Bastille Day en Ecosse

Day off today and I was disappointed that I wasn't working!! Stuart and I went down to the Ferry more in hope than expectation because of the wind (not ours). There were about 10 people waiting to cross but we knew that the wind was too strong from the waves on the Kyle. Aye I'm begining to get the feel for the weather! Forecast doesn't look too good either. Jo and I drove east along the top and went for a walk at Strathy Point to see the lighthouse there (not as good as the Cape but a better road). Sat and watched the Gannets feeding and the farmer trying to gather up his sheep before returning back to Durness. We stopped off at a tea shop at Tongue and met a couple of passengers from yesterday and had a chat and they said how much they had enjoyed themselves ( a bit of a relief). The tea shop owner picked up on this and when the tourists left instantly we became locals talking about how the season was going, ferry times, council policy and how they must come over to the Cape.

Well, its confession time.........we've got the gas fire on and the heater in the bedroom as well.

Had a text from Virgin that our android facility to act as a Wifi hotspot might be stopped as the tariff may have changed so all future posts will be from the android direct to the blog and therefore no photies. I spoke to Virgin who assured me that my tariff hadn't changed so I could still tether but they didn't sound convincing so we will find out tomorrow!

 

 

July 11th and alls well

Sun, Sun and Fog!!! Yep the good weather has caught up with us for the time being but patchy fog  appears out of nowhere for short periods. James appeared yesterday and gave Jo a big bag of crab claws for our tea. Jo cooked them up and we have had them in a tomato and courgette sauce with pasta-delicious and so fresh.

We had 5 trips yesterday between us and another 4 today so things are getting busier which is good for everyone. Lots of interesting people including a bus full of Italian tourists with their guide Enrico!! I didn't understand a word for 3 hours and Enrico did the commentary as well so all I had to do was drive.  He even thought I was Scottish cos I wouldn't let him travel for nothing (his words not mine!) I corrected him and he said I was turning Scottish. Today I had a German passenger who said she was pleased that I was English as she can't understand the Scottish accent. I told Stuart this and his face was a picture of disbelief but he saw the funny side,aye ye canna believe it.

Jo's blog:

The warm sunny weather has arrived!  Last night tea was brought to me on the back of a large orange tractor straight from the pier. I was presented with a bucket of fresh crab claws and a hammer. They were ferociously big claws from some deep sea monster, not the small friendly rockpool variety. I did my best not to dwell too much on where the rest of the body was and set about following the cooking instructions from James. The secret is not to overcook and dry the meat out so steaming for the last few minutes of cooking time is best. It is also necessary to let them cool completely before setting to with the hammer. A few well placed whacks enabled the collection of a suprising amount of meat- a very tasty edition to a tomato pasta sauce with some for sandwiches later.

My trip out today was again over to Tongue, along the same road as there are only three roads up here A838, A836 or B871. The A roads run west and east respectively, and the B road runs north to south. The A roads follow the northern coast and are mostly single track with passing places every 100 yards. Not forgetting the road Paul drives on, the U70 over on the cape.

This time we stopped at a causeway over the Kyle of Tongue and Elspeth was collected by a colleague for the last few miles to see her patient. Often visits out require two different skill sets , for example a district nurse and a physio, so sharing lifts from certain points along the route naturally makes sense. I tried very hard to settle to my book as I waited in the sunshine but the magnificent view across the Kyle kept distracting me. The Oystercatchers were bickering down on the stoney shore line and a couple of loud splashes indicated that fish were busy just beneath the surface of the water. The crags of Ben Loyal sat high above the water and the outline of the arret formed the outline of a coronet. Elspeth told me the mountain is nicknamed the' Queen of the North'. In the car park the grassy bank beside the causeway was well cared for with a couple of picnic benches and a tub of bright orange marigolds beside the tourist information board. Before the causway was constructed in 1971 the roadway had to follow the deep inlet of the coastline almost 6 miles round to Tongue. The water was crystal clear and looking down from the bridge I could see a forest of seaweed interspersed with pale white patches of sand dappled with sunlight that rippled with the flow of the tide. Looking the otherway in the distance to the open sea there stretched a sandy beach. A  large high cliffed island of rock with a lushious looking grassy top seemed to stand guard over the entrance to the kyle. According to my map this was Rabbit Island and I guessed there were some fat little bunnies over there. My wait of an hour passed by in a flash and I decided next time to bring a  sketch pad and have a go at some productive paperwork whilst gawping at the scenery.

We drove back in the sunshine with the sea and the mountains doing their thing. An afternoon of washing and cleaning awaited before heading to the beach. I really need to keep the suntan topped up while I can, might even venture for a paddle.

 

 

The view from Jo's office!

Heat Haze in Durness

 

 

Notice the subtle blue tones in the sky coupled with atmospheric hint of grey transcending the effervescent greens amongst the seasoning dull white of the wood, a true capture of the soothing summer evening in the North of Scotland and you lot cant sleep at night cos its too blinking hot Haha.

It was a warm and foggy day Captain Mainwaring!!

