Early September 2017 mostly 22 degrees, little midge-ish
Day 1 Saturday – Stirling -Inverness – Dingwall
Ash dog and I slept in our cosy van outside the campsite next to the football stadium of Ross County.
Too late to check in, we just stay out.
Day 2 Sunday – Dingwall – Dornoch
Stopped long enough for a beach breakfast and a cup of takeaway magic at the Mountain Coffee shop. I then drive onto Wick – glorious sunshine and east coast scenic views filling my windscreen and clearing my head while the radio signal tries to keep up.
Radio favourites – curry kitchen chat then Muse ! Canni mind what station.
Onto radio 1 and they are celebrating their 50th anniversary. I’m singing out loud to Status Quo and the Human League. Never been a waitress in a cocktail bar but I feel like I’m rocking all over the world ! SING – I like it, i like it, i la la la like it, rocking the … north coast five hundred !
See a sign for somewhere to eat by the roadside expressing by blackboard signage that skinny folk are easily kidnapped – #nofear and i keep on driving. Stopped at Lybster’s little harbour for the call of nature and asked the wifey in the wee museum/visitor centre/cafe if she could please fill up my water bottle with tap. She did so reluctantly … woops she wisnae very cheery about that. Oh well, the waves are crashing in here, i could sit and watch all day but onto Wick we go.
WEE stop at John O’Groats – got offi posh since i was last here 20 years ago!
Dunnet Head in my rear view mirror prompting me to remember and look back sometimes as well as forward. 360 degree views of the spectacular very north of Scotland.
Passed through Thurso, Melvich and Strathie before stopping at a roadside viewing point at Bettyhill. Stove on for lunch time with Ash dog crunching down his dry kibbles.
A comfort stop for us both in the heather off the paths and a botty blow dry is freshening. Another photo session with my smiling hairy boy before we hit the road again.
Driving onto Tongue, tempted to nosey to Altnaharra however decline the diversion extras as my thoughts are turning towards our resting point for the night…maybe two nights in Durness?
Crept up on the Smoo cave hotel, the perfect place for a refreshing drink and a battery recharge whilst assessing the weather for tomorrow and the plan for the next day.
Day 3 Monday – Sango Sands and Smoo cave
Awake very early listening to the rain battering the roof off the van…hot shower on site and stove on for porridge and coffee time. Brekkie for Ash dog.
A text arrives……………………………………………………………………………………………… so I have to call a friend.
Then off to the award-winning beach just a minute walk from the camp. Good choice to wear the wellies as we both end up playing in the Atlantic before a photo or few with my always photogenic traveling companion. I am utterly amazed by the visions laid out in front of us ! This place is light for the soul….
Rain on, rain off, wet hair we don’t care,
sun out, sun dimmed, and then the clouds roll in.
The light is mesmerising and changing by the second. We lose track of all time until my stomach tells me it’s time for lunch.
We eat in the back of the van with the lid up as the rain comes down in torrents.
Stomachs are full, the sun is out to play again and so are we, off to the Smoo cave – five minutes drive away.
Love a cave and indeed this is the biggest I have ever been in! Prince Charlies on Touch estate back home is not a patch on this. Ash dog swims in the deep pool of the cave and i take a video with the android to capture the sounds in here of the waterfall gushing in and catch the light streaming through the huge blow hole in the roof where apparently the devil blasted out of in a rage after being trapped by one man and his dog. Folk around here must be hardy if they can enrage the very devil himself !
When we walk outside again onto the headland the light of the moment smothers us whilst the wild west wind blows us back to the car and then the lovely Smoo cave hotel. I order the wild salmon for dinner and Ash dog settles on the floor by my feet after working the room with his doggy smiles and charm.
Main course only as I’m sticking to my 30 day lifestyle challenge. When you have a yoga teacher as wonderful as Jules you trust and follow her guidance, shining lights like magical messages from the stars – powered by gentle but firm suggestion, clear calm dialect, speaking truths based on fact & science. A warmth, a glow I have never seen till January this year.
Fiercely Graceful, encouraging and inspiring to me.
Back to camp, fairy lights on and candles lit watching the full moon rise as my mind plans Ben Hope for tomorrow. Time yet for travelling further on ….
Day 4 – Tuesday – Sound the alarm
I’m wide awake so early, my day dreams were blown off course yesterday morning by that text from Glasgow …. Still processing what was said and questioning how long it took for those words to be brought out into the open. No point really asking why now when i’m out here on the road doing what feels right, i’m alive and free.
I check my email on the Highland wi-fi and am amazed at how easy communication can be. I woke up feeling uncertain of what next, NOW i cannot believe i’ve won two tickets to the premier of the latest OUTLANDER offering this coming Thursday night!
Very excited but not sure who to ask along with me. Who would appreciate a wild Highland romance about a love that endures throughout time despite bloody rivalries?
