Day 23 – Durness to Bettyhill

We got up early today to catch the small passenger ferry across the Kyle of Durness, and then on to Cape Wrath via minibus.  However, due to poor weather, the ferry was not operating today.  So we’ll have to leave that adventure for another trip 😉   As we now had an extra half day on our hands, we decided to continue our journey to Bettyhill, arrive early and have a well deserved afternoon relaxing.

 

Photo of the day

Coastal Road Trip, The Moine, A’ Mhoine, Peat Bog, A838, Straight Empty Road
The empty A838 over the Moine.

 

Keoldale

Coastal Road Trip, Keoldale, Cape Wrath Ferry, Kyle of Durness
Well that’s where we were meant to be sailing on the ferry to the other side of the Kyle of Durness.  You can just about make out the ferry landing through the rain… if not, use your imagination.
Coastal Road Trip, Keoldale, Cape Wrath Ferry, Kyle of Durness, Julian, Jarno
Not sure why we are looking so happy, actually we were a bit gutted that we couldn’t visit Cape Wrath today.

 

Sango Beach

Coastal Road Trip, Durness, Sango Bay, Sango Sands
The beaches were again remarkable, fine sand, clear waters, just a shame it was a bit cold and wet for August!

 

Ceannabeinne Beach

Coastal Road Trip, Durness, Ceannabeinne Beach
And just a minute or two east of Sango Beach we arrived at Ceannabeinne Beach, equally beautiful (and rainy).

 

Loch Eriboll

Coastal Road Trip, Loch Eriboll, Telephone box, Jarno
Photo of Jarno filming a phone box… OK, so there wasn’t so much to see.
Coastal Road Trip, Loch Eriboll, Ard Neakie
A great view looking down on Ard Neakie in Loch Eriboll, connected to the mainland by a sand spit.

 

The Moine

Coastal Road Trip, The Moine, A’ Mhoine, Peat Bog, A838, Straight Empty Road
As we drove across the Moine along the A838 the land became quite flat all of a sudden.  If you look carefully you can see some coloured bags to the left of the road.  It turns out this was a peat bog, and peat was being dug and bagged.

 

Talmine Bay

Coastal Road Trip, Talmine Bay, Melness Coast, Kyle of Tongue, Shipwreck
A shipwreck along the Melness Coast at Talmine Bay.  The Kyle of Tongue and the Rabbit Islands in the background.
Coastal Road Trip, Talmine Bay, Melness Coast, Kyle of Tongue, Beach, Cow
And yet another beach cow… this is getting weird.  She didn’t look too impressed to see us.

 

Tongue

Coastal Road Trip, Kyle of Tongue, Tongue. Castle Varrich
Across on the east side of the Kyle of Tongue we tried to find our way to Castle Varrich, but without a detailed map, and no mobile reception we struggled.  As we’d already had our fair share of castles over the last few weeks, we decided to move on.

 

Bettyhill

Coastal Road Trip, Bettyhill, Bay, Beach
Yay!  Suns out again as we reached Bettyhill and Torrisdale Bay.
Coastal Road Trip, Bettyhill, Strathnaver Museum
Just east of Bettyhill we found the Strathnaver Museum, housed in the old parish church.  A great little place full of local artifacts and explanations about the clearances, with friendly helpful volunteers on hand.
Coastal Road Trip, Bettyhill, Bay, Sunset
And the view from our Bettyhill hotel as the sun set over Torrisdale Bay.

 

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