Had breakfast with a big helping of politics with our wonderful host, Jenny. I asked lots of leading questions, especially about the upcoming Scottish independence referendum. A very stimulating breakfast.

Our light filled bedroom meant that we were awake at 4 or 5am each morning!

Packed up the car and headed even further north, going the scenic, not the fastest route.

Before we left Drumnadrochit, we drove to nearby Davoch on a narrow country road in the high hills,and then walked along the side of a wooded hill which reminds me of Narnia or Tolkien stories to see the Davoch Falls, falling and splashing 300 feet to a pool below. The hillsides were covered in forty shades of green.

We stopped at the village of Beauly and wandered through these Priory ruins. Old church ruins seem to me to have a wistful atmosphere about them. And make me ponder again on the brevity of our lives and what we do with our short lives.

We meandered down Beauly High Street and saw eucalyptus plans for sale outside one little shop.

And in Campbells Tweed Ltd, I was transported back to the 1950s. The shop assistants weretwo ladies in their seventies with twin sets and pearls, doing their invoices and stock with paper and pencils. Wooden floors and wooden shop counters. Shelves piled high with all things tweed and tartan. Deerstalker hats and flat caps. Lots of colour. We found it fascinating. I tried to sneak a photo but it doesn’t do it justice. it seemed sacreligious somehow to be taking a photo in there!

Rosie and I laugh often at the signs we see.  We’ve started taking photos of the ones we can. Dingwall’s High Street shops seem to be struggling a bit against the giant supermarket Tesco that we saw on the outskirts of the town.  I’m amazed at the number of so many little towns that we drive through. You no sooner drive through one, and then you’re at the next one.

From Dingwall we were on more of a main road, driving through gentle hilly slopes and sometimes we could see the estuary away on the left, because we’re driving close to the east coast along the Firth of Cromarty.

Arrived at Tain a town of 4,000 people. I have to admit that we are sometimes having trouble with GPS and getting to our final destinations! But we eventually got there, after driving round in a few circles. The BnB we’re staying at here is in the middle of the town. The house is older and quirkier. It was originally a “but and ben” of two rooms in the 1600s, then kept getting added to for the next few centuries. The last additions were in the 1850s.

We had arrived a bit early, but Jenny and Karel graciously let us put our stuff in our room. There are 4 other lodgers in this house which has 3 stories. The doors are smaller. They are not much taller than Rosie and I. The toilet and showers both havevery determined quirks to them. Jiggling handles and turning knobs this way and that.

We ate our picnic lunch late in their kitchen, and then went off to look around the town. The sound of seagulls calling constantly. On recommendation, we walked down to the “beach”. It’s an estuary and the tide was way out, leaving brown mud and sludge in its wake. Their Town Gala is on this week, so we thought that was exciting. But when we found it down by the beach, we found that Gala means smalltown fairground with VERY LOUD music of Kenny Rodgers blaring forth. So we decided to give it a miss after all.

Wd walked around an exhibit at the local St Duthas church. St Duthas was a local medieval saint who influenced a Scottish king. And who was reputed to have done the most bizarre miracles. But we did find the exhibit interesting and it was well done.

We decided we were a bit weary after constant early mornings, and that we didn’t HAVE to the Constant Tourist! So went back to the BnB and rested in our room and read. We had a disappointing dinner at The Local. Scotch beef and guiness pie.

I am amazed at the toughness of Highlanders.  Rosie and I wear three layers – a long sleeved shirt, a jumper and a waterproof jacket on. The highlanders are mostly wearing shirtsleeves. There’s a very stiff, cold breeze blowing. Maybe they think because it’s chronologically summer, you have to dress accordingly!

We needed to walk off our Scotch pie dinner so walked for an hour or so along the estuary and through a fir wood. We’ve been disappointed that we’ve not seen any wildlife on our walks. Not so much as a squirrel, let alone a deer. (Which by the way ravages the garden of our last host, but we didn’t see any there.) We see lots and lots of wildflowers and hear and see lots of birds. But no other wildlife. So we took photos of the only wildlife we saw on this walk. The biggest, fattest, ugliest slugs I’ve ever seen. There were hundreds of them! I’ll post a photo of them next time.