Still so early but to heck. I’m getting up. Stove on and pack the rucksack for some Munro bagging. I’ve got this !
Camp is getting busy now as everyone is up and about, packing up to move on. Going about their business, heads down. No-one is looking my way. Just the way I want it today. Get the stove on again with the wild west wind blowing strong.
Looks like i need to prop the stove up cautiously in the drivers footwell, being careful not to disturb or gas out Ash dog who is currently meditating in the back of the van. The very picture of peace and serenity.
My horn blows !! There is nothing leaning on the steering wheel, it blows looooong and LOUD for at least 30 seconds which feels like 30 years in slow motion, Everyone in camp is now looking over – I’m calmly mortified as it blasts again and again. I stand there with my arms in the air gesturing that I have no clue or responsibility for this happening. Although I’ve never done this before, it feels weirdly familiar.
It’s OK everybody. I’ve no idea what’s going on but I am not in any danger. Then it stops just as suddenly before giving some sarcastic intermittent toots. Ok it’s not ending so i panic and switch on the engine in hope it will stop…nope….then i notice the steam spewing into my steering column. Why o why did it not whistle ?
OK good i don’t have a spooky van after all. Who knew then ?
Ben hope – abandoned – can’t take the chance with this horn situ; it might flatten my battery. All packed up – lets hit the road to Gairloch. Stop along the way at the Mountain Coffee shop, Jules always says that one a day – make it a good one.
A nosey at the local crafts is interrupted as I return to the sound of more tooting and the horrible realisation that Bertie … maybe Berlinda …. berlingo van has locked me out! What’s actually going on ?? I congratulate myself on having the foresight to leave the window down. To be fair, it had been full sunshine for sometime and i was relaxing into this beautiful feeling of being safe from villains out in the wilderness, so it was more by design than accident. Reaching in and unlocking my misbehaving vehicle, I let out a sigh as Ash dog welcomes me in !
Every now and then the horn peeps like its on its last breath of life – which i’m quietly relieved about as its mortifying passing through these silent villages.
Locals raise their eyebrows, highland cattle stop chewing and Ash dog groans at our predicament. I’m not even thinking about the signs the Universe is trying to send me. I am trying really hard to acknowledge that something awful has happened but I will get through this.
Gairloch welcomes us with a hot bath and a super large bed for Ash dog and i. We surrender ourselves to the ease and comfort of the evening.
Day 5 – Wednesday – Gairloch and the winding familiar road home
It’s a pea souper up here – canni see the 360 degree views this morning but i feel like i’m driving on a rollercoaster, bealach na ba !! hairpin bends on a single track road – WOW – cocooned inside the famous Scottish mist, we descend this steep pass.
I feel like I’m falling , falling out of the sky from where my stars had been stolen.
On Monday I was stopped in my tracks and my heart has been heavy and sore to touch since then. The incredible views of Shieldaig, Applecross and Torridon give themselves to me. A snifter of Autumn here in the West and I remember from the start of my journey that the East has yet to realise a change is coming.
So, lunch stop at Kishorn, scallops in garlic and chilli oil with a zesty herb salad to freshen my mind and remind me of Spring and new beginnings do happen.
Onto Lochcarron, Strathcarron, Achnasheen, Strathpeffer, Beauly and Inverness.
NC500 complete.
Rain clouds are chasing me home now as i choose the Great Glen Way as my preferred return route home, before i know it i am waving goodbye to my Glencoe and allowing my Highland heartbreak to set in………..
Ash dog and i are home now, he runs around the flat crazily gathering up his comforter friends he loves so much, he missed them whilst away on his road trip, quickly he falls asleep with them under his muzzle, his squishy pillow on the floor.
Thursday evening arrives. Outlander season 3-episode 1, I have by then arranged with a dear friend who works on Bath street Glasgow to meet me after her work and we go watch. Ash awaits us in the van, and then we go eat and discuss the Outlander episode. In Distill, a restaurant with a dog friendly relaxed vibe, Ash is easily spoiled by the friendliest of waiting staff.
Friday afternoon, I arrived at Jules’ perfectly chosen house for our retreat for the weekend in Dullatur, a leafy suburb, a huge house powered by iffy electric wiring that added to the unknown of the weekend to unfold for me. None of us for sure left frazzled …..
A stunning ancient monkey puzzle tree dominating the back garden, with the holiest of potholes drive into there.
Wardpark studios, the Outlander cast apparently use it as their indoor set apparently. Oh bejeezus what is going on !?
The weekend progresses and nourishes my highland heartbreak, i sit in the garden swing alone in the dark evenings, looking up desperate to see some stars once again, show me now !
Ash would love this swing … I’m not worrying for Ash dog this weekend as I know he is having so much fun, tennis balling around with friends for the weekend and taking residence in full comfort of their care.
I’ll see him again soon 💜
By Angela Spence
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