You will have lost interest by now

Derek are you still waiting with baited  breath and date stamp in hand?

 

 
was it worth the wait?

Highland Games and Floating Buses

Friday was Highland Gathering day as I may have reported before. After a short day at work we went over to the games field and into the arena. There were bagpipes swirling, Highland dancing and some Scottish Tossers & Throwers. All very Scottish apart from a Dutch lad who decided he wanted a go at the throwing competitions for which he had to wear a kilt-all credit to him. The beer tent was very popular and so was the burger bar both of which Jo and I visited, well you have to follow local customs don't you.

After a couple of hours of waiting in the sea mist to watch them tossing the caber there was an almighty storm with lightening and heavy rain again just before it all kicked off so it was cancelled and we went home wet and disappointed.

Saturday dawned bright and sunny and Stuart informed me that it would be a quiet day as it always is after the games-Wrong. It was the busiest day yet. Sunday was similar so lots of work.

Today Jo witnessed my new bus being ferried across the Kyle on a raft. In what seemed a very short time the bus was reveresed down the ramp, gently coerced sideways and up onto the pontoon raft and floated across the Kyle.  James has done this before! The process was repeated Capeside, only this time forwards up the ramp. Tweed travelled in the front passenger seat – generally overseeing the process. The photos tell the story.

Highland Rescue

Well, we might make BBC Scotland news tonight! One of my passengers slipped over at the Cape and broke her ankle (thats the truth your Honour as I swear on me babbies life perhaps if she had paid the fare then she might not had this unfortunate accident!). John the Light phoned the Coastguard and asked for a helicopter lift to hospital and they said they would get back. I manned the phone and a few minutes later they were back saying that this was a matter for the Ambulance service. I explained that an ambulance couldn't get  as it couldn't cross the Kyle, so we had to wait whilst the Coastguard contacted the Ambo service . Eventually the Coastguard at Durness was mobilised to attend so I returned to the Ferry with my bus minus 2 passengers to give them a lift should the spare bus not start (which it did fortunately). In the meantime a helicopter arrived, assessed the injury and took her to hospital.

James, the minibus owner, was brill and said to do whatever was necessary to help the lady and he would back my decision regardless. I can think of one organisation that would benefit from this attitude from its senior managers but I won't mention the name!!

On a more cheery note tomorrow is Durness Highland Gathering starting at Midday when all the usual things take place including a bagpipe competition. We are both looking forward to it and will be taking lots of photies (Apparently I should be finishing early as well as its a big community event).

Yesterday evening, there was an amazing storm at the Cape, we were surrounded by lightening, the sky was black  and it rained for 30 minutes like a monsoon. The road was like a river but despite all this it the place had a certain beauty and the flies bogged off!!

20th July

This is Jo  as Paul is battling with the TV signal. He wants to watch the cricket but  Stuart has just phoned to say his TV is down too! Must be the heat haze/fog that is lurking around and about!

The fine weather continues! The campsite fills and so the ferry will have  passengers and thus the buses will run  and Paul is working hard. The picture with the boat is Paul commuting from work.

I set off this morning before it got too hot to follow the waymarked trail up behind the village to Loch Caladail and Loch Meadaidh. As I was venturing into the 'bush' I lathered up well with a mixture of sunscreen and insect repellent. The track was easy to follow, a stoney cart track that I suspect the fishermen use on quadbikes and 4 x4s. The moorland rolled away in every direction, green with some purple hints as the heather is starting to flower. Large rounded single boulders lay scattered across the landscape like monuments or pieces of sculpture. From the glassy waters of the first loch the path headed up hill following the course of a stoney river running with dark brackish water. Fortunately I was undisturbed by any of the ' locals' but nevertheless I kept a smart pace. Skylarks and Wheatears seemed to be the only residents here. Having climbed up to find the second loch nestling at the foot of the hills I risked a few moments to stand and appreciate the reflection of the hills in the blue of the water.  I followed the path downwards back to the coast and the road back round to the village. According to my map I had managed to cover 4 miles in the hour so that should have burnt off the calories from that icecream I had last night and perhaps thats why the midges did not get me.

My afternoon was spent on the beach in the afternoon sunshine – this is the life!

 

 

 

 

Cooler in the evening and really pleasant. More sun tomorrow. We are off spinning for Sea Trout, Sea Bass and Salmon in the Kyle later this week.

July 18th

Ok chaps, we've got a warm front heading this way but we're not sure that we want your heat. The wind has dropped and all things are going as should be and the trips are up and running at last. We had 2 days when the wind was relentless followed by 2 days when we could only operate in the morning. On the plus side the photo opportunities have been brill.

Last night we went to a folk concert in the village hall featuring the Tannahill Weavers and to be honest they were really good although I thought that the bagpipes could have benefitted from not having a microphone! How many cats can you strangle at maximum volume!! All in all a good night though and we thought that Steve and his squeeze box could have added something to it tho. Met Mr Sutherland this morning, one of the old timers in the area with an accent so broad he was speaking a different language, and he is a really nice chap who asked me where I came from and when I replied looked wistfully into the far distance to the south and said "Well that'll be a long way away then"  

 Jo has been travelling around the area with Elspeth so here's the bit you've been waiting for!!

More driving for the NHS worker today! A trip over to Golspie for for Elspeth a staff meeting and some CPD with a couple of patients to visit in the afternoon. I had a great morning pottering about Golspie , a linear scottish town on the East Coast road between Inverness and Wick. It has a promenade that overlooks the entrance to the Moray Firth – way on the horizon! The houses of the main street back onto the seafront and I noticed that their back gates were protective metal storm gates. Presumably it gets a bit fierce here at high tide. I visited a very informative Mineral and Fossil exhibition at the far end of the town. There was so much information- too much to take in. I looked in the giftshop to find a simple idiots guide to geology and rocks of the area but came away disappointed. Dornoch proved an interesting place with large imposing yellow stoned  merchant style houses and a Jail. The Jail has been revamped as an outlet store selling all nice things scottish and countryfied. There were a couple of coaches parked in the town square so quite a tourist trap. I only had time to venture out towards the sandunes and the beach. The dunes supported a large static caravan site and a very exposed windy golf course.

We took the opportuntiy for a brief visit 'across the bridge' to Tesco before starting the long trek home.  The rain and mist came to meet us as we moved north into the harsher lands of the north highlands. The mist and fog swirled around the car slowing our progress. We had already encountered the thundering fish lorry but sheep have no foglights and were quite difficult to spot. They seemed to be disorientated by the fog and happy to use the road more than usual. Visibility cleared as we dropped down along side the Kyle and followed the road to Durness.

 

 

 

 

PS the cat is back as you can see but covering its modesty this time!!