Balnakeil

The campsite where I stayed in Scourie was really nice and it was busy too because this is clearly a popular location for NC500 travellers. The sign said 'Full' when I arrived but there were still one or two spaces left for those who don't require electricity, which I don't of course. Once again the overnight fee was really cheap and yet still included free showers (they were lovely and warm too) and there was even a place to eat. I therefore quickly settled in, filled my water container, emptied the loo and waste water bottle and then showered.

It was luxury that there was also a café-bar on site but when I went to get food I was told they were so busy they were no longer accepting orders, whether or not you wanted to sit down or food to take out, which was a bit of a blow. All was not lost though, because they directed me to a fish & chip van just down the road where I was able to buy my rations and take them back to the van and they were very tasty it has to be said. My vision had been it would be a roving van which travels around to different villages each evening, but in fact it was fixed and never moved and it was really busy too. Popular place indeed even with the risk of scourie. (Sorry, I'll stop this)

My view this morning was not quite so spectacular but a good location nevertheless and soon I was on my way to Durness, stopping very now and then to see if it was worth using the Canon camera (photo 3 - what do you reckon?) and at one point taking a detour to the most northerly north-west fishing port of Kinlochbervie, which was very similar to where I stayed on Day 11 at Lochinver, but not nearly as pretty which is saying something! (Photos 4, 5 and 6)

Though I mentioned it in Lochinver, I never showed you the building where the fish are unloaded from the trawlers then processed and loaded onto lorries, so photos 5 and 6 show the handling depot here which is pretty much identical to the one I saw a few days ago. Once again then, this is a major fishing hub with a lot of the fish landed here actually caught along Scotland's north-east coast. As in Lochinver, the fish handling depot is a starting point for refrigerated lorries to take huge quantities of fish to Europe and again I am left to wonder how Brexit might change the importance of this place and others like it. I couldn't stop myself comparing all this the to the whaling industry in older times, when those whaling ships caught and killed so many whales it almost wiped them out. I think it's the size of those handling depots that made me think this and the shear volume of fish that are processed. It is mind boggling - for my mind at least.

In photo 6 you can see my van parked opposite the depot. There's one lorry here where clearly the company were stuck for ideas when choosing their trading name: the Kinlochbervie Fishselling Co. Who would ever have thought of that? The Quay House, on the other hand, isn't a house at all but a rather nice coffee shop and, shock horror again, it was open and busy too.

Having treated myself to a cheese toastie and a coffee, I then drove back along my detour to the main road heading north, passing though a village called Badcall on the way. I'll resist the temptation to comment on this as I'm sure Scourie had enough of a beating yesterday and being silly about it's choice of name is undoubtedly a bad call today.

The final stretch of the journey to Durness continues to delight with great views of mountains and lochs. I realise it's yet another photo of my van, but I quite like that shot which places my van within the wilderness of Scotland. That's what this trip has been about really and I must say it's doing a whole world of good.

The first photo of this footprint is of the beach at Durness and yes, there is white sand there as you can see. I spent quite some time here taking photos and strolling along the beach and a good length of time talking to a student about his journey, his studies at university and his concerns for finding work and what he should do with his life. That was a pretty deep conversation to be had standing in a graveyard next to the ruins of a church on a sunny evening near a white sand beach. We chatted for ages and at the end he shook my hand and thanked me for my time and we wished each other good fortune on our travels now and in the future. Wow!

Durness: for me this was a little disappointing if I'm honest. It's a popular stop because it marks the turning point from the north coast road to head south, if your doing the NC500 anti-clockwise, or east if travelling clockwise. Like me, many were using it as a pivot point, but there isn't a huge amount here - not for me at least. There are guest houses and B&B, a hotel I think, a petrol station and a shop/post office. There are campsites too and all were genuinely full but more worrying for me was that all the wild stopover locations were also full and for the first time this trip I wondered where I would stay for the night.

When it comes to finding a place to park overnight you must learn to be patient because, especially in Scotland, eventually there will be somewhere and this was true this evening. I headed south, past Smoo Cave and in the direction I'm heading tomorrow, so that was okay. After a few miles I found my remote location and claimed my spot with a view, which you can see in the final photo from today. Yes it was midge infested, but I spend a lovely quiet night here with the windows shut!Weiterlesen