We left Inverness just before 10am. Except for Pop we were all moving pretty slow today. We had absolutely beautiful blue skies with white fluffy clouds and it was warm – about time! We drove through yet more beautiful scenery.
Our main stop today was Dunrobin Castle.
We arrived just before 11.30am and went straight down to see the falconry to watch the demonstation. Even though we’d just seen a similar show at Warwick Castle this was different enough to be well worth while. The birds were flying close overhead and even brushed by my arm. After the show the girls were able to sit beside an owl as it digested it’s meal (a dead mouse).
We then explored the gardens – stopping to take lots of photos. They were beautiful and looking up at the house from the gardens was breathtaking (esp. with the brilliant blue sky behind it).
Next was lunch in the tea rooms.
Dad & I both had the Split Pea Soup which was delicious.
Amy ordered a steak pie and this is what she got.
After lunch we explored the house which was much better than I thought it might be. There was no guided tour but the rooms were set out in order so it was easy to follow around. And every couple of rooms was a guide so you could questions if you wanted. We all enjoyed our visit here and was very glad we’d made the stop.
From here was drove another hour and half through lots of farm country (which I surprise to both Dad and myself).
Finally we arrived at todays destination – John O’Groats (the northern most town in the mainland UK).
We checked into the van park and got settled before heading off to explore the town – which comprises one museaum, a ferry terminal, a few coffee shops and a handful of stores. There are some houses but they are a few minutes back down the road.
We visited the museum – the last house in Scotland – which was surprisingly free. There quite a lot of interesting artifacts and photos here. In the shop we were able to send a postcard which will be postmarked “last house in Scotland”.
We checked out the other shops but other than the candle shop (which sold lovely handmade candles) most were just tourist traps. We went back the motorhome to discover I had inadvertantly left the water tap open this morning – which meant when the water had gotten turned back on, the tap run and the grey water tank overflowed flooding the floor carpet. It also meant that even though we had emptied and filled tanks just this morning, we had to do it all over again. Not fun. I then had to wash the towels (again) that we’d used in the clean up. In amongst all this I had to treat Christy for her head lice – which is always a fun job. Luckily Amy & Pop were able to get dinner organised while all this was going on and we finally got to eat around 7.30pm.
Shortly afterwards Dad spotted some cows in the nearby field so I grabbed the big camera and headed over to take some photos. Quite a few of the babies came right up to see me at the fence so I was able to get some up-close photos. They were SOOOOO cute.
Finally I got the towels all dried (they took ages) and was able to type up todays trip report and head to bed. We’ve got a big out tomorrow visiting Orkney.
I loved Dunrobin, went there a few years ago on a roadtrip. Looks so fairytale 🙂