NC500, now we are talking!

When you hear people talking about the NC500, they make it sound really amazing and magical.
So far we have not really seen that. It's all well and pretty, but where was the majesty everyone talked about?

Well, after a good hike along the coastline east of John o'Groats to some very cool rock formations, we were about to find out.

With every kilometer we drove, the scenery started to get more and more spectacular. It's very hard to describe this mix of moor land, hills, lochs, cliffs, pretty beaches and narrow roads. One could stop at every bend in the road to take a photo.

The next few days we didn't really cover much ground, just drove on as slowly as possible to take it all in, mostly on a single track road. There are many lay-bys to let other vehicles pass or stop for a quick snap.

No matter where you stop, the views are always amazing and this is prime hill and coast walking terrain.

And best of all, there are hardly any people around. Sheep - yes. Cows - sure. Birds - absolutely. Humans - not so much. Just the way my human likes it when she is out in nature.  

You can find small secluded bays with sandy beaches (perfect for a quick skinny dip during a long walk), high cliffs with thousands of birds nesting in the crags and spectacular sea stacks rising out of a tumultuous ocean.

No one around, time for a quick skinny dip

See the white dot to the left? That's me!

It's not the Caribbean, but it's not bad at all!

The famous Scotish beach cows

Many tiny villages are scattered along the coastline, some with less than 50 inhabitants. To keep these villages connected, a mobile library as well as a mobile bank come around once a week. During the winter months, a truck will come down every month with a traveling band and a large silver screen, so they have live music and movie nights.

An interesting part of this region is the Flow Country.
This vast area is covered in peat and marsh. It is the largest expanse of blanket bog in Europe, stretching over 4.000 square kilometers. Peat can store a huge amount of carbon and this area currently holds 400 million tons of it, three times as much as all the woodlands of the UK combined.

                                                                This plant eats midges! Enjoy, eat as much as you can!

This is what peat looks like

Over millions of years the ocean has carved out many caves around here, one of the bigger and more accessible ones being the Smoo Cave, just outside of Duress, a town of 85 souls. 

This one is special since the outer cave has been created by the ocean, whereas the inner ones are the result of an underground freshwater stream, working its way through the soft limestone.

Smoo Cave

On the way to the cave, we had passed a small carpark up above a beautiful little bay. We stopped briefly to check the place out and got chatting with a guy and his dog. Turns out, the dog's name is Rusty! Instant bonding!

Rusty meets Rusty

Later in the day we decided to go back to that place and spend the night there. Next to us a couple of guys were putting up their tents and, after a swim, we were chatting until the rain hit with force and didn't let us out any more for the rest of the day.

To start the new day fresh, my human went for another swim. Down by the sea she met a Frenchman who actually had a thermometer with him to check the water temperature. 11 degrees. Balmy.

What was meant to be a quick stroll to a nice waterfall, turned into a rescue mission when an older lady who got both her feet stuck in the bog and couldn't get up anymore. A couple of hikers and my human got her out alright, but she was a quite shaken and very, very dirty. They walked her back to the carpark. Her husband was off taking photos of the waterfall. 

We stopped at the Stoer lighthouse, which sits in spectacular scenery.
The Old Man of Stoer, an impressive sea stack, is only a half an hour's walk away. During the walk, my human met an elderly couple, and they got chatting, giving her tips of things to see and do, like happens so often. I guess they would have sat down had they known they would be there for two hours. Because the air was very clear that day, one could see all the surrounding hills. So they pointed out one which they recommended my human to go up, Suilven. And tempting it looked.

                                   The Old Man of Stoer            Carmelo is back on board

We spent the night just to the left of the lighthouse

So we headed out early the following day to beat the forecast of a rainy afternoon. It's a very long way to the base of the mountain, some 8km, then a pretty steep climb up to a sharp ridge. From there the views were brilliant, looking down into two different valleys. Another 15 minutes of scrambling got her to the summit, which, of course, was covered in fog. She got back after 5 hours, happy and still dry. Rain set in a few minutes later.

That's Suilven on the right

We had planned to visit the Outer Hebrides, a chain of islands some 75km off the mainland. Of course one has to book a ferry to get out there and with the summer holidays just starting here, it's booked out most of the time. We figured we would just rock up in Ullapool, the gateway to the islands, and see if we could get on last minute. 

We arrived in town on a Saturday afternoon (meeting Rusty and her owner again on the camp ground, can you believe it?). When we first looked at the booking site, it was all booked out for 10 days to come. But we kept checking and, lo and behold, after a while a spot opened up for Tuesday. There must have been a cancellation. 

Which gave us three days to check out Ullapool and it's surroundings. A shame the weather was dreadful pretty much the whole time.

Other than a few short walks around town and some low hills, a couple of visits to the pub (meeting a very entertaining English couple) and a few hours spent at the swimming pool and sauna, there wasn't much to do but read, write, work on photos, talk to the family and watch a couple of movies. 

Ullapool harbour

This is how you chill (during a brief spot of sunlight)

Meet Neil (at least his arm), my human's new favorite bartender

Ullapool expectign it's next bout of rain

But after almost 60 days of constant gogogo, a little relaxation and slowing down wasn't such a bad thing. Not that we are stressed or anything.

By now we are part of the whole road kill thing. Unfortunately. So far our tally is:

1 small bird, 1 large bird, possilby 1 duck, not sure about that one