Someone has stolen the lighthouse!!! Set off this morning to the Cape(notice local jargon already-impressive heh) in the sun and went around the last bend and went into the commentary "and here is the lighthouse first operated on Christmas Day in 1828" and there was no bloody lighthouse!!! Fog Fog and more Fog. I thought I had got my bends in the road mixed up cos there was no lighthouse there. When we got within 50 yards it rose out of the gloom. I still told everyone where the best viewing places are, just in case they ever come back, but adapted it to say standing next to it was currently the best place. The commentary was a bit bland on the way back somewhere along the lines of " if you look out to the left you would normally see Kervaig Bay with its golden sands, Cathedral Stack and the highest cliffs on the UK mainland but its foggy so you can't" Not sure it went down well but I still stopped for the photo opportunity!

Checked that there were no Argentinians on board before I mentioned that the Cape range was used by the Army to prepare for the Falklands War fortunately there weren't any and I have to say it looked really bleak today which added to the atmosphere. If there had been any I might have dropped them off so that there could get a practice in just in case they try again. (Only joking but then if it had been Maradona I might have been tempted)

Met more interesting people again from all around Europe and was informed by a girl from the Czech Republic that the English are hated by the people in Dundee so that will be a Yes vote there then!! Funny how people get these strange impressions cos  everyone we have met  has been fab! Stuart and I have alot of banter which is brilliant and I have to say that he is a great guy who is a top notch guide.

Bad news for the day is that Benteke wants a transfer-PRAT

Jo started her job today and here is her blog:

I started work today! Elspeth is part of the NHS Community Care Team and she works as a  physiotherapist. She is unable to drive due to a bad accident so I am to form part of the team who ferry her around when she is not working from home. We went up to the surgery to collect the car , an Astra so a nice easy drive. It is a turbo diesel but I suspect we may not get too many opportunities to try that function. We set out for Tongue – about thirty miles away to the east of Durness. The first part of the road is single track with designated passing places. Apparently it becomes a nightmare in August as camper vans move like white snails along the only route between Cape Wrath and John O'Groats.Today was not so bad however we did get stuck behind a slow moving caravan. I was given permission to act like a local, tooting and flashing to make them pull over and let me pass. Elspeth spotted James on his fishing boat collecting his lobster pots out on Loch EribolI but I had to keep my eyes on the road. We passed the yellow mobile library van as it was pulled in beside the dwellings of Eriboll. It made me think of our mobile library van at home and wondered if we could get a postcard to Derek. Just as we reached the wider road Elspeth pointed out the Community bus collecting the older folks for luncheon club. How strange that Luncheon Club in North West Highlands is on a Tuesday the same as at home. Apparently they mutter and grumble just as much with some of the older but more active residents not using the service because they consider themselves too young. Human beings are the same everywhere! Elspeth does quite a lot of work with the older generation developing routines that are designed to keep them mobile and safe in their own homes for longer. As she pointed out it is mostly about educating people how to adapt their lives thus enabling continued independance. She also has an interest in rehabilitaion of stroke patients. With the wider road I was able to appreciate the scenery on our drive with some spectacular views over mountains and sea. We drove through a suprisingly well wooded area before crossing a bleak heather clad moor. We seemed to be up in the clouds with a fine mist on the windscreen. In the winter this is not the place to be for long and is often snow covered. Apparently the winters up here seem to be getting milder with less and less snow but when it comes it stays for days. Trips to clinics are cancelled and diaries re-organised. We crossed the Kyle of Tongue on a type of causeway bridge and climbed up to the village and the clinic. I spotted a ruined castle perched on the hillside, an intersting excursion for next week perhaps. A colleague takes  Elspeth on to another clinic at Armadale for the afternoon so I might be able to find some sightseeing to do for a whole day out. Armadale is about another 15 miles further along the coast. I helped Elspeth unload some interesting bits of torture equipment for her clinic and then set off for the drive back. It took just under the hour and already the road felt more familiar.

7th July

Ok so you are all under burning sun and clear blue skies but I bet you would all like it to be a bit cooler really? A bit like here a pleasant 20c. The wind has dropped after 2 days of blowing gusts of 40mph. This , of course, stopped the ferry and without that no buses but meant that we had a couple of days to explore.

On Friday we went to Ullapool for the day and went to Tesco, our nearest supermarket just the 2 hours away, and got some supplies in for ourselves, Stuart & James. We were warned not to let it be known that we are going there or you become the delivery service for the village. Whilst there we distributed some leaflets for James at the Tourist Information and local hotels advertising the bus service. The mountain scenery between here and Ullapool is stunning and well worth a visit.

Yesterday we did our Lawrence of Arabia bit crossing the sand dunes with sand getting in our hair, ears, mouths and eyes. Sun was shining and out of the wind it was quite warm.

Today it was calm, bright and warm, the ferry was running and I had just the 2 trips to the Cape. The first busload was packed with oversea visitors so my commentary was being translated into several languages. Strange experience hearing people laugh at a joke then after a babble there was more laughter, they were probably telling their pals that they were lucky not to be able to understand English!! Worst of all was the Scot translating me into Scottish.

On the last journey of the day I saw a guy who had cycled from Cape Cornwall to Cape Wrath and talking to him I recognised the Brummie twang and it turned out he lives about 5 miles from where I used to live and I used to work about 300yds from where he worked. Spooky or what and whats more we knew the same people. All this in 50000 acres of wilderness. Does this say something about people from Solihull? It turns out he cycles this route every year as well. Is it me???

Jo has been walking the coast and is fast becoming a bit of a Nick Crane. This morning I fell down a sand dune this morning in a most ungainly fashion causing much mirth from the aforementioned stiffled by concern.

Weather  forecast set fair for the next few days so plenty of driving ahead. Hurrah.