vampyresheep

Although I was awake from daylight, managed to force myself to a lie-in until 8am, when I awoke and braved the showers – given a choice between a dark shower, couldn't find light and with daddy-long-legs or a brighter one, with window and just one spider; I went with the latter!

Then made breakfast while Rob got ready, all felt rather bizarre, making breakfast in a train carriage!

Set off around 9.30, with the plan of going to Cromarty, then Chanonry Point. The A9 was a bit dull so we detoured off around the Cromarty Firth via Invergordon. To our surprise, there were two massive oil drilling platforms in the water!

After finishing the northern edge of the Firth, rejoining the A9, we weren't too enthusiastic about following the southern edge, as pretty as Cromarty might have been, so instead we went to Chanonry Point in Fortrose, to try to spot dolphins.

the lighthouse at Chanonry Point:

memorial to the Brahan Seer

A long spit, reaching out into the Morar Firth, seemingly almost trying to meet Fort George the opposite side, Chanonry Point is allegedly the best landside location in the UK to see dolphins.

We sat in the freezing cold for a while, about to give up, when all of a sudden we saw a tail! For the next 15 minutes or so we saw various dolphin parts emerging briefly from the water, tail, fin, flipper, even nearly an entire dolphin at one point! After a few blurry fin pics to record the moment..........

yep, I'll never make a wildlife photographer! :-)

we retreated out of the cold and went to find a cafe, ending up in adjacent Rosemackie; a pretty village with a sweeping sandy beach.

By now it was lunchtime and the menu looked good, so we gave up on buying a picnic and settled down to warming Cullen Skink (for me) and hot chocolate with marshmallows (Rob)

We went back down the A9 to Munlochy to find the Clootie Well. Turned out to be easy enough to spot, with rags of fabric hanging from the trees by the road.
what have we let ourselves in for:

As we entered further into the woods, it was like something from a film, amusing in places, creepy in others, with 100's and 1000's of rags, toys and items of clothing hanging from branches, getting more intense as we came closer to the well itself.

The original intention was that if someone was ill, a loved one would hang a piece of their clothing at the well and as the rag decomposed it would take the person's illness with them. These days, people have lost track of that original meaning (mementos for the departed or just to show that I-waz-here, etc etc) but it still maintains a quirky atmosphere.

After this we headed down the Great Glen, to get to Drumadrochnit via the scenic route. Unfortunately couldn't detour down the more picturesque glens of Strathfarrar or Glen Affric, thanks to Rob not filling up with petrol (grr, bloody men!) but we had enough to get us to Urquhart Castle on the bank of Loch Ness.

A bit of a tourist trap and overpriced for what it was, but it was still one of those things which had to be done. Took Travel Dragon along with us of course, so he might get to spot his cousin Nessie in the waters! ;-)

sorry for all the obligatory "goths tarting round in a castle" pics ... here are a couple more!

After this, we had a quick browse in Drumnadrochnit

and then headed to Inverness to check into our hotel for the next two nights. Not somewhere i would have chosen to stay but as we got a Ramada deal of £40 for two nights, it was an accommodation bargain much needed, to allow us the more expensive options of the past week. A bit of a culture shock, staying in a bland chain hotel after all the lovely accommodation we'd been in but it was modern and clean, so can't complain.

Went out to explore Inverness (didn't take too long!)

and find a pub for food. This is a city seriously lacking in proper pubs – too many theme bars like all other cities! We did eventually find the lovely Castle Tavern, at the opposite end of town; a real ale pub with reasonably priced menu. Lovely friendly service (again!), tasty food and a fab range of beers, it was a good find!