Invergordon – Coastal Road Trip

Day 26 – Invergordon to Elgin

A day full of contrasts as we drove south from Invergordon to Elgin, again a beautiful coastline, but dotted with off-shore oil & gas rigs. We would have loved to have seen the coastline prior to the North Sea oil & gas finds, but appreciate it also greatly supports the locally economy (clearly evident).

Photo of the day

Coastal Road Trip, Boath Doocot, Fields, Birds — The local birdlife taking advantage of the freshly mown fields near Boath Doocot.

Invergordon

Coastal Road Trip, Cromarty Firth, Invergordon, Oil Rig — A typical sight along this coastline, oil and gas rigs, set against the rolling Scottish coastline and countryside.

Storehouse of Foulis

Coastal Road Trip, The Storehouse of Foulis, Cromarty Firth, Sundial — Synchronising watches old school style at the busy Storehouse of Foulis. A local museum, shop and restaurant (busy for breakfast).

Cromarty

Coastal Road Trip, Cromarty, Lighthouse — The Cromarty Lighthouse, no longer working, and now used by the University of Aberdean as a field station for the University’s School of Biological Science.

Coastal Road Trip, Cromarty, Butterfly — And as we walked around the quaint little streets of Cromarty, we came across this bush full of life with tens of butterflies…

Coastal Road Trip, Cromarty, Bee — …and busy bees.

Coastal Road Trip, Cromarty, Hugh Miller's Cottage, National Trust for Scotland — Hugh Miller’s Cottage, the birthplace of the Scott famous for his early geology, writing and social justice. The cottage, museum and garden is maintained by the National Trust for Scotland. It was very quiet, we seemed to be the only visitors this morning.

Coastal Road Trip, Cromarty, Street, Shop — Pottering around the Cromarty streets.

Coastal Road Trip, Cromarty, Oil Rigs — The view over Cromarty Firth, again such a contrast from the idyllic Cromarty.

Coastal Road Trip, Cromarty, The Egg Box, Jarno — How cool is this?! Never seen one of these before, an egg vending machine on road side. Looked a bit like Febo – the Dutch will understand ;-).

Coastal Road Trip, Cromarty, The Egg Box, Vending Machine — Pop your money in, and pick-up some fresh eggs.

Chanonry Point

Coastal Road Trip, Chanonry Point — Heading over to the Moray Firth, and crossing yet another golf course, we arrived at Chanonry Point. Seemed to be super busy for a lighthouse. Then we realised that everyone was waiting to spot Bottlenose Dolphins, and sure enough they turned-up, check-out the video at the bottom of the blog. One of the best viewing places in the world!

Fortrose

Coastal Road Trip, Fortrose, Cathedral — The remains of Fortrose Cathedral, at its peak, twenty-one Canons and five vicars served here.

Coastal Road Trip, Fortrose, Cathedral — The chapter house at Fortrose Cathedral, the only section that was still in one piece.

Inverness

Coastal Road Trip, Inverness — Inverness was a bit of a surprise to us, on the map it looks so remote, but when we arrived we could have been in any decent sized bustling British market town. Julian got a haircut, then we had a quick look at the castle. We stocked up on socks (35 days on the road requires a lot of socks!) and sunglasses for Julian, replacing a pair lost somewhere in the highlands (yay – no more squinting in selfies). We contemplated heading inland to go Loch Ness Monster spotting, but then decided to not get distracted and keep to the coastline…

Fort George

Coastal Road Trip, Fort George & The Highlanders' Museum, Bridge — A drawbridge at the huge Fort George. Unfortunately we arrived just before closing, and as it is still a working army base they were strict on closing times, so we made do with our own tour around the perimeter grounds.

Coastal Road Trip, Fort George & The Highlanders' Museum, Walls — So many walls!

Coastal Road Trip, Fort George & The Highlanders' Museum, Chanonry Point, Lighthouse — Looking back over the Morray Firth to the crowds gathered at Chanory Point, on the lookout for Bottlenose Dolphins.

Boath Doocot

Coastal Road Trip, Boath Doocot — To be honest, not the most interesting thing, but along our route to Elgin so we made a quick stop. A dove house atop a 12th century castle (now just a mound).

Coastal Road Trip, Boath Doocot, Fields, Birds — But great views over the fields south of Nairn.

Daily video

Day 25 – Lybster to Invergordon

Today we will drive 107 miles on our journey along the North Sea down to the Dornoch and Cromarty Firths. Probably one of our shorter journeys, but still we have a lot to see, so let’s hit the road!

Photo of the day

Coastal Road Trip, Dunrobin Castle, Dalmation, Waiting, Sitting in Car — A patient chauffeur, waiting at Dunrobin Castle.

Lybster Harbour

Coastal Road Trip, Lybster, Harbour, Lighthouse — The sun rising in the sky over the cosy Lybster Harbour.

Dunbeath Bay

Coastal Road Trip, Latheron, Views South, Dunbeath Bay — Views south from Latheron along the rugged coast to Dunbeath Bay.

Laidhay Croft Museum

Coastal Road Trip, Laidhay croft museum, Jarno — We stopped by the Laidhay Croft Museum (keys from the coffee shop next door). Absolutely packed with antiques and household goods from the crofting era.

Badbea

Coastal Road Trip, Badbea Clearance Village — All that remains from this tiny clearance village at Badbea.

Coastal Road Trip, Badbea Clearance Village, View to North Sea — The unspoiled views over the cliffs out to the North Sea. Fine on a calm day like today, but must have been rough living at the top of these cliffs on a stormy day.

Helmsdale

Coastal Road Trip, Helmsdale, Church Tower — The church tower peeping through the tree tops in Helmsdale.

Brora

Coastal Road Trip, Brora, Golf Club, Golf Course — The Scottish coast was littered with Golf courses, all with stunning views.

Carn Liath

Coastal Road Trip, Carn Liath, Iron Age Broch, Settlement, A9 — An amazingly well preserved Iron Age broch at Carn Liath (a round house), just a couple of minutes north of Dunrobin Castle.

Dunrobin Castle

Coastal Road Trip, Dunrobin Castle — The extravagant Dunrobin Castle, the family seat of the Earl of Sutherland and the Clan Sutherland.

Coastal Road Trip, Dunrobin Castle, Garden — The impressive French influenced gardens viewed from the castle.

Coastal Road Trip, Dunrobin Castle, Falconry Display — We stopped by a fun falconry display in the garden.

Coastal Road Trip, Dunrobin Castle, Dalmation, Waiting, Sitting in Car — Patiently waiting for Cruella De Vil in the castle car park.

Dornoch

Coastal Road Trip, Dornoch, Beach, 2 minute beach clean, Jarno — What a great idea at Dornoch Beach, encouraging visitors to a 2 minute beach litter clean. Dornoch itself was a beautiful village. Clearly the locals were looking after the area.

Tarbat Ness

Coastal Road Trip, Tarbat Ness — After all the yellow and white lighthouses we’d seen along our coastal road trip, it was refreshing to find a lovely red and white stripey one at Tarbat Ness! 😉

Baltintore

Coastal Road Trip, Balintore, Mermaid of the North, Seaboard Villages — Driving along the coast of the Seaboard villages we arrived at the Mermaid of the North atop ‘Clach Dubh’ (black rock) at Balintore.

Arabella

Coastal Road Trip, Arabella, Eastern Ross-shire, Wind Turbine, Sun, Clouds, Fields — On our way to Invergordon for the evening, hazy evening views across the countryside near Arabella. Wind turbines became a really familiar sight whether on land or off shore along our journey.

Daily video