. See previous blog for an explanation on that one. He even sleeps in the thing. I asked him about that the previous night and his explanation was that it “helped him relax, because it “smelt of mum””.
And here is the breakfast. Might not look much to the untrained eye and I forgive you. But, believe you me, this hit the spot! And to have that view, well - you can take your avocado hollandaise free range whatevers on wholegrain artisan focaccia and your white table-clothed Savoy dining room and chuck them right out your double glazed bay windows. Grilled sausages on a bap with a view of the Scottish Highlands trumps that any day of the week,
After this van-cooked delight, we drove a few hundred yards back up that road to the craft village and the famous Cocoa Mountain
The legendary hot chocolates - hot, rich, creamy, mix of milk and white chocolate - sinfully delicious. And the big lad managed to squeeze in a fudge finger to boot.
After this little treat, it was back in the van for another very short drive to the Kyle of Durness viewpoint, barely 10 minutes away,
Upon reaching the viewpoint, someone needed refuelling
You can see more of the viewpoint in the video above. The weather wasn’t great and I really struggled to get any form of a decent image - this was about the best I could manage and it took a fair amount of editing to even get this. That said, I was incredibly happy just standing in this part of Scotland and taking it all in - the view of the loch, mountains and clouds, the breeze, the drizzle and the smell of traditional Scottish fried food wafting over from the van. Happy Days indeed!
Incidentally, there’s a great Scottish word - “dreich”. This is a great word that so often sums up weather in Scotland, probably especially on the west coast. It sums up all these attributes - dreary, gloomy, miserable, grey, depressing, devoid of sunshine and some drizzle blowing in the air. This was a dreich moment.
Compare this shot to the beach photo above, with blue skies and cows chilling on the beach. The weather can be changeable in this part of the world - but that adds to the appeal, in my opinion.
I’ve included this image as I think it gives a reasonable idea of the driving conditions and general scenery - lovely, winding roads through dramatic countryside along the shores of a loch. On a serious note, do drive carefully in these parts - and also pay attention to the traffic around you, don’t hold others up unnecessarily - pull over and let faster vehicles pass when the opportunity arises.
Now, I do like this photo, pretty happy with this one. I like the line of the river, the brooding clouds, the slope of the hill and I think it works better with the inclusion of the Big Yin in the shot. To me, he adds scale and perspective, a wee touch of interest. I’ll post a picture without him and you can make up your own minds.
And here’s a similar scene without my bro. Still not a bad pic but I prefer the previous one.
From here, we headed to Scourie where we checked into the Scourie Hotel, dumped bags in our separate rooms and then headed for a wee walk up a hill - the weather had improved considerably!
The view from the hill, overlooking Scourie. Our hotel, where we had separate rooms, is the big white building a third in from the right.
Taken from virtually the same spot as the previous image, but looking inland.
From the same viewpoint. You can just make out the Big Yin in the middle of the shot. He did have a tendency to wander off, something his carer had warned me about, but thankfully he came to no harm.
Langoustines in the Scourie Hotel. These little pink beauties were delicious, dipped in drawn butter and served with new potatoes. Lovely!
Also had some whitebait - crunchy and piping hot, I was a happy man indeed. The salad garnish could go do one, though. Pointless. Although I did eat the radish slices, I do like a radish.
After supper, we took a wee walk around the bay and out onto the headland
The walk took us past this little graveyard and gave us this view back over the bay to Scourie. The mountain in the distance, just right of centre, is Ben Stack.
A little further out on the headland we found this small cairn, Ben Stack features more prominently from this angle.
We were hoping for a nice sunset over the sea behind us, but sadly clouds spoiled that one. So we headed back inland, back to the Scourie Hotel, had a last drink at the bar then off to our separate rooms.
Well, that concludes the Durness to Scourie section. of the trip - a short drive, but still fitted in a good amount and had a thoroughly enjoyable day with some great food. Especially the breakfast. The next day we headed from here to Ullapool. Stay tuned!