June 9th

We left the Orkneys on the 11 am boat from Stromness to Scrabster. The seas were calm so the boat went the regular route around the Old Man of Hoy. It was great to see it from this vantage point as I barely looked over the cliff to see it when we hiked to it a few days before. 😬

Once off the ferry, we headed to John O’Groats, the most northern settlement on mainland Great Britain. It’s on the top of Scotland on the east side. We got the picture of the sign post which is like the one at Land’s End in the south of England. The distance between the two signs is 874 miles. John O’Groats is a major tourist mecca. I know I am a tourist too and part of the problem, but I just had to get away from the hurly burly. We had a walk out to the beach and the headlands nearby. It was what the doctor ordered. 😄

That night, we camped in Wick, a small town an hour away from John O’Groats. It was the beginning of our descent down the east coast of Scotland.

June 10th

We set off to Inverness, a two hour drive with a midway stop planned at Dunrobin Castle and Gardens. It was a dreary drive initially in the rain down the rugged coast. We could see windmill farms far out in the sea.

But the sun did come out after a while, as it often does, just in time for our visit to the castle and gardens.

Dunrobin Castle and Gardens is a massive estate, straddling a hill above the North Sea. The gardens and castles are grand and beautiful like so many castles and gardens we have seen.

The best part of the visit to the castle was the Falconry Session. Falconry is an age old way of hunting using falcons. A Falconer brought his trained birds and gave a demonstration for about an hour to a large crowd. No hunting occurred thank goodness, just commands and flight. We tried to get good pictures but the falcons were so fast the pictures are blurred or blank due to not snapping fast enough. It’s unbelievable how a bird can be trained to listen to commands. And they all have their own cheeky personalities. They zoomed around the castle gardens and then headed back to the trainer when called, flying at super fast speeds just above the audience heads. They ducked just in case.

In the afternoon, we made our way to Dingwall Camping and Caravanning Club site 20 minutes outside Inverness.

June 11th

We spent a good chunk of the day at Culloden Battlefield. The Battle of Culloden was a major event in Scottish history. I’m going to take a crack at explaining this battle after doing some internet research. The trajectory of events that culminated in the eventual battle on Culloden Moor on April 16, 1746 is very complicated.

James Francis Edward Stuart from the Stuart line, was the claimant of the throne of the Kingdom of England, Scotland and Ireland from 1701 to 1766, after his father, King James II died in 1701 in excile in France.

James Francis Edward Stuart married and had a son Charles Edward Louis John Sylvester Maria Casimir Stuart, otherwise known as Bonnie Prince Charlie. He led the movement to bring his father to the throne. The people that supported getting James on the throne and restoring the Stuart monarchy were called Jacobites. The name James in Latin is Jacob thus the supporters of James were called Jacobites.

With the support of the French and the Jacobites, Bonnie Prince Charlie planned an invasion of England to defeat the government. A failed attempt made him go to Scotland where with the Jacobite forces, he battled the government forces in Culloden in a brutal fight that lasted 45 minutes or so. Hundreds were killed that day with the Jacobite fighters taking the brunt of it. This ended the Stuart dynasty permanently. Afterwards, any Jacobite supporters or those suspected as so were persecuted and murdered. And Bonnie Prince Charlie, he fled the Battlefield. He was helped by another Scottish hero, Flora MacDonald who hid him in the Hebrides until a French ship came to his rescue and took him back to Europe where he lived out his days. (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Culloden) (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Edward_Stuart)

I know this explanation of the Battle of Culloden is lengthly, and it’s not total. It was honestly a way for me to get things straight in my mind since many of the castles and other sights we have visited in Scotland refer to this battle and doing a little research and writing it down has brought some clarity. If I got any points wrong, I’m happy if folks point it out. Also I need to declare that I hate war and don’t mean to glorify it or condone it. Seems battle is so much a part of history in Scotland.

June 12th

Today we were off to the Loch Ness Centre to learn about the Loch and the Loch Ness monster. In this neck of the woods, the Loch Ness monster is more commonly referred to as “Nessie”. The likely myth of the infamous and mysterious creature that swims the depths of the lake and has appeared once and awhile through the last 100 years or more is a big tourist draw to the area, approximately 200,000 visitors a year. (https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/23401071.loch-ness-visitor-centre-recruiting-1-5million-upgrade/)

Loch Ness is a fresh water loch that runs 23 miles long and its deepest area is 755 ft. Due to its size and depth, it wins for the lake with the greatest volume of water in the British Isles. (https://www.highlandtitles.com/blog/loch-ness-guide/)

But is it a habitat where a huge reptile can thrive? That is the question the Loch Ness Centre grapples with. They portray how since the first reported sighting in 1933, the hordes have flocked to the area to maybe get a glimpse of Nessie. Researchers and divers have spent hours looking and analyzing data but nothing concrete has turned up.

Just before we left the Loch Ness Centre after learning about the loch and the sightings and the research, we were asked a question: Does the Loch Ness Monster exist? The answer options were “Nonsense”, “Possibly”, and “Yes”. Guy chose “Nonsense” and I chose “Possibly”. I’ve been hearing about the Loch Ness monster since I was a little kid, like I’ve always heard of Santa. A part of me wants to still believe. 🤩

After the Museum, we drove out to Urqhart Castle to see it and to catch some good views of Loch Ness. The castle, however, was fully booked for the day. So we went and had lunch and then drove the length of the lake back to Inverness, stopping along the way for photos.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at Inverness, walking around the lovely picturesque city. Guy got some new pants on a sale and we visited the Victorian Market and had an afternoon coffee and cake. Then we walked the canal back to our car park and headed back to Dingwall for the evening.